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Sermon on the day of the Holy Great Martyr Barbara The sacred duty of those celebrating in honor of the saints is to humbly reflect on the deeds of their lives, to discern in them the wise guidance of the grace of God and their humble submission to this guidance, and then, praising the goodness of God and their submission, try to acquire the former and imitate the latter, so that the celebration, having thus begun in the mind by reflection, is continuously continued in life by imitation. This duty also falls on us, who are now celebrating in honor of the holy Great Martyr Barbara. Everyone who comes to this church undoubtedly holds in his mind - along with the beautiful face of the Great Martyr - the wise image of her life. Let us begin to look at this image, let us begin to praise the grace of God, praise the exploits of the Great Martyr and learn from them. And first of all, do you see the wise guidance of God? Do you see how it creates good from what a person does not do as good? How does it force not good intentions to further its good determinations and makes evil a means to the acquisition of true good? Dioscorus, hiding his young daughter on a pillar, did not extend his views further than to preserve the virgin purity of her heart or, perhaps, to give her the opportunity to more easily learn everything that is proper and characteristic of her sex and age. He saw nothing above or beyond the earth and, perhaps, in his very intention, vicious jealousy interfered with parental love. But what he did not see, the Lord gave, and what he did not think to produce, grace produced. Hidden from the gaze of people, she allowed God to be seen, and the purity of her heart, preserved by jealousy, was kindled by jealousy for the glory of God. She who complained about the unnatural distance from communication with people was consoled by communication with God, removed from the earth - she was drawn to heaven, prepared as a bride for man - she was dissuaded from Christ, she who taught the affairs of everyday life - she was taught the deeds of piety. So, when the earthly father, through his care, wanted to raise his daughter to the possible perfection of earthly daughters, the Heavenly Father, by His grace, made her into a beautiful daughter of Heaven - a community of Angels and saints and the bride of Christ. The time of marriage came, and Dioscorus saw with sadness that on the summer shoot (sprout), which he had preserved with such care, a color had blossomed that was completely unexpected for him, that the one with whom he hoped to gain great glory was not looking for glory, and to whom he wanted to bring possible happiness on earth, did not find anything attractive in him - and he began to destroy what he had previously created; what he had previously kept, he handed over for plunder; what he had previously protected, he now took away every fence from it and consigned to the destruction of his eyes that which he hid from everyone. The world rejoiced, seeing such a rich sacrifice brought to it, hell rejoiced, expecting its own prey, Dioscorus rejoiced, hoping to finally see the fruit of his labors. But their joy is taken away from them. The grace of God has put vain hopes to shame! Deprived of all supervision - watched by the watchful eye of the Heavenly King, open to everyone - covered with the blood of God's wings, brought down from the pillar - introduced into the baptismal font, given for a time by the freedom of vanity - receives eternal freedom in Christ to do good deeds, enveloped in the rumors of life - hears the sweetest word of God, surrounded by the delights of the world - recognizes the sweets of heaven, and the bride desired by the young men is dissuaded from Christ. Do you see what Dioscorus meant and what grace accomplished? So the Lord always turns the bad deeds of people into serving His will and His good intentions. Dioscorus hoped, by leaving home, to bring his daughter’s heart closer to the goals from which he had been somewhat removed, as he thought, by his strict watchfulness; but, having returned, he found something completely different from what he expected - he found that the one with whom he wanted to dominate more had been completely kidnapped, that his own was no longer his, that his birth had been reborn, that in the one in whom his blood was not his mind and not his heart. And, without discerning whether this is good or bad, he indulges in rage and, forgetting the laws of nature, rushes with a sword after the one he gave birth to, torments her, starves her, puts her to shame throughout the city, joyfully watches her suffering and, finally, becomes her executioner himself. Who ruled his heart if not hell, which contained all the malice in him in order to take revenge on her by whom he was shamed! But under these external deeds of darkness, what a wealth of Divine light is hidden, and through the cunning of malice, what an abundance of God’s goodness is seen, putting them to shame! They want to starve the holy great martyr, but she is given heavenly bread; they want to suppress it with the weight of torment, but it is filled with courage, strong to lift the weight of the whole world; they annoy her - she is in good spirits, they torment her - she rejoices, they are angry at her - she prays, she is given over to extreme shame, and a feeling of heavenly glory is sent down to her and then the Lord of glory Himself appears; her head is taken away from her, and she ascends to the head of the Church - Christ, in suffering, like gold in a furnace, tempted. Thus the Lord put to shame the wickedness of hell! Do you see how wonderful the works of God are? How unquestionable are His intentions? Dioscorus planned one thing, but the Lord did something completely different. So it is in the life of every person; over the course of many different circumstances, He always does what He pleases, but no mind can comprehend this path of God’s Providence, no wisdom can determine. We see only in ourselves and around us how people act, but we do not see what the Lord produces by people, unless at the end of everything we see the fruit of God’s wise guidance - always for our eternal benefit. Therefore, when the circumstances of our lives change, we should neither grumble nor complain, but only, with perfect surrender to the will of God, humbly wait for what the Lord will finally give us. The path of life of the Holy Great Martyr Barbara is not varied or long, but it is rich in edification and will require a lot of work and time from those who want to imitate. For, tell me, what virtue is not in her? - Do you have faith? But she wanted to teach her to her father, and would have taught her if the eye of his mind had not been closed by superstition and malice. - Are they hopes? But how did she distract her heart from all the earthly hopes that the world offered her in such an attractive form and so faithfully? - Is it love? But remember what she prayed for when the sword was raised over her head? - Is it wisdom? But to know God in visible creatures is not wisdom? To seek the light of truth among vanity, to find it, to follow it—isn’t this wisdom? To use a solitary life not for the benefit of the flesh, but for the edification of the spirit - isn’t it wisdom? - Do you have courage? But to overcome the natural power of her father and relatives over the heart, to give herself over to terrible and dangerous torments, not to hesitate at all from them, not seeing an end to them, to joyfully face death - isn’t this loud evidence of her high courage? But all goodness is the beautiful bride of Christ - the holy great martyr Barbara. May she fertilize us with her kindness and may she teach us to imitate her holy life! We cannot and will not refuse this, either due to the height of the example, or due to our weakness. For she too was a person with weaknesses similar to ours, but she was able in the Lord. The Lord is the Lord of all. True, we cannot always be solitary as she is; but it is not solitude that makes you wise, but the ability to use solitary moments makes it possible to acquire wisdom. But aren’t we never alone - with God, conscience and our life, and from these three what cannot be learned in a few minutes, especially when bringing them together? Even if you really were extremely burdened with necessary activities, then you need to steal, so to speak, a few minutes from the most necessary things to talk with them. Don’t we have such detachment from worries, such liveliness and purity of heart, such lightness of mind, that we can unhinderedly sense God’s endless perfections revealed in creatures? But, brothers, a spark is knocked out of flint, and fire is wiped out of cold wood. What we do not find in the soul does not mean that it is not there at all. It is there, but it’s just not revealed. Through determination, effort of will, work, exercise - from it we can extract everything that we see from anyone. The observer so trains his eye through exercise that he finally notices the smallest shades. Nature is before us. By frequent handling of it, one can accustom the feeling that it can sense the infinite power of God in every small thing. As for the fact that the holy great martyr, called by God, unswervingly followed His inspiration, that she then used all her efforts to more accurately know the truth, that she counted everything in her mind (put it at nothing) for Christ’s sake, that amid suffering she grew - in faith, love, hope, devotion, courage - that, despite the obstacles, she did not renounce the faith, despite the horrors of torment, she was not ashamed to confess Christ, which revealed to everyone predominantly the humble submission of their will to the will of God; then these are the virtues without which no one can be a true Christian, if not in this form, then in another, and if not in all these actions separately, then in their imprecise reason - perfect, that is, obedience to the beckons of God, how, when and wherever they come to us, which may the holy great martyr help us to acquire with her prayers! Amen. An easy means to master the holy Christian life (Teaching on the 23rd Sunday after Pentecost) “For we are a workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God first prepared, that we might walk in them” (Eph. 2:10). So, brethren, Christian life and holiness, a true Christian and a holy man are one and the same. The only Christian is the one who does good deeds, and that is the only Christian life that is an unbroken chain of good deeds. A Christian was created for this purpose by the grace of Jesus Christ in baptism, to do only good, to continuously serve the living and true God, to be a constant zealot for good deeds. He is an Angel on earth, and even more so, the son of God. Everything about him is pure and holy, from soul to body, from internal to external, from a simple glance to a completely deliberate and deliberate action. Blessed is the person whose life flows like a stream of pure water, in a beautiful, harmonious, angelic form. Who wouldn't want to be jealous of her? Who would not want to acquire heavenly beauty and be clothed with it? And there is, brethren, a means to this end, and the easiest means of all that has been given to us to accomplish the difficult task of our salvation. It consists of maintaining purity of thoughts. We must arrange our thoughts in such a way that not a single object, not only tempting, even simple, not instructive, enters our soul, so that we keep our mind so that it is occupied only with God and divine things, so that we constantly see Him as if before us, the Omnipresent One, and do not turn our gaze away from Him for a single moment. It is necessary to reflect either on God’s properties, or on God’s deeds, or on the salvation of people, or on their destruction, on Jesus Christ, on Angels and saints, and on other saving objects. When we maintain purity in our thoughts in this way, when we think only about what is good and saving, then from good thoughts good feelings will certainly be born in us; and from good thoughts and feelings will come good dispositions, then good deeds and good behavior. And we, therefore, will achieve what we are looking for - a life immaculate and pleasing to God. Good and pious thoughts are like the rays of the sun. The rays of the sun, falling on the cold and barren earth, warm and fertilize it, so good thoughts, touching our cold and carnal heart, warm it and give birth to holy feelings in it, and the more spiritual thoughts one holds over the heart, the more spiritual, softer, and more sensitive it will be. So, for example, if someone reflects on the goodness of God, at first he may not feel anything; but if he further supports his thought on this one subject, then his heart will little by little begin to move, and the more he thinks about goodness, the more he comprehends and more clearly depicts it in his thoughts, the more his sense of soul will grow and expand, and finally he will be completely imbued with the feeling of God’s goodness, and from now on man himself will begin to imitate the Lord in goodness. The same thing will happen if someone starts thinking about some other pious subject, for example, about the Last Judgment. At first the soul may not feel anything; and then little by little he will begin to move more and more, more vividly and vividly, depending on the degree of vividness and clarity with which the picture of the Last Judgment will be revealed in his thoughts, finally a complete feeling of fear and trembling will be revived in the heart, and from then on the person will begin to flee all sin like the fire of Gehenna. “So, brethren, there is no doubt that if we have good thoughts in our souls, then at the same time there will be good feelings, then good dispositions and good deeds, and then we will truly be God’s creation, created for and manifesting good deeds in Christ Jesus, we will be real zealots of good deeds. Having loved the Christian life, which is good and beautiful, let us also love good thoughts: let us arrange them in such a way that there is nothing earthly, vain, empty in them, but only heavenly, holy, divine. Do not think that this is too difficult and that it is impossible to completely fulfill the saving rule of good intentions. - It's not fair. It is difficult, however, this task will take some time, but only at first. The more someone practices this holy work, the easier and more pleasant it will be for him. Our soul is like a playful child. She doesn’t want to be on her own, just as a child doesn’t want to sit at home in one place: she constantly scatters and wanders around different objects. But just as a child is taught to be quiet, so one can accustom the soul to constancy, that is, to accustom it to remain within itself and engage in saving thoughts about God and about divine things in general. You just need to force yourself to do this, you need, without sparing yourself, to resist the soul and not let it into the world towards vain things. At first it will be sad and not pleasing to the soul, little by little then it will get used to such an activity, and then it will find pleasantness and pleasure in it. And every business is difficult at first. – It’s hard to write, it’s hard to read, it’s hard to sing for someone who’s just starting to learn it. But whoever learns and gets used to writing, for example, not only finds it not difficult, he even wants to write: he finds pleasure in it. So it is here. It is difficult for the first time to keep the soul in constant tension on spiritual subjects; but let us work and force ourselves to do it for a while, and we will notice for ourselves that this difficult task will become much easier; let us work harder and force ourselves even more - it will become even easier, and the more we practice the thought of God, the easier and more pleasant this activity will be, but in the end all work will disappear, and we will feel unpleasant, we will be bored and burdened not by the fact that we are busy with heaven and heavenly things, but by the fact that we are not busy with them or are busy with something else. Whoever tastes sweet things, bitter things are disgusting, but in the mind of God there is all joy and all joy and bliss. That soul that thinks only about divine objects lives, as it were, in paradise, surrounded by divine immaterial light, pouring out bliss, and, entering into communion with the all-blessed God, is blissful. In the life that she leads, there is a fullness of all kinds of pleasures, and there, says Saint Demetrius of Rostov, there is silence and peace, there is fearlessness and carelessness, there is treasure and eternal pleasure, there is joy, cheerfulness, there is beauty, sweetness and all consolation. Who wouldn't want to acquire such a treasure?! There is only one thing, brethren, that we can imagine that is somewhat legitimate as an obstacle to the continuous pursuit of the thought of God. – This is necessary entertainment with external objects. We live in the world, in the midst of vanities, and constantly encounter circumstances that distract us from heaven. How can we keep our thoughts focused on God? If you see or hear something, that’s what you’ll do, and not with what you would like, not with heaven and not with heavenly things. - A fair excuse, but we ourselves are the cause of all this. We ourselves are the reason that things entertain us and do not collect us, that they destroy us and do not create us. Some thing entertains us because we are accustomed to associate ungodly thoughts with it. If we train ourselves to unite good thoughts with it, then it will cease to be tempting and vanity for us. – For example, we see gold and immediately think about clothes, about delicious dishes, about treats and other vain objects that we could acquire with the help of this gold. Gold seduced us and gave us a reason, if not to do it, then to think about deeds not pleasing to God, but it seduced us because until now we did not know the best purpose for gold. If we were accustomed to seeing gold not as a means to satisfy our desires, but as a means to the creation of virtue, then instead of a temptation, meeting it would be a pious lesson for us; then, looking at the gold, we would think: if this gold were ours, then we would save someone from trouble, provide food to someone, cure someone from an illness, and so on. Gold would not seduce us, but, on the contrary, would give us a reason to discover and strengthen our good disposition. As you can see, the world and all worldly things tempt and distance our thoughts from God only because we look at them seductively and ungodly. Let us look at them differently, and instead of a temptation they will constitute an edification for us; let us clothe them, so to speak, with a heavenly veil, and instead of distracting us from heaven, they will lead us to heaven. Pious people have long noticed that the things around us can really distract our thoughts from God and depress our souls, and therefore they tried by all means to give them a spiritual meaning, and then no other way to present them as having this spiritual meaning. When they saw a burning candle, it meant to them not just a candle, but something else, for example, life, which is shortened just as a candle is diminished; when they looked at the mirror, they did not think about the mirror, but from it they transferred their thoughts to another, spiritual object, for example, to conscience, which also depicts the purity or impurity of the state of the soul, just as a mirror depicts the purity or impurity of the body. When they encountered an incident, they imagined it not at all in the meaning that it usually has; hearing, for example, that one person says to another: why are you delaying here, your father has been waiting for you for a long time - they thought about something completely different from what these words make them think about, they imagined a sinner who had moved away from God, who, like a father, is waiting for him and calling him to Himself in different ways. Having protected themselves with such thoughts and, as it were, having written on each thing its spiritual meaning, the pious were no longer so much afraid of temptation from the world and worldly things. Living among the bustle, they seemed not to know it and did not touch it. The world and its charms disappeared before their God-preserved thoughts, and instead another was built - an instructive, spiritual, mysterious world, living in which they lived as if in heaven. This is what the holy men did, and this is what they advised everyone who wanted and sought salvation to do. The world is like a network; but it is our will to remove this net, remove the cover of temptation from him and clothe him in spiritual, heavenly clothing. For this, brethren, let us examine all the things around us, list all the cases that are inevitable for us, and give everything an instructive meaning. Let everything, clothing and food, home and open space, sleep and wakefulness, conversation and silence, morning and evening, noon and midnight - let everything teach, edify and lead us to heaven. It is very easy to translate the ordinary meaning of things into the spiritual: anyone who has common sense and diligence can easily do it himself. However, if complete diligence and strength require leadership in a new and unusual matter, we will offer you examples as examples. – Many zealots of piety spiritualized sensual things and left us the experiences of their labors. Here is a whole book of such experiments. They were left to us by the most pious, well-known Archpastor Tikhon of Voronezh - under the title: “Spiritual Treasure, collected from the world.” Here he spiritualizes everything - both things and cases... We will read them on Sundays and holidays, choosing those that would not only be edifying, but would also teach us to do the same intelligent work. If our conversation had not gone on for so long now, we might have read something. Your attention is tired, therefore we leave this until the next service, wishing you continuous thought of God during this period of time - at least, zeal and tension for thought of God. May the Lord strengthen you. Amen. What is "anathema"? Word for the Week of Orthodoxy It rarely happens that the current rite of Orthodoxy occurs without complaints and reproaches from anyone. And no matter how many times teachings are said to explain that, by acting in this way, the Holy Church acts wisely and savingly for her children, those who are dissatisfied keep repeating their opinions. Either they do not listen to the teachings, or these teachings do not come to their attention, or, perhaps, they have formed their own concept of this order and do not want to leave it, no matter what you tell them. Our anathemas seem inhumane to some, embarrassing to others. All such presentations may be respectful in other cases, but they have nothing to do with our rite of Orthodoxy. I will briefly explain to you why the Holy Church acts this way, and I believe that you yourself will agree with me that in acting this way, the Holy Church acts wisely. What is the Holy Church? – There is a society of believers united by the unity of confession of God-revealed truths, the unity of sanctification by God-instituted sacraments and the unity of management and direction of the God-given shepherd. The unity of confession, sanctification and governance constitutes the charter of this society, which must be fulfilled immediately by everyone entering it. Entry into this society is conditioned by accepting this charter, consent to it, and remaining in it is by fulfilling it. Look how the Holy Church has spread and is spreading? - Preachers preach. Of those listening, some do not accept the sermon and leave, others accept and, as a result of acceptance, are sanctified by the holy sacraments, enter under the leadership of the shepherds and are thus incorporated into the Holy Church, or become churched. This is how all its members enter the Church. Entering into it, they merge with everyone, unite, and only as long as they are one with everyone do they remain in the Church. From this simple indication of the course of the formation of the Church, you see that the Holy Church as a society was formed and stands like any other society. So look at him like any other, and do not deprive him of the rights that are acquired by every society. Take, for example, the temperance society. It has its own rules, which every member is obliged to follow. And every member of it is a member because it accepts and fulfills its rules. If it now happens that any member not only refuses to follow the rules, but looks at many things completely differently from society, even rebels against the very purpose of society, and not only does not maintain sobriety himself, but also blasphemes sobriety itself and spreads concepts that can seduce others and deviate from sobriety. What does society usually do with such people? – First he exhorts, and then excludes him from his environment. That's anathema! No one rebels against this, no one reproaches society for inhumanity. Everyone recognizes that society acts completely legally and that if it began to act differently, it could not exist. Why reproach the Holy Church when it acts in this way? After all, anathema is excommunication from the Church, or exclusion from one’s midst, of those who do not fulfill the conditions of unity with it, and begin to think differently than it, differently than what they themselves promised when entering it. Do you remember how it happened? Arius appeared, philosophizing wickedly about Christ the Savior, so that with these philosophies he perverted the very work of our salvation. What did they do with him? “At first they exhorted and exhorted repeatedly, with all the convincing and touching techniques. But as he stubbornly stood his ground, he was condemned and excommunicated from the Church by the Ecumenical Council and it was announced everywhere that such and such was excommunicated from the Church for such and such wicked wisdom, that is, expelled from our society. Be careful not to communicate with him and others like him. Don’t philosophize like that yourself and don’t listen to or accept those who philosophize like that. This is what the Holy Church did with Arius; Then she did the same with every other heretic; This is what she will do now, if anyone appears somewhere who is wickedly wise. Tell me, what’s reproachful about that? How else could the Holy Church act? And could she have existed if she had not acted so strictly and had not so carefully guarded her children from those who could corrupt and destroy them? Look at what false teachings and what false teachers are being excommunicated? Those who reject the existence of God, the immortality of the soul, Divine providence, those who do not confess the Most Holy Trinity - the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit - the One God, who do not recognize the Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ and the redemption of us by His death on the cross, who reject the grace of the Holy Spirit and the Divine sacraments that bestow it, and so on. Do you see what objects are touched? Those according to whom the Holy Church is the Church, on whom it is established and without which it cannot be what it is. Consequently, those who arm themselves against such truths are the same in the Church as those who encroach on our life and property in our everyday life. Robbers and thieves are not allowed to act freely and with impunity anywhere! And when they are tied up and brought to trial and punishment, no one considers this inhumanity or restriction of freedom. On the contrary, this very thing is seen as a matter of philanthropy and ensuring freedom - in relation to all members of society. If you judge this way here, judge church society this way. These false teachers, like thieves and robbers, plunder the property of the Holy Church and God, corrupting her children and destroying them. – Is the Holy Church doing something bad when it judges them, binds them and casts them out? And would there be philanthropy if she looked indifferently at the actions of such persons and left them the freedom to destroy everyone? What mother would allow a snake to freely crawl up and bite her child, who is small and does not understand its danger? Whenever some libertine or libertine creeps into any family and begins to seduce your daughter or your son, can you look at their actions and speeches with indifference and, fearing to be considered inhumane and backward, tie your hands, do not push them out and do not forever close the doors of your house for them?! So look at the actions of the Holy Church. She sees that persons corrupted by the mind appear and corrupt others - and she rebels against them, and drives them out, and calls out to everyone: look, such and such your souls want to destroy, do not listen to them and run from them. By doing this, she fulfills the duty of maternal love and, therefore, acts humanely, in your opinion - humanely. We now have a lot of nihilists and nihilists, spiritualists and other evildoers who are carried away by Western false teachings. Do you think that our Holy Church would have remained silent, would not have raised its voice, would not have condemned or anathematized them if their destructive teachings contained anything new? - No way. The Council would have been and all of them with their teachings would have been anathematized, and one more point would have been added to the current rite of Orthodoxy: Feuerbach, Buchner, Renan, the spiritualists and all their followers - the nihilists - anathema. But there is no need for this council, there is no need for this addition. Their false teachings are already anathematized in advance at those points where anathema is pronounced to those who reject the existence of God, the spirituality and immortality of the soul, the teaching about the Holy Trinity, about the Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ. Don't you see how wisely and prudently the Church acts when it forces us to make the present call and listen? – But they say: not modern. – Now it’s modern. Maybe a hundred years ago it was not modern. And about the present time we must say that if there were no real rite of Orthodoxy, it should be introduced and performed not only in provincial cities, but in all places and churches. Let us collect all the evil teachings that are contrary to the word of God and make it known to everyone, so that everyone knows what to fear and what teachings to avoid. Many are corrupted by their minds only out of ignorance, and a vocal condemnation of harmful teachings will save them from destruction. So, the Church excommunicates, expels from its midst (when it says: so-and-so is anathema, it means the same as: so-and-so out of here), or anathematizes, for the same reason why every society acts this way. And she is obliged to do this at the request of self-preservation and protection of her children from harm. Why doesn’t the current rank present anything reproachful or perplexing? Whoever is afraid of the effect of anathema, then let him avoid teachings that lead to it. If anyone fears him for others, let him return them to sound doctrine. If you do not favor this action, if you are Orthodox, then you are going against yourself. And if you have already lost sound teaching, why do you care what is done in the Church by those who contain it? By the fact that you have formed in yourself a [different] way of looking at things than is contained in the Church, you have already separated from the Church. It is not the record in the metrics that makes a member of the Church, but the spirit and content of wisdom. Whether your teaching and name are pronounced or not pronounced under anathema, you are already under it when you philosophize contrary to the Church and persist in this philosophizing. The anathema is terrible - stop the evil thinking. Amen. About sudden death (The word was written in connection with the death of Russian sailors on the ship "Rusalka", which crashed in the Baltic Sea in peacetime) You were struck by the fate of the “Rusalka” and those on it... Who wasn’t struck by it?! Everyone is amazed - and most of all the Sovereign... But don’t we have the opportunity to find consolation in the promises of Christianity? - It seems we have. It is not the death of the ship that is terrifying, but the fate of those on it. Let us measure this fate in relation to the eternal fate. This is the main thing. What was the situation of all these people? - In the position of doing their duty. Does military duty stand among God’s duties, those determined by God and awarded by God? - Yes! Isn't naval warfare the same as land warfare? - Yes! And I think he should be placed a little ahead and higher... Now judge - people who were doing their duty were suddenly captured by death and moved on to another life. How will they be greeted there? - Of course, without reproach... and, moreover, as fulfillers of their duty... The Lord says: “What I find you doing, that’s what I will judge.” So they will be judged, that is, as performers of their duty. Those who do their duty will be given a good sentence... Now put this decision with the question... why do we live? “We live so that, having lived here, in the next world we will meet a good sentence and a corresponding fate.” Don't you see that those who left us on the "Rusalka" do not lose anything in relation to the main goal of our existence? - And be comforted! Add to this - was their death sweet or painful? – I think that only great martyrs experienced such torment... Although it was short-lived, it is impossible to determine the extent of it... Why did they suffer this torment? - For the fulfillment of duty. All the martyrs endured this way... and, therefore, those who died due to the crash of the “Rusalka” should be counted among the host of martyrs. I would like all the mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters and wives of the dead to read these lines, believe their truth and be comforted. I honor their death, in relation to eternal salvation, as better than the death of all those who died at that time, surrounded by relatives and friends. May the Lord rest their souls in the Kingdom of Heaven! About the Rich Man and Lazarus (Conversation on the 22nd Sunday after Pentecost) The parable now read, brethren, is one of the most touching and at the same time the most instructive and profound. Therefore, I think your piety will not allow you to get bored if I retell it to you again, so that later you can see more clearly what lessons it gives us. This parable depicts the fate of two people, opposite in this life, but even more opposite in the afterlife. One of them lived in complete contentment: he had a peaceful home, good maintenance, good fame and never felt any shortcomings or sorrows. The other, on the contrary, had absolutely nothing: no shelter, no clothing, no food, not even the closest and most necessary benefit - integrity and health in the body. Looking at the rich man, people said: this is how the Lord blesses him; and as they passed by Lazarus, they thought, perhaps to themselves: God is punishing you for some secret sins. This is what people thought - it is not true; and they could not think otherwise, for they usually judge by what they see, without comprehending what is in someone’s heart. But death came and, rather than people, determined the true dignity and worth of Lazarus and the rich man. Their souls, having separated from their bodies, entered another world - alone. The rich man had no luxurious clothes, no servants, no friends; Lazarus had neither his rags nor his wounds. Naked of everything - only with the deeds that someone had done during the course of their lives - they stood before the gaze of the Angels and Saints. The Holy Angels saw how bright, righteous and godly the soul of Lazarus was, they took it and, rejoicing, carried it to heaven, to Abraham’s bosom; On the contrary, evil spirits approached the rich man’s soul and cast it into hell, to eternal burning in fire. So the happy one in this life became the most unhappy in another life, and the unhappy one here became the happiest there; and the word of the Savior was justified: “the last will be first and the first will be last” (Matthew 20:16). Previously, the rich man, looking down from the height of his dwelling, saw, perhaps more than once, Lazarus at his gates and ignored his needs and sorrows without any attention, but now he himself - in torment - from the underworld, raising his eyes to heaven and seeing Abraham and Lazarus there in glory and bliss, hoped through them to alleviate his torment. He probably remembered some good deeds, so he turned to Abraham; he probably had previously helped Lazarus, so he asked him to use him as an instrument of mercy towards himself. “Father Abraham,” he cried, “have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, as I suffer in this flame” (Luke 16:24). But for his good deeds, God already rewarded him with temporary blessings: contentment, glory, freedom from sorrow; therefore, left with only bad deeds, he had only to accept reward for them - endure eternal punishment. And Abraham said to him: “You have accepted your goodness,” what should have been rewarded to you “in your belly” - everything has already been rewarded to you when you were still in the next world; now suffer - and suffer forever: “a great chasm has established itself between us and you” (Luke 16:25–26). There is no transition from us to you, and from you to us. The rich man realized the truth of Abraham’s words and, with joyless languor, abandoned himself to eternal torment, reproaching himself for his former life. But at the same time, he involuntarily thought of his father’s house and brothers, who all lived the same way as he lived. Without doubting that eternal fire awaits them behind the grave, too, if they do not change their behavior, he took pity on them and, considering the mercy towards them - while still alive - to be right, he prayed to Abraham to send Lazarus at least to his brothers, to correct them, “so that they too may not come to the place of this torment” (Luke 16:28). The prayer is right, but useless. If sinners could conveniently turn from the preaching of the resurrected dead, then wouldn’t the Lord, who spares nothing for our salvation, send them to us? No - such is the hardness of the human heart that if it is meek and submissive, it will submit to the truth, even if it comes from the lips of the simplest and most humble person, but if it is rude, self-willed, then, if someone were to rise again, if an Angel appeared, even God Himself, it would not obey. Therefore Abraham said: they have the word of God - the books of the law of Moses and the prophetic writings; let them read them and gain wisdom for salvation. There is no other way; whoever does not listen to Moses and the prophets will not believe, even if someone has risen from the dead. Here is a parable, and perhaps the very truth. The Lord knows everything, both what has been and what will be; what is happening in this life, and what will happen beyond the grave. He could see either in the past or in the future - perhaps in our time - how some wealthy person did not want to accept the poor, especially those close to him, and how later, after death, the poor was glorified, and the rich was consigned to fire. Whether this incident is true or a parable, the edification of this legend, the lessons of behavior offered in it, are always valuable and effective. There are many of them, let’s note the most important ones. It could not, without a doubt, escape your attention that three places in this parable are especially instructive and important: 1) “child, remember that you received your goodness in your belly” (Luke 16:25); 2) “a great chasm has established itself between us and you” (Luke 16:26); 3) “They have Moses and the prophets, and let them listen to them” (Luke 16:29). - The first depicts the rule of God's judgment, the second - the state of the condemned, and the third - indicates a way to avoid condemnation. 1) “Child, remember that you received your goodness in your belly.” It should be noted, brethren, that the parable does not say that the rich man accumulated his wealth by unrighteousness, it does not call him a cruel oppressor of the poor, contemptuous or proud; he only says that he lived in contentment, dressed luxuriously, lived openly and almost always had mutual conversations with his friends. Perhaps he did good deeds. As a prominent person in society, he probably did not refuse general donations, and perhaps surpassed others in this; Every holiday he went to church, gave alms, was friendly, hospitable, did something else good. But as in all these cases he acted not out of love for goodness, but because he had seen such customs from an early age, not for the glory of God, but so that nothing bad would be said about him, God rewarded him for his goodness with temporary blessings: a pleasant, comfortable and glorious life. Therefore, when he appeared in the next world, there was absolutely nothing to reward him for. For all the good he had already been rewarded: the evil remained unrewarded, and for that they rewarded him with eternal torment. Let us, brethren, once upon a time stand before the judgment of God and speak everything before the Judge; now we base the hope of salvation on it; we will say that we did such and such a good deed, then we gave alms, then we gave good and saving advice, we fasted often, often went to church and prayed earnestly; let us generally display all the good deeds that anyone has, for this is the only, solid and known foundation of salvation. He who has no good deeds has nothing to judge. But, oh, if only, brethren, the Judge did not say to any of us: “Son, remember how you received your goodness in your belly.” Or it may happen that He will destroy all our fragile hopes of salvation. “You gave alms,” He will say, but on the other hand, I always gave you everything enough and in abundance; you sometimes fasted, but you always had strong shelter, comfortable clothes, a tasty table; you prayed earnestly to God, but all your life you did not know a single sorrow or sorrow; It may happen that, in general, for all our good, the Lord Judge will show us some good in our life as a reward for this good. What then? “Then He will say to each of us, like Abraham to the rich man: “Remember that you received your goodness” - and will reward us with eternal punishment for only bad deeds. And we still grieve when we encounter some kind of grief, and we rejoice to the point of madness when we receive some temporary benefit! We, brothers, judge and feel wrong! Wouldn't it be more correct if we consider every temporary good that comes to us as an undermining of our hope of salvation, a thief of our right to a blissful eternity? The Wise One said little: “When wealth flows, do not put your heart on it” (Ps. 61:11). - No, when wealth flows, turn away from it, hate it with all the strength of your heart, cry when it flows. It’s not enough to say: when trouble strikes, endure it generously. - No, thirst for disasters, pray for their sending down and meet them with complete joy, as messengers of God’s mercy, as a guarantee of eternal bliss, as the door to heaven. “Have all joy, my brethren, whenever you fall into various temptations” (James 1:2), that is, when you are exposed to disasters. One pious man, when the Lord sent him some temporary joy, met it with inconsolable sorrow and cried out to the Lord with copious tears: “Lord! Why are you giving me this perishable good? Or do You want to take away the justification from my soul at Your judgment? Lover of humanity! Better send me some kind of grief! Let us pray, brothers, that the Lord will put the same thoughts and feelings on our hearts. Otherwise, accepting each good with our hearts attached to it, we recognize in it a reward for ourselves here and, therefore, deprive ourselves of a reward in the future. God forbid if in this life we ​​exhaust all our rewards. At the judgment of God, if not rewards, then execution, and execution - eternal. 2) Eternal execution! This word is terrible, but true. Whoever the Lord determines for eternal torment will forever be in hell. Both the Lord Himself and His definitions are unchangeable. Who knows this from repeated experiments! The Lord determined to drown the first sinful world - and he did; determined to burn Sodom and Gomorrah - and burned it; determined to destroy Jerusalem and scatter the Jews - and did so; and so in general, as the Lord determines, so it happens without any change or cancellation. Thus, God’s final decision at the trial will become an impassable chasm between heaven and hell. “There is a great abyss between us and you,” said righteous Abraham to the sinful rich man. To destroy this abyss, it is necessary that God cease to be God and that He, having destroyed all those condemned to eternal torment, creates new people in their place. Just as an unclean and broken clay vessel is not suitable for a royal meal, so a person condemned to hell is not suitable for heaven - hell is his eternal home, there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. The crying and gnashing of teeth is not only due to the greatness of the torment, but especially because there is no end in sight. When a criminal is punished, he hurts and is tormented, but he hurts and is tormented not yet with the fullness of grief. His grief is eased by the hope that his illness and wounds will soon end, that there is an end to his blows. Not so in hell. And it does not occur to the sinner that there will ever be an end to his torment, and this imagination of the infinity of torment kills his soul at every moment with joyless languor and despair. He will think: a hundred years will pass, maybe then the Lord will take pity on me; a hundred years will pass, and there will be no end to the torment. I will expect that after a thousand years, the Lord will surely be merciful and, if not stop, at least ease my suffering; but a thousand and thousands of thousands of years will pass, and there will be no end to the torment, and there will be no noticeable diminution of it. One Roman king condemned some of his nobles to prison. After some time, they, relying on their previous merits, sent to ask the king to cancel the punishment, but the king said to the messengers: tell those who sent that I am still angry. After quite some time, they sent again to ask the king for mercy, but this time the king said the same thing: I am still angry. And even later - for a long, long time they sent, but the king even then gave the same answer: I am still angry. Brothers, thousands of years of hellish torment will pass; sinners will send up their prayers to God for mercy, but the righteous Judge will say to them: I am still angry. Millions of millions will pass, but even then God will answer the prayers of sinners: I am still angry. A countless number of years will pass - the minds of angels will be lost in their counting - and one word of the inexorable Judge will still thunder over hell: I am still angry, I am still angry. 3) Of us, brethren, without a doubt, none of us wants to experience such a fate over ourselves. Who is your own enemy?! We must not, however, forget that the mere desire not to be in hell will not save us from hell. You never know, for example, who wants to be learned and famous, but in reality, only those who zealously seek what they want are learned and famous—they don’t sleep, don’t eat food to the fullest, and don’t spare time and effort. So it is here: only he will not be in hell who, with all zeal, with all zeal, with all care and even haste, does deeds worthy of heaven. Zeal for piety, the determination to give everything - even your very life for salvation - this is what a person who wants to avoid the torments of hell should primarily arouse and strengthen in his heart. Whoever makes up his mind, nothing is difficult for him, he will do everything, endure everything. But the main thing is how to arouse determination? How to awaken yourself from carelessness, how to warm a cold heart? The rich man thought to convert his brothers by the miracle of the resurrection, but righteous Abraham said: they will not listen to the resurrected one if they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, and indicated in revelation the only means of awakening jealousy in the souls of the weakened: “they will have Moses and the prophets, and let them listen to them.” And indeed, whoever loves the word of God and reads it can only have a soft, simple and submissive heart. For us in real life it is the only lamp that illuminates and warms. Life in this world is like wandering in a dark and cold dungeon. Just as in a dungeon the road is only visible when even a faint ray of light penetrates from above, only the one who has taken a lamp with him from above can walk the straight road; so in our life, then only can we know and determine the true way of behavior and concepts when the light of truth reaches us through revelation from heaven; Only he can walk in the right direction who, by frequent contact with this heavenly light, has kindled within himself the Divine lamp, which was lit at the time of creation, but then extinguished by the wind of passions and evil inclinations. Let us turn our eyes and hearts to the word of God, let us love it, let us embrace it with all the strength of our strength. With a submissive heart, with a sincere desire for edification, with a prayer full of faith to God, that through His word He secretly influences our heart and softens it, let us approach Him as often as possible. Perhaps at the same time we will wake up from sleep, perhaps the Lord will send us good thoughts and feelings. Let the first experience be without any fruit, let us force ourselves to do so in the next; there will be no success in the second - we will force it into the third, fourth and so on. Surely, someday there will be a moment when a fire will kindle in our soul, burn up everything unclean and sinful and arouse the lamp of a pious, righteous and chaste life. Then the Lord, seeing our zeal and labor, will not hesitate to give us His all-illuminating and all-reviving grace. For He promised: “Press and it will be opened, seek and you will find” (Matthew 7:7). Let us look as diligently as possible for liveliness, warmth and light in the word of God - and we will find it. And then, when this fire - an inspired determination to do good - ignites in our hearts, then we will do so many deeds, in such a short time, with such haste and liveliness, that others, and we ourselves, will marvel at ourselves, not comprehending where such a wealth of good deeds comes from. An inspired determination to please God—zeal for piety—is God’s power in us, for which there is no labor, no obstacles, no fatigue. May the Lord give us such wonderful strength! Amen. Word on the Day of the Descent of the Holy Spirit “And the nations appeared to them divided like fire, sitting on one of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:3-4). Now, brethren, the promise that the Lord gave to His holy Apostles before the Ascension to send them another Comforter, another Teacher and Defender has been fulfilled. The apostles rejoiced at this with unspeakable joy; We too rejoice in them, and for the sake of spiritual joy we are now organizing a bright celebration. Because the Holy Spirit who descended on them is the property of all Christians, all true and Orthodox believers. What was given to the Apostles was given to the Church; what was in the Church should be common to all. Every member of the Church carries within himself the grace of the Spirit, and therefore is a member of it because he has been blessed. It is not who makes himself a Christian, but Divine power. Therefore, the joy and triumph of the Apostles is the joy and triumph of the Church; the joy and triumph of the Church is the joy and triumph of every Christian. Let us rejoice, brethren, at the descent of the Holy Spirit, because through this we have all become partakers of His grace. But the higher the gift, the more doubtful the possession; The more significant the good, the more painful the deception. Therefore, many may have a desire to ask: we have all become partakers of the Holy Spirit; when and how did this happen? And how can we be sure that the Divine Spirit definitely dwells in us and acts? Such a desire may be born not out of curiosity, but out of reasonable fear, because the possession of the Spirit is an essential need of believers, so whoever does not have the Spirit is not saved and will not be saved. It is all the more natural, therefore, to seek solutions to such questions. When is it more appropriate to do this, if not on the present festival in honor of the descent of the Holy Spirit? When and how did we accept and accept the grace of the Holy Spirit? - In the Holy and Divine Sacraments. In each sacrament, the Divine Spirit secretly acts and imparts to the believers its beneficial sanctifying power. Whoever is baptized receives from Him new life in regeneration; whoever is anointed receives a certain gift for the building of the Church; whoever confesses is cleansed of sins; whoever receives communion receives the Lord Himself into himself. Is anyone else worthy of the sacraments? – He also receives some other grace: either the priesthood, or the mysterious unity of souls and bodies, or the healing of spirit and flesh. There are so many abundant gifts of Divine grace in the Holy Church! Come everyone and be filled to overflowing. No one is barred from entering, the inexhaustible treasury is open to everyone. Collect as much as you can fit and carry. Here, not like those on earth: whoever takes more is more praiseworthy; whoever comes more often is received with more love. And everyone who approaches this source partakes of the Spirit of God and is undoubtedly made worthy of His gift. For “He who promised is faithful” (Heb. 10:23). But are we ever faithful in this? Did we and do we approach Him with true spirit and heart, with faith, that is, fear, desire, purity? For not in the way that some think, the grace of the Holy Spirit is received: just approach, they say, the sacraments, and you will receive the gift, no matter what the disposition of your heart may be, and not in the way that others philosophize: only imprint conditional dispositions in your heart and pray - the overshadowing will come from the Spirit, whether the sacrament is being performed or not. No, brethren, not a single sacrament without the participation of our heart communicates the Spirit, not a single heart without the sacraments attracts His power, but only both together. Let there be sweet drink, but you must open your mouth and attract it to drink; there are aromas, but you have to inhale them to smell them; there is light, but you need to open your eyes to see. So it is here. The sacraments are vessels of overflowing grace; but when approaching them, open your mouth of spirit and heart with a good disposition, so that you may be filled with its fullness. Man is not only physical, but also spiritual, and the sacrament consists not only of the visible, but also of the invisible. No one mind - an invisible one - can attract grace from a sacrament that also has something invisible, no one visible acceptance of a sacrament can extract from it what is visible, but must combine both. When the visible communicates with the visible, then the invisible will also communicate with the invisible, that is, the grace of the Divine Spirit - to our spirit. And this undoubtedly happens every time someone approaches the Mysteries with a true heart. – And this is how and when the Holy Spirit is received and received by us! But here, brethren, lies the answer to another question: how can we know whether the grace of the Holy Spirit is in us?.. Have you received the sacraments? And was it accepted in compliance with all necessary conditions? – Let us undoubtedly believe that we also have the Holy Spirit. Are you looking for the most tangible signs of the presence of the Holy Spirit within you? - They happen, and they happen to everyone; but know that he who believes does better than he who wants to touch. “Those who have not seen blessings have believed” (John 20:29), says the Lord. God leads us in darkness, although He does not deprive us of enlightenment. Therefore, he is closer to the Divine order who gives himself to be led without trying to see how he is being led. He is that God-loving child to whom the Kingdom undoubtedly belongs. Let us also rest in the bosom of our mother Church and believe that she did not deprive us of the grace of the Spirit, since we opened our lips with the proper disposition to receive it from the sacraments. And this is better, safer, more godly than if someone sees that they hope. There are also tangible signs of the gracious dwelling of the Spirit of God in us, and they are revealed to the seeker in the simplest and most intelligible way in the visible phenomena that accompanied the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles; for, according to the understanding of the holy fathers, they are symbols of the invisible actions of the Holy Spirit on the souls of believers. Therefore, do we want to be more tangibly confident in the power of the Spirit acting in us? Let us turn to these signs, understand their spiritual signification, and then determine with our conscience whether we have what they mean or not. If there is, then there is the Spirit of God in us; if not, there is no Spirit of God in us. Thus, noise and stormy breathing signify the confusion of our spirit into which it comes when the Spirit of God influences it for the first time - when, that is, He awakens the conscience, convicts of sins, threatens judgment and execution, and thus fills the entire house of the soul with movements of fear and deeply shakes the entire building of our being - confusion, as a result of which they come to repentance and surrender to a truly Christian life. Let us approach our heart and ask: was it ever shaken by the consciousness of its sins and is it shaken? Has he lamented the iniquities and is he still lamenting? Has he mourned and is mourning his lewdness? Has he and does he hate all untruths? Have you set and maintained a firm intention to live in the commandments of God? – Fire, which was chosen by the Spirit of God as a symbol of His appearance, means that when He overshadows the soul, He brings with Him the light of spiritual vision, or the light of living and rational faith, warms the heart with the warmth of love and zeal for pleasing God, cleanses it from all the impurity of passions and clothes it in the bright clothing of virtues, just as fire shines, warms, and cleanses. Let us go inside ourselves and see: is our faith alive in us? And is it illuminated by all the paths of our life, both internal and external, or by something else? Does the fire of holy zeal act, rushing uncontrollably towards everything that pleases God, and turning away from everything that displeases Him? Are we “clothed with the belly of generous gifts” (Col. 3:12)? Do we have “love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control” (Gal. 5:22–23)? Are such virtues imprinted and imprinted on our hearts - undoubted fruits and indicators of the Spirit of God in us? Finally, the Holy Spirit descended in the form of tongues of fire to show that when He enters the soul, He imparts to it the gift of the spiritual word, or prayer, for prayer is a conversation between the mind and God, or a reverent word from a person to God. Is there any effect of prayer in us? Do we know how to talk with God? Do we know the sweetness of this work? Do we willingly begin such service? In prayer, does our mind rise up to the mountain like a censer, or does it stretch down to the bottom like unclean smoke?.. And so, if we find that all this is in us, then there is no doubt that the grace of the Holy Spirit is in us; if not, the Divine Spirit does not act in us. These are signs of grace, decisive and, as it were, exceptional. But at the same time, let us not forget, brethren, that we must not say or think within ourselves: I have the Spirit, because I find in myself this and that action of Him, but always rest completely only on faith in His presence and action in us - on faith, although undoubted, but still not on vision. For it is not we who oblige Him to this or that action, but He Himself produces in us whatever He wants, according to His good pleasure. He breathes wherever he wants, and breathes on everyone as he wants. Now He produces sorrow, now joy, now peace of spirit, now its delightful leaps, now tenderness, now pain, now abandonment, now fulfillment, fear and hope, boldness and fear. Yet this Divine Spirit, according to the wise view of us, acts in accordance with the properties and needs of each person, with the methods of educating him specifically, with what is dangerous and favorable for him. What will you choose, looking for obvious signs of the Spirit, as evidence of His presence in you? Will you choose strong movements? - But He, perhaps, Himself produces only quiet ones in you; the strong are the fruit of your own tension, for we ourselves can produce something good. Will you choose the sad ones? - But He, perhaps, intended to pour joy into you, and left sorrow to you: for it is not akin to us. Thus, no matter what you call a sign of the Spirit, there is always the possibility of being deceived and lying, and, moreover, lying against the Holy Spirit. Let us better believe that we have the Divine Spirit, that He dwells in us and acts, arranging our own salvation and the creation of our spirit, now leaving us to act, now Himself directly imprinting special instructions, now preceding, now following, changing the paths, but not abandoning them. What exactly when from the Spirit, we will not test. Let us surrender only to Him and pray: “Treasure of the good, come and dwell in us and cleanse us from all filth”! So the Lord was pleased to arrange for us the path of salvation, so that everyone would only know that he was being led along it, but how? - this is hidden from us. It is almost impossible for a person to reveal anything about himself clearly, without danger to him. Our pride has such an evil eye that whatever it sees as good in itself, it eats it all and kills it with its poison. Therefore, it is more salutary for us to keep ourselves in some apprehension and fearful concern for the Divine Spirit, rather than to reach the decisive assurance: I know by this and that I have the Spirit. There we will be awake, searching, straining; Here let us indulge in peace, as if we had reached what we were looking for and entered the harbour. It will not be surprising if we fall into exaltation and find death, dreaming of being filled with Divine life. Or we will attribute to the spirit what is from nature, and we will not seek the Spirit, without Whom there is no salvation for anyone. Do you think that the enemy will also sleep and miss the favorable opportunity? But before whom does he transform into an angel of light, if not before one who seeks the tactile actions of the Spirit? Why and in general does he sow the seeds of seductive suggestions, if not so that we say that we mean something, for our own stumbling and fall. What is higher than to have a visible fellowship with God the Spirit? That’s why will anyone pray and be moved? - the enemy comes and says: this is from the Spirit; how perfect you are! Who gives alms with compassion and pain? - the enemy is inspiring again: you, like God, are good... Who suffered the insult? - You see, he says, you are an imitator of Christ’s passions. And in general, no matter what a good person does, the enemy always rushes to occupy him with the thought that he is filled with the Spirit, that the Spirit is obviously working in him. And this is in order to instill conceit and pride and thus, by depriving Divine help, destroy it, for “God opposes the proud” (James 4:6). So, brethren, let us be wary of the decisive signs of the presence of the Holy Spirit in us. That the Spirit of God acts in us, we will undoubtedly accept this by our faith, without passing on to the idea that we are full vessels of grace. Whatever the reason for the Divine power to act in us, may some timidity and a careful search for the Spirit not leave us, and may the unceasing prayer come from our hearts: Holy and True Soul! Come and dwell in us and do not leave Your Divine inspirations from us! Keeping ourselves in such a state of mind and without noticing it, we will ascend to perfection, just as, according to the word of the Savior, a person does not know how the seed he sows grows, but it does. Walking humbly in the statutes of our Holy Church, often partaking of the sacraments, we will sincerely touch the Divine Spirit, warm with Him and through Him His gift infused into us; and at the same time, progressing in virtues, let us not resolutely affirm and deceive ourselves that we already have what we are looking for, but, surrendering to the will of God with trust, let us flow in the darkness of faith until the day dawns for us, which will bring into the light all that is secret and hidden. May the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ give us the power to “be strengthened by His Spirit in the inner man” (Eph. 3:16). Amen. Intercession and Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos Called by this festival to the Most Holy Lady Theotokos, let us raise our minds and hearts and pray earnestly to Her, our speedy Helper and Intercessor. Are you aware, and who is not aware of Her haste to entreaty, no matter who turns to Her with warm faith? Knowing this correctly, you flow to Her speedy intercession and protection. However, I think it is not superfluous, in order to revive faith and hope and the heart of your swiftest aspiration to the Lady Theotokos, to bring to your memory several experiences of Her intercession, so that in conclusion I can tell you, no matter what need oppresses anyone, come, without hesitation, and you will receive what you ask for. Let's start with Spiritual needs. Our Lady Theotokos converts sinners and helps them overcome their sinful habits. Remember the appeal of the Venerable Mary of Egypt. An invisible force did not allow her to venerate the Holy Sepulcher and His Life-Giving Cross, barring her from entering the church several times. Having come to her senses and realizing that it is probably because of her sins that she is not given entry into the church, the Venerable Mary falls on her face before the holy icon of the Most Pure Lady Theotokos that was on the wall here, begging Her to let her see the life-giving tree of the Cross of the Lord and worship it, and promising to give up her usual sin and not be defiled by it anymore. The Lady Theotokos immediately heard this prayer, turning away the invisible rebuke and filling the heart of the repentant with trustworthy boldness. After this, Mary enters the church, venerates the life-giving Cross and the Holy Sepulcher and, returning, again falls before the holy icon of the Mother of God in feelings of gratitude and hears the voice: “If you cross the Jordan, you will find good peace.” This is the same as: in the deserts of Trans-Jordan is your salvation. What followed was a retreat into the desert, labors of fasting, struggle with passions, purification, and heights of communion with God. This is the bright path of repentance, arranged by the maternal care of the Lady for those who perished in sins. So, whoever’s heart is hardened by sin, flow to the Lady, and She will soften him and dispose him to repentance. Here's another case. Do you know the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos called “Unexpected Joy”? She shows how the Most Holy Theotokos helped one sinner overcome the passion that possessed him. Although this man was a sinner, he had the good custom of worshiping the Lady every day with tears before Her holy icon in the church, past which he had to walk. One morning, according to custom, this sinner comes in and worships. But, raising his head, he sees that the Eternal Child on the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos has a torn shirt and the wounds on his arms and legs and between his ribs are bleeding. In fright, the sinner exclaimed: “O Lady Theotokos, who did this?” “You and sinners like you,” answered the Lady from the icon. This word struck him so much that he became completely sober and from then on did not succumb to his usual passion. So, if you cannot overcome passion, even though you would like to, flow to the Lady, and She knows how to arrange for jealousy to overcome passion to overshadow you and attract grace-filled help for this. These are experiences of converting sinners through the admonition of the Most Holy Theotokos; and there is also experience of how it elevates those who are zealous for salvation to perfection. Thus, She guided one zealot of piety in the exploits of salvation, just as his spiritual father sometimes guides him. When he came to the Church of God, he usually stood before the icon of the Lady Theotokos and prayed. But the Lady had such an effect on him that if he had not sinned in anything - neither in word, nor in deed, nor in thought, She showed him Her face on the icon, bright and welcoming, and if he sinned in anything, then She showed Her face gloomy, sternly looking and disgusted. In the first case, he rejoiced and thanked the Lord and His Most Pure Mother, and in the second, he carefully began to reconsider all his deeds and words, all his thoughts and feelings and, having found what was wrong, he repented and with tears begged for forgiveness until the face of the Most Holy Theotokos appeared to him again in kindness. So, according to the instructions of the face of the Most Holy Theotokos, he corrected every mistake and malfunction of his, and with such guidance he finally appeared as a man, perfect in everything. So, if you need guidance, flow to the Lady, She will indicate or inspire how and what to pay attention to, work and strength. Here is another case of how She inspired the labors and exploits of one who was beginning to weaken in them. He was a good ascetic, but he thought that sometimes he could cut himself some slack; You can, for example, be too lazy to stand reverently in the Church of God, and pray less diligently, and give freedom to your thoughts. Wanting to enlighten him, the Most Holy Theotokos honored him with such a vision. In the church, at the all-night vigil on the Feast of the Theotokos, his intelligent eyes opened, and he saw the Lady Theotokos walking among those present in the church. As She walked, She passed by some like this, turned away from others, shook Her head before others, and gave out coins to others: some gold, some silver, sometimes large, sometimes small, sometimes medium. She approached the one who saw this vision and gave him a small copper coin. He had the courage to humbly ask: “What does this mean, Lady?” And She mercifully answered him: “According to labor is the reward; what you sow is what you reap.” Since then, this husband, like a candle, burned in the church, standing cheerfully, fervently praying and thoughts undistractedly directing grief, and then outside the church, in all other deeds and exploits, showing ardent zeal and diligence; having thus succeeded in all virtues, he departed to another life to receive the reward promised to the perfect. So, your jealousy weakens; flow to the Lady, and She will inspire you. This is how the Mother of God taught virtues; and even from heresies it protected simple ones from errors of mind, those who worked hard to understand Divine truths. A Nestorian heretic gave one old man, who loved to read sacred books, a book by a famous holy father, in which notebooks with their heretical teachings were deliberately attached to the end, in the idea that the old man, in his simplicity, would read this heretical scripture without understanding it. And in fact, the elder would have been tempted, but the Most Holy Theotokos did not allow him to do so. One day, sitting in his cell, he saw the Lady walking and with childish simplicity began to beg Her to visit his cell. The Most Holy Theotokos answered him: “I cannot go to you. You keep my enemy in your cell,” and she became invisible. The elder was frightened and began to dig and sort through everything in his cell to find what kind of enemy of the Mother of God he was; Finally, at someone’s direction, he found that this enemy was a heretical Nestorian scripture in the book given to him, for the Nestorians do not honor the Most Holy Theotokos. The elder tore out the sheets and burned them, and then was honored with a visit from the Lady. And then the other was a learned man who loved to delve into the Divine Scripture, who read and wrote a lot. There was such mercy for him that every time he began to form any conviction contrary to the holy truth, he heard a clear warning from the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, again reconsidered his thoughts and corrected the wrong. So, whether your thoughts or outside speeches confuse the truth of your faith, flow to the Lady, and She will turn away the temptation. You see now how emergency help from the Most Holy Lady Theotokos is always ready for us for all our spiritual needs. It will turn you away from error, incite you to repentance, instruct you in goodness, and revive your zeal for exploits. And in bodily needs She always helped those who sincerely turned to Her, and delivered from all troubles, from unexpected illness, from human malice, from fire, robbery, poverty, ruin, poison and other misfortunes. How many examples of this! I gave you examples of Her special help in spiritual needs only because you can judge from them about bodily ones, and especially because our Spiritual side requires more care and complete indication of intelligible guidelines. Let me add it now: this is how it happened. See where and how help came from, turn there and revive your trust and prayer with these examples. I don’t want to say that you should expect the same blessings for yourself, but I only want to refresh your cheerful approach to the Most Holy Theotokos and your warm resort to Her. Spiritual help is not always visibly given. More often it occurs internally, through changes in thoughts and feelings. And who produces it and how one state of spirit leaves and another comes, we often cannot give ourselves an account. We are constantly under the heavenly influence of Angels, saints and especially the Most Holy Theotokos, Who does nothing but flow around the whole world, looks out for those in need and helps those who turn to Her. Often we don’t know why any happiness comes, but this is why. The Mother of God comes and spreads goodness everywhere around Her. Knowing this, often cry out in your heart: “O Lady, have mercy on us!” When she comes, She will hear and help. And it’s better to have your heart in the same way as the examples above teach. Do not wait until an invisible force prevents you from entering the church to admonish you, and the Lady, through your repentant prayer, will avert this rebuke, and, knowing such a case in advance, take care to expel from your heart that which may not allow you to enter the church. Do not wait until the Most Holy Lady shows you the Infant Savior in a torn shirt and with wounds oozing blood in order to arouse you to repentance, but yourself, knowing what pain and sorrow our sins cause to our Lord and Savior, decide in your heart it is better to die than to autocratically and consciously indulge in any sins. Do not wait for the Mother of God to show you the badness of your moral state by changing Her face, but constantly pay attention to yourself and do not allow any bad thoughts or feelings. Do not wait until you see in a vision how the Most Holy Theotokos in the church, going around everyone, will hand out coins to others, and she will pass by you, or shake her head at you, or turn Her face away from you in order to awaken you from negligence, but, knowing this, inspire yourself with zeal for standing reverently and attentively at church services, not giving any indulgence to either your body or your thoughts. Do not wait for a special phenomenon to warn you against errors, but yourself, knowing the touchstone of truth, according to his instructions, guard your mind and turn away your ears from ungodly thoughts and heretical teachings; not accepting any evil books or speeches, but moreover keeping his heart in such faith and holiness that the Most Holy Theotokos, passing by, would not pass him by, but would be worthy of Her merciful visit, testifying to this by the sudden sweetness of the heart, peace and tranquility. So it is in all other cases. Thank the Lord that we have experienced confirmation of the heavenly help that is ready for us. Therefore, the Lord did and does this so that the sinner does not fall into despair, knowing that until death comes, there is still hope for repentance and correction. But isn’t it better for us to behave in such a way that we don’t bother heaven with ourselves, but bring joy and joy to the Angels and Saints, especially to the Most Holy Theotokos, the much-sick Trustee of the entire Christian race. If this has not occurred to anyone before, let him do it now - in commemoration of the holiday in honor of the Mother of God, Who, now being especially generous, also looks at how and what Christians bring to Her as gifts and how they are disposed towards Her. Take care not to offend Her gaze and not to turn away Her merciful visit. Amen. You might be interested in: