15. Слово на Благовещение Пресвятой Богородицы (Воплощение Сына Божия – начало всего домостроительства нашего спасения. Велия благочестия тайна приходит в явление, совет предвечный открывается, премудрость, сокровенная от века и родов, провозвещается. Но тайна не перестает быть тайной)

“The day of our salvation is the greatest!” (Troparion of the holiday) - This is how the Holy Church determines the meaning of the current holiday. She calls the Holy Annunciation the main principle of our salvation, that is, its beginning, source, seed, root. And this is for the sake of the incarnation of God the Word accomplished in him, for the sake of the fact that in him the Son of God became the Son of the Virgin. The incarnation of the Son of God is precisely the beginning of the entire economy of our salvation. As a result, there was already birth, circumcision, the Presentation, growth in wisdom and understanding, baptism, appearance to the world with preaching and miracles, suffering and death on the cross, resurrection, ascension into heaven, the sending of the Holy Spirit on the apostles, the establishment by the apostles of the entire Church of God, which embraced the entire universe and reached us. You see for yourself how the seed planted at the Annunciation has grown into a great saving tree, a tree covering all the countries of the world with its branches. Here is an indication of how important our salvation is today! But, brethren, know that for each of us personally, the economy of salvation becomes salvific from the moment we become partakers of its salvation. Is it possible to see in the Holy Annunciation the primacy of salvation in this regard? - Can. It is in the image of the Annunciation and its spirit that those main dispositions of the heart, or that main mood of the spirit, which testify to the beginning of salvation in us and make us worthy of it, are indicated to us. How this is and what exactly, this is what I want to draw your attention to now. Imagine more vividly the very event of the Annunciation. Here it is! The Most Pure Virgin is in a humble, prayerful and submissive position, before her is the heavenly messenger Archangel Gabriel - preaching the gospel. But invisibly above them this picture is completed - God the Father, deigning to give us His Son, the Son coming to do His will, and the Holy Spirit descending to overshadow the Most Pure One. Place your attention on this picture and learn from it! What is this happening? – The mystery of the greatness of piety comes into manifestation, the Eternal Council is revealed, the wisdom hidden from time immemorial and from generation to generation is proclaimed. The time has come, and what was laid down from the creation of the world is being fulfilled. With all this, however, the secret does not cease to be a secret. Only the All-Seeing Trinitarian God saw how and why, by the good pleasure of the Father, the Son of God should become the son of man and the Holy Spirit should descend and overshadow the unskilled woman for conception. The angelic and human world sees what is happening, fulfills what is commanded, but does not comprehend what is happening. Angels only want to penetrate into the mystery of the Incarnation. Without penetrating it, however, the Archangel flies down from the heavenly circles, preaches the gospel, and convinces. The more the Most Pure Virgin does not comprehend this secret. Despite this, he not only does not contradict, but also surrenders himself entirely to the all-action of God. And what disposed them to such humility? There is an undoubted knowledge that this is what God wants and so commands. And here is the fundamental productive beginning of salvation in us! Not a vision of everything as it is and should be, but only knowledge that God wants it this way, knowledge accompanied by unconditional submission. The mysteries of salvation remain mysteries to this day - both in dogmas and in many commandments, and, especially, in the communication of grace-filled gifts. Try to penetrate them, if you want, imitating the Angels, but first submit to them in the darkness of faith, for it is not knowledge that saves, but faith. In the Annunciation, which marked the beginning of our salvation, everyone only submits and does not reason - the Son of God, the Holy Spirit, the Archangel, and the Blessed Virgin! Let it be so in each of us! See further how this great mystery of piety is accomplished. All-round self-deprecation. The Only Begotten Son of God, who is the radiance of glory and the image of the Father’s hypostasis, goes to humble himself, taking on the form of a servant, - he descends deeply in order to raise the deeply fallen and in humiliation, secretly, bring about the grace-filled dispensation of salvation. The Archangel foresees that the unknown Virgin on earth, who incomprehensibly has to be the Matter of God, will become more honest than Cherub, more glorious without comparison than Seraphim; but, despite this, he humbly preaches the gospel and reverently convinces, and does not leave until he has heard: wake me according to your word. The Most Pure Virgin, having heard from the Angel the lofty words about Herself: “Gracious, blessed are You among women,” was embarrassed, thinking, “What will this kiss be like?” She did not see the perfections in Herself, although Her Soul and body were adorned with them, and did not comprehend how such praise could apply to Her, to the point that the heavenly messenger had to lift up Her self-abasement somewhat, not, however, by describing Her personal merits, but by indicating the favor of God. Don't be afraid; You have found grace from God - as it were: not everything comes from Your dignity, but from the grace that has to act in You... So the incomprehensibly great work of the Incarnation, the power of which extends to all eternity, was covered up everywhere by deep self-abasement and humility and took place in the humble hut of a woodworker, in a city from which no one expected anything good. The work of salvation begins in us with humility and self-abasement. We must approach it with a deep consciousness of our obscenity and worthlessness, we must deeply feel: I don’t know and I don’t have the strength, but they weigh their fates, save me, Lord! In the meantime, there is a arrogant voice inside: I know it myself and I can do it myself - learn from this that the work of salvation has not yet begun in you! God's power saves; but you must turn your power into nothing so that the omniactive power of God can begin to act. Presumption brought destruction into the world; it is she who keeps him in a disastrous state. One must evade it in order to take the saved path. Here is the second disposition that conditions our salvation, which together with the first will form the following rule: humble yourself with your whole being and unquestioningly submit to the will of God, which arranges our salvation. For whomever this happens, the work of achieving salvation will begin from this moment. The question is, what to look for in this work? - Cleanliness. And this answer will also be given to us by the currently celebrated Divine event. For look: Who incarnates? – The only begotten Son of God, the most pure radiance of glory and the image of the Father’s hypostasis. Who preaches this? – The Ethereal Angel is the most pure servant of the innermost secret. By whom and how is the gospel received? - A virgin and no other than under the condition of preserving virginity, no other than after the assurance that the Holy Spirit will find and the power of the Most High will overshadow. The Most Pure Virgin remained a virgin not only in the act of incarnation, but also in Christmas and after Christmas. The main principle of our salvation is so completely surrounded by purity! And our salvation, personal to each one, begins with the desire for purity, continues with zeal for purity, and ends with the acquisition of purity. Our nature came from the hands of the Creator immaculate and pure. The Fall made it corrupt and unclean, and this is in all parts and powers of our being. When the beginning of salvation is laid by submission to the truth, the cleansing of the impurities that cover us begins. This is what zealots of salvation should keep in mind! Be zealous to cleanse your mind from vain thoughts, from delusions, doubts and stubborn unbelief, be zealous to cleanse your will of impure goals, vicious inclinations and habits and sinful deeds; strive to cleanse your heart from passionate, outrageous movements of lust, anger, envy, hatred, conceit, pride, greed for sensuality, etc. Be jealous of all this until you raise your nature to that virginity with which it was adorned when it came out of the hands of the Creator. These are the dispositions that constitute the main principle of salvation, already acting in us, the dispositions indicated to us by the main principle of salvation, established by the incarnation of God the Word in the Annunciation! Briefly this: having extinguished all arrogance, in self-abasement, humbly, without philosophizing, submit to the revealed will of God and act according to it, being zealous to cleanse yourself of all the impurities with which you are burdened through your ancestral fall and your arbitrary sins! Someone will say: these rules and instructions are too general. - I answer: exactly, general and all-encompassing, therefore they are considered the main and inexact ones in the matter of salvation. But for the same reason, they do not soar at some indefinite height, but have and should have an application in every saving action, they constitute or should constitute his soul. I’ll explain with an example. “We are commanded: repent.” - A person seeking salvation must, having laid down the tools of the mind, put aside all the twists and turns of self-justification and, humbly submitting to the command, fulfill it with pure intention, for the glory of God. It is commanded to give alms. - One must submit, without sparing oneself and without desecrating one’s deeds with vanity and man-pleasing. It is commanded to pray. – We must fulfill it by humiliating ourselves to the point of being poor and exhausted from needs and illnesses. - You are commanded not to be angry. – We must suppress the consciousness of our rights and obey the commandment with self-compulsion. So, no matter what work you take, in every case, as the hidden productive forces, there must be self-sacrificing self-abasement and submission, humble and without reflection, and zeal for purity, merciless towards oneself. Having realized this, let us act in this way for the glory of the Incarnate Lord, in honor of the Most Pure Virgin and our own salvation, so that not only with our tongue, but with our whole being we sing: “the day of our salvation is the greatest.” Amen. You might be interested in: