50. Слово на второй день Рождества Христова (Как достойно встретить рождшегося Господа? – Вместе с пастырями – желанием спасения, вместе с Иосифом и Богоматерью – благоговейным упокоением в нем, вместе с волхвами – охотным шествием вслед Его, вместе с ангелами – благодарным славословием Ему)

Of all the sayings that describe the Nativity of Christ and our attitude towards the One who is born, those closest to you, sisters, are the following words: “Hold down Christ from heaven” (Song of the 1st Canon for Christmas). Christ descends from heaven, come out to Candlemas! I say this, adapting to the parable of the ten virgins, for there, too, in the middle of the night a voice sounded: “Behold, the bridegroom comes; go out to the Meeting of Him” (Matthew 25:6). The difference is that there the Judge comes, and here the Savior comes. There, as He found the virgins, He decided (sentenced) them forever, the wise remained wise, and the holy fools remained holy fools, unable to correct their fate. But that’s not the case here; but even if some turn out to be holy fools at the hour of the meeting, there is still time for them to become wise, just as the wise are not without the danger of becoming one of the holy fools. With all the more caution we must learn and carry out how to worthily meet the born Lord, who came down from heaven for our sake as a man and for our salvation. When news spreads in any country that the Tsar is coming, all the inhabitants of that country begin to move and carefully begin to prepare to receive the Tsar in a manner worthy of a Tsar: they fix the streets, decorate the houses, put on display everything that they have best, so as to show both the Tsar and everyone else that they are not in ordinary circumstances. It's the same with us. From a distance we began to prepare for the holiday: the cells were cleaned, the work was put away, new clothes were sewn, and something extra was prepared for the table, so that both our own and outsiders saw that we were having a holiday. So, everything is done for appearances; but will the born Lord be satisfied with this? – For us, such visibility may not be unnecessary, but for the Lord it is not necessary. See how He was born! – In the nativity scene “The baby is wrapped in a manger” (Luke 2:12). All the glory is within. The inner well-being of the spirit will also be a worthy meeting of Him descending from heaven. Look at the icon of the Nativity of Christ! The Mother of God and Joseph the Righteous are on their knees, between them is the eternal Child; There are shepherds or wise men around. The eyes of everyone are fixed on Him, everyone disappears in Him and rests in Him. So settle inwardly, too... Meet the Lord together with the shepherds with the desire for salvation, together with Joseph and the Mother of God with reverent tranquility in Him, together with the Magi - with a willing procession after Him, together with the Angels - with grateful praise to Him. So. The Savior comes and brings salvation. Kindle the desire for salvation. You entered the monastery precisely because of this desire, but the length of time, the beginnings of success, and perhaps other things could have weakened or completely extinguished it. Take care now to kindle this fire within yourself more powerfully. Bring up the thought of our distress from everywhere: from our sinful deeds, from passions and attachments, from our primordial enemy; add another thought to it, that besides the born Christ the Lord, there is no other name under heaven, through which we could be saved. And your spirit will run to the Lord like trees to springs. This will mean that you will go out to the Meeting of the Lord and meet Him, preferably as a thirsty earth receives rain. The Savior comes and brings salvation. Accept with all your heart this dispensation of salvation brought to earth by Him, in all its fullness and details, without giving up anything and without applying crooked interpretations to anything. You have already entered into the matter of the strictest fulfillment of everything necessary for salvation. Don't weaken. The Magi, despite the uncertainty of the heavenly instructions, immediately rose up and went to look for the indicated one, and found... Hope will not deceive you, despite the fact that you may not see the obvious successes of your search. The time will come - you will see the fruit, salvation itself, shining in your heart. Just do not refuse any suggestions of the Gospel. This heartfelt perception of the entire will of Christ the Savior, by which the path of salvation is determined, will be the same as an embrace at the first meeting of the desired one; how, on the contrary, renunciation of this will make us like those about whom it is written: “They came to their own, but did not receive Him from their own” (John 1:11) The Savior comes and brings salvation - the Savior is all-powerful and all-desirable. Rest in peace about your salvation in Him, and in Him alone. Don't look for anything else: everything is with Him, and everything that He has is yours. And intelligence, and strength, and joys, and beauty, and peace - and everything is ready for you, just lean towards Him with all the aspiration of your spirit... As the Most Pure Virgin Mother of God put all the verbs in Her heart, so put them in your heart and you, and believe without hesitation that everything will be exactly as it is written The Savior comes and brings salvation ready for you, which turned out to be strong in the countless multitude of those saved, already glorified in heaven. Glorify now the richness of God’s bounty and condescension. Give thanks to the Lord both for the fact that He did not abandon our family and arranged for it a wondrous image of salvation, and for the fact that He brought this salvation closer to us and showed us examples of the saved in excitement for the salvation of our spirit. The angels glorified God with a loud voice only in the beginnings of the salvation being arranged. With what lips should we glorify the Lord, seeing so many wondrous deeds accomplished for our salvation in our very deeds!.. Sing without ceasing: glory to God in the highest!.. This is how you build a manger from your heart for the born Lord and surround them with these sacred dispositions - the desire for salvation, active perception of the entire dispensation of salvation, tranquility in the Lord and grateful praise to Him. This will provide the highest occupation for your spirit in these days, will sanctify your holidays and together will give you the opportunity to fulfill in the most accurate way what is contained in the song: “Hide Christ from heaven.” Amen. In the Voskresensky nunnery You might be interested in: