105. Слово в день Священного Миропомазания и торжественного венчания на Царство Благочестивейшаго Государя Императора Николая Павловича всея России

(Said in the Assumption Cathedral on August 22, printed in Christian Reading of 1833 and in collections of 1835, 1844 and 1848) Conquer evil with good. (Rom.12:21). If on this day, illuminated by the radiance of the Royal crown, majestic and splendid, not so much by the number and dignity of honorable stones, but by the dignity of legal inheritance, by the advantage of sanctification from above, by the superiority of the Royal virtues that it covers, we, Russians, wished to see this crown in a new splendor: then we can immediately have this pleasant vision, turning our observant gaze to the new The Royal Deeds of the Most Pious Emperor. Look, for example, at the new composition of Russian laws, so anticipated by justice, and finally extracted from the heterogeneous, varied, sometimes unfriendly elements of legislation at different times. Isn’t this a new, bright, extracted from domestic mines, the stone in the crown of Nicholas the First - the stone that His predecessors had been looking for for so long, and which He anticipated with His tirelessness among His successors? Or, place yourself within the boundaries of two empires, two parts of the world and two religions, and look at the recently completed work of pacification in the East. To become a benefactor, protector, savior of a kingdom that was recently hostile, and only brought to reconciliation through victories - isn’t this also a deed of Royal valor that brings a new bright decoration to the crown of our Most Pious Emperor, new glory to His reign? The glory of this work should be especially proclaimed here in the Church: since it is a magnificent fulfillment of the noble Christian rule: “conquer evil with good.” This deed is not only glorious for the Tsar and the people, but also useful for Christianity: for the entire East, which has not known Christ, now sees in this glorious deed to what pure, selfless, sublime loyalty and charity the Christian faith disposes the hearts of the Tsar and the people. But this view of some of the Royal deeds is enough for us to offer this special prayer and thanksgiving for the Tsar, as much out of obedience to the Church commandment as out of conviction and zeal of our own. It is much more necessary for each of us to pay attention to our own deeds, although perhaps small and barely noticeable in the immense multitude and variety of human affairs, but never unimportant for the doer: because they will follow him beyond the limits of this life, and either crown him, or lay on him reproach and eternal shame. “Conquer evil with good.” Will everyone find fulfillment of this rule in their deeds? Will everyone find this rule quite open in his mind, quite deep in his heart? That there is evil in the world, and actually in people, the experience of everyone and everyone testifies to this so strongly that, even if reason decides to argue against it, it cannot argue against the evidence of sensations, which do not obey reasoning. And when evil exists and acts against us, then not to use any means against it would be contrary to both the law of self-preservation and the law of philanthropy; because uncontrollable evil would consume the entire human race - and the law of faith in God; because not to prevent the spread of evil would mean to favor hostility against God, and blasphemy against His creativity and governance of the world. So we must resist evil, fight it, defeat it. "Conquer the Evil". But with what weapon? Let us assume that you would decide to use the same weapons with which they attack you, and act according to the right of equal retribution. Insult for insult, slander for slander, wound for wound. Will evil be defeated in this way? - Don't think. for example, if a wound was repaid with a wound: then there were two wounded instead of one; Consequently, the evil is doubled, and not stopped, because the offended one, having inflicted a wound on the offender, did not heal his own. Insult given for insult not only does not destroy the evil done, but also does not stop the course of evil, or even intensifies it. Whoever had enough evil to start an offense will, in all likelihood, have even more anger to respond to mutual offense. Thus a chain of grievances must occur; and since everyone who repays an insult will naturally try to make his opponent less capable of causing harm, then any further insult must be more severe and more deadly than the previous one. From this we can see how true the reasoning of the 512 Apostle is: “If you bite and devour one another, take heed lest you be destroyed from one another” (Gal. 5:15). So, it is not reliable to defeat evil with evil, even if someone could not resist such a battle with the thought that this is not permissible. They may ask: how is a murderer punished with death? How is war waged? I answer: another is the right of a private person, another of the court, and another of the supreme power. The supreme power, since it has no judge over the earth, must of necessity itself judge the insults inflicted on the State, and use war as the executor of State justice: but even this, the supreme power, animated by feelings worthy of its height, does not in order to defeat the evil with the evil, but in order to protect and preserve the good, that is, the security and good of its own State. If the judicial power within the State fights with the evil of punishment against the evil of crime: and this differs as much from private vengeance as reason from passion, as creation from destruction. The court fights against evil not for itself, but for the innocent sufferer: consequently, it is not driven by the evil of vengeance, but by the good of compassion, philanthropy, and justice; Moreover, in a well-organized State, the court only reveals the guilty, and the law punishes him; but the civil law, if it is spoken by the spirit of Christian justice, does not have the intention of avenging evil, but of stopping and preventing evil; does not intend to kill the murderer, but by death, or in some other way, to deprive him of the opportunity to kill, and to protect the living from him. In this spirit, the meek law of our most pious Autocrats awards the murderer not death, but life, although separated from the life of honest citizens, however, life and the hope of dying not the death of a criminal, but the death of a Christian. As for people in particular; if everyone decided to arrogate to himself those rights by which the court acts against a crime, or the supreme power against the enemies of the State, then there would be almost as many warring parties as there are people who have the power to control their members. The state of humanity, which has found a worthy place in the heads of some thinkers, but which, thanks to Providence, has not existed and will not exist, because it cannot exist in the true existence of the human race! So, if it is sometimes not permissible for the evil to overcome evil, and sometimes it is not reliable, even with the help of human justice, which, with all its vigilance, cannot put up enough shields against the subtle wounds of malice and deceit: then the Christian rule “to overcome evil with good” turns out to be as necessary as it is attractive in its purity and sublimity. Short-sighted people may think that in a feat of this kind you will be defeated rather than victorious: because evil acts offensively, but good, and especially Christian good, does not like defensive opposition. In vain! We have the experience of this victory, so great, so obvious, that it should encourage all timidity, resolve all perplexities, if they look at it as it should. What a huge evil fought against the primacy of Christianity! It was the evil of the whole world. How, on the contrary, the good contained in Christianity seemed small and weak! “God has chosen the world to put to shame the wise; and God has chosen the weak of the world, that the strong may be put to shame; and the base thing of the world and the base thing God has chosen, and that which is not, that he may bring to nothing that which is” (1 Cor. 1:27-28). How is it that the wise are defeated by the powerful, the strong by the weak, and the insignificant beings? – The good has conquered the evil: unbelief by faith, vice and debauchery by strict virtue, persecution by patience, injustice by generosity, covetousness and robbery by non-acquisitiveness and free poverty, deceit by straightforwardness, hostility to love, the power and rage of the tormentors through the blood of martyrs. And the universal evil of paganism disappeared; and the good of Christianity took possession of the world. Do you really think, Christian, to insult Christianity, that it is now more difficult to fight against the evil that has crept into the Christian world than it was before, against the evil that dominated the pagan world? A good victory does not consist in doing evil to the enemy, but in preventing the enemy from doing true evil to you. And no enemy will do this if you stand firmly in goodness through the power of faith in God and love for God and people. Look at a man fighting in this way against evil, and listen in the midst of the very dangers of battle to his military cry: “Who will separate us from the love of God? Is it tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or trouble, or sword?” – You see, there is an attack from many sides; the blows are strong. Would not the warrior of Christ have fallen? “No,” he exclaims: “in all of these we are victorious for our Beloved.” And what else? – He assures that in the whole world there is no force that could shake the one who conquers evil with good. “For it is known that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things below, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:35-39). To all members of the militant Church who hear this, we wish not such a difficult feat against evil, but an equally good power of faith and love, an equally perfect victory and salvation with eternal glory. Amen. According to Turk. collection: conclusion... You might be interested in: