109. Речь по рукоположении Преосвященного Агапита Епископа Томского и Енисейского

(Spoken at the Assumption Cathedral on the 12th day of August, printed in the Christian Reading of 1834 and in the collections of 1835, 1844 and 1848) 532 Your Eminence Bishop Agapit! God the Father, by the insight and providence, the Royal and Priestly command of our Lord Jesus Christ, by the grace and action of the Holy Spirit, with the prayerful and ordained ministry of the Co-Bishops, you have now received part of the Episcopal gift, intended, as the Apostle explained, “for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ” (Eph. 4:12). “Part of the Episcopal gift,” I said, not diminishing your present acquisition, but from an indication of the whole to which this part belongs, wanting to extract useful and comforting thoughts for you. What kind of whole is this, of which you received a part in your current talent? No less than the Bishopric of Christ. For the Apostle Peter calls Jesus Christ Himself, according to the Slavonic translation of the Epistle, “visitor”; according to the Greek original, “Bishop of souls” (1 Peter 2:25). He, sharing his own Episcopacy of souls, in relation to the needs of the Church, of which He is the “head” (Col. 1:18), “gave us two Apostles, and two Prophets, and also Evangelists, and also Shepherds and Teachers” (Eph. 4:11). Do you see what a wonderful property you have now received: part of that gift with which the Evangelists betrayed and preserved the Gospel of Christ intact, with which the Prophets illuminated the darkness of the hidden and the future, with which the Apostles transformed the pagan world into a Christian one, with which John roared about God the Word, with which Peter shook the Synagogue, with which Paul “from Jerusalem and around even to Illyricum fulfilled the gospel of Christ" (Rom. 15:19), with which Athanasius, Basil, Gregory established Orthodoxy and overthrew heresies, from which John sweetened and watered the Church with golden streams of teaching. Think about this, and excite your spirit, and arouse your jealousy, and confirm your hope for help from above. Does weakness frighten you? – Remember what the Lord said to the Apostle: “My power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9). Does it bother you that you are not ready to go to the throne, but will have to establish and establish your seat yourself, and, moreover, on a land where Christ’s not-much-planted field is surrounded by tares and thorns? - Look at Paul, who not only was not embarrassed by such difficulties, but also loved to “preach the gospel, not where Christ is called, and not build on someone else’s foundation” (Rom. 15:20). Does the remoteness of the flock entrusted to you make it difficult for you? - Look again at Paul, who, not content with having filled the space from Jerusalem to Illyricum with his ministry, was still prompted by Apostolic zeal to extend his exploits to Rome and Spain; or - if it is difficult to look so far - look on your own path at St. Stephen of Perm, at St. Innocent of Irkutsk. Aren't these good predecessors? Is not the path that follows their footsteps good? Please accept this, in part, if you wish, as a traveler's staff, and especially as a shepherd's one; and come to the strength of the Lord, and accomplish the salvation of the people of God. In the image of the ancient Patriarch, “transcend with this rod” the borders of Europe, and may the Lord willing, “you will be” saved in more than “two regiments” (Gen. 32:10). “I decided to speak to him already during the reading of the Apostle, and what I said then, I forgot at the end of the speech. Three days later, when I was driving somewhere, I remembered what I said and wrote it down on the way in the carriage.” Words from the author to the Governor of the Sergius Lavra, Archimandrite Anthony. See Notes of Sushkov, appendix. XXII, p. 48. You might be interested in: