116. Слово по освящении придельного храма Святителя Николая, более известного по другому олтарю во имя Преподобного Сергия, в Рогожской слободе

(Spoken December 16th; printed separately and in the 1844 and 1848 collections) Follow your Spirit, and they will be created, and you will renew the face of the earth. Be the glory of the Lord forever. (Ps. 103:30–31). The Prophet Psalmist is amazing how much he loves to praise God. That, thinking about the Spirit of God sent upon creation, creating or creating them, and renewing the face of the earth, he rejoiced and exclaimed: “Be the glory of the Lord forever!” I wouldn't be surprised at this. But before this he spoke about God turning his face away from creatures, about creatures being restless because of this, being deprived of spirit, disappearing, returning to their dust: it is surprising that this did not bother him and did not hinder his glorification. And further, in the same psalm, he depicts the formidable greatness of the Almighty: “look upon the earth and make it shake; touch the mountains, and they smoke." But what then? Does he talk about his horror? or is silent in trembling? - Neither one nor the other. He rejoices, sings and praises God. “I will sing to the Lord in my belly; I sing to my God, even as I am” (Ps. 103:33–34). In this sacred model lies for us, brethren, the teaching: we must glorify God, not only when He appears in gifts, in blessings, in mercies, but also when, apparently, he turns away and moves away, but in fact, secretly comes and approaches, in terrible or sorrowful visits, in deprivations, in disasters. The teaching is true, always useful, and here and now, also timely. The third tenth day of August is also memorable for me, when suddenly for us, but not suddenly for God, not without knowledge, not without His permission, this part of the city was visited by a destroying fire; when the smoky road from the place of extermination ran across the sky almost above my head, and seemed to destined the further path for extermination on earth; when fire coals carried by the wind, having flown more than one field, fell in my yard, and seemed to say to me: how far do you think this visit will go? Summer and lack of rain, the strength and direction of the wind - everything favored the multiplication of troubles, and their spread with inevitable speed, almost similar to that which we see in the legend of Joblev's messenger: “fire fell from heaven, and burned up the sheep, and devoured the shepherds likewise; But I alone was saved” (Job 1:16). The one who in the morning had a home and other things necessary for life, or even excess and wealth, by the evening remained without protection and helpless, and if he was not lonely, then this did not serve as a relief, because family poverty is more painful than lonely poverty. The disaster, which took numerous tributes from the houses of this city and from the property of the inhabitants, demanded some tribute from the churches; and an invisible, incomprehensible lot for us fell on this church. So? - some will probably say with these sorrowful memories, is it really necessary - is it really possible to glorify God in this case? – Let us admit, if you like, that this is not so easy for human weakness, for human shortsightedness, at a time when disaster directs its force and effect on man. Meanwhile, one can ask back: can there be a time when the eternal God should not be glorified? Can He ever be unworthy of glory? And if one must always glorify Him, then it is not difficult to conclude that one can always glorify Him: for He is sufficiently righteous and omnipotent, so as not to leave what should be impossible. That under the very, so to speak, blows of troubles there is an opportunity not only to groan, or complain, or murmur, but also to glorify God - this is clear as day, seen in Job. News of disasters that were devastating to him, one after another, like arrow after arrow, struck him, and without a doubt, the last news about the sudden loss of all his children pierced him to the depths of his heart. So what? He made the usual sacrifice of grief: he tore apart the vestments; cut off his hair; sprinkled dust on the head. But what next? - At the same time, he prays: “fall to the ground, worship the Lord.” He reflects, as if a man of wisdom in freedom: “I myself breathed naked from my mother’s womb, naked and I will depart there; The Lord is given, the Lord is taken away; as the Lord willed, so it came to pass.” Finally, he glorifies: “Blessed be the name of the Lord forever” (Job 1:20–21). They will say: it is impossible for everyone to be as strong in spirit as Job was. I don’t argue: although, however, this excuse for generosity is very weak for a Christian. From the infancy of patriarchal times, in which the life of Job takes place, humanity has grown for a long time, and has reached a high age in Christianity: and therefore, more than before, it can and should have an exalted spirit and unshakable in adversity. As an aid for this, it now has the teaching of Christ, the example of Christ, the Divine power of Christ: for, according to the saying of the Holy Apostle Peter, “all His Divine powers have been given to us through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue” (2 Pet. 1:3). And therefore, the holy martyrs, in their suffering, glorified God more solemnly and constantly than Job himself, as for example, Jacob the Persian, when all the fingers and toes of his hands and feet, and then the very hands and feet were cut off by the tormentors one member at a time, in order to increase the torment, not with whom the blow of a sword or ax was brought to a cry of impatience, but at each cutting off he said a prayer or glorification of Christ God, and for the most part with such joy as if he were not suffering. But I have already said that I do not prevent you from being weaker than Job, if you allow yourself to do so, and if you are not ashamed of it, as Christians. You do not have enough presence of mind to glorify the Lord in the midst of disaster itself: it’s a pity; however, so be it. At least refrain from senseless cries of impatience, from useless complaints, from daring words of murmuring; turn your sorrowful feelings into humble prayer: in this way God will not be angry, and you will be less worried. You did not take care to position your spirit in such a timely manner that the cloud of temporary calamity could not obscure the eternal glory of God from his eyes in moments of great calamity; you missed a wonderful opportunity to experience the invincible power of Christian virtue: it’s a pity; a lot is missing; just not all yet. At least, as the severity of the disaster decreases, calm down your sorrowful feelings; gather the strength of your mind; think that God foresaw your disaster, could have averted it, but did not deign to avert it; - that He, the all-good One, did not wish you, since He cannot wish evil; - that consequently he allowed the disaster to happen for some good of yours, or to ward off some great evil from you; - think that even after the disaster you still have something left, if not a home, then some property, or at least clothes, and, most importantly, life and soul: that God, who took care to preserve your life, thereby expresses another most beneficial concern for the salvation of your soul, for which he saves you the time of life; - even if you are unsatisfied with housing and food, think that the bird even then sings the glory of the Creator, when it has neither a nest nor prepared food, and, by the providence of the same Creator, finds what to eat and where to spend the night; – encourage your spirit with such and similar thoughts; lift up your heart to God; say at least after the disaster what you could not say during the disaster: “Blessed be the name of the Lord!” Be the glory of the Lord forever!” Through this you will bring a pleasant sacrifice to God; and you will sow a good seed in your own heart. It seems to others during times of disaster that they would be more able to glorify God during times of prosperity, and that therefore the disaster was not sent to their benefit. Dream! It often seems to us that, according to the proverb, it is good where we are not: but this very proverb laughs at this dream. You think that you would glorify God if you were not unhappy, but on the contrary, were showered with His blessings: probably because it is not difficult. And the wordless shows affection to those who give it food. You are not positioning yourself for great virtue! Apparently, you do not value much more sublime virtue, although more difficult! But if you are lazy and low for the difficult and sublime virtue, then do not vouch for yourself that for the lowest and easiest virtue you would not also be lazy and low. Stop dreaming and look at the experiments. Look at the people of Israel, when God “raised me by the strength of the earth, to satisfy the inhabitants of the villages, drinking honey from the stone, and oil from the hard stone, oil from the oil, and milk of sheep, with the fat of lambs and rams, young sons, and female goats, with the fat of wheat, and the blood of grapes, drinking wine” (Deut. 32:13-14). This is where, in your opinion, it was necessary to glorify God. See further how wrong your speculation is. “And Jacob ate and was satisfied; and the beloved was rejected; become thicker, thicker, wider, and forsake God who made him, and depart from God his Savior” (Deut. 32:13–15). Look again at the same Israel during the time of calamity, and find out whether it hindered or, on the contrary, helped him glorify God. “Whenever I have killed,” says the Psalmist, “then I will seek Him, and turn and watch the morning to God; and remember that God is their helper, and God the High is their deliverer” (Ps. 77:34-35). You see that well-being can be more dangerous than disaster, and disaster can be more salutary than prosperity. Do not envy prosperity; and do not lose heart in adversity. Think that disaster has been sent to you, or to protect you from ingratitude and forgetfulness of God, to which attachment to earthly goods and pleasures could lead you in prosperity; or cleanse you from the actual sins of past prosperous days; or to call you to the highest virtue, so as not only to make you safer from hell, but also to give you a brighter crown in heaven. But let’s return the word and bring it closer to ourselves, to our incidents, and to the present case. Let us glorify, brethren, God, who, although He “created” here a fiery “path for His wrath” (Ps. 77:50), nevertheless blocked it with mercy and grace. Just as once in the camp of the Israelites, “when wrath went out from the presence of the Lord, and the people began to destroy,” Aaron with the censer “stood between the dead and the living, and destruction ceased” (Num. 16:46–48): so here Saint Alexis and Venerable Sergius, friendly with each other in their earthly life, and after their repose, sometimes appeared together, as is known from legends Sergius Monastery, and here those neighboring in the churches of the same name, became invisible with the incense of their prayers in the midst of the flow of fire, and blocked it, and miraculously preserved one of their churches unharmed and made a refuge for the shrine of another; and from this other they preserved at least the inner shrine, and that which was most necessary for the strict restoration of Divine services here. Let us glorify God, who, having visited some with disaster, preserved others as a refuge for the needy; Who “sent the spirit” of love for mankind to help, so that the destroyed dwellings would be “built” (Ps. 103:30), or, at least, so that the life of the needy would not be destroyed in the end by helpless poverty; Who sent the spirit of pious zeal so that sanctuaries would be built, and now the second altar here was deigned to be renewed, not only with visible splendor, but also with invisible grace. Let us glorify God, not only in word, but also in a heart devoted to him, and in a life pleasing to him, so that the Lord may not be angry with his people, but rather rejoice in his deeds. And in the consecrated Orthodox Christian church, and in the consecrated souls of the Orthodox Christian, “be the glory of the Lord forever” (Ps. 103:32). Amen. You might be interested in: