124. Слово по освящении Градо-Клинского соборного храма Пресвятыя Троицы

(Spoken May 24; printed separately and in the 1844 and 1848 collections) And I will sing in the church, praising and blessing God. (Luke 24:53). Let us also praise God, worshiped in the Trinity, the Author and Finisher of every creation, blessed forever in the Church of the Saints. Now especially let the brethren of this holy church praise God. The work of many years is finally over. The worries stopped. The long wait is over. The church, erected by your zeal, is perfect and sanctified by the grace of God. Not without concern, I witnessed the difficulties in its creation. The building was undertaken almost beyond the strength of your small city. It was necessary not only to create, but also to partially and re-create what had been unsatisfactorily created. It was necessary to stop the business from time to time, because the means to continue it were exhausted. Apparently, your zeal has not failed: because God’s help has not abandoned you. I rejoice with you now, not so much in your relief from labor and care (although I rejoice in this too), but in the fact that you have endured God-pleasing work, soul-sustaining care; and that God accepted from you the gift of zeal, because He sent down the gift of sanctification for it. Let us give thanks to God, who has been so kind: let us give thanks not only in word, but especially in heart and deed. Having zeal for the building of the church, have zeal for the created church. Taking comfort in it as a work of your zeal, honor in it the work of God’s grace. Use the consecrated church for your own sanctification: for otherwise what would be the purpose of building and consecrating it? God is omnipresent, and therefore has no need for a church, which for Him is always small and inconvenient. But man is limited: and therefore has a need for a limited manifestation of the presence of God. God condescended to this need of man: He was pleased to have the church and gave it the grace of His special presence. We know one state of humanity when it does not need a church: this is the state of the new Jerusalem, under a new sky, on a new earth: but this very thing proves the need for a church in other states, and precisely in the one in which we now find ourselves. As a special, distinctive feature of the new Jerusalem, the Seer of Mysteries points out that there is no church in it: “and I did not see a church in it” (Rev. 21:22). And, as if foreseeing that this extraordinary thing will seem too amazing and incredible, that they will ask how it is possible to be the city of God without the church of God, he immediately explains why this is so: “For the Lord God Almighty is his church, and the Lamb” (Rev. 21:22). As if he said this: humanity there is perfected and elevated to the point that creatures do not block or close the presence of God from him; they enter into this holy presence there directly, without having the need for a special holy place representative of this presence. There is no need for a church: because a person lives in God and in Christ, as in a church, and in Him Himself finds without difficulty everything that we strive to gain through the church. If even there the created eye does not embrace the light of the uncreated, and therefore some condescension and moderation of the unapproachable light is needed: then this is accomplished there by the open light of the God-man Jesus, Who with His humanity brings down and moderates the light of the Divinity, and with His Divinity enlightens and blissfully creates humanity. “His lamp is the Lamb” (Rev. 21:23). So, and therefore there is no need for a church in the new Jerusalem. But we are not yet in the new Jerusalem coming from heaven: therefore, we need a church. It is still creation, our own flesh, rough, not purified, that blocks our entrance into the holy, gracious presence of God: and so it is necessary that this gracious presence open itself for us in the holy church. The heavens into which Christ, our light, ascended, do not yet open and do not reveal to us the radiance of His glory: for now we need at least a small heaven on earth, a light, although hidden in mystery; and we can find this in the church, through prayer, through the Word of God, through the Sacraments. Turning from the end of times to their beginning, if we had not found the church there too: this would not be surprising; because the man of paradise resembles the man of the new Jerusalem more than the man of today. But we can say that the first church of God on earth was paradise itself, in which God graciously appeared to man, in which man, sanctified by the image of God, was an immaculate priest, in which the tree of life was a visible, mysterious shrine; because from this tree man mysteriously tasted incorruptible life, just as we now, at the Lord’s Table, from the fruit of the wheat and the vine, mysteriously and essentially taste the immortal life of the Divine Body and Blood of Christ. Since man, through the Fall, destroyed the image of God in himself and ceased to be the living church of God, the need for a visible, educational, secret church of God has obviously become more palpable: and Sacred history shows that as much as man worked to satisfy this need, God Himself contributed as much, or even more, to it. From the ancient Patriarchs, who roamed in tents, it would not have been natural to demand a church built according to the rules of architecture. Their church existed briefly in the altar: and we see many times in their lives that God appears, and as a result the Patriarch builds the altar, and vice versa, the Patriarch builds the altar, and God appears to signify His favor over the altar and over the one who created it. God appears to Noah, saving him from the flood, and immediately after the flood “Noah built an altar to the Lord” (Gen. 8:20): Noah offers a burnt offering on the altar, and the Lord again appears to bless the new post-flood world. “The Lord appeared to Abram: and there Abram built an altar to the Lord who appeared to him” (Gen. 12:7). God himself commands Jacob to create an altar, and appoints a place for it: “Go up to the place of Bethel, and live there, and there build an altar to the God who has appeared to you” (Gen. 35:1). The place called “Bethel,” that is, “the house of God,” was sanctified by God even earlier, appearing on it to Jacob during a dream in a vision above the ladder connecting earth with heaven. The creation by Abraham of the altar, on which he wanted, at the command of God, to sacrifice Isaac, was, as it were, a preliminary foundation of the Temple of Jerusalem, which, after several centuries, was created on this place. When the Patriarchal tribe, in which from the beginning of the world the knowledge of the true God and His revelations was preserved, grew and formed into a people: then God, under His own orders, built His church in it in greater completeness and perfection, first, under the name “Tabernacle of Testimony,” mobile and marching, in relation to the time of the journey of the people of God from Egypt to the Promised Land, and then in this land, motionless, into the creators whom Solomon himself also appointed. Finally, after the destruction of this church along with Jerusalem, for the sins of the people, when the time had come to have mercy on the people, God Himself once again took care of the restoration of the church, sending the Prophets Haggai and Zechariah to encourage the Jerusalemites and all Jews to build it. Based on all these events, we can decisively affirm that the church of the True God in humanity is God’s dispensation, not man’s. But it is not in the nature of God to arrange anything on earth other than what is beneficial and salutary for people. And so, in God’s dispensation, we have the testimony of God Himself about how much the church of God is necessary and saving for us. At the same time, anyone can think that the church that is now being spoken about was of the Old Testament, representative of Christ, who was still expected at that time; and therefore, with the fulfillment of the prototypes, that is, from the time of the coming of Christ, it ceased to be necessary, which is why it was abolished by the same special fate of God by which it was previously created. This is true. However, this does not prevent us from drawing a conclusion from the Divine establishment of the church in Old Testament times about the importance and need of the church in New Testament times. Separate from the main idea of ​​the church the additional features of the Old Testament church - its adaptation to prototypes, to bloody sacrifices, to the strict law of rituals: this is what has reached its limit and has been abolished as unnecessary: ​​but the root thought of the church, as a house of prayer, as a sanctuary of sacraments, as a repository of grace, is not an exclusive property of the times of the Old Testament; and therefore could not go with them. It is also characteristic of Christianity; and therefore it enters into it with all the power that it received from God’s dispensation before Christianity. The founder of Christianity himself, Jesus Christ, not only visited the temple of Jerusalem, but also defended its dignity against insult when he expelled those who were selling and buying from it: this, no doubt, not in order to support the church, which He Himself predicted would soon fall, but in order to preserve in Christianity the idea of ​​the holiness of the church of God and the reverence due to it. And the Apostles, even after the Ascension of the Lord, when they were so filled with Holy images of the forty days of continued appearances of the Risen Lord, and His conversations about the kingdom of God, not only thanked and glorified God among themselves for this, but rushed to the church: “and I will sing in the church, praising and blessing God” (Luke 24:23). Even after the descent of the Holy Spirit, when He obviously and solemnly sanctified them into the living churches of God, they still considered it not superfluous to “go up into the sanctuary to pray” (Acts 3:1). So characteristic of a pious spirit is the feeling of the need for a church of God, legally organized and hierarchically sanctified! However, the Apostles used the Old Testament church only out of need, for a while. Since much of it did not correspond to Christianity, it was imperative to rebuild it in relation to the new testament: then the rough work of destroying the old was entrusted by God's Providence to the pagan Romans; and the Holy Spirit taught the Apostles of Christ and their God-wise successors the high art of not material architecture, but the spiritual and Divine construction of new, properly Christian churches. Their initial model was, without a doubt, that “great upper room” (Luke 22:12), in which the Lord established and for the first time performed the sacrament of His Body and Blood. He Himself appointed it for this purpose, and, as the Supreme Bishop, consecrated it: hence the law of the Christian church, according to which the power to both appoint it and consecrate it belongs to the Bishop. The Lord appointed a great upper room especially for the New Testament sacrament of His Body and Blood: hence the law according to which every Christian church is designated especially for this sacrament, so that some other sacraments can be performed in other places as needed; and this certainly requires a hierarchically consecrated church. In the great upper room, the Lord performed the sacrament only in the presence of the twelve Apostles, participants in this sacrament: hence the law according to which only those capable of being partakers of this sacrament are allowed into the Christian church, especially during the sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ, and the deacon orders those who have not been worthy of baptism and are excommunicated from the sacraments to leave the church for this time. But I will not expand further on the laws of the Christian church, which, however, also show how important the need for it is and how high its dignity. I will note one more thing about the usefulness of the church in Christianity, that those chosen ascetics of Christianity, who, in complete removal from the world, in possible renunciation of everything sensory, in deserts and inaccessible places, lived an equal life with the angels, entered into communication with heavenly powers, received revelations of Divine things, were honored to be, and in fact appeared spiritual 564 and God-bearing - and they still had to enjoy benefits the church of God, namely, the communion of the Body and Blood of Christ, as can be especially noted from the fact that God’s Providence often used extraordinary, even miraculous, means to deliver this farewell to them before their departure into eternity. For example, I name the Venerable Mary of Egypt, who, both because of her great deeds and because of her great grace, needed the last gift - the communion of the Lord's Table; and, in order to deliver this gift to her, what an incomprehensible, but at the same time, what a faithful movement was moved by the truly God-moved Zosima! Let these reflections on the origin, dignity and usefulness of the church of God, and especially the Christian one, be a special consolation to those who here, with their zeal, contributed to such a God-pleasing and soul-saving cause; Let us all be reminded and encouraged to carefully use the church of God, as a great gift of God for us, or, moreover, as a great treasury of many different gifts of God. Attend the Church of God diligently; abide reverently in it; participate here in prayers and praises with your heart; Listen carefully to the proclaimed Word of God, not just to hear and temporarily occupy your curiosity, but so that you apply what you hear to your heart, retain it in memory, renew it in meditation, turn it into action and life. Should we demand from today's Christians that they be “out in church, praising and blessing God”? – I’m afraid that they will say: how is this possible? When to do household chores! - However, brethren, this was somehow possible, and was fulfilled without demand at the beginning of Christianity: “I will sing in church, praising and blessing God.” However, we agree that this is not for everyone. The Church does not demand that you all abandon your household affairs: but wants everyone to put your spiritual affairs in order. Do your earthly affairs on the days that God has provided for everyone: “Six days you shall do, and in them you shall do all your work” (Ex. 20:9): although, to tell the truth, there are those among us who, even six days in a week, do not need all of them for work, and not all of them are used for work. But I no longer dispute with you the days that God has provided for you. Seventh day “The Sabbath of the Lord your God” (Ex. 20:10). Resurrection Day, a day consecrated for a holiday or for fasting, must decisively and completely belong to God and his church. At least on this day, be “in church,” participate, if possible, in every church service, and at home, more than other days, inspire yourself with the spirit of the church, the spirit of prayer and reverence for God, the elevation of the heart above everything earthly and worldly. If on a festive day the church is full, the houses are empty, the street and marketplace are silent: here is a beautiful view of the Christian city, which is not a shame to look at even from the heavenly city! Then a heavenly blessing, like “the dew of Aermon on the mountains of Zion” (Ps. 133:3), descends on the church and on those who dwell in it; from the church it is brought into their homes; the holiday blesses the working days, and human affairs are done better and more successfully, because the work of God is not neglected, because the Sabbath of God is sanctified. But if on a holiday laziness and sleep do not allow us to attend the morning service of the church, an inappropriate worldly matter does not allow us to attend the daytime service, and again worldly fun or laziness and habit do not allow us to attend the evening service: I leave it to your conscience to judge whether these are Christian customs! God! Grant to your people, who are called by your name, to spiritually “love the beauty of your house and the dwelling place of your glory” (Ps. 25:8); may they become true children of Thy house, “and in the shelter of Thy wing” they will not be ashamed “to hope; Let them be drunk with the fatness of Thy house, and let me drink from the stream of Thy sweetness” (Ps. 35:8-9). Amen. In collection 1844 and in the department. ed. spirit-bearing. You might be interested in: