129. Слово в день коронования Благочестивейшаго Государя Императора Николая Павловича

(Said on August 22nd, in the Assumption Cathedral; printed separately and in collections of 1844 and 1848) Submit yourselves therefore to every human creation for the Lord's sake, whether to the King, as he is predominant, or as a prince, as sent from Him, for vengeance as a villain, or for praise as a doer of benefactors. (1 Peter 2:13–14). The annual circle, which has turned ten times, now returns to us, rejoicing Russians, that bright day on which, in this very Church, we saw our Most Pious Emperor Nikolai Pavlovich, who received the hereditary Imperial crown and was sealed with sacred unction. This crown shines. The crowned head prospers. So, in our present joy, not only can we sing with the Royal Psalmist: “thou hast set a crown of stone upon his head,” but, with hope confirmed by experience, we can also add the Psalm verse that follows this: “thou hast asked thee to eat, and thou hast given him the length of days for ever and ever” (Ps. 20:4-5). When I think about the crown, another verse from the ancient reverent contemplator of nature comes to mind: “Bless the crown of the summer of Your goodness,” O Lord, “And Your fields will be filled with fatness” (Ps. 64:12). If the year of the earth constitutes for her a kind of crown, more or less adorned with her works: then is it not more or less the year of the King, or even more so, the decade of our Most Pious Emperor that we can consider as a new crown over the crowned Head, composed not of branches, or flowers, or precious stones, but of wise undertakings, beneficial deeds and blessed successes? This is a crown, actually worked out and decorated by the Royal work, but also sanctified by the blessing of God: for wise intentions are brought into action and crowned with success, not only by human will and power, but above it by God’s blessing. Should I point out, even with a fleeting glance, some of the jewels of this crown, which, however, are visible to you without me? Should I point out only because we love to point out what we all see to each other when we are happy to see. - Look. External enemies have been defeated and tamed. Domestic enemies have been destroyed. Alliances that are especially favorable to the peace of kings and peoples are especially strengthened. Through rare Royal art, enemies are transformed into friends. The power of disasters, which it was not in human power to prevent and avert, was more than once powerfully and beneficially countered by the personal presence of the spirit of the Most Pious Emperor. The military forces are continuously maintained and maintained under vigilant care in a development consistent with the dignity and security of the State; especially those of the sea, not only enlarged, but, I don’t know, should I say, resurrected by the gaze of the Tsar’s gaze, life-giving. Education, the arts, and industry are encouraged in various ways. Legislation and justice received their special crown in the systematic composition of laws. Humane institutions for education, healing, charity, have been restored in number, and are blooming under the never-setting sun of direct Royal charity. Every need, poverty, misfortune, public and private, continually found and finds open the beneficent hand of the Tsar. According to the needs of the Holy Church, her Shepherds, her Churches, her Abodes were partly multiplied, partly blessed. In areas where, in previous unfortunate times, Eastern piety was constrained by the violence of the West, the own eye of the Most Pious Sovereign saw the ugliness of Orthodox churches, and His special will clothed them with decent splendor. His love for the Orthodox Church inspired the zeal of her servants, and many thousands of her children, some of whom were separated from her by their ancestors during the days of unrest and persecution, some of whom were lost in the years of ignorance, were returned to her maternal embrace. Here are some parts of the high work at the crown of the Tsar's decade! It shines majestically and sweetly into the eye of the Russian heart; and not only at the present time, but also for the future, reflects the light of good hopes. The hand holding the All-Russian scepter, firm at the beginning, naturally acquired greater mobility through ten years of experience; Meanwhile, care and provision for the upbringing of the Heir to the Throne have been extended to the future of the state. The natural love of Russians for their Tsar is naturally multiplied by the acquired love for the Tsar, who continually cares for us, lives and acts for us, and from His sacred height approaches His people so close that our hearts, one might say, come into contact with His heart. What are we talking about, rejoicing Russians? - “This commandment, O God, by Thy power, strengthen this commandment which Thou hast made in us” (Ps. 67:29). “Add days to days of the Tsar; His summer until the day of generation and generation" (Ps. 60:7). But it’s time for me to remember that this place, and these minutes, are intended not simply for depicting impressions and pouring out feelings, but mainly for teaching. The teaching that our very heart now demands, shouldn’t it be that we could render to the King, who strives unceasingly for our good, what we could render to God, who blesses His deeds? Not only the good deeds of the Heavenly King, but also the beneficial deeds of the earthly King for us are beyond our reward. For them, it is not retribution from our side that is possible, but only compliance. What kind of compliance? – Constantly encouraging oneself to fulfill one’s duties before the King of Heaven and earth, as the Apostolic Word teaches: “Be in subjection to every human creature,” that is, to every authority established by God over men, “For the Lord’s sake, whether it be a King, as he is predominant, or a prince, as he has been sent from Him” (1 Pet. 2:13-14 ). What a satisfying teaching! By “obeying the King” and “the authorities,” you please the King; and at the same time, “by obeying the Lord for the sake of”, you please the Lord. What must be obeyed, is it necessary to prove it? – Where there is human society, there must be power that unites people into society; for without power one can only imagine an unsettled multitude of people, and not a society. But power operates in society, and preserves it, through obedience. Consequently, obedience is necessarily connected with the existence of society. Who would hesitate or weaken obedience; he would shake or weaken the foundation of society. But the Apostle is not content with teaching to obey somehow: he teaches to obey with a certain motive - “for the Lord’s sake.” Here we can see the assumption that he had in mind other types of obedience, for other reasons, somehow, for his own sake, for the sake of society, for the sake of his superiors: but above all others, he chose one kind for his students - obedience “for the Lord’s sake.” He who obeys out of fear of punishment: he obeys for his own sake in order to protect himself from the unpleasantness of punishment. There are people for whom this incentive to obedience is necessary, but no one wants to boast that he has chosen this particular type of obedience for himself. He who obeys for gain, reward, honor: he also obeys for his own sake. The authorities act shrewdly and beneficently when they use the now shown incentives for obedience: but, in essence, they can only take place in certain cases; but cannot establish and ensure universal obedience. Works of obedience, the most common and, moreover, necessary for society, such as the payment of taxes, are the least capable of connecting with them any reward or honor. A wise mind will praise obedience for the sake of society and at the same time for its own sake. The good of man cannot be organized and preserved except through society. Society provides a person with personal security, the formation of abilities, opportunities to use them, ways to acquire, and again the security of what has been acquired. But just as obedience is necessary to preserve society, then each person must obey - for the sake of society, out of gratitude to it for himself, and together - for his own sake, so that, while maintaining society by obedience, he preserves for himself what he enjoys from society. This speculation is fair: but are there many people in society who are capable of establishing their own obedience based on ideas and speculations? When I look at experiments, how in our time some peoples and States want to base obedience on such speculations, and how nothing stands firm there, both thrones and altars shake, and, in the words of the Prophet, “people become like a priest, and a slave, like a master” (Isa. 24:2), the reins of government are being torn, rebellions are swarming, vices are shameless, crimes are mocking justice, there is no unanimity, no trust, no security, every coming day threatens: - seeing all this, I cannot help but conclude: it is clear that State improvement should not be based on human speculation! There is obedience for the sake of society and the authorities, not so much out of speculation, but out of the feeling of the heart, out of love for the Sovereign and the Fatherland. Happy are the people inspired by this love! It is the vital warmth in the body of the State, the self-propelled direction towards social unity, the winged chariot of power, free obedience, obedient freedom. We, Russians, imbued with love for the Emperor and the Fatherland from our mother's milk, know from ancient and recent experiences how nourishing this food was for the most difficult deeds, in the most difficult times. Continue, don’t forget, this, in some way miraculous, and on earth, higher than earthly food, this manna of the people’s life, the sooner the better, collect from your own land, and feed yourself and your children with it daily. For - we warn you - there are peoples in whom the sweet manna of love for the fatherland, having not been used correctly and in a timely manner, has become damaged, or has begun to seem less pleasant to the damaged taste; There are lands where, under the sultry sun of false enlightenment, it melted, evaporated, and flew away. But what should be the precaution? – It is to know and observe the descending and God-given law from the highest heaven, how to collect, store and use manna. Let us say without allegory: in order for natural love for the sovereign and the fatherland to be unchanging, pure, and saving, for this it is necessary that it be protected and its actions guided by the highest, completely heavenly and Divine law of Christian love. Thus, as far as possible, we have reviewed the various incentives to obedience, which the Holy Apostle Peter either rejected or passed over in his conviction to obedience: and, if I am not deceived, you could see from what has been said so far that all of them leave you feeling the need for a stronger, more general, purer and sublime impulse, which alone, as perfect, was chosen by the Apostle: “Obey yourself for the Lord’s sake.” . “The authorities were created by God,” says another Apostle. “In the same way, when you resist authority, you resist God’s commandment” (Rom. 13:1-2). “Obey yourselves to every human authority,” to every legal authority, and especially to the Supreme Authority, “for the Lord’s sake”; obey with complete, unquestioning obedience, for the sake of the Almighty and Just Lord, Who cannot allow unpunished resistance to His command; obey sincerely, for the sake of the Lord, the Knower of the Heart, Who sees and condemns not only every act of disobedience, but also every stiff-necked or murmuring thought; obey with hope, for the sake of the Lord, the All-Wise and All-Good Provider, Who constantly watches over bringing His dispensation to saving goals for us, and Who especially has the “king’s heart” “in His hand” (Proverbs 21:1); obey with love, for the sake of the Lord, Whose both the glorious kingdom in heaven and the gracious kingdom in human souls is the kingdom of love, and Who commanded us to strive with all the strength of our souls to “let His will be done as it is in heaven and on earth,” and therefore in the earthly kingdom. This is obedience, always satisfactory for the authorities, and always blissful for the obedient! Put it in the strongest test: let, for example, it be necessary to sacrifice oneself to obedience, suffer or die for the Sovereign and the Fatherland; let natural love for one’s own life, for the blessings of life, for many things dear in life, erect a natural struggle against this: all the warfare of thoughts, without a doubt, will be cast down as soon as the strong, gracious word comes: “For the Lord’s sake.” Sacrifice everything to obedience “for the Lord’s sake”: if it is sweet to sacrifice for the Tsar and the Fatherland, it is even more sweet to sacrifice for the Lord; and in this case, it is no longer bitter to leave earthly life, instead of which the Lord who accepts this sacrifice will give a much better heavenly life; It is not bitter to leave something dear on earth, since it will be left in the arms of love of the Heavenly Father. Pious Russians! In explaining the Christian teaching on obedience, I think that by doing so I have explained your own feelings. May the gentle Spirit of the Lord Jesus, “obedient unto death” (Phil. 2:8), cease to graciously animate our hearts and lives with a sense of meek, perfect Christian obedience; and may it be our continuous thanksgiving to the Most Pious Sovereign, who strives unceasingly for our good, and together with a grateful sacrifice to the Lord, who has given Him to us, and who blesses His beneficial deeds. Amen. You might be interested in: