146. Слово 595 по освящении храма святаго праведного Филарета в Спасобородинском монастыре, при обновлении сей новоучрежденной обители

(Said on the 23rd day of July; printed in the Christian Readings of 1839 and in the collections of 1844 and 1848) If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word: and My Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our abode with him. (John 14:23). Through prayers, mysteries, and the solemn praise of God, we are now here renewing both the abode of God among men, that is, the church of God, and the abode of man who dedicate themselves to God. It was a good idea to dedicate a church to God in the place where so many thousands of those who fought for the Faith, the Tsar and the Fatherland laid down their temporary life, in the hope of accepting eternal life. Those of them who sacrificed themselves, in pure devotion to God, the Tsar and the Fatherland, are worthy of the crown of martyrdom, and therefore worthy of participating in the church honor that has been given to the Martyrs since ancient times, by dedicating churches to God over their tombs. If some of these souls, leaving the body, have suffered some of the burdens of sins, some of the impurity of passions, and, for their relief and purification, require the power of church prayers and the bloodless sacrifice made for them: then, for their feat, they are more worthy of receiving this help than other departed ones. The idea of ​​living here was born, perhaps, in the depths of private, family sadness. What needs? It is enough for the first time if this sorrow is brought to God, and consolation is sought in Him. In perfection, “no one is good except one God” (Luke 18:19). Weakness is the starting point of man; perfection is a goal that he does not even suddenly see, but having seen it, and with intense striving for it, he always sees it at a distance from himself. The good God, who knows the infirmities of human nature, the merciful Lord, “who listens not to quench the flaxenness” (Matthew 12), sees a weak spark of sincerely good intentions in man, and He Himself strives, by the destinies of His Providence, to cleanse it from the smoke of nature, and imbue it with the pure light of grace, to the true good and salvation of souls. Let us not doubt to recognize the work of God's Providence in the fact that without searching there were found those who wanted to live in this place, when it was empty, not approved by any decree, and not provided with anything; that these people entered into a society that had not yet been established, gave themselves up to obedience when there was no power yet; that this new residence was then approved by the church blessing and the sovereign will under the hitherto unusual name of the God-pleasing Community, and finally elevated to the rank of monastic monastery; that the Royal generosity came to the aid of private donations, so that the tomb church and the humble dwellings attached to it were clothed in the appearance characteristic of the monastery, with the addition of this other church, adapted specifically to the needs of the Monastery. Blessed be God who blesses good undertakings in His name. Thanks be to the Most Pious Sovereign, who is always ready to patronize pious enterprises. Grace, peace and salvation to those who flow into this church and into this Abode to seek the grace of peace and salvation. Lord God of strength! “Look from heaven and see, and visit this vineyard, and cultivate it, and what Thy right hand has planted” (Ps. 79:15-16): for only You sow good seed; only You, although not without human hands, plant, grow, multiply and preserve true and fruitful grapes; Only You, although not without us, create an abode, both this one made with hands, in which man dwells before You, and not made with hands, in which You Yourself deign to dwell in man. Yes, inhabitants of the monastery, visitors to the church! - when the monastery was built, when the church was consecrated; then everything is not done yet. There is also a monastery and a church that must be built and sanctified. What church? – The one about whom the Apostle wrote: “And you yourselves, like living stone, are built into a spiritual church” (1 Peter 2:5). What monastery? The one about whom the Lord himself said: “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word: and My Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our abode with him.” For man to be the church of God the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and the monastery in which He would live, or at least visit - what an unthinkable thought! The flesh will not accommodate this, the mind will not understand, proud wisdom will find it incongruous for the Infinite to dwell in the limited; the very feeling of humility will say that this is immeasurably much for an insignificant creature. That is why Christianity, which proclaims such lofty mysteries, requires a faith that would captivate the human mind into its obedience, which would cast down every exaltation of thoughts imposed on the mind of God, which would trust more than hope when it is told: “from man this is impossible to eat, but from God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). Is it not the spirit of truth through the Apostle who speaks to Christians with such confidence 597: “Do you not know that you are the church of God, and the Spirit of God lives in you” (1 Cor. 3:16)? Isn’t it the self-existent Truth, wasn’t it the Son of God who spoke this lofty promise about this insignificant man, whom we humans so often hate, or neglect or alienate: “My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our abode with him?” Without a doubt, what the Truth says is true. Another may say: should I strive for high spiritual states, close proximity to God? I will remain at least something less than the church of God and the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. No, beloved! I do not advise you to refuse what God wants to give you, although, without a doubt, it would be too daring to deign yourself to do so. I am not exaggerating when I say that the Lord not only allows, but also wants you to have Him as your visitor, guest, inhabitant. He clearly expressed this desire when he said: “Behold, I stand at the door and speak: if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me” (Rev. 3:20). O miracle of condescension! He who lives in the unapproachable light, sitting on the throne of glory, hides 598 His light, which even Cherubic eyes cannot bear, descends into the lower world to approach the wretched, dilapidated hut, which is the soul of a person, born in sins and living, before He who created it with a church and in His image builds it up and adorns it with His presence; He stands at its door, for whom the gates of death are opened with fear, before whom the gates of heaven are grounded, and who enters even with a closed door; as if he were a stranger without boldness, He carefully knocks on the doors that were closed before Him, and patiently waits to be heard: and this is because, bringing to man a new gift of grace, the Lord wants to preserve intact the ancient gift of freedom. Well, humble child of the earth? Are you really not trying to accept such a high visitation because you feel unworthy of it? It would be immodesty, but insolence, or insensitivity; not humility, but lese majeste. Wouldn't you like to dine with the Lord? Don't you want to hear His voice? Will you really leave Him outside the doors, uselessly striking them, just as one does not treat an unknown wanderer? And what will you do with your soul 599 if you do not want to strive so that it is “created” again, as it was created in the beginning, “into a habitation of God by the spirit”? ( Eph.2:22 ) Will you really leave it as a desolate house, a repository of sewage, a habitat for bats, or even for robbers? Are you really not afraid to see her, or to see her as alien to goodness, full of dark thoughts and unclean desires, defiled and burdened with idols of passions, accessible to the spirits of evil? - God forbid! - you say. God forbid! - I also say, and for the preservation of your soul I show you the sure way, so that you, with all the attention and fidelity, as far as you can, prepare it for the abode of the Lord. If you ask what must be done for this preparation; Based on the word of the Lord, I answer: fulfill the conditions under which the Lord promises to “come to anyone and make an abode with him; “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word.” Love the Lord, who only loves you and only condescends to you; and this love will awaken in you a subtle spiritual feeling to hear His voice, and it will open the door of your heart to Him, and you will receive Him and become His abode. If you also ask: how to teach yourself the love of God, and make it true, unfeigned, strong; I answer again from the word of the Lord: keep His word, fulfill His commandments; This is the truth and power of love for the Lord, as He Himself attests: “If you have My commandments and keep them, this is the same person who loves Me” (John 14:21). If even in doing the commandments you feel exhausted, or hampered by temptations and obstacles, then call on the love of God for help, and inspire yourself with it: “for love is strong as death; – the wing of fire beat her” (Song.8:6); with her, “those who endure the Lord will change their strength, they will take wings like eagles, they will flow and not tire” (Is. 40:31). I need to resolve one more question, and then I will stop talking. If God requires a man-made, invisible, inner, spiritual abode for himself, then what else is this man-made and visible one for? - In order that in this monastery, the more convenient it is to hear the voice of the Lord approaching our inner monastery, the less here we are deafened by the noise and rumor of the world; - so that the door of the heart, opened to the Lord, does not so easily invade much that we have left behind the fence of the visible monastery; - for what the Prophet Elijah needed Carmel, and John the Baptist needed the desert; - so that the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary would have an imitative continuation on earth, and the prophecy about her would be clearly fulfilled: “the virgins will be brought to the King after her” (Ps. 44:15); – in order to give free space to the word of the Lord: “he who is able to accommodate, let him contain” (Matthew 19:12); and to another: “If you want to be perfect, go and sell what you have, and you will have treasure in heaven” (Matthew 19:21). For this reason, Saint Chrysostom, praising the Christian piety of the Egyptian country in his time, at the same time gives preference to the desert dwellers. “And this,” he says, “is not only good in cities, but also in deserts, more than in cities. For it is powerful to see throughout this entire country the army of Christ, and the royal flock, and the citizenship of the powers above. And this content is found not only in men, but also in the female race: for they are no less wise than men; The laws and wise men command not to accept shields, not to ride on all-giving horses, like the glory of Hellencia, but to another much more difficult army of the possessed. It is common for wives and husbands to fight against the devil and the power of darkness, and nowhere is the weakness of nature such a battle an obstacle. Actions are judged not according to the nature of the body, but according to the will of this soul. For this reason, the wife fought many times more than the husbands, and left behind the brightest signs of victory. “For this reason,” he continues, “with the most diligent preservation of teachings, a lot and their life they show virtue: having stripped themselves of all their possessions, and crucified themselves to the whole world, they continue to carry on, and their bodily labor is exhaustingly demanding for food. Below, when they fast and watch, they want to celebrate holidays during their days: but they spend the nights in sacred songs and all-night prayers, and spend the days in prayers, shopping and handicrafts” (Zlat. on Matthew 8). In these sayings of the golden-speaking teacher, may those staying in this monastery find both the law of their asceticism and encouragement in it; and let the world understand from them that, by establishing holy monasteries for monastics, we are not introducing a habitation invented by human arbitrariness, but we are observing ancient piety and the sacred order of the church. Amen. In the Author's manuscript and in Chr. Readings: Conversation. In the Author's manuscript: Christianity, which proclaims such high mysteries... In the manuscript of the Author and in Christ. Read: with confidence... In the author's manuscript, in Christ. Read and in collection 1844: leaves his throne and glory, hides... In the author's manuscript: by yours... You might be interested in: