153. Слово на освящение храма Воскресения Христова, в селе Гуслицах

(Spoken September 22; printed separately and in the 1844 and 1848 collections) Now it is fitting to announce this renovated church with the Psalm exclamation: “Behold, now bless the Lord, all the servants of the Lord, who stand in the church of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God” (Ps. 134:1). It is true that one should praise and glorify God at every time and in every place. For if inanimate “the heavens tell the glory of God” (Ps. 18:2); if “every breath praises the Lord” (Ps. 150:6): then how can one not do this to a rational being, more than other creatures favored by God? But with the special benefits of God, it is especially fitting to bring praise and glory to God with a grateful heart. And isn’t this a new blessing of God for the brethren of this holy church, that the laborious and laborious work of church building has finally been completed with good care; that this magnificent church was consecrated, and through this received a new overshadowing, visitation and infusion of the grace of God. For what God promised to the church of the Old Testament, which had in itself only “the shadow of the good things to come” (Heb. 10:1): then of course He will grant to the church of the New Testament, which has the very blessings promised in the Old Testament. “My eyes and my heart will always be,” He said, “(1 Kings 9:3). And so “now” especially, “bless the Lord, all the servants of the Lord who stand in the church of the Lord.” And as those who have been blessed and grateful, with a new benefit, willingly remember the former mercies of the benefactor: then let us bless the Lord, who at the beginning gave existence and life to our race, His Divine image and a blissful heavenly stay, and founded the heavenly Church. Let us praise the Lord, for even through the fall of our ancestors He did not allow His Church to be destroyed at the end, but with the promise of the Savior he again established it forever, and again called the sinner man into it by repentance; and in times of human ignorance He did not leave Himself untested, but through the blessings of His providence and His miracles He proclaimed His goodness and power, through Divine judgments and punishments He stopped the paths of sinners, through the lives of His Saints and the word of His Prophets He showed the way of salvation, through sacrifices, the priesthood and the church of the Old Testament, the one universal sacrifice of the cross of the New Testament, the priesthood He foreshadowed the salvation of Christ and the Church of Christ, illuminating the present, past and future with the same light of faith. Most of all, let us glorify God the Father, for He sent His only begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, into the world for our salvation, and set Him as the cornerstone of His Church, with such a statement that “even the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18), and to Him will be “glory in the Church in Christ Jesus throughout all generations of the ages” (Eph. 3:21). Let us glorify Him, for He poured out His Holy Spirit on the Apostles and on the whole Church, and through His grace fulfilled the sacraments of the Church: and so that the grace of the sacraments, as required by the very name and concept of the sacrament, had a pure, faithful and inviolable secret repository, for this purpose He gave us and consecrated His grace-filled church, this repository of the sacraments, the treasury of grace, the palace of the Body of Christ, the house of prayer, a school of theology and piety, a source of sanctification, a refuge for the distressed, a refuge for the distressed, a doctor’s clinic for the ailing, a consolation for the mourning, a dwelling of spiritual joy, the threshold of heavenly abodes. So gratefully accepting the pledge of so many blessings given to us in the consecration of the church, we must, brethren, further think about how to really take advantage of the grace of the holy church, so that the human labor of church building will not be fruitless, so that the Divine gift of consecration will not be lost for us. How should we use the holy church? – In order to make saving use of the holy church, one must generally, properly visit it, especially participate in the main property of the church - the sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ, and finally try to walk outside the church worthy of the shrine of the church. One must, I say, visit the holy church of God. If they are building a house; then, of course, in order to live in it: otherwise, what would be the use of building it? So, if they build a church, then, of course, in order to come to it and be sanctified by it: otherwise, what would be the purpose of building it? One should visit the holy church diligently. True, the church offers prayer not only for those present in it, but also for the Orthodox Christians everywhere: but this, without a doubt, applies to those who, when they can, enter it with faith, reverence and fear of God. If you forget to visit the church, wouldn’t it be fair for him to forget you and for his grace not to visit you? One should visit the church of God with reverence. If, having come to the king’s house, you would be in apprehension and care, so as not to do something inappropriate with the dignity of the place: then with what reverence should you enter the house of the heavenly King! If you were in the king’s house with fear, although he does not see you, although perhaps he is not even at home: then with what fear should you stand in the house of God, where the Omnipresent is always present, where the All-Seeing constantly sees you! One must visit the church of God with attention. In church you hear prayer, the Word of God, psalmody, and teaching. It is well established that all this, ready-made without your labor, you hear: but you also need to be able to hear. “Be careful what you hear” (Luke 8:18), the Lord himself admonishes. “Let us listen,” the clergyman often proclaims: that is, we will listen with full, deep attention. When you hear prayer in the Church, try to let not only your ear hear, but also your heart, and so that the prayer of the Church becomes your own prayer. When you hear the Word of God: bow your head before it, not only as is customary in a visible manner, but also your mind invisibly. The Word of God is the seed of spiritual fruit: with deep attention, guide the reins in your heart in order to receive it, and to grow and bear fruit to God. The Word of God is the dew of heaven: lay down your soul before it like thirsty land. “The word of God is living and active” (Heb. 4:12): do not hinder it from working life-giving in you; eliminate the disorderly movement of thoughts, desires, passions. When you hear the Church Psalmody: sing also, if you can, with your lips; but most of all, and certainly according to the Apostolic saying, “sing and sing in your heart to the Lord” (Eph. 5:19). When you hear a teaching in the Church: be zealous and understand it, and preserve it, and use it for the benefit of yourself and others. Do not support yourself with the lazy thought: “We are simple people”: without a doubt, the Apostle simply commands the simple: “Be not children in your minds, but be childish in malice, and have perfect minds” (1 Cor. 14:20). One must visit the church of God with faith. Only faith is given the great promise of the fulfillment of every prayer, “everything you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive” (Matthew 21:22). Only faith life-givingly accepts the action of the living Word of God, only through it can the word of teaching be useful and fruitful: which is why it is said about those who heard the word of God at Mount Sinai, and the teaching of the Prophet Moses: “They did not profit by the word of hearing, undissolved by the faith of those who heard” (Heb. 4:2). Only faith finds and embraces the grace hidden in the sacraments: that is why the inviter calls to the great sacrament of faith: “approach with the fear of God and faith.” One must attend the Church of God with unchangeable fidelity. The Prophet Elijah once asked the Israelites: “How long will you continue to worship in both your molds” (1 Kings 18:21)? With this parable he reproached them for the fact that although they did not dare to completely renounce the true God, they nevertheless offered sacrifices to Baal, following the example of the pagans. And among you, New Israel, are there no hesitating and fickle ones, in whom, while truth and a right conscience lead them along the path of the Church, unrighteous suggestions and examples, selfish and unclean views, refract firmness and change direction; who, apparently, want to be disciples of the Gospel, and yet “are attached to strange and varied teachings” (Heb. 13:9); Sometimes they adhere to the sanctified Church Council, sometimes they shy away from unsanctified and unauthorized meetings, or they seek, without knowing what, in secret gatherings, where, as the Apostolic insight exposes, “the mystery of iniquity is practiced” (2 Thess. 2:7)? And does not the reproach of Iliin fall on these: “How long will you worship against both your molds?” (1 Kings 18:21) He who tempts on both sides is not successful in his journey. “A double-minded man is unsettled in all his ways” (James 1:8). It is not with these feet that the righteous go to God. If you wish to achieve inalienable sanctification through the holy church, and to ascend through the grace of the Church on earth, like a ladder, into the glorious heavenly Church: then cleave to the Church sincerely, constantly, unchangeably, with an unwavering thought, with an undivided heart. “Keep holding,” as the Apostle teaches, “confession of hope without wavering... not forsaking your own congregation,” that is, the Apostolic Church (Heb. 10:23, 25). In order to make saving use of the holy church, one must especially not deprive oneself of participation in its most important property—participation in the Lord’s Table. Looking at the church, think about why it was especially designed. For prayer? - So. He is a “house of prayer” (Luke 19:46), according to the word of the Lord. However, prayer can be and is performed both in simple houses and in open places. For teaching in the Word of God? - And it's true. However, this is also possible outside of the church. To perform the sacraments? - Fair. But some sacraments are performed out of necessity without the help of the church. For example, not in the church, but on the river, the holy Apostle Philip performed the sacrament of baptism over a cazhenik. What is a church especially for? What is its structure especially intended and adapted to? What is the purpose of an inner sanctuary, accessible only to initiates, besides places for reading, singing, and praying? Why does the center of the sanctuary, to which all the power of consecration of the church is directed, have the image of a meal? - Obviously this is adapted to the celebration of the sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ. After this, think how strange it is, or better yet, how sad, that this essential shrine of the church, for which the creation and consecration of the church serves only as preparation, is the brethren of the church who are dissatisfied with trying to use this shrine! The Lord said: “Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me and I in him” (John 6:56). What could be more desirable than to abide in the Lord and have Him abiding in you? Don't you want this? And if you wish, then how come some people do not come for a long time to taste the Body and Blood of the Lord, and even those invited to do so, put it off and shy away? The Lord said: “Eating My flesh and drinking My blood will have eternal life” (John 6:54). Don't you really want an eternal life? And if you wish, then do not stop using the means that the Lord has given us to acquire an eternal life; do not leave, in decent times, with the cleansing of your conscience 604, to begin the communion of the Body and Blood of Christ. Do not listen to those who say that a Christian can do without this shrine, or replace it with another method of sanctification. “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away” (Mark 13:31), says the Lord. Who dares to change the imperishable Word of God? Is it possible to replace the institution and work of God with the imagination and work of man? Some are dissatisfied with their concern for frequent communion with Christ in the sacrament, reassuring themselves with the hope that this deficiency will be filled at death and united with Him once and forever. - Oh God! Grant each of us this last gift in this life, this saving parting word for the future, just as Your original Last Supper was a parting word before Your saving death and glorious resurrection for us! “But who knows, brethren, whether our dying time will be put at our disposal, and whether we will be able to use it, especially since we did not know how, or were careless, to use the time of life? “Death will not delay,” threatens the Wise One, “but the covenant of hell is not shown to come” (Sir.14:12). You cannot say to death: slow down. Hell will not negotiate with you, so as not to open its jaws until the hour you appoint. While you freely use life, feed on the food of life and protect yourself in good time from the danger of becoming the food of death and hell. Finally, we must carefully guard the treasures of grace stored for us in the church by our walk outside the church. The fate of our life, which is blessed and sanctified by it, depends on the church: but the fate of the church itself also depends on our life. God generously bestows grace; but does not waste it in vain. Believers who repent and correct their lives are cleansed and sanctified by the grace of the holy church: but unbelievers, unrepentantly devoted to sin, insult grace, remove it, and by multiplying iniquities desecrate and destroy the church itself. “If you and your children turn away from Me, and do not keep My commandments and My commandments, I will also reject this church, which I sanctified to My name, from before Me” (1 Kings 9:6-7), that is: the church, devoid of grace, will be devastated and destroyed. Who does not know how truly, and how fearfully, this judgment of God was fulfilled over the Temple of Solomon? Having previously feared this with a providential spirit, and being protected from this, on the day of the consecration of the temple of Jerusalem, Solomon prayed among other things this prayer, which may the brethren of this newly consecrated church offer up with us now: “that our hearts may be perfect unto the Lord our God, to walk reverently in His commandments, and to keep His commandments, even as this day” (1 Kings 8:61) ). Amen. In the department ed.: with reverent preparation, with clearing of conscience... You might be interested in: