162. Слово в день памяти Преподобного Сергия

(Printed in the 1844 and 1848 collections) 616 Remember your mentors, who spoke the word of God to you, and as they look to the end of their lives, imitate their faith. ( Heb. 13:7 ). This is the Apostolic commandment. It seems that it has not been forgotten among us, and has not been left unfulfilled. For what does this day and this meeting mean, if not that we “remember” our mentor, St. Sergius, with solemn memory? We reverently “look at the end of his life” when we celebrate the days of the end of his life, and after his death he reappears among the living, in his incorruptible and miraculous remains. Can we, to complete this, boast that we “imitate the faith” of our mentors, “who spoke the word of God to us”? Oh if only! But the Apostle did not attribute this praise to all Apostolic Christians. He gave high testimony to the faith of the Philippian Christians when he wrote to them: “You have been given the gift of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for Him” (Phil. 1:29). And when he wrote to the Christian Jews: then he found it necessary to command and teach about the same subject. “Imitate,” he says, “their faith.” We, brethren, also recognize that we have not so much the right to praise of our faith, but rather the need to learn to imitate the faith of the Saints. Imitation is one of the most commonly used tools for education and direction of life and activity, in all forms. This is a means no less effective than the word of teaching, sometimes even more, and sometimes almost the only one. Imitation is older than the word of teaching, and the word itself is revealed and formed through imitation. Can a mother artificially explain to a baby what movements of the tongue and mouth, what direction of breathing it should produce different sounds in order to pronounce words? “But the child hears the words spoken by the mother; and, prompted by the unfolding life to act, but not self-invented and self-controlled, for which it is not yet capable, it receives the direction to do the same thing that the mother, in a word, imitates her, among other things, both in the pronunciation of verbal sounds, and after repeated attempts and experiments, each more successful than the other, the child knows how to speak. Such is the power of imitation implanted in the very nature of man. With age, it is limited and subordinated to other emerging abilities and growing forces: free will, learning, reflection, ingenuity. But the power of imitation still remains significant, firstly, because it opens up earlier than others and embraces many objects, it is supported by both habit and necessity; secondly, because not many have sufficient talent for sublime teaching, for mental research, for invention, but the entire human race is capable of imitating; thirdly, because mental research follows its subject in the illusory realm of imagination and memory, in the incomplete features of general concepts, and imitation looks at the subject existing in nature, in the definite and final features of reality; and therefore the former, when translating its contemplations into reality, often becomes difficult and confused, while the latter does what it sees already done easier and more reliably. From here you can see how important it is for life, what, and how a person imitates. If he decided not to imitate anything, but to invent everything himself, and do it according to his own invention, then what a disastrous state he would put himself in, and how difficult it would be for him to get out of there! for example, he would rather die of hunger than discover wheat or rye in the countless variety of the plant kingdom, and develop the complex art of cultivating it, collecting it, separating it, turning it into flour, and finally into bread. If, with his imitation, he falls for unworthy and false models, then naturally he becomes a bad copy of the bad original, and often for a long time. Whoever, in his youth, formed his ability to write letters according to a bad model, usually writes poorly throughout his life. There can also be bad imitation of a good example, when the imitation is not attentive, not judicious, and not constant. If we choose for ourselves examples of activity that are worthy in subject matter, perfect or at least approaching perfection in the manner and degree of action; and if we follow them carefully, judiciously, constantly: then we are on the path to perfection, open and true. But are not reflections on the influence of imitation on natural life and its actions extraneous to the doctrine of imitation of the Saints in spiritual life? - Reason. If the mouth of a baby is formed in no other way than by imitation in order to name father and mother: do you think that it is much easier, without a model, without imitation, somehow your heart will learn, not by the movement of air to produce verbal sounds, but by the movement of the Holy Spirit in faith, to name and call on the Lord Jesus, to cry out from your depths to the Heavenly Father: “Abba Father?” (Gal.4:6) If, without the help of imitation, you would find it difficult to prepare and healthily use earthly bread to support bodily life: do you think that without such help it is not difficult for you to find and savely eat with the lips of faith the heavenly bread, which gives new life to the soul, which, it is true, comes down from heaven without our art and labor, but which the tasting is extraordinary and unknown to earthly nature, and which those who know do not all partake of in life eternal, but some into judgment? If you have only learned by constant imitation of a model to write dead letters on perishable paper, do you think that it is much simpler, without a model, without imitation, at random, to write your name in the imperishable book of life, with living letters, that is, with works of living faith? However, let’s stop, if you like, philosophizing based on our own considerations and guesses. “Imams are the most famous prophetic” and apostolic “word” (2 Pet. 1:19). What does it say? – “Be imitators of God” (Eph. 5:1), it says through the mouth of St. Paul. And the Hypostasis incarnate Word itself says: “Be ye perfect, even as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). How can this happen? - Without a doubt, through imitation. Or does the immeasurable loftiness of this model offered to you for imitation lead you to bewilderment and hopelessness about success? - In vain. Imitation does not require equality with the prototype. You can remove from it only some features that are useful and accessible to you, one part of the immense picture in a reduced size: and at the same time, imitation can have its benefit, dignity and even perfection. The heavenly Father “His sun shines on the evil and on the good, and rains on the righteous and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45). This is the prototype presented to you, so that you can take its likeness for yourself. Of course, you cannot shine another sun for the same or for another world: but you can shine the light of saving truth in the mind of the ignorant, ignite a spark of love for good in a cruel or otherwise corrupt heart: and behold, you are an imitator of God, who not only shines the sun on the visible world, but also enlightens souls with spiritual light. It is not given to you to bring down rain from the sky, and to water the fields of the righteous and the unjust: but you can water with a tear of compassionate love the heart of an innocent sufferer, dried up from sorrow, or the heart of a sinner, burned with repentance: and behold, you are an imitator of God, who rains on the righteous and on the unjust. You are not able, like God, to bless all the good and the bad, the righteous and the unrighteous: but even to one whom you know is not good for you, do the good that is possible for you, with zeal 617, with self-sacrifice: and one such deed already makes you an imitator of the Heavenly Father, Who “His sun shines on the evil and on the good, and rains on the righteous and on the unjust.” But, in order to make the height of the Divine example more clearly accessible to the zeal of imitation, look at what else the skillful and condescending teacher of saving imitation, Saint Paul, is planning. It is as if he sets up a ladder of ascension for us, saying: “Be like me, as I am Christ” (1 Cor. 4:16). Now he no longer calls you to the highest, invisible, incomprehensible heaven to look for a role model, but brings him down to earth for you, and shows him in Christ, the true God, but ultimately the true man, who took upon himself our nature, even our weaknesses, except sin. If this does not raise our baseness to heights, the leader descends lower, and for us even closer places himself in the degree of ascension: “be like me.” To me, he says, a man subservient to you, to me, who was once a blasphemer and persecutor of the faith, sinners can easily imitate me, “of whom I am the first.” If someone were to object to this that the features of the Apostolic life are inapplicable to the state of his soul, to the circumstances of his life: the Apostle allows this too, when the commandments of imitation give more space: “Remember your teachers, imitate their faith.” In the many good examples set by true mentors, no doubt, admirable traits will be revealed, for me, for you, for everyone, according to a special state of soul, according to the special circumstances of life. Commanding especially to “look to the end of the life” of mentors, the Apostle, it seems, especially had in mind examples of martyrdom firmness in the faith, since he had a special need to indicate them for the confirmation of believers in the troubled times of the Church. But if the Apostolic commandment must embrace all times of the Church, and the needs of each and every believer: then it must also have this universal meaning: imitate the faith and life of the Saints. And truly, why did the Lord illuminate the church sky with such a multitude of glorified Saints, just like the elemental sky with a multitude of stars - why else, if not so that each of us could conveniently, according to our own needs, receive from them the light and direction of our path to heaven? Is the feat of protecting the Holy Faith from non-Orthodoxy recommended to anyone? – Let such a person seek for himself a model and guidance in the life and words of such mentors as the Great Athanasius and Vasily, Gregory the Theologian and Chrysostom. Has anyone chosen the path of a solitary life and especially devoted to God and prayer? - Let him pass mentally, according to books and legends, spiritual desert dwellings and communities, and let him observe, although from afar, the traces of also great ascetics of their kind, such as Anthony, Macarius, Pachomius, Ephraim, and many from century to century who followed their footsteps, and Sergius, who is still so close to us, by the goodness of God. Does God's Providence put anyone to the test of faith through hardships and disasters? – Let such a person establish himself by the example of Job, who, even in hardships and suffering, did not cease to bless the name of the Lord. Is anyone concerned about how to live worthy of faith in wealth and abundance? - Let him look at the life of Abraham, meek, compliant, beneficent, deliverer of the needy, a lover of strangers, a stranger to Angels and God. If someone has fallen deeply into the affairs of passions and vices, the thief who was saved on the cross, Moses of Murin, Mary of Egypt, and many saints who were saved after death and after deep corruption will show him hope and a way to emerge from the abyss. I would not be able to finish the words if I were to count the examples of the Saints, variously edifying and saving. Try, brothers, to recognize and notice especially those of them that are closer to the state of your soul, to the circumstances of your life. By listening to them, you will receive significant fruit: both authentic knowledge of the saving path for you, and strong help in passing it, through the prayers of the Saints, whom you will approach by imitation and your prayer. Brethren! Imitation is so akin to man that none of us can live without it. The difference is in the objects and in the jealousy of imitation. – Who prescribes the laws of vanity, luxury, self-interest, self-honor? - Nobody. How do vanity, luxury, self-interest, and self-honor intensify and spread? - most of all through reckless imitation. What power should imitation have when it is applied to lawful and blessed objects? – Let us consider, brethren, that “it is good to be zealous for good things” (Gal.4:18); and just as a lofty example elevates the imitator, so a low one humiliates. And therefore let us turn our eyes away from the vanity of the world; Let us look carefully at the lives of the Saints: let us imitate their faith, immaculate, firm, living, acting in exploits, in love, in doing good, so that we too may inherit the heritage of the “Saints in the light” (Col. 1:12), and with them we eternally glorify the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. In the index on Thursday. O. L. D. P. is listed as pronounced 25 Sep. 1842 In collection 1844: with sincerity, with zeal... You might be interested in: