169. Слово в день Благовещения Пресвятыя Богородицы

(Said on March 25 in Chudov Monastery; printed in the collections of 1844 and 1848) “Mariam said: Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be unto me according to thy command” (Luke 1:38). These are earthly words, but which, like heavenly ones, are purer than refined silver, more desirable than gold, more valuable than precious stones. Here is the treasure that heaven has been looking for on earth for five thousand years, and which one of the closest primates of the heavenly Throne was sent to discover! Truly, Archangel Gabriel not only brought the Virgin Mary the word of the Divine Annunciation 627, but also sought to hear from Her a word of correspondence. When he uttered only a word of greeting: “Rejoice, full of grace: the Lord is with you, blessed are you among women” (Luke 1:28): the annunciation of the Savior of the world was almost completed; because by this the Mother of the Lord is commemorated and indicated. But as the Virgin became embarrassed and, reflecting, remained silent, the Archangel continued and strengthened the word of the annunciation: “Give birth to a Son; - This one will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; “There will be no end to His kingdom” (Luke 1:31–33). Now the annunciation on the part of the Archangel has been decisively accomplished: but he still does not consider the affairs of his embassy over, because it is not the one he is waiting for that he hears the word: “How this will happen, I don’t know where the husband is.” - Finally, he resolves the question: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you,” and receives the required answer: “Behold the servant of the Lord: wake me according to your word.” And now the sought-after treasure is discovered. With joyful annunciation from heaven, the annunciation from earth to heaven, mutually desired, was acquired. The heavenly embassy completely achieved its goal. “And the angel departed from her” (Luke 1:34–38). What does this mean? - What does it mean that the incarnation of the Son of God is preceded by a heavenly annunciation, and that this annunciation is not only spoken by the sovereign will of the Lord, but also seeks the permission of His servant? Doesn't the Almighty have the power to act without prior or waiting for permission? Why does heaven need these earthly words so much: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord: be unto me according to thy word”? – This was necessary both for the dignity of the Mother of the Lord and for the very work of the incarnation of God the Word. No one will doubt that, for the election to be the Matter of the Lord, the highest dignity possible on earth was required in the chosen one. But what could the dignity of a rational and free being consist of, if not in pure and sublime views of the mind and movements of free will? – It was necessary to give them a place so that they could be founded, established and, to our consolation and edification, the dignity of the Mother of the Lord would appear in the Virgin Mary. Her embarrassment at the high Archangel's greeting was a movement of a deeply humble soul. Holding this confusion in silent reflection signified wisdom, firmness and calm greatness of spirit. In the question: “How will this happen if I don’t know where my husband is?” - an unchanging love for the purity of virginity was manifested. Finally, in a decisive saying: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be unto me according to thy word,” the obedience of faith expressed itself. If, as the Apostle teaches, “by faith Christ dwells in the hearts” (Eph. 3:17), having already drawn near to humanity and joined it through the incarnation: then the most excellent and strongest faith was needed by the Virgin Mary, so that initially by incarnation the Son of God might dwell in Her, so not yet close to humanity, and by the height of His Divinity inaccessible to any creature, and because of the mediastinum that sin has placed between Divinity and humanity! And such faith was found in Her, and made pure and perfect obedience possible for Her—obedience to the incomprehensible calling without doubt, obedience to the immeasurably high calling 629 without exaltation. And this obedience bowed Her soul under the shadow of the Holy Spirit, united Her will with the will of God, opened Her heart for the entrance of the power of the Most High; and the Eternal Light came and illuminated life in Her, new not only for the earth, but also for heaven, heavenly in the earthly, eternal in the temporal, Divine in the human, all-vivifying in the dying. “And the word became flesh and dwelt in us” (John 1:14). “Wonderful are Your works, O Lord! Wonderful are Your secrets, O Mother of God!” Who hears Your quiet word in Your closed prayer church? Who can foresee what enormous deeds Your little word will lead to? Does the world feel this moment, at which a turning point is made in its entire destiny, at which the relationship between earth and heaven changes? Does Rome, dreaming of world dominion, know that in one of its distant regions, a certain daughter of the kings, calling herself “the handmaid of the Lord,” pronounced a sentence that is preparing for the world a new, better, highest Lord, and for Rome the destruction of a proud and wayward rule? Do the glorious soothsayers of the pagan peoples guess that from the lips of the unknown Virgin a prophecy has flown out that will silence them, cast down idols and idols, stop bloody sacrifices, and destroy bloodthirsty priests? Do the sages of the world imagine that at the voice of a Jewish woman, a hitherto unknown 630 Wisdom will descend from heaven, which will envelop the wisdom of the wise, and reject the understanding of the prudent, but will reveal to babes secrets incomprehensible to the sages? -What am I saying? - Jerusalem and the tribes of Israel, who from distant ancestors know and keep the promise of God about the great Deliverer and Pacifier, and “without ceasing day and night they hope earnestly to finish” (Acts 26:7) to the fulfillment - have they reached the point of knowing that, having passed through a vast area of promise, on this day or this night, they suddenly approached the limit of fulfillment, and that the limit this one was placed in Nazareth? The scribes, who read so many times in the book of Isaiah: “Behold, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a Son, and you will call His name Immanuel” (Is. 7:14), and almost as many times were perplexed 631 about this - do they think that the Virgin, foreseen by the Prophet, has already understood this prophecy, and is preparing to fulfill it? Does righteous Joseph, no longer completely alien to the mysteries of the Ever-Virgin, know how he betrothed Her to himself so that She could remain a virgin, does he know that after this She is betrothed to the Holy Spirit in order to become the Matter of the Lord? In the whole world, no one except the One knows the Archangel’s Annunciation when it is accomplished: and it must be announced to the whole world when it is accomplished. And having heard early, apparently the simple words of Mary’s Annunciation: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord: be unto me according to thy word,” who would exhaust all their reason, feel all their power? And their mind merges with the abyss of the mind of God, and embraces time and eternity; their power is united with the power of the Most High, and will transform the earth and fill the sky. – Humble yourself, inquisitive researchers! Marvel and rejoice, humble contemplatives! Give up, arrogant mind, breaking the weapon of self-willed wisdom, and love the free captivity of faith! But you, thoughtful soul seeking your salvation, enlighten yourself with the word and example of the Most Blessed Virgin, how high it lifts you up, how much it accomplishes, how completely pleasing to God is the modest and seemingly unremarkable virtue of obedience to faith. “Obedience,” by its name, is “following” what we “hear,” as an instruction or as a command. But in the highest, essential, spiritual meaning, under the name of obedience we mean the following of the human will, as created and dependent, to the will of God, as creative and all-powerful. From this concept the duty, benefit and importance of obedience immediately emerges. Do creatures rebel against the Creator? Should an earthly slave raise a rebellion against the Heavenly Lord? A not entirely darkened mind, a not entirely hardened heart, by common forces, reflects this absurd incongruity. The mind and heart agree on the duty of obedience of the human will to the will of God. The will of God is not sinful. Consequently, obedience to the will of God should protect or save a person from errors and errors. The will of God is all good. Consequently, obedience to the will of God should lead a person to every good. A creature without a Creator is nothing. By the power of the Creator alone she is something. What will the will of man mean if it does not cleave to the will of God by obedience, if it is torn away from it by disobedience? Once upon a time the first man was blissful: why? - Because I followed the all-good will of God. He fell from the height of his bliss: how? – His will fell away from the will of God and fell into sensual desires. Disobedience, sin, death: these are links of one chain; he who takes hold of the first link draws the last to himself - and, oh, if only he could always do no more than to himself! On the contrary, “by the disobedience of one man many sins were committed” (Rom. 5:19). “By one man sin came into the world, and death came by sin, and so death came to all men” (Rom. 5:12). Is it necessary to cure poor humanity of the universal 632 deadly disease? – One can guess that a very necessary medical appointment should consist of that quality, the loss of which was the beginning of the disease, that is, obedience. It was precisely with this healing that the Heavenly Physician came to earth. See how He, being painless Himself, in Himself prepares medicine for the sick human race, and how He heals it, precisely by obedience. “He humbled himself, becoming obedient even to the point of death, death on the cross” (Phil. 2:8). “By obedience to the One the righteous shall be many” (Rom. 5:19). “Even if the Son had become accustomed to obedience from these things, even though he suffered, and was made perfect to all who listened to Him, he is guilty of eternal salvation” (Heb. 5:8-9). There is obedience of love, obedience of fear, obedience of faith. In the beginning, man lived, as if on sweet food, by obedience to love for God, the all-good and all-perfect. But after he has poisoned this blessed life by eating the forbidden, he needs, as a medicine, sometimes not without bitterness, to use the obedience of fear of God, the righteous Judge, and then the obedience of faith in God and Christ, the Pardoner, Healer and Savior, so that finally, as he heals, he can again feed on sweet and immortal food - the obedience of love. Thus, the spiritual life of a person and a Christian depends on obedience; why does the Apostolic word call Christians “children of obedience” (1 Pet. 1:14). If the idea of ​​eating and living obediently seemed to someone only a representation of the imagination, refined and exaggerated, and not a representation of the mind, drawn from the essence of the matter: let him remember the saying of the infallible Teacher, in whose word one cannot assume refinement 633 or exaggeration. “I am the vine, you are the birth; and whoever is in Me and I in him will produce much fruit: for without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). How can this be done so that man is in Christ, and Christ is in man, so that man is united with Christ, just as its branch is with a vine? – This is possible only through obedience to faith, free devotion of the heart and silently submissive 634 will of a person to the all-effective will of Christ. In this way, the obedience of faith actually introduces into a person the power and life of Christ, which is why the activity of such a person is often far more sublime and more powerful than ordinary human activity. Someone who doesn’t understand or is looking for excuses can say: how can one even “live,” that is, constantly engage in obedience to the will of God? Should we not leave room for our will, which exists by nature and cannot be destroyed? And is it possible to know the will of God at every moment? Happy are the elect, to whom God sent His messengers for this purpose; but even for the chosen few such cases were rare. – Whoever speaks in this way proves not that the work of perfect obedience is not convenient, but that he who does not practice the work does not know how it is done. If you sincerely desire to know the will of God, there is an Angel for you who is close and ready. This is your conscience. Listen to your conscience; do not drown out her subtle voice with the noise of your passions: and the will of God will be revealed to you; and you will be on the path of obedience. There is a more authentic and more complete proclamation of the will of God, which you can read in holy books, hear in church, see in the examples of the Saints. Take heed to this; and the will of God will become clearer to you; and obedience will become more convenient and faithful. Everything in the world happens under the control of God's Providence, and consequently everything is according to the will of God, since it is not according to the will of 636 man. So in everything that befalls you, you can recognize the will of God. Prosperity comes and the will of God is preached to you, so that you thank God. Calamity comes and proclaims to you the will of God, so that you endure. And obedience can manifest itself not only in acting according to the will of God, but also in not acting against the will of God, and most importantly, if you suffer resignedly according to the will of God. Know how to humbly say to the messenger of the highest lot: “Wake me according to your word.” But learn also, when you see the cross, to say generously: “Not as I will, but as You will” (Matthew 26:39), Heavenly Father! However, although truth and virtue are accessible to everyone, they are by no means superfluous, but often necessary, special teachers, according to the type of knowledge, special leaders, according to the type of exploits. So, for success in spiritual obedience, since you can, because you internally feel a special need, choose for yourself a special mentor, knowledgeable and experienced in this science, blessed for this service, whose word is strong through life, bright through prayer, protected from error by humility. Submit your will to him for the sake of God: and the will of the God of heaven will come to you on earth, and your simple earthly obedience will reach to heaven, according to what was said to the true and legitimate mentors from the Giver of shepherds and teachers: “He who listens to you, He listens to Me” (Luke 10:16). True, obedience to God through man from ancient times took its schools out of ordinary life, separated them from the worldly community, created for itself special abodes, in which it bore and continues to bear its fruits for heaven and earth. But science, which is considered most convenient to teach in the silence of the countryside, should therefore be considered completely unnecessary and useless for the city? The sons of this age desire 638 more and more scope for their own will. What does this lead to? – Isn’t it what the Prophet once predicted: “there will be people like the priest, and a slave like the master, and a slave like the mistress: the buyer will be like the seller, and the borrower will be like the lender” (Is. 24:2)? But what will happen during this unlimited scope of one’s own will? – The prophet says: “Behold, the Lord will scatter the world and devastate it” (Is. 24:1). That is, He will allow self-will to punish itself with the disorder that it produces. And after all the temporary punishments, do you know what will feed the fire of hell? Nothing more than one’s own will with its creations, that is, sins. Set aside your own will; and hell will not find food for itself in you. Accept the will of God, and you will receive heaven into yourself until it receives you into itself. Where the will of God is, there is heaven. But is it easy to part with the freedom that is natural to man? -Who demands that you give up your freedom? God has given you freedom so that you can freely make a choice between evil and good, between creation and the Creator, between yourself and God. If you choose yourself, creature, evil: you will go into captivity of pride, creatures, evil. If you choose and continually choose good, God, and His will, you will not lose, but will strengthen and expand your freedom. “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Cor. 3:17). But is it sometimes easy to bend your own will? – Sometimes it’s difficult, sometimes it’s easy, depending on how you make it difficult or easy for yourself. When you want to fulfill the will of your beloved father or mother: isn’t it easy for you to forget your will, isn’t it pleasant 639 even to sacrifice it? Who prevents you, through faith and love, from becoming a son of God, and making obedience to the will of the Heavenly Father sweet for yourself? “Our Father, who art in heaven! Thy will be done in all of us! Amen. In the author's manuscript it is written in pencil over the crossed out lines: gospel. In the author's manuscript: expresses the sovereign will. In the author's manuscript and collection. 1844: to an unparalleled high... In the author's manuscript it is written in pencil, with the markings crossed out: new. In the author's manuscript it is written in pencil, crossed out: never imagined. In the author's manuscript it is written in pencil over what has been crossed out: this. In the author's manuscript it was written: Which cannot be suspected of sophistication, etc., but then corrected in pencil, as read here. In the author's manuscript it was written: obedient, then corrected in pencil. In the author's manuscript it was first written: it turns out to be often more sublime, etc. In the author's manuscript: not from the will. In the author's manuscript it was written: note; after it is written in pencil: cognize. In the author's manuscript it was written: they want, crossed out and written in pencil: they wish. In the author's manuscript it was originally written: sweetly. You might be interested in: