170. Слово в день Святыя Пасхи

(Said on April 11 at the Assumption Cathedral; published separately and in collections of 1844 and 1848) The Church of Christ has now most solemnly announced to our ears the highest of gospels: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was to God, and God was the Word” (John 1:1), and so on. And as we know, her custom is to commemorate the sacrament of the day with the Gospel reading, and give us an object of reverent reflection and spiritual teaching: what should I do now? Should I try to delight your souls from the earth, lift them above the sun and stars, lead them to the heavens of heaven, past the lowest and highest ranks of the Angels, to the extreme heights of creation, to where there is no time, because a non-transitory and non-dividing eternity is open there, where space disappears into infinity, from where with a backward glance you can be convinced, no matter how exaggerated, no matter how weak the expression of the Wise One, that “like a guard in presumptuous, so is the whole world” before God, “like a drop of the morning dew that descends on the earth” (Wis. 11:23)? Should we demand that you “stand on guard” of contemplation with the holy Evangelist John, higher than the Prophet Habakkuk stood on his guard: since the Prophet contemplated the Son of God in the manifestation of His incarnation, and the Evangelist contemplates Him in the mystery of His Eternal Birth? Should I talk to you about the “beginning”, in the most sublime meaning of this word, about the “beginning of every beginning,” as the King Prophet explained (1 Chron. 29:12), about a beginning that far precedes the beginning of time and everything that is in time - about a beginning from which everything begins in eternity itself, but which is not limited by any further beginning, as well as by an end? Shall I look for words, so that, as close as possible to your understanding, I will speak to you the “Word”, which not only the human, but also the Angelic mind can comprehend, and the tongue is not sufficient to explain, - the “Word” that has been spoken only, and eternally speaks, or is begotten by the One Eternal Father of the Word, and which Himself has spoken to all other beings, not in terms of hearing and knowledge, but essentially in being and well-being? Should we retell, somehow more simply, the pompous saying of the Supreme Theologian that “in the beginning was the Word”, that is, It did not begin, so that you could imagine Him as having never been, but in the pre-temporal and eternal beginning it always “was”, just as it always is and will always be, since it is everlasting: that “the Word was with God”, that is, “the Only Begotten Son, who was in the womb” Father” (John 1:18), was not separated by His birth and was not separated from God the Father, but is consubstantial with the Father and the Holy Spirit; that “God is the Word,” that is, the name of God in the same true sense in which it belongs to God the Father, equally belongs to the Son of God, like the Holy Spirit, however, so that in the three Divine Hypostases there is only one God in essence; that by this hypostatic Word of God everything was created without exception, earthly and heavenly, visible and invisible; that in Him lies “life,” or the source of life for everything living, and especially for those living a spiritual and immortal life; that this original life has always been and is a “light” for people, which shone for them in paradise, did not completely hide from them on earth, was not extinguished by paganism. Although he was not seen and not accepted, he marked himself as a shadow in the Law of Moses, the dawn - in the Prophets, until finally, like the sun and day, the incarnate Word appeared, with the full light of truth, with life-giving and miraculous power, and in His life, preaching, deeds, even in free suffering and death, especially in the resurrection - “we saw His glory, glory, as the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth?” (John 1:14) You see that I am barely attempting to theologize under the leadership of Saint John the Theologian: and perhaps in the little that I have said there is already a lot of boldness for the weakness of my word and, do not be angry, perhaps for the weakness of your hearing. And among the God-inspired Evangelists, was it not given to the son of thunder alone to roar so solemnly with the gospel of the heavenly glory of God the Word? However, just as when we hear the sounds of thunder, although we do not understand them as clearly and separately as the same son of thunder once understood the mysterious voices of the seven thunders, we nevertheless feel that they proclaim to us the greatness of God: so, when we hear the lofty verbs of St. John about God the Word, although we do not achieve a perfect understanding of them, both due to the lack of purity of mind, and due to the unattainable height of the subject itself, nevertheless we can feel that they proclaim to us, the Divine in itself, saving for us, the greatness of our Lord Jesus Christ. And that's enough. One can be surprised and perplexed how it happened that our God-wise Teacher, the Holy Church, assigned us such a difficult lesson from the Gospel on this day of rejoicing. On the day of resurrection, wouldn’t it be closer to talk from the Gospel about the resurrection itself, on the day of joy to arouse and nourish joy in all ways? – Wasn’t joy the first product of the resurrection, although at the same time there was also fear from the sudden appearance of miracles? – Having come “to see the tomb” (Matthew 28:1), but having received the news of the resurrection of the Lord, “with great fear and joy she told His disciples” (Matthew 28:8). Didn’t the Risen One Himself command to rejoice on the day of resurrection? - “Behold, Jesus I shit, you bastard: rejoice” (Matthew 28:9)! What happened to the Apostles when they saw the Risen One and were convinced of Him by His wounds on the cross? - “The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord” (John 20:20). And doesn’t the Church now, more than ever, recognize the dominion of joy, filling almost the entire Divine service with solemn hymns, especially before reading and teaching? I say this not in order to enter into a competition with the Matter-Church about its rules, but in order to give you a way to better understand its rules, and the better to fulfill them. What was the thought of the Mother Church, according to which, in the midst of joy, she calls her children to difficult reflection on the lofty truth, or to the lofty contemplation of the sacrament of truth? - Without a doubt, she would have recognized this as inappropriate if she had assumed in us a joy that falls into sensuality, mixed with vanity, scattered, noisy: and if she recognized this as appropriate, then, without a doubt, on the assumption that our festive joy should be spiritual, pure, peaceful, sublime; for such joy not only does not prevent thorough and deep reflection, but also makes a person more than ordinary capable of high contemplation. The Gospel story provides convincing examples of this. When the future Mother of the Baptist and the future Mother of the Lord, seeing each other, rejoiced with pure joy, and the joy of righteous Elizabeth was communicated to the baby in her womb: what was the consequence of these three joys? - That both mothers came into divine delight, and both prophesied. When Thomas, who had been deprived of the joy of the resurrection by unbelief longer than the other Apostles, suddenly drew it abundantly from the wounds of the Risen One: how did this joy act in him? It was resolved by Theology. “Thomas answered and said to Him: My Lord and my God” (John 20:28)! And this is very natural: for nothing so directly leads to thought, to faith and to confirmation of the Divinity of Jesus Christ as His resurrection. So, we have now somewhat learned what our real joy should be, so that it corresponds both to the dignity of its subject and to the intention of the Mother Church. “O children of the light-like Church!” Know how to use the light that the Risen Lord so abundantly pours on you! If it is not so easy to be able to do theology well, it seems that it is not difficult, at least, to be able to rejoice well. Pay attention to yourself and carefully observe that your holiday joy is spiritual, pure, peaceful, elevating your souls. When, having learned from the wise, perhaps the virgins, about a moment pleasing to the Heavenly Bridegroom, at midnight, with lamps, you surrounded His palace, filled His church; You have dedicated and are devoting the hours stolen from sleep and the beginnings of the day to doxology, the Gospel, the Sacrament, the word of truth: in this way you show signs of spiritual and pure joy. When you give each other the kiss of peace, without eliminating anyone who approaches you: this is a sign of peaceful joy. When every mouth, every ear is filled with the names of Christ and the Resurrection: I willingly recognize this as an expression of joy that elevates your souls to where the Risen One reigns. So far everything seems to be going well. Holy morning is illuminated with the light of holy joy. But will this night and this morning be worthy of the day, and the evening, and the week, which the Church has designated for the joy of the Resurrection? Will spiritual joy not soon be swallowed up by sensual joy? What you have collected for your soul in the church, will not vanity scatter without a trace outside the church? After the spectacle of the sacred, the heavenly, the Divine, will you not need the low spectacles of the world, in which the toy-thing, and, what is even worse, the toy-man, will play with the attention of your mind, and the movements of your heart, on which passion, madness, vice are variously personified, will dispute with each other your time, your praises, your money - perhaps the money that is denied to the poor? Isn’t this what the Prophet calls the disgrace of joy? “Shame,” he says, “is the joy of the sons of men” (Joel 1:12). I advise and pray that the joy reverently revered at the beginning should not be put to shame later. Is it proper to turn such joy into play and fun that we have acquired through sacrifice and suffering? “Our Easter, Christ was devoured for us. Moreover,” the Apostle concludes, “let us celebrate not with the leaven of wickedness, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but without the leaven of purity and truth” (1 Cor. 5:7-8). “As in the days let us walk honorably: not in wickedness and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sexual immorality, not in zeal and envy, but be clothed with our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 13:13-14). He has sufficient light and imperishable joy for one and all, so that no one has the need, past Him, to pursue the ghostly brilliance, and for the immortal soul to seek food in decay. Always look for joy in its true source. “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, rejoice” (Phil. 4:4). Amen. You might be interested in: