184. Слово по освящении храма Святителя Николая в доме Московской духовной Семинарии

(Said on November 1st; printed in the Works of the Holy Father and in the collection of 1848) Samuel saved in the Church of the Lord, where the ark of God is. And the Lord called: Samuel, Samuel. And he said: behold. (1 Samuel 3:3-4). Prepared by the benevolence and paternal benevolence of the Most Pious Autocrat, we are now renewing the house of teaching and residence for the children of the Church, prepared for the service of the Church, and not only the house, but also the church of God, in the immediate vicinity, under the same roof with the house of teaching and residence. Blessed is God, who gives “every desire and every action for good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13), who gave the sovereign and sacred authorities pious care for the needs of sacred service, together with humane care for helping the servants of the Altar in raising children, and, relieved from the care close to the heart, “watch with joy for souls” (Heb. 13:17 ) spiritual flock, let them “make prayers for the King” (1 Tim. 2:1-2), with the ever-present immutable duty of loyalty and love, with new free movements of a grateful heart! Children! Ask your parents or their fathers: were they looked after with such varied care as now, when, half a century earlier, they walked the field you are now walking through? From unfurnished dwellings, we often took entire fields to measure the unimproved path to the house of study; and it happened that only “in our teaching the fire flared up” (Ps. 39:4), when the educational church needed a warming or illuminating fire. I remember this not to arouse reproaches to the past, which has its own good and honorable memories, but to do justice to the present. You are provided with a home, arranged calmly, splendidly, majesticly; and a completely new need opens up for us to remind you to be in it like kindly but modest guests, and not to get too used to being comforted by it. You should think and accustom yourself to think with love that, after this, one might say, noble house, many of you will have to again live in humble dwellings, visit wretched huts; and you should approach this not with a feeling of oppressive need, but with a sense of sacred and longed-for duty. But now we are in the church: and it is especially proper to think about the church now. When I think that children are settling here, who once, having passed through the state of childhood, having been educated by teaching, tested in knowledge, morals and life, will have to fearfully enter into the service of the church; and when I see that the church itself has already approached them, entered their home, settled in their midst: I marvel at the condescension of grace, I am comforted by the proximity of the sanctuary for those being prepared for special consecration; but consolation turns into concern. How will we take advantage of this condescension of grace, this proximity of the shrine? Isn't her closeness as scary as it is comforting? Once a man after God's heart, David, desired to bring the sacred Icon of the Covenant of God closer to himself, not to his own house, but only to his city: but when the clergyman Uzzah, by boldly, although well-intentioned, touching the shrine, took from it, instead of a blessing, death; “David feared the Lord on that day, saying, “When the ark of the Lord comes in to me” (2 Sam. 6:9). And only in time, after new special signs of gracious condescension, did he resume and fulfill his pious undertaking. The Church of Christian truth and mysteries contains either no less or even greater shrine than the representative Icon of the Old Testament. And so there is a reason for the inhabitants of this house to fear the Lord on this day, and say: How is the church of the Lord coming to us? How will we live in such closeness to the shrine of God, who is especially “sanctified in those who approach” Him, both as a light that enlightens the worthy, but also as a fire that burns the unworthy. Chad! Do not allow yourself to forget and lose attention to the nearby church of God. Remember it with fear: however, in such a way that this fear does not reflect you from the house of God, but reflects from you everything unworthy of the house of God. Think that the Angel of the church sees and hears you, and beware of that from which his heavenly gaze would indignantly turn away, which would offend his pure hearing. A heart turned to God, a will submissive to His commandments, a mind directed to the truth, a quiet life, a meek and peace-loving manner, a reasonable and pure word, perfect obedience to superiors, love for the work of one’s calling, unslothful work, moderate peace, innocent joy - this is what can coexist with the house of God, without insulting its dignity; and with this, under its shade and in its light, of course, better than anywhere else, youth can grow spiritually, flourish and bear fruit for salvation. As much as the proximity of the church of God is terrible, because of the inviolable holiness of Him who lives in it, so much should it be desirable, because of the generous grace of Him who lives in it. In order to dissolve the fear of the shrine and sweeten it with the hope of grace, I point you to a youth who lived not only near the church, but in the church, and even slept in the church, and not only was not condemned for insolence, but also found high, grace-filled boldness before God. “Samuel saved in the Church of the Lord, where the ark of God is. And the Lord called: Samuel, Samuel. And the speech: behold." To use this example, you need to understand it correctly. Is it not, apparently, extreme negligence that the youth Samuel was allowed, and allowed himself, to “sleep in the Church of the Lord, where the ark of God is”? And the Law prescribed only the High Priest and the Priests to enter there to serve: and Samuel did not belong to the lower rank of the Levites, who, moreover, entered into the service of the church not in adolescence, but already in adulthood. If we assume that this was negligence, one of the disorders that the weak High Priest Eli committed in the church, and which brought sudden death to him and his children: then how could it happen that Samuel was not subjected to God’s rebuke with them, but, on the contrary, was visited with the special favor of God? The way out of the darkness of these perplexities into the light of truth can be found in the following words of the scripture: “before the lamp of God went out, and Samuel saved in the Church of the Lord.” Why is the burning lamp of God mentioned here? I think it’s about explaining on what occasion “Samuel was saved in the Church of the Lord.” Apparently, due to the special love for the shrine, early discerned in him, outside of custom, he was either sent or allowed to guard the lamp of God, which burned all night in the church: a service for which the vigilance of one person might not have been enough for the whole night, much less the vigilance of a youth. But it is clear that the love for the shrine of the church and for prayer was stronger than sleep in the youth Samuel; and he, by the lamp of God, stayed awake, served, revered, prayed, alone all night, yielding little to the weakness of nature and strengthening himself with only a short sleep, combined with the unremitting guarding of the brightness of the lamp of God. Now it is clear how the sleep of the youth Samuel in the church was not only not condemnable, but also became a way for the revelation of God. It was not negligence that offends the church, but love for its shrine that rests holy. Let us remember that Samuel, later the Prophet, formed a kind of theological school or educational society of the “sons of the prophets.” It is likely that not a small number of prophets of the next time owe their education to this institution: since from now on they appear among the people of God in greater numbers than before. But where is the school in which the educator of the prophets himself, Samuel, was educated? We cannot indicate anything other than the church of God. He stayed in the church from infancy, and was not formed by external teaching, but, through reverence and faith, he was imbued with the Spirit of the Living One in him, so that even in his youth he himself became a church of the “Holy Spirit, the Lord who spoke the prophets.” Children of the church, children of teaching! Receive guidance from the Prophet Samuel. And you settle down, partly for teaching, partly for living, almost on the threshold of the church. You also love the church and its service, feed on the Spirit of Him who lives in it, through reverence and faith. If the lot falls on you, even though only by reading, or singing, or lighting a lamp, or preparing a censer, to serve the church: do this with reverent attention, with zeal, with joy; remember that one of these simple ministries once formed the lamp of the Church, that serving the lamp of God illuminated the prophetic light in Samuel. You have mentors, teachings, books. This is a treasure for youth. But earthly teaching requires the help of a heavenly Mentor, just as a seed and vegetation requires the sun in order to grow and bear fruit. “The Lord gives wisdom, and from His presence knowledge and understanding” (Prov. 2:6). Raise the gaze of your mind to Him, extend the sighs of your heart to Him when you begin to study, or when you encounter difficulties in learning. Raise a grateful heart to Him when you understand the teaching and gain success. Above all, preserve the purity and integrity of your heart, so that the light of God may enter your soul without being obscured. “For wisdom does not enter into an evil-doing soul; it dwells in a body guilty of sin” (Wisdom 1:4). “Blessed are the pure in heart: for these” not only the wisdom of God, but also “God himself shall see” (Matthew 5:8). Amen. You might be interested in: