18. Слово к восприемлющим обет сердобольных вдов

(Said in the Mariinsky Church of the Imperial Dowager's House on December 12, printed in collections of 1822, 1835, 1844 and 1848.) “Honor widows, these true widows” (1 Tim. 5:3), writes the Apostle Paul to Timothy, Bishop of Ephesus. Here and now it is fitting to remember this Apostolic commandment. In order to correctly understand the saying of the Apostle, one must know that, in the first times of Christianity, in addition to the well-known, never changing rank of the Hierarchical and the Holy Office, a certain special category of female officials was established in the Church, who were called “widows” because they were actually elected from among widows, otherwise “Deaconesses,” that is “Servants” because their position was to serve the Church on some of its instructions. They were entrusted, among other things, with caring for the poor, caring for the sick, and especially, during times of persecution of the Church, visiting confessors of the faith in prison. The Apostle bequeathed respect to these “widows,” and for the sake of these useful ministries, when he wrote to Timothy: “Honor widows.” The times of persecution are over. Christian love for mankind could act more freely than before. It seemed that the special “ministers” of Christian philanthropy had become less necessary. Meanwhile, temptations among Christians themselves multiplied. It seemed that it became more necessary to withdraw from conversion in a mixed society of Christians, most of whom were weak and false. The apostolic institution of “widows” hid in secluded monasteries and deserts. Now look how the spirit of true Christianity, passing through the changes of times, through the diversity of peoples, nevertheless always remains the same and similar to itself; how even now he resumes his first beneficial actions in a similar former form and in a similar force. The Monarch, the Mother of the Blessed One of the Monarchs, consequently the Blessed One of the mothers, from this height of earthly well-being, deeply descends to suffering humanity, and is the Matter of orphans, widows, abandoned, helpless, sick. Being not only philanthropic, but inventive in philanthropy, She arranges for herself new instruments of philanthropic charity from those despised by philanthropy. Thus, among the widows whom She has cherished, She seeks out “true widows” who are capable and disposed to faithfully carry out the service of love for mankind; according to the feelings of his own heart, he calls them “Compassionate”, and, solemnly dedicating them to the service of the sick, for the sake of the benefit, difficulty and holiness of this service, “honors” them with a special honor, approved by the Sovereign permission of the Most Pious Monarch. Such is the lot now acceptable to you, God-loving and humane-loving sisters in the Lord! I already call you God-loving and philanthropic, based on the assurance that you have already been tested and found worthy of solemn service to Christian philanthropy. In accordance with the duty of the ministry entrusted to me, I remind you that the Gospel assigns “honor” only to “true widows,” and for this sake I bequeath and pray: as you now prepare to make a vow of compassion before the All-Seeing God, and accept the honor of compassionate widows, accept and renew the sincere and pure desire to be “truly compassionate widows,” God-loving and humane. Look at the image of a true Christian widow, written in the Gospel: “a true widow and a solitary one trusts in God, and continues in prayers and supplications day and night” (1 Tim. 5:5). If we reduce this to one line: this means that she must be pious, or God-loving. Further, the Apostolic Institution, when choosing a widow, requires research about her, “if the minds of the saints are found, if the strange ones are received, if the sorrowful are provided for” (1 Tim. 5:10). This means that she must be actively philanthropic. This is the image of your ministry! By approaching this model, you will get closer to perfection in your business. You must often look at this image with the eye of your mind, and always try to depict it in your heart with renewed attention. The more sincerely you are humane and God-loving in your heart: the less difficulties you will find in the works of your service, the more success, the more bliss! By preliminary experience, of course, you have already learned some of the difficulties of the service you accept. How love can ease them can be seen from ordinary life events. Why, for example, does a mother often stay awake at ease over her baby in the dead of night, while the nurse cannot overcome sleep? Is it not through the power of motherly love that the difficulty of long-term vigil is destroyed? If in this way natural human love makes difficult things easier, will grace-filled love for mankind, animated by the power of Divine love, be less powerful? If you think that all men by nature are one in the first man, and having separated, like streams from one source, are again united into one by grace in Jesus Christ; if, in accordance with this reflection, your heart also feels that among those entrusted to your care there is definitely not a single stranger, then caring for your neighbors will not differ from caring for yourself; and your burden is not heavy, as the experienced proverb says. If you think that we live in no other way, and have no other hope of living, than through the love and mercy of the Heavenly Father, that every minute He performs for us more good deeds of mercy, preservation and help than we can do for others in our entire life: then you will always feel how small and insignificant what we do for our neighbors, and therefore you will desire to have, and the love of God will give you “wings of fire” (Song. 8:6) so that you can easily and quickly fly to every cause of serving your neighbor. At the same time, just as true love for God and neighbor makes the work of serving suffering humanity easier, it also produces abundant fruits from this work. “He who does not love,” just as he himself “abides in death” (1 John 3:14), and every deed he does, even if it has the outward appearance of virtue, is dead and fruitless, and the word, “like a cymbal” (1 Cor. 13:2), is soulless. But when true Christian love pierces and opens the heart: then in it, and in all its outpourings, “issues of life” appear (Prov. 4:23). The word of consolation, from a heart filled with Christian love, like a stream of life, flows into the heart of the sufferer; the very gaze with such a heart, like a ray of light, penetrates a soul darkened by sadness. If exactly this love governs your service to suffering humanity, then the bodily deeds of this service, with the secret blessing of the Supreme Lover of God, will be salutary for the body of the sick, and your spiritual dispositions will bring them spiritual relief, desired in itself and again naturally beneficial for bodily health; but, more importantly, your true Christian love for mankind will be a constant Christian teaching for them; your trust in God can strengthen them against despondency and fear of death; the prayer of your faith can be more healing than any medicine, both for the body and for the spirit. For this purpose, the Apostle, having given the commandment, “for a sick person to call the elders of the church, so that they may pray over him” (James 5:14), so that they would not think that this excludes the prayer of others, he immediately adds a general instruction: “Pray for one another, so that you may be healed” (James 5:16). Finally, Christian piety and love for mankind, which alone can make your service extremely beneficial for your neighbors, - it, and it alone, can completely reward you for your deeds and make you blessed. Earthly honor and reward do not long console those who are partial to earthly things, and even less so those who impartially set the value of things. Blessed is he who does not arrange his life and affairs in such a way as to “receive his reward” only on earth and from men (Matthew 6:2)! Blessed is the one who, without dwelling on earthly things, “seeks toward the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:14)! For this reason, earthly honor is shown to you by the sign of the cross, so that it too reminds you “of the honor of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Do you wish to acquire this honor in undoubted hope and confirm it for yourself forever? Let the love of Christ guide the works of your ministry. First of all, she will do for you the miracle that your service to your suffering neighbors will turn into service to Jesus Christ Himself, Who gave her this authority when he said: “Before you have made these least of these brothers of mine, you have created one for me” (Matthew 25:40). What could be higher than this, albeit still secret, honor, what could be greater than this, albeit hidden, bliss, what could be sweeter than one thought - to serve Jesus Christ Himself? But as a result of this service, compassionate love, if you follow it to the end, will lead you to that royal honor, to that highest title, when the King of kings will solemnly call you and all the saints: “Come, blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:34). For, He will say to you: I “was sick, and you visited Me” (Matthew 25:36). Enter joyfully into this blessed feat, and go through it unremittingly, with the assistance of the grace of Christ. To strengthen yourself in this, every time you lay on yourself the cross given to you as a sign of compassion, remember the compassion of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who, out of love for suffering humanity, healed every ailment and every disease, and Himself willingly suffered and died on the cross, in order to heal us all from the deadly disease of sin; remember the compassion of the Most Pure Mother of God, who with a pierced heart stood before the cross and burial of her Son, giving us an example of compassion. With these memories, instill in yourself the pure and saving disease of humane compassion; let your heart ache with it; this holy disease, both for the sick and for the healthy, will be a source of healing. Amen. You might be interested in: