201. Слово в день восшествия на всероссийский престол Благочестивейшаго Государя Императора Николая Павловича

(Said in the Chudov Monastery on November 20; printed in the Works of the Holy Father, 1845 and in the collection of 1848)" Honor everyone: love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king. (1 Peter 2:17) Wisdom says in Proverbs that in the verbs of her mouth “nothing is obstinate, everything is simple to those who understand, and rightness to those who gain understanding” (Prov. 8:8-9). Are these not exactly the words of wisdom from the mouth of the Apostle Peter, now read? How simple is their wisdom, and how wise is their simplicity! “Honor everyone”: this is the general teaching about the duty of each to all. “Love the Brotherhood”: this is a special teaching about the duty of a Christian to a Christian. “Fear God”: this is moral Theology, quite understandable for both the non-Theologian and quite profoundly wise for the Theologian, if only he were not a simple curious listener, but a diligent follower of the teaching. “Honor the Tsar”: this is the whole science for members of the state, or, as they call it in one word, Apostolic and Christian politics. The commandment: “Honor the king” has made today a solemn day. The commandment: “Fear God,” gathered us triumphant to the church. We know that “there is no authority except from God” (Rom. 13:1): that through Him “kings reign” (Prov. 8:15). And therefore, before God, we offer thanksgiving for the Tsar, given by God and protected by God; We bring our desires before God, and even in the time to come - “Lord, in Your power the King will rejoice, and in Your salvation he will greatly rejoice” (Ps. 20:2). From the commandments of the holy Apostle, visible in fulfillment, and consequently already understood and accepted, let us turn to that part of his teaching about which one can doubt whether it is understood and accepted for fulfillment by everyone. “Read everyone.” Do we all honor everyone? For example, do we honor the employee? Do we honor a prisoner brought to prison by his own guilt? Is it really necessary, and how can we honor these? – These questions show that some work of reflection is required in order to “gain the understanding” of the Apostolic saying, and so that it appears simple to understand and “right” in execution. To honor a person, or to give honor to him, means to recognize some dignity in him, and to conform to this dignity in thoughts, words and actions relating to him. Since dignity does not belong to everyone, but only to some people, and there is more than one kind, and of different degrees: therefore, honor should belong only to some, and in different degrees. This includes the saying of the Apostle Paul: “give to everyone their due” - “to him is honor, honor” (Rom. 13:7). Here it is clear that there is a kind of honor that should not be given to everyone, but only to those to whom it is rightfully due. The honor that belongs to the king cannot, without sacrilege, be attributed to a subject. The degree of honor assigned to a superior does not belong to a subordinate. The respect that, according to natural law and according to the law of God, a father demands from his son, cannot be demanded by a son from his father. There is a kind of honor that is independent of other kinds and degrees, more general and freely achieved, but not universal. This is an honor that belongs to the moral dignity of a person, according to the words of the Apostle Paul: “Glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good” (Rom. 2:10). According to this rule, those who stand at the lower levels of society and ordinary public opinion can also be respected. And a Samaritan who loves mankind is worthy of respect, and, moreover, especially before a hard-hearted priest. And a faithful and diligent slave in the affairs of his master is worthy of respect, and moreover, more than a free one who uses his freedom for bad reasons. Without shaking any of the special families and degrees of honor, but not limiting itself to them, the Apostolic Word also proclaims to us the universal law of respect, which everyone owes to everyone: “honor everyone.” No matter how small the measure of dignity may seem in some people: have in readiness for them the corresponding measure of respect that is due to everyone: “honor everyone.” Is it really therefore necessary to honor such people who themselves have shaken their right to respect through ignoble, base, and vicious deeds? “My pride would not like to, but the Apostolic Commandment commands us to honor these people, if not positively, at least negatively, that is, not to despise them; because the commandment was given without exception: “honor everyone.” But is it possible not to despise such people? – If it should; then, of course, it is possible: because the wisdom of the Gospel does not command the impossible. Separate from man the ignoble, base, and vicious deeds: turn away from them, despise them. Separate a person from his affairs, and it will be possible not to despise him. Seeing a pile of gold-bearing soil, one who does not know will despise it, but one who knows will not despise it for the sake of the grains of gold contained in it. Likewise, looking at a person who presents an unpleasant appearance of lack of education, rudeness, disorder, vice, the inattentive will despise him, and the attentive will pity him, but 670 will not despise him: because in this unsightly block there is gold. What kind of gold? - The human being, and especially his soul. If they look with respect at the small work of a great worker, for example, at some tree planted by a famous person, or at a thing made by his hands: then is it possible to despise a person - a very no small work of the great and wise Creator, which He both deigned to produce and deigns to preserve? Man would cease to exist if God despised and neglected him. Consequently, the very existence of a person serves as a sign that God does not despise him. Who dares to despise what God does not despise? If we honor and protect from disdain the image of the king, even if it is imperfect or damaged in some way, how can we despise the image of God, inscribed by God Himself in man, although not preserved in its original perfection, and in some even much damaged, although not completely erased, and destined for restoration? If a perishable jewel is not thrown away with disdain, but is preserved with attention and respect: then can an incorruptible jewel, the human soul, valued no less than the whole world by the infallible Connoisseur, be an object of contempt, Who said: “What good does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul” (Mark 8:36)? – What am I saying: not cheaper than the world? - She was bought at an immeasurably higher price; it was redeemed at the price of the blood and life of the incarnate Son of God. Someone will say: I justly despise the unworthy, the sinner, the vicious. Beware, worthy one! If you despise a sinner, don’t you thereby condemn yourself, more or less, to contempt? for you are not without sin. Moreover, think that you see only the outside, and not the inside; you only know a little of the past and a minute of the present, but you don’t know the future at all. How long will man be on earth; hitherto good, usually not without shortcomings, for perfect purity is the property of heaven and heaven; and the evil one is not entirely without good, for otherwise the earth would refuse to bear him. And therefore it is very possible that while you despise what you see in a person, there is good hidden in him that you do not see, or at least a seed of good that can open up, grow, bear fruit, and present it as decidedly worthy of respect. Then you will be forced to repent of your imprudent contempt. It is better not to do anything at all that could lead to the sorrow of repentance. There is no doubt that many contemporaries mocked the unseemly appearance and strange actions of Simeon, Andrei, and our holy fools Vasily and Maxim: but time revealed their hidden life and showed them worthy not only of respect, but also of reverence. If we had stood on the pillars of Jerusalem while our Savior was carrying His cross, and a robber was following Him, also to the crucifixion, we probably would not have been able to restrain ourselves from apparently justified and even pious indignation, for which this despicable one follows the All-Holy One so closely. But how in vain it would be! An hour or two passed; and we see that the robber became a confessor of Christ, that Christ on the same day escorts him to paradise. The robber has become a model for us, and we reverently repeat his prayer. After this, isn’t it dangerous to despise both the fool and the robber? These reflections, I hope, are sufficient to determine the meaning and feel the power of the Apostolic commandment: “honor everyone.” For this, naturally, you should think about the use of this teaching. Is it necessary to instill respect for that which in itself inspires respect - for the sacred power of the Sovereign, for parents, for those in authority, for benefactors? But perhaps it is not superfluous to remind you not to despise what is easily despised. Let the superior not neglect the last subordinate, but with attention and condescension let him make the last place not low for him, and let the given work be pleasant for him: because the more willingly the work is done, the better for the work, and for the doer, and for the one in charge of the work. Let the rich not exalt himself over the poor, but let him descend to strengthen with his help these humble supports of his own well-being. There is a time when the gratitude of the poor is better for the rich than wealth. He who inherits or conventionally owns labor, or the product of the labor of those under his control, may not be inattentive to these humble people of the earth. A person is not a thing that can be used and not owe anything to it. And state, and moral, and especially Christian law with the right of power connects the duty to the subject. If they give you half of their work time: give them some of your free time. If they give you excess; you provide them with what they need: a comfortable life, protection, the means of education they need, guidance and protection of morals and faith. Know how to gain from them not only benefits, but also gratitude and love. Love can, without lifting, lighten their burdens, and cause them to bless their dependence rather than expanded freedom. Let him who is called to judge and correct sinners not despise the judged, even the guilty one, so that contempt does not make the judgment careless and illegible. May respect for humanity protect the corrector and judge from anger, justice from cruelty, and those being corrected from bitterness. So, and in a similar way, acting with our lesser brethren, Christian brothers, we will be fulfillers of the Gospel teaching and rightly marching followers of Christ, Who, being the Lord of lords, came to earth “not to be served, but to serve” (Matthew 20:28), to die for sinners and exalt those who humble Himself. Glory to Him with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever! Amen. These words are not in the author's manuscript. You might be interested in: