225. Слово в день Благовещения Пресвятыя Богородицы

(Said in the Miracle Monastery on March 25; printed in the Works of the Holy Ot. 1848 and in the collection of 1861) Look upon the humility of His servant (Luke 1:48). In what silence, what a great event took place on a day that we now return with solemn memory from the depths of the past! One of those closest to the throne of the Almighty, Archangel Gabriel, “the secretly commanded reception in the mind,” as the Church, knowing the heavenly language and order, retells what has not been heard by anyone, flies through all nine ranks of Angels, from the highest to the lower heaven, and strives for the earth. The celestials watch and do not comprehend what is happening. “Angels desire to come close” (1 Peter 1:12). Where is he going? Is it not to Sinai, to the lawgiver Moses, with a new revelation? But Sinai no longer shines and thunders; and Moses is no longer there. He accomplished and crowned his work when he said and wrote: “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren; listen to Him” (Deut. 18:15). Is it not to Jerusalem, is it not to the church there, with a wonderful cloud to the ark of the Divine 683 tablets with heavenly fire for sacrifice? But this ark is no longer there: the point is to build an animated ark for the Hypostatic Word of God. Where is the Archangel? To inglorious Nazareth, to a small church, to the poor Virgin, known to few only for her extraordinary love of God and virginity. She alone hears what the Archangel says; only this knows after his conversation: and Her faithful guardian, righteous Joseph, does not know what has happened. What happened? The eternal decree of God about the salvation of the fallen human race has been put into effect. “Looking at the secrets hidden for centuries in God” (Eph. 3:9); incomprehensible to the Angels, open to the daughter of man, of course, not for comprehension, but also not for belief only, but for fulfillment itself through Her: and Her faith was able to accommodate what was inconceivable for the Angelic minds. The “seed of the woman,” which must “crushe the head” of the hellish “serpent” that mortally wounded people in paradise, or, in other words, introduce Divine life into humanity in order to destroy the poison of death in it, the Seed of Abraham, about which all the nations of the earth should be blessed, vegetates in the womb of the Virgin. The Prophet, to whom Moses and all the other Prophets pointed, in whom alone the Law and the Old Testament must achieve their “death, justification for everyone who believes” (Rom. 10:4), approached and was hidden behind the veil of the church not made by hands. “The Holy Spirit came” to the blessed Mary, “the power of the Most High overshadowed Her” (Luke 1:35); The Son of God, co-originating with the Father in Divinity, without leaving His throne, was conceived on earth, according to humanity, like a baby. “The Word became flesh and dwelt in us” (John 1:14); and from now on - if it is permissible to say this, not in a spirit of exaltation, but in surprise at the inexpressible condescension - from now on it becomes closer to us than to the Angels; because the angelic nature is only approaching Him, but the human nature is already in the unity of His Hypostasis. “For truly the angel does not receive from him, but from the seed of Abraham he receives” (Heb. 2:16). Why was such a great and wondrous work of God, as the incarnation of the Word, accomplished so secretly for heaven and earth? - Hidden for heaven, perhaps because this secret was not needed and prepared for heaven; hidden for the earth, probably because the Divine light of this mystery could not be endured by weak earthly eyes if it suddenly illuminated them, and it was necessary to prepare them for this gradually: in general, this corresponded to the fact that this mystery is essentially incomprehensible to created minds. However, so that the saving work of God would not remain closed for long, the key to the ark of God, from the heart of the Mother of God, was given by the Holy Spirit to the righteous Elizabeth: and she, as soon as she saw the Most Holy Virgin after the Archangel’s Annunciation, immediately unlocked and opened the treasury of secrets, when she exclaimed: “Where does this come from for me, that the Mother of my Lord may come to me?” (Luke 1:43) and thus proclaimed the incarnation of the Son of God as already accomplished. Joyfully, with the righteous Elizabeth, we, brothers, can say: where do we get this from? what an undeserved and unexpected gift it is, because of our unworthiness, that we have the Mother of the Lord, akin to us by nature, and that the Lord himself has marvelously approached us, sincerely sharing our nature, our infirmities and our illnesses except for sin, even our death, so that, having taken it upon Himself, in return He would give us life and strength, so that our faith would not be far or difficult to seek the Lord and find His grace, at the intercession of His Mother, the Mother of light, love and mercy? But if anyone were to ask how it happened that the Beginningless One began, that the Word became flesh, that the different natures were united in the one person of the God-Man: let us block off the hearing, and the mind, and the heart from the inquisitive spirit; Let us now honor with silent reverence the Divine mystery, into which the “Angels” only “desire to delve” (1 Peter 1:12) - they desire to “ delve into” because they love the wisdom of God, but do not dare to test it, because they are in awe of God’s incomprehensibility. “Do not seek those who are superior to you, and do not test those who are strong for yourself” (Sir.3:21), teaches the wise one. No small wisdom is hidden in one who calmly remains in ignorance of the unseen, out of piety and humility 684. If you want to be philosophical: do not build for yourself, although perhaps artistic, but nevertheless useless, ladders of conclusions to the inaccessible; do not be curious about how the infinitely exalted Divinity can approach humanity with boundless mercy and unite with it. Better think about what is not so inaccessible, and what your wisdom needs more, how a person can draw closer to God, or not remain distant, when God deigns to approach Him. Without prejudice, you can ask: how did the Mother of God achieve her high election? How did you prepare yourself for such a wonderful communication with God? What feats? What virtues? She does not hide this secret, because she also wants to show you the way of approaching God, although not equal to Her, but following the same steps, it is to some extent possible for you. She explains the great matter in a small word: “look upon the humility of Her servant” (Luke 1). In saying this, the Most Holy Virgin, no doubt, thought only to magnify God’s condescension, and not to attribute anything to Herself: but the Holy Spirit, who animated Her glorification, directed Her word in such a way that the bright face of one of the virtues that brings us closest to God appeared in it. Prayer, fasting, chastity, faith, love of God, in a word, all the virtues surrounded the soul of the Blessed Virgin; but the veil completed them, elevated them, and brought them into humility before the eyes of God. “Look upon the humility of His servant.” According to the tradition of the Saints, it seems that we also know a special specific case in which the humility of the Blessed Virgin attracted Her grace-filled charity and high election. She loved both to converse with God through prayer and to listen to the conversing God through the Holy Scriptures. Once in the book of the Prophet Isaiah She read a prophecy about Christ and His Mother: “Behold, a virgin will conceive and give birth to a Son, and will call His name Immanuel” (Is. 7:14); and faith illuminated, and love inflamed Her soul. But, out of humility, not deigning to pray for a direct approach to Immanuel himself, the God-man, She limited herself to praying that She would be granted to see His mother and to approach her, and then nothing more than as a slave. Thus, with humility of heart, She prepared in Herself the way for the meek and humble-hearted Jesus; and over Her, before it was spoken, His word was fulfilled: “He who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:14). She prayed to the future Mother of God, seen in the mirror of prophecy, to be worthy to be her slave; and through this, in an actual event, she herself became the Mother of God. “Look upon the humility of His servant.” Let us accept, brethren, from the grace-filled Teacher the grace-filled teaching of humility, which She has in common with Christ Himself. For He also said: “Learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart”; and with this he promised the fruit and reward of humility: “and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29). If it seemed unclear to anyone why humility, a virtue that is not brilliant, is highly valued before God, and He primarily “gives grace to the humble” (1 Peter 5:5): let him think about the relationship of humility to other virtues, and about its opposition to vices. If there is nothing more disgusting to God than pride, because it hides the deification of oneself: then, on the contrary, what should be most pleasing to God is humility, which, counting itself for nothing, ascribes all good, honor and glory to God. Pride does not accept grace, because it is filled with itself; humility conveniently accepts grace, because it is abolished both from itself and from every creature. If the pride of the Angels fell from heaven into hell; then, by contrast, one must conclude that humility from hell itself, that is, from the very depths of sin, can lead to heaven. If the highest of the virtues, “love,” according to the words of the Apostle, “suffers long, does not envy, does not become arrogant, is not irritated, and never falls away” (1 Cor. 13:4-8): then this is because it is supported and promoted by humility. Humility is the salt of virtues. Just as salt gives flavor to food, so humility imparts perfection to virtues. Without salt, food is conveniently damaged: without humility, virtue is conveniently corrupted by pride, vanity, impatience, and perishes. There is humility that a person acquires through his heroism, recognizing his weakness, unworthiness, insignificance, secretly reproaching himself for his mistakes and shortcomings, not allowing himself to judge his neighbors, taming himself with work and obedience, choosing the simple and unrefined in everything. And there is humility into which God brings a person through His destinies, allowing him to experience insults, reproaches, humiliation, and deprivation. With hope, strive to actively humble yourself, rousing yourself with the words of the Apostle James: “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you” (James 3:10). Submit yourself with trust to a humbling God, heeding the admonition of the Apostle Peter: “Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time” (1 Peter 5:6). May the Lord look with grace on every humble soul, and may He grant us to know through experience that “the Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and will save the humble in spirit” (Ps. 33:19). Amen. In the manuscript of the Author of "God-Written". In hand author and in Creation. Holy Father: “No small wisdom lies in reverent ignorance of what is hidden.” You might be interested in: