245. Слово в день памяти Преподобного Сергия

(Said in the Trinity Lavra on September 25; printed in the Works of the Holy Father of 1849 and in the collection of 1861) Praise God in His saints (Ps. 150:1). It is comforting to see a council of believers, gathered to one of the Saints who have gone to God, and performing a triumph. In this we see the majestic union of the earthly with the heavenly, of the militant Church with the triumphant. The glory of the Saints is in heaven, and they do not need earthly glory: but happy is it for the earth that it honors and glorifies heavenly virtue. If you do not leave the one who greets you, on your personal or family holiday, without a mutual greeting, or a treat, or a gift: then can a Saint, perfected in love, be less attentive to those who greet him on his holiday? You just need to greet the Saints in a way that would be worthy of them. Doesn’t the prophetic word teach us this: “Praise God in His saints.” It is noteworthy, firstly, that the Prophet invites praise to the Saints in general, and not to some of the Saints in particular. From here we can borrow an instruction that is not superfluous for those who are attached to one of the Saints, because of his glory or because of the help they have experienced, not only with preferential love, which should be recognized as fair and natural, but as if exclusive, extended to the point of inattention to other righteous people. If the commandment of God commands us to love all people, despite the fact that in some of them there are unlovable qualities, then how much more should it and is characteristic to love all the Saints, whose all qualities and actions are worthy of love and blessing. We dare to hope, Reverend Father Sergius, that You will bless this reflection, which does not concern much faith and love for You, established and constantly confirmed by Your grace-filled prayers, blessings and miracles, but strives to confirm and elevate love for the Saints where it does not exist, or where it partly rises and partly falls. All Saints are the eternal children of the Heavenly Father, they all constitute one great family of Christ. If you, in a good and unanimous family, love one, but do not love the other, then of course the one whom you love will be offended: similarly, if, having a special love for one of the Saints, you think about others without reverence, then the one you honor in your own person is offended by your coldness in the face of others; because all the Saints are not only unanimous among themselves, but also completely one in the Lord. The saints in heaven, like believers on earth, “have gifts according to the grace given to them, “different” (Rom. 12:6), because in the aggregate it is characteristic of one God to possess all powers and perfections. This division of grace-filled gifts leads partly to the fact that the gift of one Saint is used by many who need this gift, and partly to the fact that each person can use the help of many Saints, according to their different needs, according to their different gifts; and so that in this way the universal union of all men with all the Saints in one God may be based and established on grace, on faith and on love. After what has been said, it is now not difficult to recognize in the saying of the Psalmist we are considering another instructive significance of the expression. He invites us not just to praise the Saints, but to praise them in such a way that God is glorified in them. "Praise God in His saints." Saints are vessels of grace. But whose grace is in them? Not theirs, but God's. And although it was given to them from God, according to their faith, love, and deeds; and although the accomplished Saints are confirmed in grace forever: yet for all this, it did not become their property, but remains a gift from God, God’s property in them. Therefore, they do not have the power to use it according to their own will, and they do not want to use it in this way, out of their humility and devotion to the will of God, but they use it only according to the will of God. So, if you approach the Holy One, without at the same time being inspired by faith and zeal for God, then you should be afraid that you will only touch the vessel of grace, but will not achieve the grace contained in it. If, approaching the Saint with prayer, at the same time through him you approach God with faith, then you bow to yourself both the vessel and the grace contained in it; the prayer of the Holy One ascends to God, and lifts up your prayer; God's favor descends, God's gift moves in the Holy One, and, according to the measure of your faith, waters your soul; God's blessing overshadows your thoughts and deeds, and your good desires are fulfilled. That is why the Mother Church, the all-wise mystery of grace, teaches us not only to touch the Holy vessel, but also to reach out to the One who fulfills it, the All-Holy One; instructs us not just to say to the Saint: help, do a good deed, but to cry out in a divinely wise way: “pray to God for us.” That is: we know that you are pleasing to God, full of grace and power; but we also know that the grace and power in you is of God, and that you act with it only according to the will of God; Therefore, we honor you, and together we give glory to God; We ask for your intercession, and together we confess, according to the apostolic teaching, that “every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights” (James 1:17); We believe that your prayer is powerful to acquire for us a gift that our own prayer alone would not be worthy of; but as this gift of God, we resort not only to you, but through you to God himself: “pray to God for us.” With these reflections, putting ourselves in the right position in front of the Holy One, let us not ignore how we should put ourselves in the right position in relation to the Feast of the Holy One. The Feast of the Saint is often referred to in the Church as the “memory” of the Saint. What does it mean? Should the Saints really be remembered only on their feast days, and forgotten on other days? – Without a doubt, this is not the thought of the Church. What to think about the name: “memory of the Holy One”? Or is this a random word taken from the language, not quite precisely adapted to the subject? - No. We need to think better about our God-wise Fathers, the ecclesiastics of the church. Everything with which they enriched the Church, they usually borrowed from the treasures of the word of God. Therefore, it seems to me more than likely that the name of the holiday: “memory of the Holy One” is borrowed from the Apostolic saying: “remember your teachers.” But why did the name come from here? - Most likely because here lies the basis of the very establishment of the church; Here is the law of the holiday: “Remember your teachers who spoke the word of God to you, and as they look to the end of their lives, imitate their faith” (Heb. 13:7). But along with the law of the holiday, there is also an instruction for those celebrating how to celebrate. “Remember your teachers, imitate their faith.” The holiday is not just to put off work and remain in idleness, much less to indulge in deeds that are further removed from holiness than the deeds of working days: but for this purpose, the feast of the Saint, or Saints, is to remember their godly life, look at their blessed death, and imitate their faith, both contemplative, that is, their firmness in the Orthodox Christian teaching, and active, that is, their Christian virtues. I rejoice with those who have sanctified the best part of this holiday by participating in church prayers and reverently attending the Divine Mystical Service. In this there is part of the imitation of the faith of the Saints, who had a common feeling of what the Psalmist depicted in the word: “We rejoiced at those who said to me: Let us go to the house of the Lord” (Ps. 122:1). Oh, if only we could have the comforting confidence that none of those who came to this holiday, acquired in the morning, will lose the sanctification at other times of the day, but everyone will preserve it and supplement it with the continuation of sacred memories, pious reading and meditation, home prayer, abstinent use of earthly goods with thanksgiving to God, edifying, or at least innocent and peaceful conversation, without distraction, without vain games, without charming amusements! Unfortunately, it is not as easy to hope for this from everyone as it would be easy for it to be fulfilled. What an insult to the dignity of faith, what a rebellion, instead of imitation, to the examples of the Saints, that the sinful law often fights with special force against the spiritual law on holy days, although in these days the Church primarily arms us with spiritual weapons, the word of God and prayer! If we examine and consider the essence and dignity of objects: is spiritual joy really less sweet than carnal joy? Is a prayerful conversation with God really less entertaining than idle talk between people? Is it really less pleasant in psalms and spiritual songs, which enlighten, nourish and strengthen the soul, than in carnal songs, which darken, corrupt and weaken it? Is it really that the food that is not dying is less tasty and nutritious than the food that is dying? Is it really possible that a sober mind can bring less pleasure than a feeling clouded by excess? - Of course not! But a person devoted to sensuality does not understand himself, does not know what he wants, and wants to be satiated with the beetles and the stupefying potion of worldly amusements, being lazy to use some work to purify and elevate his taste, to delight himself with heavenly bread and spiritual wine. With the Apostle, I pray to you, brethren, “that you may not be lazy, but imitators of those who inherit the promises through faith and patience” (Heb. 6:12). Strive to imitate the faith and godly life of the Saints, and do not enslave to vain customs, do not give in to sinful desires. Have enough patience and firmness to restrain and moderate sensual desires with reason and the law of God, so as not to give food to carnal passions. As they are killed, spiritual desires and a taste for pure and sublime pleasures will become more vivid in you. Then vain and low worldly amusements will be unnecessary and tasteless for you; It will be pleasant for you to turn your house into a church, through contemplation and prayer; the church will palpably be heaven for you; you, not only in name, but in reality, will be “fellows with the saints and dreamed of with God” (Eph. 2:19), and in close proximity to them you will celebrate holy and sweet holidays in a pure heart. May the grace of the Lord do this through the prayers of our Reverend Father Sergius and all the Saints! Amen. You might be interested in: