246. Слово в день восшествия на Всероссийский Престол Благочестивейшаго Государя Императора Николая Павловича

(Said in the Chudov Monastery on November 20th; printed in the Works of the Holy Father of 1849 and in the collection of 1861) The Lord's is the kingdom, and He has tongues (Ps. 21:29). Have you noticed that at the beginning of church prayers we usually exclaim: “blessed is our God,” or: “glory to the Holy Trinity”; and when we begin prayer for our Most Pious Sovereign, on the day of His accession, or royal wedding, we use a special doxology: “blessed is the kingdom” of the Holy Trinity? And if you noticed this, have you thought about what this feature means? Doesn't the Church perhaps think of presenting the kingdom of earth as less high, deliberately exalting the kingdom of heaven above it, at the very time when the faithful people honor their King with special solemnity with prayer and joy? No. The Church has another – better thought and intention. It elevates and establishes the human kingdom, connecting it with the kingdom of God. Remembering the beginning of the blessed reign, and with this together blessing God precisely as the King, through this she makes us understand that the highest beginning of the reign is hidden in God, although it is revealed through the earthly law of succession to the throne, according to the will of the head of the reigning family; and that if we use the valor and deeds of the King, His wisdom, strength, goodness, for our good: then for this “blessed is the kingdom” of God, which sends us these gifts. With such a mental image, how high is the King, when His power is an instrument and manifestation of the power of the Heavenly King! How firm He is on His throne, which is supported by the Eternal and Almighty Almighty! And what a strong incentive in this mental image lies for the King to all virtue and perfection, so that He may be a worthy instrument of the All-Perfect King! What a strong and pure motivation for a subject not only to obey the King, but also to revere Him, not only to fulfill His laws and commands with visible actions, but also to surrender to Him with a faithful and loving heart for life and death before the eyes of the All-Seeing King of those who reign! In our time, many peoples know little about the relationship of the state to the kingdom of God, and what is especially strange and regrettable is that Christian peoples know little about this - they know little not because they cannot know, but because they do not want to know; and those who claim to be wise among them disdainfully reject what has been known and recognized by ancient wisdom. They do not like the ancient construction of the state on the basis of the blessing and law of God; They think it is much better to erect the edifice of human society, in a new taste, on the sand of popular opinion, and to support it through the storms of endless strife. Their new constructions are never completed, every day they threaten to fall, and often actually collapse: however, the new Babylonian pandemoniums, despite the confusion of thoughts, worse than the ancient confusion of languages, do not seem to think of falling behind their pandemonium. In such times, it is especially necessary and especially pleasant for us, brethren, to often remind ourselves and firmly maintain the teaching, justified by the fate of our fatherland, handed down to us from our ancestors, or, better to say, from the Prophets, that “the Most High rules the kingdom of men” (Dan. 4:14); that “the kingdom is the Lord’s, and He has tongues.” If the word of God had not revealed this special truth to man; he could find it in the general composition of his knowledge about God the Creator and Provider. Since God is the Creator of the material world and the spiritual world, then, without a doubt, He is also the Provider of both. And if His providence is required by the material world, driven by the necessity of laws, during the creation of those impressed upon it: then does not the spiritual world require it even more, whose creatures, taking advantage of freedom, can therefore sometimes deviate from the Creative direction and purpose, and for such cases they especially call on the hand of the Provider, protecting and returning? And if spiritual and moral beings require God’s separate providence, according to their particular properties, dispositions and circumstances: then don’t they also require the concentrated providence of God for the whole human society, since the improvement and well-being of each person 692 depends a lot on society 691? But since the improvement and protection of human society primarily depends on the supreme power over it, then the necessity is revealed that God’s providence should be primarily concentrated over the supreme power, so that “the Most High rules the kingdom of man.” The reign of God over the kingdom of man is not for everyone and is not always obvious, firstly, because the King of Heaven is immeasurably high and incomprehensible, and His descending action is often hidden in a chain of intermediary natural causes and actions; secondly, because, reigning over the creatures to whom He granted freedom, He keeps His gift inviolable and leaves ample scope for human freedom; and this is why it happens that for quite a long time we hear noise and see the movement of human affairs, often 694 mixed and disorderly, and do not notice how God’s Providence and judgment quietly follow it, affirming, protecting and exalting that which serves the kingdom of God, and sooner or later deposing that which opposes it. Therefore, in order to see the reign of God over the kingdom of man, one must observe with attention 695 special cases in which it, as required by circumstances, is revealed with particular clarity. “The Lord said to Samuel: Come, I will send you to Jesse as far as Bethlehem, because I have seen a king in his sons” (1 Samuel 16:1). Samuel hesitated, finding this embassy dangerous. And the Lord recognized the danger; and ordered the emergency embassy to be covered up with the guise of an ordinary sacrifice: but he did not cancel the deed itself. The prophet comes to Bethlehem, reviews the sons of Jesse, not knowing which of them should be king. As soon as David was finally found, he was with the flock and left unattended by his father: and then Samuel received a definite will from God and anointed David as king. But what then? David did not go to the throne, but back to the flock. According to the time, he was called to the king’s house, but not to reign, but to play the harp. Even in time, he came to the army, not as a warrior with weapons, but as a baggage carrier, with bread for his brother warriors: but he accidentally volunteered for single combat with Goliath; defeated him, received glory; became a relative of the king. Now he is no longer so far from the throne; but even after this, he should still not be a king, but an exile, homeless, wandering through the mountains and wilds, sometimes not finding safety in his fatherland, and forced to retire to foreigners. What does this mean? Why was David anointed king so early, so, apparently, at the wrong time, with danger? In order, firstly, to impart to him royal grace by anointing, which would make him a winner, and dear to the people, and invincible in persecution, and finally bring him to the throne, as it is said in Scripture that as a result of the anointing, “the Spirit of the Lord moved over David from that day and hereafter” (1 Sam. 16:13). Secondly, David was anointed early for this purpose, so that later, after his actual accession to the throne, even the disobedient would be forced to admit that the King was installed not by chance, not by the people, but by God himself. It will not be useless, I think, to point out now the special manifestation 696 of the kingdom of God over the kingdom of man, in Christian times 697 . At the beginning of these times, for three centuries, the Church of Christ did not use the help of the kingdom of man, but, on the contrary, was often persecuted by it. The Apostolic word introduces us to the understanding of the mystery of this permission of God: “God has chosen the weak of the world, that the strong may be put to shame, so that all flesh may not boast before God” (1 Cor. 1:27, 29). It was necessary for the Church of Christ to appear helpless, so that it would be obvious that it is founded, strengthened and exalted not by human, but by God’s power. She had to suffer and overcome through suffering in order to stop the mouths of unbelievers and detractors, ancient and modern. But it was finally necessary to give the truth and visible justice: it was necessary that, according to the words of the Prophet, “truth would have peace” (Is. 32:17); so that the Church, after so many persecuting kings, would have a patron king. God chooses Constantine for this: but Constantine is a pagan, and Christ’s truth does not penetrate to the depths of his heart through the ordinary path of human instruction. So the King of kings acts Himself, as Constantine told us about this, and as the historian 698, Eusebius, who heard from him, retells it to us. “Once at midday, when the sun began to lean towards the west, the king said, I saw with my own eyes the sign of the cross made of light and lying in the sun, with the inscription: hereby conquer. This sight filled both him and the entire army with horror. Following this, Christ of God appeared to him in a dream with a sign seen in heaven, and commanded, having made a banner similar to the one seen in heaven, to use it for protection from the attacks of enemies” (Evsev. about life. Constant. Book 1, ch. 28, 29). Constantine fulfilled his command; under the sign of the cross he defeated Maxentius; became the autocrat of the Roman Empire; believed in Christ, and appeared as the first Christian king and equal to the apostles. Isn’t it obvious here that Christian kings trace their first origin directly to the Heavenly King? I could point out the special paths of the Kingdom of God both in the reign of our Equal-to-the-Apostles Vladimir, and in the reign of our Kings of the near future. But, lest I burden those listening with the continuation of the word on the holiday, I hasten to conclude it with thoughts that arise spontaneously from the previous reflection. If God himself, by His word and His actions, instills in us the idea that He, through special providence, reigns over the kingdom of man: then of course this thought is beneficial for us; and we must not lose sight of it. Truly, it contains strength, weapons, support, guidance for the king, for the kingdom and for everyone in the kingdom. - A legal, necessary, but difficult feat lies ahead: the king of the earth commands; The Heavenly King helps: - the feat is accomplished; but, as sometimes happens, not provided for or not fully provided for 699, nothing is lost; The King of Heaven has full reward. – Temptation and seduction are approaching: if it were to happen that respect for the law of the earthly King would be shaken by the power of seduction, the eye of the all-seeing King from afar would illuminate the wilds and abysses that are inevitable on the crossroads of lawlessness, and would keep the tempted one on the path of duty and honor. If King Christ directly by His action in the person of Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine founded the dignity of the Christian King, for the promotion of His true faith, His Orthodox Church: then can any Christian kingdom neglect this sacred duty without insulting King Christ? - God bless! Our most pious Sovereign actively and successfully fulfills this duty, and has won more than one million souls to Orthodoxy from non-Orthodoxy. May we, too, be jealous, each in our own circle of action, so that the duties of serving the King of the earth and serving the King of Heaven, of being a faithful subject and a true Christian, constitute for us one indivisible duty, one continuous feat of our entire life. Amen. In the author’s manuscript, these words are corrected in pencil instead of: “that they cannot.” In the author's manuscript, these words are placed instead of crossed out ones: “these beings from whom.” The author's manuscript previously stated: “from them.” In the author's manuscript it was previously written: “and keeping...He leaves.” The author's manuscript used to say “often.” The author's manuscript used to say: “with special attention.” In the author's manuscript it was corrected instead of: “phenomenon”. In the author's manuscript it was previously written: “from Christian times.” In the author's manuscript, instead of these words, there used to be: “church writer.” The author's manuscript previously stated: “not recognized and not recognized.” You might be interested in: