262. Слово в день Тезоименитства Благочестивейшаго Государя Императора Николая Павловича

(Said in the Mariinsky Church of the Imperial Widow's House, December 6; printed in the Provincial Gazette, 1850; in the Works of the Holy Father, 1851 and in the collection of 1861) If you sow with poverty, you will also reap with poverty; and if you sow with a blessing, you will also reap with a blessing (2 Cor. 9:6). The Holy Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Corinthian Christians, among other things, invites them to collect alms among themselves and prepare for departure to Jerusalem, for the benefit of the poor Christians there. He desires abundant benefit from them; but he does not want to force him: and therefore, with a parable, he gives them an idea through which they themselves would be inclined to generosity. “If you sow with poverty, you will also reap with poverty; and if you sow with a blessing, you will also reap with a blessing.” He who sows sparingly will have a poor harvest; and he who sows abundantly will also have a bountiful harvest. That is: whoever does charity sparingly does not have the right to generous reward; and whoever does charity generously will receive abundant fruit of charity and a generous reward from God. How abundantly our Most Pious Sovereign Emperor sows blessings, accepting, where possible, the equally beneficial hand of His Most Pious Spouse for assistance! Helpless infancy - nutrition, adolescence and youth - education and training of abilities for a useful and prosperous life in society, merit that has exhausted strength - honorable contentment, wretched old age and decrepitude - charity and peace, widows - a quiet and secure refuge, the sick - healing and compassionate service - these are the varied sowings that He never had is interrupted. In addition, every joyful event in His family again opens His heart in order to give joy through goodness to hearts oppressed by hardships and sorrows. If in any part of the vast Kingdom a disaster occurred, from which many suffered: at the first news of this, the hand of the King immediately stretches out to sow again the seeds of prosperity in the place of the disaster. To the rule, “let the right hand not know what the right hand is doing” (Matthew 6:3), He adds another, so that the right hand will not be stopped by what the right hand is doing: His merciful and beneficent “right hand” not rarely, visible or hidden, extends to those whom His justice places on the right side - in the place of judgment and condemnation. Oh, “Give seed to the sower” (2 Cor. 9:10), and increase the fruit and multiply the harvest! Grant and do not cease to give to the Sovereign Sower of good deeds an abundant harvest of Your blessings - long life and prosperity, the joy of a charitable heart, the gratitude of the blessed, the love of peoples, the success of good undertakings, victorious peace and peaceful victory. It seems to me that this prayer for the Tsar is brought along with us by the deceased Mother of the Tsareva, who, twenty-five years before this, bequeathed to celebrate this day especially here, among the blessed and instruments of beneficence, so that the Merciful of the merciful would bow to our prayers all the more conveniently. I don’t think that anyone has adopted the intention not to sow a single grain of good in the field of need and misfortune of those like themselves. Such an arrangement would not indicate a human heart. But if you need to sow, then of course it is better to sow with the hope of an abundant rather than a meager harvest. And for this, as the Apostolic Word teaches, it is necessary to sow abundantly. “Sow a blessing, and you will reap a blessing.” This poses a rather difficult question: what does it mean to “sow abundantly”? If we say that it means to sow in large quantities, then we will have to conclude that the lot to sow abundantly, and as a result of this, to have a bountiful harvest, that is, a generous reward from God, can only go to a few rich people; and that, on the contrary, the largest number of people, people who do not possess wealth, must necessarily limit themselves to meager sowing, and therefore cannot hope for an abundant harvest of God’s blessings. But can one think that this is God’s judgment? – It is certainly not the case, as we can see from the example of the widow mentioned in the Gospel, who gave only two mites to the Church, and yet, according to the testimony and judgment of Christ, she sowed more abundantly than all the rich. “Truly I say to you, for this wretched widow is more cast down than all others” (Luke 21:3). If she had two more mites and gave them to the beggar, the Lord, without a doubt, would also say that she gave alms more abundantly than anyone else. Shall we say that to sow abundantly means to do good in proportion to the means we have for this? But is it convenient to determine this proportionality, given the innumerably different degrees of contentment, and the diversity of their own needs among those called to charity? The Jews had a law that determined tithes, that is, a tenth share of everything acquired, for God-pleasing deeds. But Zacchaeus the publican found the legal measure of charity unsatisfactory for himself, and assigned himself another: “Behold, the half of my substance, O Lord, will I give to the poor” (Luke 19:8). Zacchaeus’ measure of beneficence is certainly inconvenient to offer to many: but how many will find the measure of Jewish Law 721 convenient for themselves? The Christian Church did not transfer into its rules the law of the Jewish Church on tithes: whether due to the inconvenience in its implementation, or due to respect for Christian freedom, let everyone discuss this as they wish. My duty is to remind you only that, according to the dignity of Christianity, Christian virtue should be higher than Jewish virtue. We offer a measure of charity, never difficult, always faithful and trustworthy: such a measure is love. He “sows blessing” and “reaps blessing” who does good out of love for God, out of love for Christ, out of love for neighbor. Christ the Savior said: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind; - love your sincere person as you love yourself; “To this two commandment hang the whole law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:37–40). From this the Apostle drew the conclusion: “love a friend, fulfill the law: the fulfillment of the law of love is” (Rom. 13:8, 10). Another Apostle defined the property of law-fulfilling love when he said: “we love not in word, nor in tongue, but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:18). From these main principles of the Christian law it obviously follows that whoever does charity out of love for God and neighbor, his charity, no matter what it consists of, is always complete, and thus he always sows sparingly, always with the hope of a blessed harvest. But love will not allow him to sow little. Christ, the coming Judge of the world, has previously explained to us from where the harvest of eternal blessing will increase for those who sow goodness. It will increase 723 not from the substance of beneficence. What do mites given to a beggar mean? What do the piles of gold, scattered by generosity, mean, if you will? – Still the same earth and decay? Is it a great thing to voluntarily give to another something that you will soon, involuntarily, leave everything behind, or that will leave you even sooner? The substance of beneficence is a dead body if the soul, that is, love, is not present and active. It gives vitality, growth, fruit, harvest to charity. The beggar, who is so often ignored or treated with disdain, the Lord loves, and suffered for him, and wants to save him; and therefore wishes that he would not despair of his suffering, so that he would not die prematurely. So, if you, according to the commandment of the Lord, love the poor; then you meet and unite in love with the Lord. If you comfort a beggar with love and do good to him, then although it is little, although it is insignificant, you nevertheless help the Lord to preserve and save the beggar. This is how your goodness to the beggar passes to the Lord, and He truly says: “Before you have created one for the least of these brothers of mine, you have created for me” (Matthew 25:40). This is how a small grain of goodness brings a countless and endless harvest: “Come, blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:34). Prompted by such reflections, let us not leave, brethren, without fulfilling the Apostolic advice: “do not forget charity and fellowship: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased” (Heb. 13:16). Moreover, let us love the best form of charity - charity out of love. What is sown by the hand of love grows the minute it is sown. Love increases the comfort of the benefactor; because nothing is done with such pleasure as what is done out of love. And the one who receives a good deed done with love, especially feels the good deed. But with such importance of love in relation to charity, if someone does not feel it 724 when there is an opportunity for charity, and if the qualities that require charity are not disposed towards it, is it not necessary to refrain from charity? - Not at all. So that your neighbor’s shortcomings do not hinder your love, call upon humility to help. Even if you do not have a living feeling of love, do good out of obedience to the commandment of love. The Lord will look upon the feat of obedience, and will give you the joy of love, and through it the perfection of goodness. Amen. According to Jew. Collection: "people". To the Governorate. Ved.: increases... According to Jew. collection and Governor. Ved. there is no such word. You might be interested in: