269. Слово в неделю сыропустную и на память Святителя Алексия

(Said on February 10; printed in the Works of the Holy Father, 1852 and in the collection of 1861) Put on our Lord Jesus Christ, and do not please the flesh through lust (Rom. 13:14). This instruction of the Apostle has now been proclaimed among the church: consequently, it has been brought to our attention, understanding and active implementation. But before we enter into a discussion about this instruction, it is not useless to give you some explanation of the peculiarity of this day, which is not often encountered. We now celebrate the feast of the blessed repose of Saint Alexis two days earlier than usual. Why is this so? Because our God-wise Fathers, the founders of church orders, commanded so. Why did they order this? Because they found it inconvenient for pious sadness to be mixed with the joy of the holiday on a day of strict fasting and repentance. Can even pious joy sometimes be untimely? So, apparently, our God-wise Fathers thought; and our duty is not to compete with their opinions, but to understand them correctly and take them as our guide. Pious sadness is not hostile to pious joy, and even gives birth to it, as the Prophet experienced and confessed this before God: “Because of the multitude of my illnesses in my heart, Your consolations have made my soul glad” (Ps. 93:19). But in order for “sorrow, ... even according to God,” which, as the Apostle says, “repentance without repentance works toward salvation” (2 Cor. 7:10), has a full effect in a person and bears fruit, for this he must surrender to this sadness with a full heart, and not upset its effects with extraneous joy, even pious ones. This is required by the law of unity, which has great power both in nature and in human affairs, and especially spiritual ones. “One thing... is what is needed” (Luke 10:42). “You cannot work at all” (Matthew 6:24). “A kingdom divided into ... will not be” (Matthew 12:25). Man lives and acts on earth to the extent that his soul and body and the essential parts of the body are in unity. He achieves complete success and perfection only in that matter to which all his attention, thought and will are directed. Dividing thoughts and desires into different objects, he cannot, without hesitation, move towards the goal, like someone who tempts on both knees. The Apostolic exhortation that we have now heard subjects us to the beneficial law of unity, and warns us against dangerous division. It, as the only object that would fill and embrace our abilities, thoughts, desires, activities, offers our Lord Jesus Christ: “Put on our Lord Jesus Christ”; and forbids scattering thoughts and desires on the objects of the sensory world: “do not create pleasures for the flesh in lust.” In order to correctly use this instruction of the Apostle, one must notice in it the certainty of thought and precision of expression. He does not say: do not do anything pleasing to the flesh, do not take any care of it, do not pay any attention to it. By nature, as he says elsewhere, “no one... when he hates his own flesh, yet nourishes and warms it” (Eph. 5:29). The flesh, or otherwise the body, with its feelings, powers, members, according to the purpose of the Creator, is an instrument or servant of the soul. A person working with a tool must take care so that the tool is in good working order. The master must take care that the servant has the strength and ability to do the work entrusted to him. So, a person needs to take care of his body. But the Apostle says: “do not please the flesh in lust,” do not please the flesh, which is required not by nature and reason, but by sensual desires, not controlled by reason, whimsical, passionate, unbridled, prevailing. Because in this case, the flesh becomes not only the unruly servant of the soul, but even the ruler over it, its enslaver and tormentor. Consume food and drink as required by hunger and thirst, to maintain life, strength, health: this is required by nature; this is not forbidden by the law; This is not rejected by sound doctrine. If you eat your chosen food on a holiday, on a day of joy, with thanksgiving to God, “who richly gives us all things for our enjoyment” (1 Tim. 6:17): and in this the parable will justify you, offering “a fat calf” at the meal of timely joy (Luke 15:23). But so that, following the natural delight of the taste, lust does not creep in, and after it immoderation, gluttony, drunkenness, voluptuousness - for this, ordinary prudence advises, and medical science admonishes, and the rule of spiritual experimental wisdom commands, in general, to cut off something from the amount of food required by sensual desire, especially at some times to reduce the amount of food 731 , and change its quality, put aside fattening and warming, and use light and cooling. The spiritual law prescribes the use of fasting as a weapon to repel the lusts of the flesh, giving fasting and prayer, like wings, to the spirit, to elevate it to God. However, the church rule, strict against lust, lenient towards weakness, requires fasting, and condemns those who do not fast, “except as an obstacle due to bodily weakness” (right Apostle 69), therefore, allows for the relief of fasting for the sake of bodily weakness; and very fair; because weakness itself provides what is sought through fasting, that is, the taming of sensuality and the inaction of carnal passions; and consequently, for the weak it is not necessary to pacify the flesh by fasting, but rather to support the weak body with nutrition and healing, so that it does not become completely incapable of serving the soul. Likewise, in relation to clothing and housing, to action and relaxation, to pleasant activities and pleasures of the senses, the law of the spirit for the flesh is to moderately satisfy its natural requirements, to prudently indulge in its weaknesses, and, moreover, not to offend the dignity of the spirit and moral sense, not to contradict the intentions of the Creator of nature in His gifts, not to servile passions and lusts. “Do not please the flesh in lust.” If we put our real life before the pure mirror of the spiritual law: how unseemly many deeds must seem, by which many are not embarrassed, and some even boast! Frequent feasts without a holiday, - daily amusements without occasions for joy, - amusements that take more time and cause more fatigue than labor, - spectacles before which modesty should close its eyes, - songs from which chastity should block its ears - and you never know what else could be pointed out in what "the pleasure of the flesh ... in lust" is exposed, having already ceased to fear reproof? A word that would directly indicate some oddities that, at the whim of people, have become ordinary 732 would seem strange. – Dissatisfied with the biased 733 “pleasure of the flesh”, to which nature gives some reason (as, for example, from the need for food and drink, excess in food and drink borrows a reason for itself), - they invented “pleasures of the flesh”, bypassing the intentions of nature; They formed tastes in themselves that the natural sense did not know, and to satisfy them they adapted needs with which nature did not think to burden them 734, and just as there should be more evil in the unnatural than in the natural, then by nature the fictitious whim of those who indulged in it enslaves them to habit with greater cruelty than intemperance in food 735. Perhaps they will say: is it worth the trouble to rebel against pleasing the flesh, although combined with passion, which does not harm anyone? “I am not embarrassed by this reproach: because it is not made to me alone, but before me to the holy Apostle Paul, who wrote: “Do not please the flesh in lust.” To understand that the Apostle, preaching against pleasing the flesh in lust, was not concerned about trifles, but was warning against evil, not terrible at first, but destructive later, it is enough to present one example from Holy Scripture. The prophet Isaiah tells the Jews that they are on the brink of destruction: “expand hell your soul and open your mouth.” What is this from? How did the Jews get to this point? Listen to the Prophet's explanation! “For they drink wine with harp and singers, and tambourines, and pipes, but they do not look at the works of the Lord, and do not consider His handiwork” (Is. 5:12, 14). Unbridled carnality brought them to oblivion of God: and where do those who move away from God go, if not to hell? “And hell enlarges its soul and opens its mouth” to swallow them up. Thanks to the Apostle of Christ, who not only tries to prevent us from this danger by exhortation, but also shows us the surest means and most reliable help to protect us from it. “Put on your clothes,” he says, “in our Lord Jesus Christ, and do not please the flesh through lust.” Strive to fulfill the first part of this instruction: and in this you will find a means and help for the most convenient fulfillment of the second. Clothe your mind in Christ through teaching in His word, and reverent thoughts about Him, - your heart through faith in Him and prayer and love for Him, - your will through obedience to His commandments, - your life through imitation of the example of His life: and your spirit will be clothed with the power of His spirit, to overthrow the rebellious power of the flesh, to replenish the natural weakness of the flesh. Remember Christ in the den and in prison: and you will not be tempted by a magnificently decorated house. Remember Christ in the manger, on the straw: and you will be ashamed of your soft bed. Remember Christ, naked and clothed in the clothes of reproach: and elegant clothing will not be desirable for you. Remember the taste and gall tasted by Christ: and you will not hunger for a luxurious feast. Remember Christ, Who, according to the prophetic image, “the knees... are weary from fasting” (Ps. 109:24): and fasting will be sweeter and more nutritious for you than a feast. Receive into your heart Christ suffering and dying on the cross: and “your fortunes that are on the earth” ( Col. 3:5 ) will die, and passions and lusts will not dare to come to life. Saint Father Alexy! Just as a father helps his son, who is beginning to recover from illness, to put on the clothes of health: so You also help us, who desire help from infirmities and sinful diseases, by the power of Your prayers and the grace given to You, “to be clothed with our Lord Jesus Christ,” so that we may walk in Him and reach the place where You live with Christ forever. Amen. In the author's manuscript, this word is placed instead of the one crossed out in pencil: “to shorten.” In the author’s manuscript: “let the word seem strange, which will indicate the strangeness that has become common.” This word is not in the author's manuscript. In the author's manuscript: “people have invented the pleasure of the flesh, contrary to the intentions of nature. They irritate and kill the subtle sense of smell with the ashes of poisonous grass; the sense of taste, instead of food and drink, is given the smoke of the same herb.” In the author’s manuscript: “then this lust enslaves those who indulge in it with greater cruelty than intemperance in food.” You might be interested in: