287. Речь при вручении жезла новопосвященному Епископу Дмитровскому Алексию

(Spoken in the Assumption Cathedral on September 20th; printed in the Works of the Holy Father and Provincial Gazette of 1853 and in the collection of 1861) Your Eminence Bishop Alexy! Almost sixteen years ago, introducing you to the rank of monastics, with the relics of St. Alexis, we entrusted you to his patronage, borrowing your name from him. I have no doubt that, together with me, you recognize the reality of his protection over you. By peaceful means of service, under the benevolent gaze of the Sovereign and Sacred Power, you have been brought to the point that you now accept participation in the care of his flock, which he has not ceased to patronize over the centuries. Let us now resort to the patronage of Saints Peter, Alexy, Jonah and Philip, which is close to us, and, praying to them, let us hope that their prayers and invisible grace-filled admonition and assistance will help so that the beginnings of your new ministry will be reliable for the Church and beneficial for the remains of my present ministry. This is the ninth time you have appeared to help my ministry here. Keeping the good memory of your predecessors, and being consoled by the bright signs of their further service, I hope to find in you something for which I am grateful to them. We talk about hope, not in order to rest on it as on the head, but so as not to lose heart at the thought of our unworthiness, so as not to be shaken by lack of faith. Good hope should not put us to sleep, but excite us to good deeds, often reminding ourselves of the Apostolic exhortation: “be an image by faithful speech, by life, by love, by spirit, by faith, by purity” (1 Tim. 4:12). When accepting and using this rod, rightly think about its true beginning and meaning. It was not invented just to show the sign of the authorities, but it became sacred because our holy predecessors used it as a necessary support for the outer man, exhausted by the exploits of them, when the inner one was renewed in them, while the outer one was smoldering. Now go up, and from the new grace give a blessing to the people of the Lord! You might be interested in: