298. Беседа по освящении храма Святителя Стефана Епископа пермского, в доме Московской 1-й гимназии

(Said October 3; printed in the Works of the Holy Father, in the Moscow and Provincial Gazette of 1854, and in the collection of 1861) The bishop and scribes saw the miracles that he had done, and the youths called in the church and said: Hosanna to the Son of David, you were indignant (Matthew 21:15). What a strange phenomenon this is in the Jerusalem temple! Christ, the meek and saving King, enters the church, performs beneficent miracles, gives the lame walking, the blind sight: and they are indignant at this. The youths reverently greet Him: “Hosanna to the Son of David”: and they are indignant at this. And who? Bishops and scribes, people who, of course, could recognize Christ more easily than children, and better judge what reverence and glorification He is worthy of. Christ the Savior denounced the irreverence of the high priests and the foolishness of the scientists, and justified the wisdom of children, proving with the Holy Scriptures that not only the praise of children is fair, but also that their work is the work of God’s providence, because for several centuries it was predicted 765 by the Spirit of God: “Neither any one has borne praise, for out of the mouth of a child and of them that piss thou hast perfected praise” (Matthew 21:16 )? Thank God, now in this church it is not what it once was in Jerusalem! We heard the local youths and youths proclaiming the same praise as the Jerusalem youths, only with greater clarity of truth: “I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who for our salvation became incarnate of the Virgin Mary, whose kingdom will have no end”; “Hosanna in the highest” (Matthew 21:9). And no one thought of being indignant: but those who reflect, of course, rejoice that Christian youths know and proclaim 766 higher truths than non-Christian sages have ever achieved. The promoters of true wisdom built this church so that the youths and youths, Christ, now present here by grace, would meet here with faith and prayer, know Him from His word, grow in this knowledge, and glorify Him with the glory worthy of Him. Let me return to the Jerusalem incident. How could this accident happen, that the youths of Jerusalem turned out to be more advanced in knowledge of the faith than the high priests and scholars? – The thought of Christ and the expectation of His coming, before the time of this coming, were very common not only among the Orthodox in the Old Testament Church, but even among the non-Orthodox. The Samaritan woman says with confidence: “We know that the Messiah will come, the spoken Christ; When He comes, He will tell us everything” (John 4:25). And it is noteworthy that her concept of Christ is not as crude as that of many carnal Jews: she does not imagine Him as an earthly king and conqueror, but as the most perfect leader to true knowledge of God and reverence for God. If the Samaritan woman, a non-Orthodox woman, who, as the Lord denounced her, had five husbands, and another unnamed lawful husband - if a woman, who was the less convenient to gain spiritual wisdom, the more devoted she was to sensuality, nevertheless knew so much about Christ: then shouldn’t there be more knowledge about Him in the Orthodox Jews of her day, unclouded by prevailing passions and vices? So, the Jerusalem youths could hear in Jerusalem from their good fathers and mothers the same thing that the Samaritan woman said at Jacob’s well: “The Messiah will come, the spoken Christ; ...he will tell us everything.” And when they heard that Jesus had appeared, Who proclaims the kingdom of God and the mysteries of God, although not without parables shows the path to bliss, calls for repentance, and forgives sins, demands faith, and performs saving miracles on believers, heals the incurable, casts out evil spirits, raises the dead, and thereby reveals in Himself the power of God: then the childish, immature mind, with a heart unclouded by passions was enough to recognize the expected, hitherto unknown, Christ in the face of Jesus. When they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, they saw the path to Jerusalem and the streets of Jerusalem full of people, greeting and accompanying Him with solemn exclamations: then, in order to more conveniently take part in the celebration, they rushed to the church, which was not yet occupied by the people, and here, settling into a special children’s cathedral and face, they exclaimed to the Lord entering the church: “Hosanna to the Son of David!” Perhaps some “of the princes” who “believed in Him, but the Pharisee did not confess, lest they be cast out from the congregation” (John 12:42), by the paternal authority sent their children to this cathedral, so that at least through them they could ease their conscience by confessing Christ, with less danger from the Pharisees, from whose severity these confessors were protected by their childhood. Don’t those listening to me now think, why is this inquiry about Jewish children and parents? But I think that it is not inappropriate and, perhaps, not in vain. It is associated with caring for Christian children and parents. Wouldn't you agree with me that these Jewish parents were prudent and happy, who from Scripture and tradition, having received some knowledge of the coming Christ, and with faith expecting His coming, tried to early illuminate some light of this knowledge in their children, and warm their hearts with this faith? Their efforts bore wonderful fruit: their children, even at an immature age, became excellent preachers of the glory of Christ. Agree, then, that Christian parents are prudent and should be happy, as well as the leaders of Christian children, who try, as early as possible, to teach children simple, but pure and bright concepts about God and Christ, and to arouse in their hearts a feeling of reverence, faith and love for God and Christ. Hurry to sow the seed of the word of God on the soil of the heart, watered with the living water of holy baptism, and not yet overgrown with the tares of arbitrary sins and the thorns of false and vain thoughts. Isn’t the hope of good growth of the sown and abundant fruit evident here? Just as the tares and thorns, which were forestalled by their growth, would suppress the wheat, so the wheat, which was forestalled by its growth and strength, will prevent the tares and thorns from arising and strengthening. Happy are the Jewish youths who found a rare opportunity in the Jerusalem temple to “praise” Christ directly, with immediate approval from Him (Matthew 21:15–16). For their praise was nothing other than the blissful delight of faith. Why should you, Christian children, not be just as happy, if not more? I’m not saying, you can have an opportunity - no, you have constant convenience here in the church, where our Lord Jesus Christ comes to fulfill His promise “to be in the midst ... of those gathered in His name” (Matthew 18:20), and to “be sacrificed and given as food to the faithful” **** - here you have constant convenience to meet Him, and with a believing heart to cry out to Him from the Church: “blessed coming; ...hosanna in the highest!” (Matthew 21:9) And there is no doubt that He will look upon you with grace, and, according to the measure of your faith, He will reward you with holy joy in your heart. Only, I repeat, according to faith. It is not enough to approach God with your lips: it is not enough to put the teaching about Christ in memory and learn from it as a lesson learned. It is necessary that the knowledge and thought of God be inseparably followed by a feeling of oneself in His presence, reverence for His greatness, and a desire to please His holiness. The knowledge of Christ the Savior becomes truly saving for us, because we, observing our shortcomings and errors, are internally, deeply convinced that without Him we are only weakness, darkness, insignificance, that He “is the way” of our life, and the “truth” and light of our mind, the “life” (John 14:6) of our heart - and as a result of these convictions, we diligently and actively reach out to meet grace-filled light and His life through the fulfillment of His commandments. So Christ “dwells in hearts by faith” (Eph. 3:17): and then truly “blessed are... those who believe” (John 20:29) and those who love their Lord. Amen. To the Governorate. Ved. and according to Hebrew. collection: foretold..., To the Governorate. Ved. and according to Hebrew. collection: proclaim... From the troparion of Great Saturday “Let all flesh be silent.” – Editorial staff of “ABC of Faith” You might be interested in: