303. Беседа по освящении храма Воздвижения Креста Господня в Преображенском Богаделенном доме

(Said on December 19th; printed in the Works of the Holy Father, in the Provincial and Police Gazette of 1855 and in the collection of 1861) When in the days of Solomon the consecration of the Church of God in Jerusalem took place: then, as the book of Kings narrates, those who celebrated its consecration “went every one to their own homes, rejoicing with a joyful heart over the good things which the Lord had done for David his servant, and for Israel his people” (1 Kings 8:66). It was the church of the true God for an entire people, and even the only one in those days for the whole world. Here the church of God is now illuminated for not much, however, by the grace of God, a growing gathering of the children of the one, holy, conciliar, Apostolic, patristic Church. Nevertheless, I hope that you, the brethren of this holy church, “will go to your homes, rejoicing with a cheerful heart about the good things that the Lord has done... for His people.” Both the glorious temple of Jerusalem and the humble (however, with its ancient splendor attracting reverent gazes) church here is the church of the one God, the one God is the Sanctifier of both, with this difference that there is an image, and here the image and being depicted, there is “the shadow of ... the good things to come” (Heb. 10:1), and here is the truth of the good things already given. So, isn’t it joyful that over this consecrated church, as once over the one in Jerusalem, the word of the Lord was spoken: “You have sanctified this church, that you may set my name there forever; and my eyes and my heart will be there all the days” (1 Kings 9:3). Our joy will take on a special form if we think about the fate of this place and compare the joyless past with the joyful present. Eighty-three years before this, there was an empty place here; and then a hospital was established for those suffering from a destructive disease, and a burial place for those who died from a destructive disease. Sad start! I would like to illuminate this dim memory with thoughts about the philanthropy of the founders of this institution, about the courage of their action in dangerous times, about the constancy and generosity used to ensure that this temporary institution did not cease, but was supported, grew and rose in its significance. But all this before the spiritual eye is covered by a sad shadow. Under the roof of love for mankind, they thought of establishing the seat of faith here, but in such a society of people, which, as a result of long-standing strife and intensely refined doubts about the universal Orthodox Church, placed itself in alienation from the universal Orthodox Church. I pray to everyone listening to me now to listen peacefully and complacently, and not to be upset if something in my word seems unpleasant to some. I wish to be with everyone in peace, both in spirit and in word: but by the fate of God, the ministry entrusted to me obliges me, in the spirit of peace, to proclaim the truth, sometimes unpleasant, for the salvation of souls: “Needs are upon me; “Woe is I if I do not preach the gospel” (1 Cor. 9:16). I will heed the word of the Lord: “Judge not, lest ye be judged” (Matthew 7:1), and the word of the Apostle: “Judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, Who will bring into the light the secret of darkness, and reveal the counsels of the heart” (1 Cor. 4:5); and I do not want to judge anyone, even from those who pronounce too cruel judgments on the Holy Church; and I wish and pray to God, the Savior of all, that He may cover every sin of ignorance with His boundless mercy, and may He dispel the fog of doubt that covers some souls with His Divine light; may he bring the sheep, even those who are not from this fold, into the one fold of the one shepherd Jesus Christ. But I would be guilty before those who are upright if I were silent and did not warn them against the path of wrong reasoning, and before those who are right-leaning if I were silent and did not show them the path of right reasoning. In this place, and for the past eighty years, we have professed faith in one God the Father, Creator, Almighty, and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only begotten, begotten before the ages, consubstantial with the Father, the true God of the true God, who for our salvation became incarnate, suffered, buried, rose again, ascended into heaven, is seated at the right hand of the Father, and will again come with glory. judge the living and the dead, and the Holy Spirit, also the true Lord, who proceeds from the Father, together with the Father and the Son, worshiped. This is the Apostolic faith. This is fatherly faith. This is the solid foundation of faith for the entire universal Church. But what was built here on this basis? Is it gold? Is it silver? Is the stone honest? Put into the furnace of the words of God the most important teaching that prevailed here, and see what happens. Once the Prophet Azariah, to the children of the Jewish Church, foreseeing their unfaithfulness in serving God, uttered this threatening prophecy: “Many days will be in Israel... without a teaching priest, and without law; When they turn sorrowfully to the Lord God of Israel, and they will seek Him, and He will be found by them” (2 Chronicles 15:3-4). So, to be without a priest is a punishment sent from God to those who are unfaithful in serving Him, for a time, until they come to their senses and zealously turn to Him. But here they taught that being without a priest is the right thing, and that it should continue until the end of the century: and thus they themselves brought upon themselves what the word of God recognizes as the punishment of God. Rejoice, brethren of this holy church: the Lord has been found by you in His grace; and returned to you the priest who was lost by your ancestors, teaching, receiving one another from the Apostles by the laying on of hands, consecrated, praying and performing the sacraments according to the consecrated rite. The Lord said: “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man, you will not drink His blood; “Don’t have stomach in you” (John 6:53). But here they taught that it is possible and necessary to live without partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ; and did not notice that with such teaching, according to the power of the word of Christ, they doomed themselves to spiritual death. Rejoice, brothers of this holy church. The source of life is open to you; the doors of the sanctuary are open, and the minister of the Divine Sacrament invites you to the communion of the Body and Blood of Christ; Only proceed with the fear of God and faith. Through the mouth of the Holy Apostle Paul, “The Spirit... clearly speaks, that in the last times some will depart from the faith, heeding spiritual flattery and the teaching of demons, in hypocrisy a liar, having their own conscience seared, forbidding to marry” (1 Tim. 4:1-3). And the mentors who were here were precisely “forbidden to get married,” and completely rejected marriage. It is not clear how they have not heard and are not hearing what a terrible thunder of the Apostolic word thunders over their newly invented wisdom and over their heads. And how did they not see where their teaching was leading? Christ the Savior said to the Apostles about celibate life: “not all can bear this word, but to them it is given to eat” (Matthew 19:11). That is: not everyone can remain celibate, but only some have the gift of permanent virginity. What do the teachers of universal celibacy lead those who do not have the gift of virginity to? Are they not bringing us closer to the abyss of vice, and then to the abyss of hell? - Rejoice, brothers of this holy church. You can, with a peaceful conscience, in accordance with the word of Christ, choose what you can “contain”, or holy virginity, or a blessed marriage, without fearing those unblessed mentors who dreamed of destroying God’s universal blessing to people with their commandment: “grow and multiply, and fill the earth” (Gen. 1:28). Blessed is God, Who wants all mankind to be saved. Blessed is the grace of the Lord, which enlightens all who do not close their eyes to its light. Blessed are the souls who seek truth, grace and salvation with an impartial mind and a sincere heart. Behold, in one summer the second church is consecrated here, and enlightens this place. “Look down from heaven, God, and see, and visit, and establish,” and grow, and spread, “this grape, which Thy right hand has planted!” ( Ps. 79:15–16 ) Amen. You might be interested in: