345. Беседа в день Благовещения Пресвятой Богородицы

(Said in Chudov Mon. March 25th; printed in the Works of the Holy Father in 1858 and in the collection of 1861) Be careful...what you hear (Luke 8:18). Carefully, judiciously, carefully watch yourself, how you listen to what reaches your ears, how you accept and should accept what you hear. This is how Christ the Savior instructed His disciples. His Most Pure Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, fulfilled this instruction perfectly when it had not yet been pronounced. Christians! The instruction of Christ the Savior also applies to us because we are Christians, that is, disciples and followers of Christ. The example of His Most Pure Mother can introduce us to the understanding of His instructions. Foremother Eve did not lay down the rule for herself: “I cry from you, ... as you hear...” when the serpent tempter entered into a conversation with her, although the very unusualness of this phenomenon should have inspired caution. Through an ear opened by curiosity, the poison of words penetrated into her heart and poisoned her soul with sin before her body was poisoned by eating the forbidden fruit. And the forefather Adam did not protect his hearing from the sinful word of his wife: and through an unguarded ear he allowed death to enter the entire human race. Not so the Blessed Virgin Mary. As predestined to serve the sacrament of healing the human race from the deadly infection of sin, she, upon entering into this service, corrects the initial error of her ancestors. She hears the welcoming voice of the Angel, already more or less known to her, from the time of her upbringing in the temple of Jerusalem: and with all this, “she is careful ... how she hears ...”; does not suddenly allow high words about her to reach a humble heart; does not respond to greetings; pauses in thoughtful thought. “I was troubled by his words, and thought what this kiss would be like” (Luke 1:29). What word is this that causes confusion in a pure and peaceful soul? This is the word of the Angel: “Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you; blessed art thou among women” (Luke 1:28). But what could be the cause of confusion here? The cause of embarrassment is usually a word that is sad, or strict, or humiliating, or offensive, or threatening. There is nothing like that in the words of the Angel. In them one can see: the joy, the reverence of the Angel for the Blessed Virgin, her dignity, God’s favor towards her. Enter into the matter with spiritual understanding. A sad, strict, humiliating, offensive, threatening word confuses our impatience, our pride. These qualities were not present in the Blessed Virgin; why such heavy words would not have embarrassed her. But deep humility dwells in her: and therefore, a word that elevates her is inconvenient for her. Humility does not like loud praise; evades it; he is afraid that she will harm him: and therefore, when he hears a praiser, with involuntary concern he inwardly asks: are you really an Angel of Light? – This is the meaning of the confusion into which the Blessed Virgin was brought by the greeting of the heavenly evangelist. But even unblemished embarrassment is not a natural state. The soul, having felt itself in it, seeks a way to get out of it. What path did the Blessed Virgin open for this? – The path of silent reflection. “Think about what this kiss will be like.” Listen closely to the silence of the Blessed Virgin before the Annunciating Angel: you will find that this silence is as wise as the word is wise. If Miriam had hastened to respond to the laudatory greeting of the Angel without denying the audible praise: this would have been an affirmation and acceptance of praise, and it would have been hard for the Virgin, in relation to her humility. If she answered with a contradiction: this could be an insult to the heavenly messenger. She avoided both difficulties by hiding from the word into silence and using it for reflection. “Thinking: what will this kiss be like?” What does an extraordinary greeting mean? How to deal with a greeting that is difficult and scary to accept, and also difficult and scary to reject? If a word comes from God, will He not show a sign that will end confusion and fear and resolve bewilderment? – The sign really appeared in the fact that to the thoughtful silence of the Blessed Virgin, as if to an intelligible word, the Angel gave an appropriate answer: “Do not be afraid, Mariam” (Luke 1:30). From this she knew that God had revealed her inner state to the Angel and sent her a word of reassurance; and that, consequently, with calmness and faith we must listen to the further broadcast of the Angel. So she prepared herself and was prepared to receive the annunciation of the incarnation in her of the Son of God - the Savior of the world: and from the immeasurable depth of humility she was able to utter 841 words of immeasurably high faith: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; Wake me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). Do you see, Christian soul, at least in part, the soul of the Blessed Virgin, her inner well-being, her vigilance on guard of moral self-preservation 842? Learn Her hidden wisdom, imitate Her vigilant caution in interviews. “Watch...whatever you hear.” Don't stop yourself by saying that her path is very high; and that your path is different. If you become lazy and are not jealous of following the ascending path of the Blessed Virgin from afar, then you can easily turn aside to the path of Eve, which is descending and leads to fall. It can easily happen that some talkative “serpent, ... the wisest of all the beasts that are on earth” (Gen. 3:1), but far from even simple human wisdom, and much more from heaven, who is seen as an inhabitant of paradise, but invisibly belongs to the inhabitants of hell, whose “words are quenched ... more than oil, and they are arrows” (Ps. 54:22), which in with dreamy and flattering words he will idolize you, but in reality he will infect you with slander and blasphemy against God, who will offer you a beautiful and sweet fruit, and in it you will taste sin and death. The example of the Blessed Virgin shows that even the angelic word should be listened to with caution. And if such caution was needed for her, then how much more necessary for us. For, as the Apostle warns, “Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light” (2 Cor. 11:14): and therefore the unwary may mistake shiny brass for gold, the word of flattery and deceit for the word of truth. If an extraordinary word appears to your external or internal hearing, representing itself as sent from above: do not rush to accept it; reflect in silence, test whether it is in accordance with the reliably known word of God and the teachings of Christ; Protect yourself with humility, prayer, and, moreover, as the wise men teach, with threefold prayer, and, as far as possible, with the advice of those who have spiritual experience. - The truth will not be offended by your caution: and lies and dreams will not have time to charm you. If the one who hears the Angel needs to “be careful how he hears...”: what can we say about human conversations? How many false and bad thoughts there are in people, how many passions, how many vices! All of them can turn into an infection, more or less strong and harmful, noticeably and imperceptibly passing through words and conversation. There are many obvious and hidden dangers: a lot of prudence and caution are needed. Do you hear a word of praise to you? - Be careful. Praise often conceals flattery; or she can make you a flatterer for yourself if you are captivated by her; can remove humility from you and instill in you arrogance and negligence about further improving yourself and your deeds. Having heard praise, think about what you should be like, remember your shortcomings; and try to have praiseworthy thoughts, intentions and deeds, and not catch the disappearing sound of praise. Do you hear a word that insults or humiliates you? - Beware lest “wrath” be kindled, which “does not do the righteousness of God” (James 1:20). Better tell yourself: here is an opportunity to teach yourself patience and humility, and respond to the insulting and humiliating person either with silence, or, if necessary, with a meek word of truth. Do you hear the word reproaching and condemning your neighbor? - Be careful not to take part in the sin of someone else's tongue through your hearing. Do not attach your heart to words that are more harmful to the condemner than to the condemned. Do you hear a word that saddens you with a real or threatening disaster? - Be careful that your sadness does not become stronger than your reason and your will. “For many, kill sadness; and there is no profit in it” (Sir.30:25). Dissolve your sadness through prayer and pacify yourself with devotion to the will of God and trust in God’s mercy. What if you hear or see 843 words of disgrace, disrespect, and unbelief in the reading? – Hasten to block your ear and close your eye 844 from the corrupting wind. Don’t be seduced by the idea of ​​listening to or reading 845 out of curiosity or for fun. Don't touch the soot. Don't play with fire. Don't want to know the taste of 846 poison. “Good customs are corrupted by evil conversations” (1 Cor. 15:33). Isn’t it necessary, someone will say, isn’t it necessary to be careful when listening to spiritual and moral teachings? - Exactly, you need to be careful, - precisely careful, so as not to be, in the words of the Apostle James, “a forgetful listener,” like a person who looked at himself in the mirror, walked away and forgot what he is like. For he is not a forgetful hearer, but “a doer of the work; he will be blessed in what he does” (James 1:22–25). Amen. Handwritten The author used to say: “high.” Handwritten the author previously stood instead of these words: “vigilant guard.” Handwritten author these words are written after. Handwritten the author's place of this was before: “do not taste.” You might be interested in: