377. Слово по освящении в Казанской соборной церкви придельного храма во имя Рождества Пресвятой Богородицы

(Said by Archimandrite Philaret on September 17th; printed separately.) Lord, I have loved the beauty of Your house, and the dwelling place of Your glory (Ps. 25:8). This is the heart of a King after God’s heart! It does not rest on the splendor of the throne, does not strive for the glory of battle, and, embracing the nations with goodness, is not filled: its treasure is in God, and it is in the house of God. It feels that the church protects the peace and security of the kingdom more reliably than fortresses and loopholes; meanwhile, it does not seek in it only the external support of civil decorum, but is captivated by the inner beauty of faith; does not calm down, as in the strong fence of human greatness, but reveres, as in the village of Divine glory. And here, Christ-named compatriots, is the heart of our Monarch, and together the single heart of the entire August tribe! You, magnificent Church, sovereign creation! You are a silent witness and a visible image of the reverent love of the House of the King for the house of God. Your drawing reminds us of our David, who, having desired to create you, valued this pious intention so dearly that, as a certain part of his inheritance, he bequeathed it to his Son. The whole building heralds the new Solomon, who began this work with unselfishness and generosity; therefore, seeking only God’s, and shying away from his own glory, he set himself up as the executor of the already appointed enterprise, and carried it out with such unflagging attention that here, one might say, everything was done in his presence, under his gestures. These jewels, adorning the image of the Most Blessed One among women, shine with the zeal of the porphyry-bearing women. And if the peace that favored the construction of the ancient temple of Solomon was a manifestation of the blessing sent down from above for the work of piety: in the same way, is it not a telling sign of Alexander’s pious firmness and heavenly favor towards Him that this royal monument of faith, amid almost continuous battles with powerful enemies, was erected with no less success, as if in the midst of deep peace. Most pious Sovereign! Enter into the joy of the church as you rejoice, as you enter into its benefits and desires. You have rendered the most majestic service to her and to God because your sincere gift will, without a doubt, lead in abundance to other pure sacrifices. The church you created will create souls in piety by the very fact that it was created by you. Nothing preaches the importance of Divine services more publicly than reverence for the Sovereign. But we, listeners, will not hesitate to indulge in the inspiration of a high example. Let us call to our hearts what this very stone speaks to our eyes—the glory and splendor of the house of God. He whose throne is heaven and earth whose footstool, who, according to the assurance of the seer, even penetrates the depths of hell with his presence (Ps. 139:8) 908, who fills, embraces and “bears all things with the word of His power” (Heb. 1:3) so that we “in... Him we live..., we move and we are” (Acts 17:28), can Is it possible to be confined in a cramped, mortal dwelling? “What house will you build for Me” (Is. 66:1), he asks people - who think not to sanctify the place with His presence, but to limit His presence by the holiness of the place? However, since the human heart has become so grounded that it does not have its own strength to ascend to heavenly sensations, and the mind has darkened to the point that on the clear noon of the presence of the Lord, when “the invisible things of God are understood by God’s creatures are visible” (Rom. 1:20), it must walk by the touch of gross feelings before reaching pure spiritual contemplation: then God himself bows down the heavens, so that to bring the earth-born closer to Himself and, in order to teach him to continually walk before himself, for his finite and dense spirit, he reduces, so to speak, His spiritual omnipresence into sensory signs and transitory phenomena. Man, for his part, in order to maintain himself in this saving proximity to God by the power of faith, both by natural impulse and by the inspiration of the Divine itself, collects God-imprinted signs; observes traces of Divine phenomena, and places that, through such reminders, are capable of renewing the feeling of the gracious presence of God, he assimilates to God, exclusively providing them for his solemn service. So Jacob, having seen in a dream the mystery of man’s union with God in the form of a ladder connecting heaven with earth, calls the place of his sleep “the house of God unto them” (Gen. 28:19) and from that time on he visits it only with special reverence. Thus the tabernacle of Moses is built “in the image shown... on the mount” (Ex. 26:30) and is exalted by the wonderful monuments of the tablets, manna and the rod of the vegetated one. Thus, the “threshing floor of Orna” (2 Chronicles 3:1), through the appearance of an Angel, becomes the site of Solomon’s temple. Likewise, Christian churches, according to ancient custom, preserve in themselves either entire coffins, or at least parts of those sacred bodies in which God appeared marvelously in His saints, and are arranged in the form of monuments or some actions in which God revealed and glorified Himself in the world, or some persons who preceded us in a grace-filled union with Him. Therefore, in general, the house of God on earth is formed by the condescension of God towards man and the bringing of man closer to God. God imparts to him the glory of a gracious presence, and man the splendor of living faith. The glory of God makes him holy to man, and the splendor of man makes him acceptable to God. Come, you who wish to walk in the light of the face of the Lord: “The Lord is in his holy church” (Ps. 10:4)! In the church: for it is one for the presence of God, although it is multiple for the approach of people to Him. Here the Lord appears in the majesty of the Creator and Almighty: He erects, like the King of kings, the visible throne of His dominion; He bows the knee of rational creatures before Him; listens to the praises; accepts grateful confessions; attends to prayers; sanctifies the power of the mighty of the earth, recognizing them as his tools; binds the knot of public trust with the power of his oath and puts his fear on guard over consciences; establishes in his sanctuary a center around which both the moral and civil world must turn, so that if there is no altar, then there is neither a throne nor a judgment seat. Here His everlasting Word speaks; comes from the sacred books and from the mouths of his servants; talks in his images; renews every day his incarnation and the sacrifice of the cross on the mysterious altar; feeds his relatives with his spirit and truth, so that they may “be one spirit... with the Lord" (1 Cor. 6:17), nourishes with his body and blood, so that they may "know his only body, of his flesh and of his bones" (Eph. 5:30). Here the Divine and life-giving Spirit dwells, pouring out His saving gifts in the sacraments, sighing in prayers, consoling in contrition, restraining in admiration, opening the flow of Divine sweetness in Divine love. Oh, how, before this heavenly glory, what is earthly and human here is either hidden or clothed in a heavenly radiance! This is no longer dust and clay, not the work of mortal art, not a poor inn created by strangers for the master’s home: “this is not, but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven” (Gen. 28:17). Angels pass through them, penetrating our sacraments; and we ourselves, standing before the Lord of hosts, form the Cherubim mysteriously. However, let us not imagine, Christians, that the shrine befitting the house of the Lord can be separated from that “holiness” (Lev. 11:44), which the heavenly ruler of the house will require of those entering it, or make up for its lack. What if the house of God were filled with pagans who do not know God, or who dishonor Him? Would He not have turned His face away from the unworthy, and would He not have left them in the tangible darkness of sensory images without spirit and life? So, the glory of the church, being Divine in its source, also depends on man in its observance, discovery, and dissemination. The key that must open and store the treasures of the house of the Lord is humble, perspicacious, active faith. Humble: for if slaves stand before the ruler with fear, subjects of the king, judges on trial, then can a creature sufficiently humiliate itself before the Creator, a slave in his very merits, inexcusable before the Almighty Master, a criminal by nature before the Self-Existing Justice? Perspicacious: for in the house of God there are images in which truth must be found, outward rites in which there is inner benefit, ornaments in which teaching is hidden. Active: for the one who from the first “let it be done continues to do” (Gen. 1:3; John 5:17) does not present us with useless spectacles and does not demand idle spectators; The Creator wants “creator” (Rom. 2:13). Here “coming” to Christ, “living stone, ... and we ourselves, like living stone, must be built up into a spiritual church, a holy sanctuary, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God, Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:4-5). In the likeness of the Old Testament prophetic church, in which animals were sacrificed in the courtyard, incense in the sanctuary, and the fire that descended from heaven was unquenched, we must erect within ourselves both an external altar in order to sacrifice sensuality to God, and an internal altar in order to offer Him a “broken spirit” (Ps. 50:19); to perform this burnt offering of the old man so that only the heavenly fire of pure, Divine love remains in the soul and then leave it to God Himself to speak His new covenant in us, to make us “conformed to the image of His Son” (Rom. 8:29), “the habitation of His Spirit” (1 Cor. 3:16) 909, “His churches” (2 Cor. 6:16) 910. Oh, if everyone would create their own inner sanctuary according to this drawing, and the church of God made with hands would be only a quiet fence of those not made by hands - with what love both heaven and earth would look at its spiritual splendor, and with what pure clarity the glory of the Lord would shine on it! But even in the midst of real joy, this still remains the subject of our concern. Perhaps we are provided with the splendid appearance of the Divine Service; and indeed it should be the pure reflection of heartfelt piety; however, even under this brilliance sometimes the deep human heart hides utter darkness. “Dig up the wall” (Ezek. 8:8), God once said to Ezekiel, leading him in a vision to the Temple of Jerusalem; and the Prophet, entering through the secret door, saw in him idolatry in many different forms. What if even now the Lord commanded his servant to penetrate through the plausibility of custom, through the visor of hypocrisy, through the ruins of promised piety and enter into the hearts of the people present at the Divine service: “Son of man, dig up the wall (Ezek. 8:8)? Wouldn’t he have seen again the idols of the house of Israel” (Ezek. 8:10), the idols of the passions that they bring with them to the church and worship before the very face of God? Wouldn’t you see people bringing “strange fire” (Lev.10:1) before the Lord, love for creatures, and thinking that he does not concern their hearts: “The Lord does not see, the Lord has forsaken the earth” (Ezek.8:12)? Wouldn’t I see “women... weeping for Tammuz” (Ezek. 8:14), these pampered souls who ask God only for food for their sensuality, or mourn such losses for which they should thank his mercy? Wouldn’t I see people “giving their backs to the church of the Lord... and worshiping the sun” (Ezek. 8:16), inattentive people who want to be heard by God without themselves hearing their prayers, or selfish people who, from the presence of the Lord, are carried away in spirit to the objects of their worldly activities? Wouldn’t he have seen... but why test the secrets of hearts, when the external decorum of the Divine Service, so firmly, apparently, protected by the custom of our ancestors, and by the example and care of the Most Pious Monarch, in our eyes, is sometimes violated by the appearance and movements of coldness and inattention? For this reason, the Lord says this: if you neglect the splendor of My house, and bring into it with you the abomination of desolation, I will go out of it with My glory. If you are not moved by the sacrifice in which I am offered for you daily to my mercy on the altar, I will descend from it and ascend to the judgment seat in order to sacrifice once and for all to my justice. I will condemn you for the very fact that you were present at my sacraments. Let this not be, let this not be with us, long-suffering Lord! For the sake of Your beloved Mother, by whose name we wish to make this place dear to You, for the sake of Your own goodness, with which You deigned to accomplish this sovereign task, fill, we beg, the church of this glory of Your presence, and clothe with it all our churches in the splendor of piety; make this church the fence of this city, the shelter of the August House, the adornment of our Fatherland, and through this threshold of heaven lead us into that native city in which there is no church, for You “the Lord God Almighty are its church” (Rev. 21:22). Amen. “Even if I go down to hell, there you are” - AV. "The Spirit of God dwells in you." – AB. “For you are the churches of the living God.” – AB. You might be interested in: