391. Слово пред погребением тела генерал-лейтенанта графа Павла Александровича Строганова

(Said in the Annunciation Church of the Holy Trinity Alexander Nevsky Lavra, in the Supreme presence of His Imperial Majesty the Most Pious Sovereign Emperor Alexander Pavlovich and Their Imperial Highnesses the Grand Dukes Tsarevich Konstantin Pavlovich and Mikhail Pavlovich, July 5; printed separately and in collection. 1820 and 1821) Blessed is the man who endures temptation; having already been skilled, he receives the crown of life. (James 1:12). You know what this apostolic word is for now, if you hear us, the silent originator of this word; and you will not be upset that, greeting you this last time on earth, we did not choose another greeting for you, which would seem more solemn. For would it be better to please you with the glory of these perishable crowns, when they float idle in the air and no longer reach the immortal head? or these signs of honor given to your merits, when the Church strives in prayers that you may be worthy of “the honor of the highest calling” (Phil. 3:14); or these big names, when you no longer bear them, having taken on a “new name, which” here “no one knows” (Rev. 2:17)? Would it now be enough to please you with memories of temporary happiness, which even before you valued only by the ways of doing good, and which, although it is the property of the elect, to whom both “the present and the future” belong (1 Cor. 3:22), is not their difference, for those who “receive ... good ... in their bellies” (Luke 16:25) often participate in it? But what am I saying? The very remembrance of your virtues would not have made our conversation sweeter for you, when you, perhaps, already know more clearly than us, “Who will stand if the Lord sees iniquity” (Ps. 129:3)! So, we greet you primarily with the hope of bliss provided for one who, not only as a child, was nourished by earthly blessings, but more than like a man, by enduring temptation was purified, strengthened and prepared for the heavenly crown. “Blessed is the man who endures temptation; having been skilled, he receives the crown of life.” Participants in this solemn lamentation! Let us bring the joyful thought of the path to bliss through temptation, like a lamp into the darkness of human fate in general, and especially into the darkness of the tomb that lies ahead of us. Once upon a time the path of bliss was as vast as the breadth of the land of Eden, and from its beginning to its end it ran through a paradise of sweetness. But the seeds of the forbidden fruit, eaten by men, fell to the ground, and the path of bliss was overgrown with thorns and thistles. In vain did people, following either dark memories or deceptive desires, try to again arrange broad paths for themselves: their very breadth, now unnatural, became a sign that they were false and could not lead to the goal - “lead the broad path into destruction” (Matthew 7:13). Because the vast path, as visible, deceived wanderers more and more and drew them into destruction, and the true path of life, as hidden and even impassable without a higher guide, became more and more desolate and became completely unknown; then finally, by the ineffable goodness of heaven, “He who is” miraculously appeared on earth 932 “The Way and the Truth and the Life” (John 14:6). However, He did not clear the path to bliss from thorns and thistles, but left this to the time when He would again come to “cleanse” all of His vast “threshing floor” and all “the chaff... burnt with unquenchable fire” (Matthew 3:12). Now He showed us “the narrow way that leads into the belly” (Matthew 7:14), and He Himself walked along this path, “Leaving us an image, that we may follow His steps” (1 Pet. 2:21). There are various paths and parts of the one universal path to bliss; but it is always more accurately recognized because it is “close” and requires heroism from those passing along it. He lies there through the waters of tears: “blessed are those who weep” (Matthew 5:4); here - through the desert, in which we must lose everything that we ever thought we had in ourselves: “blessed are the poor in spirit” (Matthew 5:3); inde - through the jungle of humiliation: “blessedness of exile” (Matthew 5:10); “You will be blessed when men hate you, and when you are separated and reviled” (Luke 6:22). Sometimes one must, with a militant hand, overthrow obstacles and with the most intense efforts ascend to the heights of perfection: “the kingdom of heaven is in need” (Matthew 11:12); sometimes, by the devotion of faith, one plunges into mortal danger in order to achieve saving trust in God: “whoever loses his soul, ... he will save it” (Mark 8:35). That which advances in the paths of the flesh often even hinders the path of the spirit, and the chariots of the world are for the most part not built according to the size of “the narrow gates ... that lead into the belly”: so “do not make it easy for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:24). The Heavenly Guide requires from us some separation from our closest companions: “I have come,” He says, “to separate a man from his father, and a daughter from her mother; Whoever loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me” (Matthew 10:35, 37). In order to reach the kingdom of the all-encompassing love of God, one must first remain alone in heart, like the one who said: “I am alone, until I pass” (Ps. 140:10). Will they say to this now, as they said before: “who can be saved” (Matthew 19:25)? And now, as before, the Hero of Salvation answers: “With man these things are not possible, but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). If a person decides to work out his own salvation, then even if he knew all the means of salvation, let’s put it bluntly, salvation is impossible for him. But this impossibility of self-salvation, recognized by humility and faith, becomes the possibility of salvation in the love and wisdom of God: “what is not possible with man is possible with God” (Luke 18:27). A person “is not... content and... considering that good things are from himself, as from himself” (2 Cor. 3:5); sometimes he “works with the mind for God, but with the flesh... for the law of sin” (Rom. 7:25); or “even... he strives to do what he wants, but he does not achieve good deeds”; or “does”, but “does not... will what is good” (Rom. 7:18–19). God knows, and can, and wants, and creates. And knowing better than us what we demand, He often leads us where we do not know; and desiring good for us more than we do for ourselves, He often does to us what we do not want. “Keep the little ones” the spirit “Lord” (Ps. 114:5), and “a commandment by his angel”, so that “they may take them up in their hands” (Ps. 90:11–12) them; “feeds them the milk of consolations” (Is. 66:11) and, as soon as “they enlarge their mouth,” He “fills me” (Ps. 80:11). He sees our “enemies”, “strong”, and those who “hate” us, “establishing themselves more than” us, and “foreheads” us “in the day of our embitterment”, and “takes us out into wideness” (Ps. 17:18-20). But when he sees us capable of entering the school of high Divine education or into the very field of spiritual exploits, then “the Lord... loves him, He punishes every son whom he receives” (Heb. 12:6); then the cross and temptation are offered to us without fail, and from time to time 933 more abundantly, as “solid food for the perfect” (Heb. 5:14). selflessness, contempt for the world, dispassion, devotion to the will of God - knowledge unknown in the world, except for their name. We are led “through fire and water” (Ps. 65:12), may we be white like snow and pure like gold; “so that the temptation” of our “faith, which is more honorable than gold, perishing, and being tempted by fire, may be found in praise and honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:7). Whoever still “does not think about the essence of God” (Matthew 16:23), let him judge only humanly, or compose the letters of elemental nature, and read, even in petrified and fragmented tablets, the same spiritual law everywhere. Which land is more blessed? - is it she who, although under a beneficent sky, but without a cultivator, if she does not lie in desolation, then only produces wild pasture or serves dumb pasture; or the one who, being torn apart by the raz and troubled with feeding the seed entrusted to her, finally brings a harvest that nourishes man? Which tree is more kind to a heligraduator? - is it not the one that suffers more for the heli-grader? Which water preserves its nature more intact? - is it not the one who rests less and groans more, being driven by fate, expressed to her in the law of gravity, and crushed against stones? Which force grows and strengthens the most? – isn’t it the one who is more in the struggle with labor and fatigue? What more elevates and perfects virtue? - Is it well-being, which brings most of her strength to rest, or misfortune, which puts her in a field worthy of her, and leads her into a feat characteristic of her? Who is not courageous when there is no abuse? Who is not generous when there is nothing to complain about? Suddenly the enemy appears, and the dormant courage barely finds its weapon. Sorrow befalls, and the dreamy strength of spirit, like a fragile tree, is crushed. Temptation sent by Providence is the salt of earthly happiness; in its excess, it hurts the taste, but without it, in that which delights the taste, only rottenness and stench would remain. This happens in the natural as well as in the spiritual order. “Take away temptation, and there will be no one to be saved,” 934 said one of those whom temptation made skilled. Let us not be surprised that he who knows the value of God’s gifts, as if neglecting prosperity, asks himself for the gift of being tempted: “Test me, O God” (Ps. 139:23); Moreover, let us ourselves follow the advice and admonition of the Apostle: “Have all joy, my brethren, when you fall into various temptations” (James 1:2). But if one should enter the path of temptation with joy, how much more right is it to please those who have already passed it, reached their limit with patience and therefore rest in peace and in the hope of the crown of life? “Blessed is the man who endures temptation; having been skilled, he receives the crown of life.” In vain, both in the life and in the death of our neighbors, we primarily love to look at their happiness, which, shining, blinds us and, hiding, leaves us in darkness. If we looked more closely at temptations, by which God purifies them and brings them into eternal life, we would in any case be able to draw “from here” 935 both instruction and consolation. In this disposition, let us dare to cast a fortune-telling gaze into the mystery of life, sealed in this tomb, until the great “book of life” is “opened” (Rev. 20:12). A branch of a family blessed by service to the Fatherland and gratitude to the Fatherland, a happy son of a happy parent, a joyful father of a worthy son, faithful and adorned with power of attorney, first in the high house of the king, and then in the spacious house of the kingdom, a citizen who has gained the glory of a warrior, a warrior to whom no time brought titles and honors, but who delighted them with tirelessness in exploits, finally, a man after the heart of one who rules hearts Russians, - in these very features the famous bolyarin and leader Count Pavel appeared to the eyes of the world during his life. Where are you now, bright kind of happiness and glory? and what is left of you to the world, is it a bitter consolation of the memory of what cannot be returned? But behold, in the midst of the flower-decorated human paths, the hidden traces of the path of God, covered with sacred thorns. God “gave” to his servant, let’s say in the words of the Apostle, “not only to believe, but also to suffer” (Phil. 1:29). With his own hand, as most often happens, he drew a mysterious lot from the invisible repository of destinies, not knowing that it would be a lot of temptation. Well-timed for his fatherland, but untimely for himself, jealousy for his exploits drove him out of his calm, though already quite active, civil life; he took his sword, which had been resting for a long time, and, hastening to defeat his enemies with it, imperceptibly cut short his own days; across the vast battlefields, from which he collected crowns of victory, he irrevocably squandered his strength and health. Meanwhile, the flame that filled the father’s heart also engulfed the heart of his only son, who wanted to inherit, first of all, the living example of his father’s virtues. It seemed as if the hitherto prosperous parent foresaw a terrible fate when he only agreed to see his son as a warrior so as never to see him under his banners. But “even... the holy God conspires with whoever destroys, and whoever turns away His high hand” (Is. 14:27). It was destined - we do not know the law, but we see the action of this supreme court - it was destined that, just as the root of this famous family was once destroyed by the fury of the evil oppressors of Russia 936, so now its highest branch was crushed by a storm raised by the faithless destroyers of Europe; so that, just as the blessed firstfruits of this noble blood was sacrificed to faith, so its purest remains were shed for the fatherland; so that the husband, granted the gift “not only... to believe, but also... to suffer,” to the extent of this gift, learns the high order of Abraham’s sacrifice. And the battle whirlwind, contrary to human commandment, brings the young warrior under the banners of the parent, and brings it only so that he falls under the banners of the parent! What a temptation for faith and patience to see the death of a son and not even mourn him; to see the death of a worthy son and say goodbye to the most pleasant hopes; see the death of your only son, and suddenly outlive your offspring! However, no cowardice, no grumbling about fate, disturbed the sacrifices according to the order of Abraham, and the orphaned father, with devotion to the will of Him, “from which the whole family in heaven and on earth is named” (Eph. 3:15), returned to the house to share sorrow and consolation with his faithful wife, and to, by putting in order his extensive house-building, as if to prepare for the Most High The last “answer to the master of the house” (Luke 16:2). Here the new fruit of his seasoned faith appeared in the fact that he deprived himself of much, so as not to shorten his hand for those who prospered through his continuous benefactions. But the path of his temptation, according to the destinies of God, had to end in no other way than with his life. Illness, generated by labors and, perhaps, brought back by sadness, was an instrument of Providence, as much as it was painful for the flesh, but also, without a doubt, saving for the spirit. She was entrusted not only with daily reminding the son of time of eternity, but even in some visible way to dissolve all the bonds that tied him to the world, and even in the flesh to separate his spirit from everything earthly, in order to prepare him for union with God, which does not tolerate any mediation or alien attraction. According to the suggestions of this, however still not quite understood, mentor, he leaves home and fatherland. “Love is as strong as death” (Song 8:6) drags his wife after him; but soon, having more truly felt his condition, he strengthens his spirit with the Christian sacraments and, in order to free himself and her from the painful state of constantly dying in her eyes, he endures the painful state of leaving her, so to speak, by a shipwreck of hope cast on a foreign shore 937. Then he indifferently goes down into the sea, as if calling out to David: “I am the only one who will pass away” (Ps. 140); and having completed no more than two days' trials, strengthened by new spiritual instructions, he quietly enters his peace. What will we, Christians, think, looking at this path of Providence, so little similar to the drawings of our frivolous mind, but just as, without a doubt, right and good, as outlined and indicated by the Wise Father! “Let us obey the Father in the Spirit,” as He alone obeyed Him from His sons, whom we accompanied to Him, “and we shall live” (Heb. 12:9), just as we pray to Him and give us the “crown of life.” “You are also obedient to the Father of spirits, whom perhaps this very event sets on a new path of temptation. The paths of “temptation” emerge from one another; but also the “crowns of life” will not become scarce if we patiently go to the limit of temptation. And you, wife and mother, are purely orphaned! No matter in what solitude your sadness hides you, you will hear the voice of the Church extended to you in faith and love: “obey the Father of spirits” and go through the path of temptation that still continues for you, looking at the crown of life. “But God is faithful, who will not forsake...to be tempted beyond all means” (1 Cor. 10:13). Father of spirits and God of all flesh! Receive the spirit of Your servant Bolyarin and leader Count Paul, “like sacrificial fruitfulness”; You have already “tempted” him “like gold in a furnace” (Wis. 3:6). Grant him bliss to those who have endured temptation and grant him the crown of eternal life. Send your spirit of consolation to those who mourn over him. “For you are the Father of generous gifts and the God of all joy, comforting us in all our troubles” (2 Cor. 1:3-4). Amen. In the department ed. there are no words. In the department ed. these words do not exist. Anthony the Great. – Approx. author The famous Russian historiographer Professor Miller, in his essay: “Description of the Siberian Kingdom,” is often based on the narratives of the Dutch writer Nikolai Widzen; and Widzen, in a book he published in 1692 in Amsterdam in Dutch under the title: “Northern and Eastern Tartary,” writes, among other things, the following: “The origin of the Stroganovs, famous rich people in Russia, is as follows. Their ancestor was born in the Golden Horde, near Astrakhan, and was the son of the king there. Having wished to accept the Christian faith, he went to Russia, where, according to the rites of the Greek Church, he was baptized and entered into marriage with his own daughter, who was given to him by the Tsar. After this marriage was completed, when Stroganov remained in Russia, the Tatars were so indignant for this that they started a war with the Russians. The Tsar sent this Stroganov himself with an army against the Tatars; but the enemies accidentally took him prisoner and took his life, “cutting off” his entire body. The sufferer left behind a pregnant wife; The son she gave birth to was given the name Stroganov, which his descendants retain to this day.” Note author In Copenhagen. – Approx. author You might be interested in: