404. Слово по освящении храма во имя святых первоверховных апостолов Петра и Павла, в Московском кадетском корпусе

(Said on October 7th; printed in the Works of St. Ot.) The Lord is good to those who hope; the soul that seeks His good is, and hopes in silence for the salvation of God. It is good for a husband to bear the yoke in his youth. ( Lamentations 3:25–27 ). These words are taken from the sad song that the prophet Jeremiah sang at the ruins of God’s church and the city of Jerusalem. You can say: why are the words of a sad song here, when we joyfully see the church, once created by a pious will, and now renewed and decorated by pious zeal? And instead of answering this, I can offer the opposite question: what were the words I cited there? Did the ruins of the church and the city mean that “the Lord is good”? However, we cannot help but admit that the Prophet, who spoke by the Spirit of God, spoke wisely and decently, and that the inspired prophetic word is always and everywhere useful and saving. Let us try to understand how appropriate the words of the Prophet were there: and we will see how they can be useful here. “The Lord is good to those who hope in Him, to souls who seek His goodness, and who hope in silence for God’s salvation.” What could these words, spoken by the prophet on the ruins of Jerusalem and the church, really be leading to? They could tend to admonish and edify the Jerusalemites. Hearing this universal truth that “the Lord is good to those who hope in Him,” this immutable law of Providence, that the soul that seeks the Lord should be good, the Jerusalemites had to conclude that the Lord would appear good for them if they sought Him, if they hoped in Him. Then the grace of the church would be the protection and protection of the city: Jerusalem would be good. If evil befell the Jerusalemites, then, of course, because they did not seek the Lord and did not trust in Him. Thus it turns out that a lesson was written on the ruins of the church and the city: and the Prophet came and read and taught it. What lesson? – Seek the Lord; and it will be good for your soul. Trust in the Lord; and “you will taste and see that the Lord is good” (Ps. 33:9). Seek Him with the free movement of your heart, and thereby affirm your prosperity. Beware of forgetting Him, so as not to destroy your prosperity. But if, by misfortune, you have already fallen into oblivion of God, and your prosperity has been destroyed: then remember, though now, that “the Lord is good,” and do not despair; seek Him with a broken heart; accept disasters and sorrows with the “silence” of patience; "hope in God's salvation." Along with admonition, the words of the prophet could also refer to consolation. When Jerusalem was struck by the wrath of God, and the church itself was not spared: then it might seem that after this defeat restoration could no longer be expected, that the wound was not healed, and the sadness was inconsolable. But no, says the prophet, “the Lord is good to those who hope; there is good to the soul that seeks Him”: consequently, one only needs to seek the Lord, who has hidden His grace; you just need to accept hope in Him: and the Lord will again appear good to His people; it will be good for the souls who seek Him; Jerusalem will rise; the church will rise again. You see how, even among the ruins and desolation, the Prophet sowed words of truth not inappropriately: they were supposed to produce edification and consolation, hope and salvation. Isn’t such good seed just as useful, and perhaps more convenient, to sow on protected and cultivated land? Let us bring the teachings of the Prophet closer to our souls; Let's introduce it into our lives! The Spirit of God testifies through the Prophet that “the Lord is good to those who hope,” that “there is good for the souls that seek Him.” What could be more reliable than this testimony? Seek the Lord, O Christian soul; trust in Him, constantly inspire yourself with the thought that, according to the Divine assurance, this is good for you, this is your bliss! How far is it for a Christian to seek the Lord? – You can find Him in your heart: since He gave this promise to Christian souls: “I will dwell in them and walk around” (2 Cor. 6:16), and indeed He dwells in them by the grace of Baptism. It is even easier to look for Him in the church, in sacred signs, in the word of the Gospel, in the Sacraments, descending and approaching, hidden and appearing, and visiting the soul. Seek the Lord through prayer, reverent meditation on His works, faith, love, and fulfillment of His commandments. To this add the special way of approaching God, indicated by the Prophet: “hope in silence for God’s salvation.” If you are prosperous, if you are exalted in the world: “do not speak... high in pride, and let not great talk depart from your lips” (1 Samuel 2:3); guard your “hidden heart, man, in the uncorruption of a meek and silent spirit, which is of great value in the sight of God” (1 Peter 3:4). And on the contrary, if you encounter disaster and sorrow: observe the “silence” of patience; do not burst out with words of murmur against Providence that would not strike anyone but yourself. Guard the very hope of God’s salvation, already acquired, with the “silence” of humility. Pointing out the path to good and bliss, the Prophet also says that “it is good... for the husband when he bears the yoke... of his youth” (Lamentations 3:27). As far as serving God is concerned: the “yoke”, without a doubt, is God’s, that is, the submission of our will to the will of God, and the work of serving God and fulfilling His commandments. The Savior Himself expresses this with similar names “yoke” and “burden,” assuring that His “yoke” is “good” and His “burden” is “light” (Matthew 11:30). Thus, the Prophet believes that a person’s special happiness lies in his beginning to serve God from his youth. This idea, of course, is understood here; for this church signifies the desire to bring it into action. It was especially designed to make it easier to teach childhood and youth the exercises of piety. It is truly good if the charter of a young heart, not stained by vices, not marred by the thoughts of sin, is presented to God, who promised to “write His laws on hearts” (Heb. 8:10). It is good for the young soul that surrenders itself to the quiet action of grace before the disturbing actions of the damaged nature intensify. As, according to the word of the Lord, “no one can work for two masters” (Matthew 6:24): then, of course, it is better to early surrender oneself to the true Master, God, than to allow the world to dominate the soul, and then through a difficult struggle to be torn from the shackles of the enslaver. Let everyone think about this, whom nature, or a special duty, or the free impulse of love for mankind calls to care for children, and let him not hesitate to sow in young hearts the seeds of piety and reverence for the commandments of God. O youth! Do not believe the charms of the senses and the dreams of the imagination; trust the experience and Spirit of God; hasten to write in your memory and in your heart His verb: “good is he who takes upon himself the yoke of the commandments of Christ in his youth.” These few words contain a lot of your destiny. They contain prophecy for subsequent times of life. If anyone realizes that he did not receive this blessing in order to “become a son-in-law under the yoke of the Lord in his youth,” let him consider that much has been lost, and even more so, let him not hesitate to strive to acquire what he did not acquire before. There are waters to wash away the impurity of sin - tears of repentance. There is a fire for burning out and deeply embedded deadly ulcers of sin - the internal fire of repentant grief and sadness, even according to God. There is also a reward for those who come at a late hour to the work of God: but happy is he who does not carry in his conscience the reproach that he lost many of the best hours of the day of his earthly life in vain. Amen. You might be interested in: