415. Речь Пред ракою Преподобного Сергия, по случаю принесения Евангелия и Животворящего Креста Их Императорскими Высочествами Государем Наследником Цесаревичем Александром Николаевичем и Государынею Цесаревною Мариею Александровною

(Spoken on July 5th; published in the Moscow Gazette, 1853) To You, Reverend and God-Bearing Father Sergius, do I dare to extend a word other than the word of church prayer, to which the Church itself and its charter give boldness? And do you need a word of notification to You, who has been given to see not only our visible, but also our invisible, so that the mercy You show to those who resort to You would be consistent with the true benefit of those asking for mercy? But yielding to the movement of my heart and wanting to create joy for the people ahead, I proclaim before You what You already hear before the word. Behold to You a sacred offering from the Blessed Sovereign, Heir Tsarevich Grand Duke Alexander Nikolaevich and Empress Tsesarevna Maria Alexandrovna. Accept this sacrifice of faith and reverent zeal, lift it up to Christ our God and ask from Him through Your strong prayer and grant and give an abundance of blessings to Those who brought it and to Their Most Pious Parents and Their Blessed Children. They honor You, and together they glorify Christ our God, for they bring His Divine Gospel and His Life-giving Cross. Pray that the word of the Lord may be fulfilled in them: “I will glorify those who glorify Me” (1 Samuel 2:30). Orthodox people, who hear this Gospel over them, overshadowed by this cross, may they be overshadowed and filled with the grace of the Lord; and at the same time, let them remember the piety of the Royal family, and let them rejoice in Him, and let themselves be confirmed in piety by the memory of a high example. You might be interested in: