455. Слово по возвращении к своей пастве из Санкт-Петербурга

(Said in the Moscow Assumption Cathedral on August 15th). What should I say? Where to begin, or where to turn the word, to which the previous time, and the present day, and the impulse of the heart, and the duty of service, suddenly represent many objects; and indicate different paths. First of all - “bless my soul the Lord and my whole inner being the Holy Name” (Ps.CII, 1)! Blessed is He who preserves the fullness of His Church, the Heavenly Shepherd and Visitor of souls, and who shepherds His flock in the absence of earthly shepherds; and shepherds, like lambs, leading with an invisible rod, calling and sending, removing and returning, separating and again uniting! My soul magnifies You also, Blessed Mother of the Divine Lamb and Shepherd, who once wondrously gathered the full Council of the Apostles by Your Dormition, and now, for this solemn remembrance of Your Dormition, you have vouchsafed the least of the servants of this Church to come into the fullness of this sacred council. I appeal to you, God-loving brethren and children of this Church, I will not keep silent now about what I kept silent about here a year before this - about the grief of separation from you, which I then bore from here in a cramped heart; I didn’t want to touch a wound that I couldn’t heal. Since it was not in my power to avert the separation itself: I no longer began to waste words of useless lamentation about it; and in silent submission he handed over the newly received flock to the grace of the Chief Shepherd and to the prayers of the shepherds: Peter, Alexy, Jonah and Philip, whose help I also gratefully confess and again call upon to preserve the flock, with greater prosperity, even until the day of Jesus Christ. As for the duration of my absence, I will say with the Apostle: “I do not want... I do not tell you, brethren, that I have desired to come to you in abundance, and have been forbidden until now” (Rom. 1:13). Why was he forbidden? Chosen by the same sacred power, by the same law of obedience, which at the beginning brought me here and soon called me from here; would have been forbidden by the same work of service that aroused the desire to come to you. Holy bondage! It would be unlawful to break out of it into your own will with impatience or stubbornness. Finally, I take advantage of the given freedom to come to you, and, moreover, not for a short time. Can I say that I use it with joy? I will not say: because I don’t know whether this will serve to your true joy, and without this my joy would be unfounded and vain: for, as we were taught to base our joy and our very life in your joy in the Lord, and in your life by faith: “Now live as you stand in the Lord” (1 Thess. 3:8). Thus, after the past sorrow of separation, after the end of the difficulties of absent care for the Church, I am left with one restless concern, the concern of the unknown - will the continuation of my service be pleasing to God, beneficial to the Church, saving your souls. So, I will say again with the Apostle: “fulfill my joy” (Phil. 2:2). Ease the concern that concerns you all, firstly, with common prayers, and secondly, ease this immense concern with small 950 concerns, each about his own soul, without wasting the time given to save it, which each of us has no more than a few decades left, and for others only a few years, or perhaps even a few days, and which, once lost, cannot be redeemed at any lower price than eternity. By the way, let us remember death: for it is time to turn the word to real celebration, and this should turn us to thinking about death. Is it now time to talk about death, the inattentive holiday lover will say, to darken the day of joy by thinking about death? Go with this reflection to where they mourn the deceased. No! whoever you are, who wants to drive away the thought of death as untimely, it will be even more untimely for you if, unprepared for reflection, you are suddenly struck by the very spectacle of death. No! Now, when death, apparently, does not threaten you, when you are calm, when you are celebrating, now I find it opportune to incite you, if possible, to attentively reflect on death, so that you can reflect on it in the full presence of the spirit, and so that the day of joy, forgetting about death, will not be spent on the deeds of the dead. Or, better said, it is not I who seek to lead anyone into thinking about death: but all of us are now being led to it by the God-wise founders of church rites, who made death the subject of real celebration. Christian holidays are generally wonderful! Sometimes, for example, we celebrate the temporary birth of the Eternal One, sometimes the baptism of the One on Whom there was never any filth, and in whose name we are cleansed and reborn in our baptism, sometimes the Divine image of the Transfiguration of the One Who has always been and is “the radiance of the Glory of God the Father, and the image of His Hypostasis” (Heb. I, 3), sometimes the suffering, death and resurrection of the One Who is The one eternal source of life and bliss for everything that can live and bliss. However, with all the mystery that marks these objects of celebration, it is not difficult to see with what accuracy they are all determined by the history of the Christian faith, and in what close connection they are with its saving teaching. And between the celebrations in which the Mother of the Lord is remembered, of this kind there is, for example, the Annunciation, that is, the Archangel bringing to the Virgin Mary the joyful news of the upcoming conception from Her of the Savior of the world. But after the sacraments of the faith of Christ reached their fullness, and were sealed by the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles in the presence of the Mother of the Lord, how did Her Dormition, that is, the end of Her earthly life, although Holy, and accompanied by a sign of Her future glory, however, resolving only Her personal history, - how did it become the subject of one of the general Christian holidays and, moreover, of the highest rank? How did an event in which the Church seems to represent only the deprivation of visible communication with the Matter of Light become the subject of a bright holiday? What was the intention of the ancient clergy in this? It seems to me that these questions are most conveniently resolved by what I said, that is, that the founders of this celebration wanted to lead us in this pleasant way to constant, reverent and, as far as possible, joyful reflection on death. Since ancient times, remembering and thinking about death was approved as a powerful means of wisdom to improve life. “Remember,” says the Jewish sage, “remember, for death will not delay and the covenant of hell will not be shown to you” (Sir.14:12). And, having placed the thought of death as the foundation, he immediately creates on this basis the rules of a virtuous and prosperous life. “Before you die,” he says, “do good to your friend, and according to your strength, extend it and give it to him. Do not be deprived of good things from the day, and let no part of the desire for good pass away from you. Will you not leave your attractions and your labors for the division of lots? Give and take, and sanctify your soul” (Sir.14:13-16). If you hesitate whether to accept this teaching of active wisdom: the mentor does not hesitate to find means of persuasion; he turns again to thinking about death and continues: “For there is no sweetness to be found in hell; All flesh hath a promise as a robe, for the covenant is from everlasting: thou shalt surely die. Like a leaf that flattens out on a tree, one falls, while another vegetates: so is the race of flesh and blood, one dies, but one is born. Every work that rots disappears, and the one who does it goes away with it” (Sir.14:17-20). In another place, the same mentor offers remembrance of death as a general preventative medicine against sins: “Remember your last in all your words, and you will never sin” (Sir.7:39). The prophet Jeremiah, mourning the destruction of Jerusalem, believes that one of the first reasons for this terrible fall is that Jerusalem did not remember death. “I did not remember my last, and I was brought down in a most wonderful way” (Lamentations 1:9). How does such a small beginning, apparently as the thought of death, or the forgetting of death, produce such great consequences: good or evil, prosperous or disastrous? Will I not offend Christian wisdom by turning into a question something that even before Christianity was affirmatively believed to be known and obvious; but when I see how many of us do not like everything that in any way reminds us of death, how we are amazed at the most common occurrence of it, or take flight: then it is self-evident that we are too little or not at all familiar with correct or thorough thinking about death; and therefore, to our shame, the kind of research about this that is used in a new and unknown subject is not superfluous for us. So, I ask what is better: is it better to leave your life to the mercy of the passage of days, like a boat to the rush of the waves, whether it will be carried to the shore, crushed on a stone, or plunged into the abyss - or, on the contrary, to appoint a refuge for yourself, choose the most convenient path and steer the helm in the direction of this? In an age that boasts of education and efforts to put in order all parts of knowledge and activity, one can hope that both the thorough and the frivolous will agree: it is better to draw a plan for life, set a known goal for yourself and act in accordance with it. Let us take, as an example that everyone can understand, one of the ordinary worldly plans of life. Someone wants to arrange and ensure the well-being of life by acquiring wealth; in order to strengthen the process of acquisition, he is “deprived,” in the above expression of the Jewish sage, “of the day of good, and part of the desire for good passes by him,” that is, he denies himself peace, pleasure, and sometimes necessary needs; fulfillment: “give and take,” give to the poor, and take for yourself from what has been put aside for storage, he postpones until, in his opinion, the abundance of what he has acquired brings himself to complete safety from poverty. In doing this, if he does not remember death, “for... it will not delay,” then he will exhaust and torment himself with the worries of acquisition, not taking advantage of the fruits of acquisition, until finally, the hidden destiny appears suddenly, and the word of the Gospel parable is deeded to fulfill over him: “foolishly, this night they will extort your soul from You; and what you have prepared, for whom will they be?” (Luke 12:20). Thus, even the worldly plan of life turns out to be unsuitable for the world itself if the thought of death is not taken into account in it. Let us elevate the plan of life, and again see whether it can stand unless it is supported by commensurately elevated concepts of death. Anyone wants to establish the bliss of life on the basis of virtue. The long-standing efforts of human wisdom are known to prove that virtue in itself can be a sufficient reason, motivation and reward. This teaching did not have true success, either because the truth in this case did not favor the efforts, or because the pride of the wise men brought an unnatural shine to the truth, which blinded some, but did not enlighten, and for others revealed a counterfeit appearance of truth, or, what is most likely, the inner dignity and bliss of virtue, known only to those who have achieved perfection in it, did not excite those who, during their first experiments in it We encountered only feats that had to be accomplished, obstacles that had to be overcome, pleasures that had to be sacrificed. Therefore, it was necessary to reinforce from the outside the foundations of virtue itself, on which they wanted to base bliss: and although those not illuminated by the light of God's revelation could not clearly contemplate what was on the other side of death, however, they also saw themselves in the need to delve into the darkness of the tomb, so that there, at least, so to speak, gropingly, they could look for foundations for establishing on them a moral order in life. If beyond the limits of real life, they reasoned, there is nothing but decay and insignificance: then virtue, which is so often not given justice in real life, is forever deprived of the crown for exploits, reward for sacrifices, and encouraging hope in temptations. But if, - since we have not found a place in the entire knowable nature of things where nothingness would be contiguous with being, and everywhere beyond one we encounter another way of being - if beyond the present there is another area of ​​life, if - as the concept of the Creator of the world, the Wise and Righteous, requires - where corruption ends, immortality begins, where the mixture of evil and good ends, the kingdom begins order in which good in its essence is always blessed, and evil in its nature is always ill-fated: then, who knows and remembers this, can he not always be ready to struggle a little, suffer a little, lose a little, and through this establish in himself the good that will establish him in bliss forever? Even if this hope - I repeat that I say this according to the concepts of those who reason without the help of revelation - if the hope of a blessed life after death were not higher than doubt, then it would still be sufficient to arouse a sane person to strive for it with all zeal: and in the case when it does not come true, the one who strives does not lose anything, in comparison with all the others; because nothingness is the same for everyone. But when it is accomplished in fact, then there is no measure by which one could determine: how much the one who strives gains, and how much the one who does not struggle loses; and not only does he lose boundless benefits, but, what is even more terrible, he inherits endless evil. Thus, the ancient unhypocritical lovers of active wisdom, with the help of natural reason and reasoning, extracted from the reflection on death the strongest, according to their state, incentives for good and, consequently, the means to bliss. What to say about a Christian? How much more sublime is the plan of life outlined for him in the Gospel than any other: so much more clearly than to any sage the guiding and stimulating light shines from the grave for him. He knows the future life not by conclusions and guesses, but by experience in which it was seen and touched: “Christ has risen from the dead, and is the firstfruits of those who have died” (1 Cor. 15:20). Looking intently into the life-giving tomb of Christ, as if into an open window of the next century, and from there receiving heavenly light into the church of earthly life, he feels a lightness incomprehensible to others - to stay awake as a son of light, to struggle against the kingdom of darkness, and to perform living deeds of light. You must die to the world, the Gospel commands it. He says: I obey, because “the world passes away, and its lust: but he who does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:17). You must crucify the flesh with its passions and lusts. How else? he answers; because “whoever sows to his flesh, from the flesh he will reap corruption; but whoever sows to the Spirit, from the Spirit he will reap eternal life” (Gal. 6:8). You must be crucified with Christ. I do not deny: “If we die with Him, we will also live with Him; Let us suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified with Him” (2 Tim. 2:11; Rom. 8:17). Threaten him with suffering, he will say: “The passions of this present time are unworthy for the glory that desires to be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:18). Threaten him with death, he will answer: “I want to be resolved and be with Christ; For me... to live, O Christ, is gain even if I die” (Phil. 1:23, 21). By diligent, deep reflection on death, he not only destroys all its horrors, but, in accordance with his concepts and feelings, takes away from it the last feature of its formidable appearance, takes away from death the very name of death, and calls it dormition, that is, going to sleep after the labors of this life, or, if you like, you can call it birth into a better life, or resurrection from this dead life - in mortal flesh, in truly living - immortal spirit. Thus, reverent Christian reflection on death, especially with constant exercise in it, finally becomes a true holiday of the spirit, in which it at the same time gathers strength for the saving feats of present life, and enjoys the anticipation of future bliss. Ask yourself, listening to this, do you know how to “celebrate the Dormition” in this way, or are you just afraid of death, or don’t want to think about it at all? The question is not unimportant; he can show you the state of your soul, and what you can truly hope or fear. If you often, although without fear, call on mortal thoughts to yourself in order to make it the judge of your affairs and the guardian of your conscience: good for you! He can become an Angel for you, who will be commanded to protect you in all your ways. But if you haven’t thought about death at all until now, and run away from everything that reminds you of it: woe to you! This disposition of spirit does not promise pure good in the present life, and does not foretell bliss in the future, which, however, by using the means bestowed by grace, may our Lord Jesus Christ, our true life, vouchsafe to all of us through the intercession of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of Life. Amen. On Thu. General L.D.P.: private You might be interested in: