478. Слово в день Введения во храм Пресвятой Богородицы

(Said in the Nikitsky Monastery, November 21). Virgins will be brought to the King in Her wake, Her sincere ones will be brought to You. (Ps.44:15). What does the Divine Prophet see? Who is this King? What kind of girls are these? Why are they brought in multitudes to the King? Who leads them? The King is Jesus Christ, whose kingdom, however, is not of this world. Virgins are pure souls who have loved one Jesus Christ so much that they are no longer attached to anything in the world through carnal love. They are brought to this King in order to receive the kingdom of heaven, so that they not only belong to this kingdom as slaves, but so that it also belongs to them, as the king’s daughters, as the king’s brides, as queens. They are led by the great bride of the Tsar - the Church, and among the church cathedral, the supreme Bride of the Tsar - the God-Blessed Virgin Mary - takes precedence. The current feast of the bringing of the Blessed Virgin to the Church of the Lord is in some way the solemn opening of the procession of the virgins to the King. Therefore, it was appropriately chosen as a special holiday of one of the churches of this monastery of virgins and women devoting themselves to God. Let them in this holiday, as in a picture, as in a mirror, see their Divine, but nevertheless close Predecessor, and sincere Patroness, beginning the path of Her highest perfection, and little by little learn to recognize and be encouraged to follow the path that lies before them “in Her footsteps”; let them learn how to begin to bring themselves to God, let them be excited by the thought of their perfect approach to Him, even to the point of union with Him. We will find a brief depiction of the way to bring the soul to God in the same psalm of David, from which the first words of this word are borrowed: Basil the Great will give us an explanation of the words of the prophets. The psalm depicts the beginnings of the path of bringing the soul to God in the following words: “Daughters, hear and see, and incline your ear, and forget your people and your father’s house. And the king will desire your kindness, because of that is your Lord, and you will worship Him” (Ps. 45:11-12). In explaining these words, Saint Basil says the following: “The Prophet calls through this Church to hear and obey what is commanded. He appropriates the name “daughter of her” to himself, as if he created her as his daughter through love. “Hear and see.” With this word “see” teaches her so that she has a mind trained for contemplation and knowledge. Imagine, he says, the creature, and, with the help of the order of what exists in it, finally ascend to the contemplation of the Creator. Then, bowing her high neck to pride: “Bow down,” speech, “thy ear,” do not flow according to external fables, but accept the humility of the voice that is in the Gospel word; “Incline your ear” to this teaching, so that you may forget these evil customs and fatherly teachings. Why “forget your people and your father’s house”: for everyone “to commit sin comes from the devil” (1 John 3:8). Eliminate, he continues, demonic teachings, forget sacrifices, nightly dances and fables that incite fornication and all uncleanness. For this reason I called you my “daughter,” so that you would hate the father who first gave birth to you into destruction. For if by oblivion you blot out the defilement of evil teachings, then you will accept your “kindness” and appear to the “desired” Bridegroom - the King. “Beyond that is your Lord, and they will worship Him.” Through this: “Behind that is your Lord,” shows the need for obedience: “They worship” “Him,” that is, all creation.” Until here is Saint Basil. Further, the psalm depicts the perfection of approaching God in the following words: “all the glory of the princess’s daughter is inside: robes of gold and speckled. Virgins will be brought to the King in Her footsteps, Her sincere ones will be brought to you” (Ps. 45:14-15). In explaining these words of the Prophets, Saint Basil says the following about the Church: “when she was cleansed from the ancient teachings of wickedness and, having listened to the instructions, she forgot her people and her father’s house: then the Holy Spirit, seeing her purity existing in secret, will tell about her: “all,” he says, “the glory of the princess’s daughter,” that is, the bride of Christ, through adoption having become the queen's daughter, there is inside. These words encourage one to enter into the inner Church glory of the sacraments: for within there is bridal kindness. Whoever adorns himself beautifully to the Father who sees in secret, and prays, and does everything, not so that he may appear to man, but may he appear to the only God: he has all the glory within, just as the king’s daughter does. And the golden robes, with which the entire garment is covered, are inside. Do not look for anything in external gold and bodily stains: but consider some worthy garment that will adorn him who was created in the image of the Creator, about whom the Apostle also speaks: “putting off the old man with his deeds and putting on the new, renewed in mind in the image of Him who created him.” And others like “itching... in the womb of generosity, kindness, humility, meekness and long-suffering" (Col. 3:9-12): there are clothes inside, and they are decorated according to the inner man. But Paul also advises that we should be clothed with the Lord Jesus, not according to the outward man, but so that our mind may be covered with the memory of God. I think that the spiritual robe is worn out when a traveling action is added to an instructive word. For just as the clothing of the body is worn out when the warp and weft are intertwined, so when the word goes before and the deeds follow, a kind of most honest garment is made for the soul, which in word and deed has a life filled with virtue. The “robes” are hung on the vestment, and they are mental. And for this reason they are called “golden”: because the word is greater than the deed, for this reason it is like some kind of cassock, which reaches from the base to the action of weaving. Some souls will follow the bride of the Lord, who, having not accepted the seed of alien words, will be brought to the King, following the bride. Let those who promised the virginity of the Lord hear that virgins will be brought to the Tsar, but the virgins who are near the Church, who will follow her, will not err from Church deanery.” If it is permissible to adhere to this spiritually mind-filled teaching of a truly great teacher of the Church, it is permissible to adhere to our, only still disciple’s word: let them “hear,” I will also say, let them hear “those who promised the virginity of the Lord,” and not only these, but also all whose souls were promised and accepted union with Christ and adoption as sons to God in baptism, let them hear how the Holy Spirit calls them, following Church, comes to Christ the King, and instructs on this path: to what perfection in approaching God one must achieve, and what kind of bliss can be found in this approach. “Hear, daughters.” Hear, Christian soul! For by the same word by which the Christian Church in general is called, each individual Christian soul is called. Hear what God says to you in His writing, or in the word of teaching, what He says to you in your own conscience. Listen carefully and keep what you hear: do not allow the word of truth and salvation to go into one ear and out the other. “Hear and see.” The Christian soul can not only hear God calling it, but also see Him. Or have I told a lie now? You can suspect, if anyone wants: but, without a doubt, the Divine David said and wrote the truth: “I have seen the Lord before me” (Ps. 15:8). Strive, then, to see the One who exists—with your mind in the creatures that exist outside of you, and with your spirit in your own heart. You hear, understand and keep the word better when you have the speaker in front of your eyes. "Incline your ear." Listen to the saving teaching with humility: although God speaks from on high; but only the humble hear clearly and truly recognize His voice. The voice of grace is quiet, but the world is noisy: turn away with all your might and block your inner hearing from creatures and direct the attention of your spirit to God. "Forget your people and your father's house." Oblivion here means inaction not of memory, but of the heart, as, for example, we reprimand a person who speaks to us as an acquaintance that he forgot us because he did not visit us, or otherwise did not show us cordial affection. Those who promised virginity to the Lord, and therefore clearly separated from their people and from the houses of their fathers, closed themselves in a fence only with those like themselves, act the more pleasingly to Him who called them, the more completely with the same fence they protect their hearts from attachment to relatives and known ones, the less often they put their foot beyond its sacred prague. For it is true that until they forget what is left behind the fence, they will not find what they are looking for inside the fence. First, “forget your people and your father’s house”: and then “the King will desire your kindness.” But no matter what house you live in, no matter what people you belong to, Christian soul, you need to “forget your people and your father’s house,” to leave the sins in which you were born, to hate and reject the works of the devil, not to love anything in the world as much as you love Christ, and even not to love anything at all in the world except in the beloved Christ. “And the King will desire your kindness, for there is your Lord, and you will bow down to Him.” When you stop desiring the vanity of earthly creatures: then the King of heaven will desire your kindness. And then in this way you will recognize in Him not only the Lord of all, but especially “your Lord”: then you no longer need to demand from you to worship Him, as at the beginning of this feat they demand and encourage you to do this; you will do this freely, with joy, with admiration; “Worship Him,” not only as a slave to the Lord, with fear, but also with the boldness of love, as a bride to a groom, as a king’s daughter. Then you will not so much strive to please Him with virtues, as He Himself will clothe and adorn you with them, like the wedding robe of a bride, like the royal utensils of a princess’s daughter. Will the external word dare further and be able to penetrate into the inner chamber of the Bride of Christ in order to bring from there at least a part of Her glory for external eyes? - No! At least until the great judgment and revelation of the sons of God and the kingdom of glory, “all the glory of the Queen’s daughter is within.” Let us conclude with Saint Basil: “these words encourage one to enter into the inner Church glory of the sacraments, for within there is the kindness of the bride.” Amen. You might be interested in: