498. Слово в день коронования Его Императорского Величества, Государя Императора Николая Павловича

(Said in the Assumption Cathedral, August 22nd.) 977 The king trusts in the Lord: and by the mercy of the Most High he is not moved. (Ps. 20:8). As David’s companions once saw him in extreme danger from an attacking foreigner: then “the men of David swore, saying: Thou shalt not go out with us to battle, lest quench the lamp of Israel” (2 Sam. 21:17). To truly see the Beloved King exposed to danger for the safety of His subjects is a spectacle as sublime as it is astonishing for a faithful people. The more obvious the King’s care for us, extended to the point of self-sacrifice, the more beloved He is for us. The more beloved we are, the more we tremble for Him in times of danger. The more we fear for Him: the more we marvel at His magnanimous fearlessness. The more we marvel at Him: the more we honor Him, the more we love Him, the more we see and feel our own danger in His danger. So waves of strong spiritual movements give birth to one another, absorb one another, and again give birth to one another until, finally, we see that the storm of danger has passed the exalted head, and the lamp of Israel shines more clearly than before. You understand me, Russians: because I am speaking now from our common experience. Lord, “in the hand” of Who is “the power of the earth”, and Who “has raised up the necessary places on it in time!” (Sir.10:4). For what a difficult time You found Nicholas, chosen and raised by You, in need! At the very time when He ascended to the parental and ancestral throne, He had to step over danger, or better to say, over the abyss that threatened to swallow both the throne and the kingdom. He did not hesitate; blocked the abyss; we calmed down: suddenly we see Him again among the dangers of battle. Two difficult battles ended with glory; we celebrated; a danger reappears, the more menacing the less familiar it is - the danger of a destructive disease; and where this danger most obviously threatens the people, there our King appears, with His fatherly care for His subjects, with His light, worthy of the lamp of Israel, to disperse the darkness of fear, true and false, to reduce the causes of real danger, to destroy the ghosts of imaginary danger, to salutarily penetrate through the deep darkness of gullible and stubborn ignorance - alas! - sometimes no less dangerous and harmful than malicious intent. Is there an end to the difficulties even now, and even though after six years of extraordinary feats of the marked reign, will the approaching seventh summer be a summer of perfect rest and peace - You weigh, O Lord, in whose hand is the power of the earth. How, Russians, can we ease the so often renewed concern of loyal love for us? How can we strengthen and ensure our joy in our King? Isn’t this the same thing with which the King ensures His safety in the midst of the most dangers? - “The king trusts in the Lord: and by the mercy of the Most High he is not moved.” Let us use this majestic example to instruct ourselves in such virtue, which is equally beneficial and salutary for every rank and condition of people. Hope in God must certainly be the foundation if one wants to create well-being firmly and safely. We live in time. The components of time are past, present, future. Just as the future is necessarily included in the composition of time, so hope, which relates to the future good of life, is necessarily included in the composition of temporary life, its affairs and its states. “For hope,” says the Apostle, “you must eat, shout and thresh with the hope of your hope to receive communion” (1 Cor. 9:10). If, due to the labors of the day, going to bed, he lost hope of getting up in the morning healthy and strengthened in strength, then he would not find either peace or strengthening on his bed, and beneficent nature would find it difficult to teach a person the benefits that are ready for him, without the help of his hope to receive them. No more examples needed. It is obvious that one cannot live in time without hope. You should choose who or what to place your hope in so that it is firm and not deceptive. A person can place hope either in himself and in his abilities and strengths, or in another person, or in various things and circumstances, or in God. Choose what's best. Nebuchadnezzar, looking at his capital, said: “Is this Babylon the great, which I built into the house of the kingdom, in the power of my fortress, in honor of my glory?” This magnificent speech is not finished: but from what was said, it is not difficult to guess what still remained to be said. If I,” he wanted to say, “could and knew how to build this huge capital, then, of course, I will be enough to support my greatness and glory. Here's hope for yourself! But here is the fate of this self-confidence: “while I was still speaking in the mouth of the King, a voice came from heaven: Nebuchadnezzar said to you to the King: Your kingdom has passed from You; and you will be wedded from man until you are weighed, for the Most High rules the kingdom of men” (Dan. 4:27–29). This is an old story, the inattentive will think, and want to ignore it: but even in modern times, isn’t the same God who rules the world, Who of old condemned and punished the King of Babylon? In recent times, among recent people, there was a self-appointed ruler who said: this is the great empire that I created; these are my peoples - mine, not by right of inheritance (he could not say this), not by God's mercy (he did not want to say this), mine, he said, by right of my strength, for my glory. What then? Heaven did not answer him with words, like Nebuchadnezzar, but just like Nebuchadnezzar, it answered with deeds; not only did his kingdom pass away for him, but they also drove him away from man and imprisoned him in the wild desert among the distant seas. I am not a king, and I did not create Babylon, another may think and conclude that he is not in any danger from the terrible fate of Nebuchadnezzar: but Nebuchadnezzar’s disaster did not come from the fact that he was a king, and not from the fact that he created Babylon, but from the fact that he was proud of the success of his enterprises, placed his hope in himself, did not recognize the power of God over himself; and as from similar causes there should be similar consequences, then his example to anyone who is arrogant, whatever his condition, whatever his enterprises, really threatens with sudden destruction on the dream of well-being based on it. Do not think that to punish every arrogant person according to this example, many miracles would be required, for which, apparently, Providence is not wasteful: no; self-confidence naturally contains within itself the beginning of madness, and madness is a disaster. Shall we take man into consideration in himself, separately? – We can immediately see that self-reliance is hampered by the lack of one or another perfection, necessary to arrange one’s own well-being, or to support and strengthen one’s own well-being. One, for example, relies on his natural mind: but without receiving the appropriate education, and with a rich natural treasure, he cannot bargain for much in the course of life, but he can bargain for a lot. Another expects his well-being from his indefatigable industry; but if he does not have the gift of ingenuity, he will suffer for a whole century and will not produce anything more than ordinary trifles. Others have daring and courage: but if they do not at the same time have prudence and caution, then they are always closer to danger than to triumph and glory. And, on the contrary, someone who is prudent without courage can come up with a lot of good things and do nothing. Therefore, we must conclude that in order for a person to be able to have any grounded hope in himself, he would have to suddenly possess all possible perfections and, moreover, each to a high degree. To imagine such a person existing is a dream; and to imagine oneself as such is madness. So it is obvious that relying on oneself is madness. Will we consider a person in relation to others? – Again, it is not difficult to see that self-reliance is hampered by other people who either do not contribute to our well-being with the help we need, or even harm it. Let us not assert that this is too often done out of malice: let us be careful not to offend the good nature of man by intensifying the censure of the evil mixed in with it. But this can often happen without intention, out of captivity, out of necessity, through inevitable meetings and collisions of people on the slippery path to well-being, and at the crossroads of it. The happiness sought in the world is often like a bride, for whom, if ten suitors are sought, then nine to one must necessarily be unsuccessful seekers; one must overcome many, and consequently, he must have superior qualities to each of them, and to all; or he must receive concessions and help from many, and consequently, he needs a lot of skill to win the favor of many, while the advantages of other people, as well as their shortcomings, can harm the success of the seeker. Let, for example, someone have the gigantic strength of Goliath, and therefore hoped that military glory would certainly come to him sooner or slower, like a betrothed bride: a stone from the sling of a young shepherd, trusting in the Lord and faithful to his King, would be enough to ultimately destroy this hope in himself. Therefore, we must again conclude that in order for a person to be able to rely on himself in any meaningful way, he would have to surpass everyone and everyone in intelligence, skill, strength, in a word, with all possible perfections. To imagine such a person existing is a dream; and to imagine oneself like that is madness. So again it is obvious that in relying on oneself lies madness. Well? Is it better to place your hope in some other person? – Why is it better? Isn’t everyone else just as limited and imperfect? So, if madness lies in hoping for oneself, then it will also be found in hoping for another person, although perhaps somewhat less, because it is less proud. But, besides this, in the hope of a person there is also a crime, and a grave crime, namely, an insult to the Majesty of God; for people who truly honor God, if they hope for good from other good people, then the foundation of this hope is deepened to trust in God, “with hastening for the good of those who love Him” (Rom. 8:28), and turning all creatures, especially good ones, into instruments of this progress; On the contrary, a person foolishly places his hope in a person only when he does not place it in God, and thus does not give due honor to God’s power, wisdom and goodness. Therefore, in the word of God there is written a strict judgment against hope in man: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man, and the flesh of his arm will fasten on him, and his heart will depart from the Lord. And it will be like a wonder of the world in the wilderness, and will not see it until good things come; Should we talk about the vanity of hoping for various things and circumstances, such as wealth, family nobility, the advantages of a title acquired in society? – Was it not in these things that the wise and experienced Solomon found vanity so amazing that he did not find enough strength in the name of vanity to express what seemed to him? “Vanity of vanities,” he exclaimed, “all vanity” (Eccl. 1:2). But what does Solomon need? Those who hope for it speak quite truthfully about this vanity. “I despise wealth,” says the one seduced by nobility; but the one passionate about wealth says: “What is the use of dreams of ambition?” Both judge well; put their opinions together, and the complete Solomon’s truth will be compiled: “vanity of vanities!” Nabal of Carmel, amidst the very wealth for which he had hoped, dies a death of fear and despair. Ahithophel of Galamonia, who, apparently, not without reason, could rely on his importance at the court of Jerusalem, because “in the same way someone would ask God about the word: this is all the advice of Ahithophel, and like David, and like Absalom” (2 Sam. 16:23), - despite this, Ahithophel condemns himself to the death of despair. Job, who, it seems, should have suffered less than others from the inconstancy of external goods, since he did not sin by hoping for them, nevertheless experienced this inconstancy through cruel experiences. It must be admitted that good hope is not a thing that could be locked up in a treasury, or proven by genealogy, or received as an inalienable property among the rights of rank and advantages of a place in society. What finally remains? - One of two things: either hope in God, or despair, if only it is permissible to put them side by side for choice. If you have placed your hope in God, then you have placed it on an unshakable foundation, and have ensured your well-being: since God will always have enough goodness to take care of your well-being, enough wisdom to invent means for this, enough power to put them into action, and, finally, enough mercy, so that even in the case when you yourself shake your well-being with your imprudence and abuse of freedom, to your repentance and prayer, to come to your aid again, and to restore your fallen tabernacle. But if someone were to lose hope in God (Who, however, by His goodness does not take away from anyone living), in this case, in truth, despair would not be more unfounded than hope in corruptible, rotten, vain, insignificant creatures. Poor people, for whom not only a short-term storm of disasters destroys long-established hopes on a weak foundation, but for whom even the light wind of empty rumor shakes with fear, like the leaves of a tree 978. What prevents you from rising from the unreliability of creatures to the sure and undeceiving hope in God? High up to God, says the common mind. Yes, high, for you, who think low. In fact, God is neither low nor high, neither close nor far; because He is omnipresent, and therefore closer to you than your soul is to your body; just know how to find this closeness through faith and prayer. “The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth” (Ps. 144:18). But I’m not worthy of this, someone will say. So quickly reject everything that makes you unworthy; and meanwhile believe, and pray, and trust in God. Our God! “Our Fathers trusted in You: You trusted, and I delivered: I cried to You and was saved: I trusted in You and was not ashamed” (Ps. 21:5-6). “And” now “let them that know Thy name trust in Thee: for Thou hast not forsaken them that seek Thee, O Lord” (Ps. 9:11). “Trust in Him, all the congregation of people: pour out your hearts before Him, for God is our helper” (Ps. 61:9). “It is good to trust in the Lord” (Ps. 119:9). “Let true Israel trust in the Lord from now on and forever” (Ps. 130:3). Amen. This word is printed from a manuscript belonging to V.M. Metlov, who certainly delivered it to us along with a handwritten letter from the late Saint to Prince Dimitri Vladimirovich Golitsyn, the former Moscow Governor-General, to whom the letter itself was forwarded. This was said when the rumor about poisoners allegedly scattered everywhere spread fear among the people. – Note. author. You might be interested in: