81. Слово на заключение мира с оттоманскою портою в 1830 году 453

(Printed in Christian Reading 1840 and in collections 1844 and 1848) And the works of righteousness will have peace, and righteousness will have peace, and there will be hope for ever. (Isa.52:17). And so, glory to God in the highest! – Peace on Russian land, and, through Russia’s peacekeeping, peace on the lands of many! A world worthy of being depicted by these prophetic words: “deeds of righteousness will bring peace, and righteousness will have peace”; and therefore also worthy of this prophetic hope: “and they will continue to hope forever!” If the powerful Autocrat had thirsted only for military victories, then, having placed one foot in Adrianople and the other in Erzerum, He would not have been able to resist taking another step in order to humiliate the high Porte to the ground. But the magnanimous Monarch, as he decided at the beginning of the battle, and despite the successes of arms, remained with the initial determination to act not so much with the right of military force, but with the peaceful power of truth. Among the open, so to speak, gates to new victories, from the solemn cries of glory, He turned all his attention to the quiet voice of philanthropy. This unearthly greatness of spirit was revealed in himself by the Most Pious Sovereign, and the fruit of it is peace, marked by numerous deeds of truth and philanthropy. The truth of the treaties has been restored and protected; untruths against Russians and against Russia are smoothed over with rewards; faithful protection was given to Christian nations under non-Christian governments; and if we want to be attentive, we can see that the works of God’s truth are connected with the deeds of the Tsareva’s truth by a certain secret, but real union: for the same ruler who, nine years before this, on the day of Easter, martyred the first Priest of Christian Greece, this year, on the day of Easter, was supposed to establish the independence of Christian Greece - an independence that Europe, with the united forces of the Battle of Navarino, united by the art of lengthy negotiations, did not could achieve, and which the Russian Emperor achieved without noticeable effort, in peace. Here, Christians, is an obvious example for the whole world of the fidelity and immutability of Divine sayings, that “there will be works of righteousness in the world,” that is, works of justice, goodness, integrity, either naturally, or by the hidden action of Providence, are transformed into peace, into prosperity, into well-being; that “truth will gain peace,” that is, true virtue, “inspired and controlled by the influx of the Spirit from the Most High” (Is. 32:15), wins victory over all obstacles and achieves peace, in public affairs - public, in spiritual affairs - spiritual; that people of this kind “will have confidence until eternity,” that is, only on virtue, on goodness, on integrity, well-being based on integrity is reliable and durable. Not only kings are forced to wage war and make efforts to achieve a profitable peace. “Isn’t man’s life on earth war?” – says Job (Job.7:1). And truly, who among us is not more or less often, in a more or less difficult confrontation with some enemy who hinders our peace, either domestic or spiritual: although this enemy is not some king or people, but simply an unfavorable person, or perhaps a thing, and even the absence of a thing, a thought, desire, passion, lack? One, for example, fights poverty, and, either through the effort of work or the art of turnover, tries to win abundance, or at least come to terms with needs. Another aspires to take some exalted place in public service, or pursues some honorable title, in order to somehow make peace with the thoughts of ambition that haunt him. But this is where the unpacified warriors of life most often sin: they do not notice the open or hidden, but nevertheless faithful union between truth and peace, between virtue and well-being, between purity and tranquility. That is why the truth is not very kind to them; That’s why the world is not very reliable for them. It seems to them that the law imposes on us works of righteousness, like heavy taxes, like the master’s work, only to our exhaustion, without any need or benefit for us. They think that it is also convenient, or even faster, that peace can be achieved if one leaves aside the difficult and narrow path of truth. No! Deeds of righteousness are prescribed by law precisely because they are a means to peace. Blessed peace, lasting well-being, true peace can only be achieved through the path of truth. “And the works of righteousness will have peace, and righteousness will have peace, and there will be hope forever.” Although it is impudent, and almost absurd, to ask the poor man why he makes such a vessel and not another, and assigns him this and not another use: however, let this audacity be partially allowed, not for the rebellious and vain contradiction of the wise and good Artist of the world, but for the modest study of the truth that is necessary for us. Ask, man, why God created you as a moral being, having a subtle inner sense of distinguishing between good and evil; Why, according to the testimony of the Apostle, were you “created for good works, which God has first prepared, that you may walk in them” (Eph. 2:10), and evil deeds are forbidden to you by strict commandments, under the threat of death? Is this necessary for your Creator, or for yourself? If you hesitate to answer this, then one of Job’s enlightened friends precedes you and says: “Look at the sky and see: look at the clouds, since they are high from You. If you have sinned, what will you do to him who lives above them? “Even though you have done much wickedness, what can you do” to Him? “Because you are a righteous man, what will you give Him? Or what will he take from your hand” ( Job 35:5–7 )? Let us take into consideration the commandment: “Thou shalt not steal.” Why does He need it, Who possesses everything, and from Whom no one has the power to take it away or kidnap it? You will not make Him a profit if you do not steal, nor a loss if you do steal. It is even impossible to steal from Him, because no matter where a thing is taken away, it always remains in His possession. If this commandment is not necessary for the Lawgiver, then, of course, it is necessary for you yourself, to whom it is commanded. That’s right: you are commanded not to steal, so that everyone will also be commanded, so that in this way you will be protected from theft from everywhere, so that the work of unrighteousness does not rob you of peace, so that the work of righteousness brings you peace. In the same way, it is forbidden to kill so that your life is protected from murder; It is forbidden to bear false witness and slander, so that you do not suffer from slander and slander; It is forbidden to wish evil and think evil, so that evil desires do not torment your heart, so that evil thoughts do not defile and darken your mind. Even idle words and idle thoughts are forbidden: it is already too hard, say the frivolous; needlessly strict, think the foolish; idle words, they say, are not harmful, and idle thoughts even less so: yes, small insects are for the most part not poisonous and not deadly; However, would you like to live in the air filled with them, where they constantly crowd into your eyes, buzz into your ears, disturb your sense of touch and inflict hundreds of truly non-fatal wounds? This is similar to the state of the soul, filled with idle and vain thoughts: if someone does not feel this, it is because he has not experienced a better inner state; and therefore he must believe those who know that the good that the commandment to cleanse the mind prepares for him is much more important than he can imagine. Divine service is prescribed: without a doubt, and this is not because God has a need or shortage of those who serve him: “thousands of thousands,” as the Prophet saw, “serve Him” in heaven incomparably closer and more pleasingly than the best of earthly beings; “They stand before Him” (Dan. 7:10) there, having no need to turn to other, insignificant matters, or to insensitive peace, as we do after our short ministry. If we are worthy of a call to deeds of service to God: then in order through this to give us benefit and mercy, to bring our thoughts, feelings, actions, mind, will closer, in a word: to bring our being closer to the Highest Being, so that by this approach we can place our soul before the light of the eternal Sun, so that by this light it is internally enlightened, enlivened, filled, nourished, enjoyed and, finally, established in fully participating in this light, she became a partaker of eternal bliss. What can we say “about the new commandment” (John 13:34), about the most sublime, purest, most perfect, actually Christian image of the law, about the only and all-encompassing commandment, about love for God and neighbor? Whoever here does not feel how directly, how directly truth leads to peace, the fulfillment of the commandment to beatitude: he, apparently, has not yet received the “new heart and new spirit” predicted by the Prophets to true Christians (Ezek. 36:26), but remains with the old heart, Adam’s, “stone”; and truly such a one deserves to be taken away from him this free and sublime law, the dignity of which he does not want to know, and to submit him to all the power of the low and slavish law of sensual needs, lust, rage, with cattle and beasts, and with inanimate earthly nature, the laws of the dark, passive struggle of forces. A person who cares less about truth than about peace, less about law than about well-being, will perhaps say that he is confident in the universal beneficence of law and truth, if only they all adhered to them without exception, and if the path of truth in its beginning and continuation did not present difficulties that close the desired end of it. But when, he says, I see that the word of truth and honesty often does not find attention, and the word of cunning and flattery ensnares people and rules affairs; that many years of righteous labor are not only deprived of their daily bread, while enormous wealth is accumulated through unrighteous transactions; that on the path of truth there are feats and hardships ahead, and pleasures are scattered on both sides... I don’t want to finish this unwise argument, which, however, looking around, probably not one of us will find more or less brought to the point of use in business. Ah, poor seeker of quick ripening and cheap prosperity! Do you really want to envy cunning, flattery, unjust turns, ill-acquired property, low pleasures, in short, untruth and vice? Doesn’t the unworthiness of means reflect you more strongly than the benefits promised by such means? Would it really be nice for you to put on beautiful clothes as a sign of your deceptions, build a magnificent house as a monument to your robbery, sit at a luxurious table and eat the flesh and drink the tears and blood of those ruined by your untruths? Would you really call this well-being? Would you really expect to find peace here, even for a short time, not to say for a long time? “Do not be jealous of those who are wicked, nor be jealous of those who do iniquity; before they are cut off like grass” (Psalm 36:1-2). If, under the rule of the just king of the earth, untruth does not succeed for long, truth does not remain in difficulty for long: is it possible in the kingdom of the all-seeing and all-powerful King of Heaven to scold His eternal and holy laws for a long time, with impunity? Is it possible that the zealous and faithful executors of these laws were not led by the most faithful, although not always the same, not always open, not always solemn path to peace, to peace, to bliss? Righteous Job will finally prosper, despite the fact that the visible and invisible world have rebelled to destroy his prosperity. If the truth of Joseph is reduced to slavery and prison: then it will finally be elevated to the throne. Besides this, there is peace for Joseph even in prison, which his brothers in freedom do not have - the peace of a good heart, the consolation of an immaculate conscience, the joyful breath of the heavenly spirit on a pure soul, the anticipation of the bliss prepared for the truth of the sons of God, not only by truth, but also by the endless bounty of the Heavenly Father. Christian! No one, like you, to achieve peace through truth and virtue through bliss, has such a perfect Ascetic, such a faithful Leader, such a powerful Helper. He alone, more than anyone else, shows you that if the works of righteousness were carried out even through death, they would carry them through until the resurrection into life, and until the ascension into glory. So, you can and should fulfill with particular accuracy the teaching that even before Christianity they did not hesitate to teach: “Trust in the Lord, and do goodness, and populate the earth, and enjoy its riches. Open your way to the Lord, and trust in Him, and He will do it. And he will bring out your righteousness like the light, and your destiny like the noonday” (Psalm 37:3-6). Amen. And so glory to God in the highest! Peace on the Russian land, through Russian peacemaking, peace on the lands of many! And what kind of world? – A world worthy of being depicted by these prophetic words: “deeds of righteousness will be in peace, and righteousness will have peace,” therefore also worthy of this prophetic hope: “and they will endure forever.” If the mighty Nicholas, by fate, as well as by his name, doomed to victories over the peoples, thirsted only for military victories: then, having placed one foot in Adrianople and the other in Erzurum, stepping, so to speak, on the hands of the Turkish Empire, he would not have been able to resist taking another step in order to trample on its head, so that Constantinople could be raised by the humiliation of Istanbul. But the magnanimous Nicholas, as he decided at the beginning of the battle, and despite the successes of the weapon, remained with the initial determination to act not so much with the right of military force, but with the peaceful force of truth. Having gained glory through victories, He strengthened himself for the most difficult feat - to defeat glory itself, by which so often the victors, like captives, were drawn to where they themselves did not know. A glorious thing among people is to defeat a strong and desperate enemy: but in the field of victories, among the open, so to speak, gates to new victories, to voluntarily stop oneself, amid the solemn cries of glory, to turn all attention to the quiet voice of love for mankind - this is a wondrous work of heavenly power in the human spirit. This unearthly greatness of the spirit of goodness was revealed in himself by the Most Pious Sovereign, and its fruit is peace, marked by numerous deeds of truth and love for mankind. The truth of the treaties has been restored, the lies against Russia and against the Russians have been rewarded; after the enemies were defeated by war, the generosity of the world defeated the enmity itself and the selflessness of the peacemaker disarmed the slander of envious Russia; To Christian nations under a non-Christian government... In the index in General Readings. Love. Spirit. Enlightenment according to a manuscript unknown to us: Word on the birthday of Emperor Nikolai Pavlovich, June 25th. The beginning of the word in the manuscript reads like this: If, praying for the Tsar daily with thanksgiving for the daily blessings given to us through his administration, we dwell with special attention on this boundary day with which he ends and begins the year of his life; then it is appropriate for us to look with special attention from this limit to the past year, and for the good that happened in it, to give glory to God. You might be interested in: