Words to the Tambov flock (1859-1860)

Contents 1. Speech at the naming of the Bishop of Tambov 2. Word upon joining the Tambov flock 3. On the consecration of the church in the Sukhotinsky Mother of God Monastery for women 4. On the birthday of Her Majesty the Most Pious Empress Maria Alexandrovna, - in the Tambov Cadet Corps 5. On the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, - in Sarov monastery 6. For the consecration of the church in the Temnikovsky nunnery 7. In the city of Morshansk, in the cathedral (Apostle. Zach. 258) 8. On the fourteenth week after Pentecost 9. For the Exaltation, - at the Tambov cemetery 10. After the consecration of the church in honor of the martyr Maximilian, - in the Tambov Mariinsky Orphanage 11–15. Teachings on the path to salvation 16. On the week of the tax collector and the Pharisee 17. On the week of the Prodigal Son 18. On the week of meat-eating 19. On the week of cheese-eating 20. On Wednesday of the first week of Lent 21. On Friday of the first week 22. On Saturday of the first week of Lent 23. On the second week of Lent 24. On the third week of Lent 25. On the fourth week of Lent Lent 26. In memory of Alexy the man of God, - in the Ascension monastery 27. In the fifth week of Lent 28. On the Annunciation 29. On the week of Vaiya 30. On Wednesday of Holy Week 31. On the Week of Thomas 32. On the Week of the Samaritan 33. On the Sunday of the Holy Fathers 34. On the Day of Pentecost 35. In the Sophia Usman Monastery 36. In the Lipetsk Cathedral 37. In the Troekurov community, during the foundation of a small warm church 38. In the Sezenovsky Monastery, - on consecration of the church 39. In the Sezenovsky monastery, after covering several sisters with a ryassophore 40. In Kozlov, in the cathedral 41. On the fourth week after Pentecost 42. On the occasion of fires. First word 43. On the occasion of fires. Second word 44. On the occasion of fires. Word three 45. On the occasion of fires. Word four 46. On the occasion of fires. Fifth word 47. On the occasion of fires. Word six 48. On the occasion of fires. Word seven 49. On the occasion of fires. Word eight 50. On the occasion of fires. The ninth word 51. After the consecration of the Church of the Resurrection of Christ, - in the village of Olshanka, Borisoglebsk district 52. On the Exaltation, - in the Sukhotinsky Convent 53. On the day of the Kazan Mother of God 54. On the day of the Archangel Michael 55. On the 25th week after Pentecost 56. On the 26th week after Pentecost 57. On the Entry into the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary 58. To the pupils of the Tambov Institute, after the memorial service for the Most Pious Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, on the fortieth day 59. On the 29th week after Pentecost 60. To the newly elected judges 61. To the newly tonsured father Archpriest of the city of Shatsk Gregory Agishevsky, named in monasticism Herman, and destined to be Archimandrite of the Cherniev Monastery 62. On the Nativity of Christ 63. On the 2nd day of the Nativity of Christ, - in the Ascension Monastery 1. Speech at the naming of Bishop of Tambov Most Holy Archpastors and Fathers! I thank and accept, and no less contrary to the verb. What else could I say to a matter already decided by the council of your Holiness, and approved by the Highest will? - Do not think, however, that when I utter these words, I am hiding under them the illness of self-confidence and arrogance.... No. I know my powerlessness, I know the height and burden of the service entrusted to me; but I also know that it is unsafe to interfere with one’s own plans in the arrangement of the path of life, especially contrary to the will of God, visible by faith in the definition of the Church and the ruling Authority. Therefore, in the closeness of both, with these words I keep one thing in my mind and heart: God’s will be done! The Lord knows my weaknesses, and yet He allowed the election and confirmation to take place. For what? - known to Him alone; but there is hope that Nachny will do it. “Such confidence only calms a troubled conscience.” For this, according to the Apostle, is a good deed (bishopric) from afar, perhaps, and sometimes it is desirable; but when you have to come face to face with it, it strikes you with bone-crushing fear. - And involuntarily bursts out of my chest: God’s will be done! Frequent and unexpected changes in my ministry, both at the beginning and especially recently, have taught me to be silently obedient to any purpose, like a ball rolling back and forth without a crack, in the direction of the blows given to it. – And God did not abandon His help. – Let now the uncertainty of a new future position and ministry be more than confusing. But just as in the future everything will be ruled by the same right hand, which mercifully guarded in the past: then, with devotion, throwing myself in the hand of the living God, I reliably rest in the Holy Spirit. His will. So, be the will of God, and blessed be the Name of God, who saves us, and the message of destinies! These terrible thoughts, however, do not in the least detract from the feelings of gratitude to you, God-chosen Primates of our holy Church, for the fact that, condescendingly looking at my unworthiness, you deigned to include me in the ranks of those serving the highest service in this Church. I do not hide the fact that it would not be alien to the secret desires of my heart if a place fell to my lot where I could freely indulge in pursuits of my heart, or, if it is no longer possible to avoid this lot, at least given the opportunity to become accustomed to the affairs of pastoral service under someone’s experienced guidance. - But when, thinking about me more than I am, you show me a very wide field for activity, of course, in the hope that I will bear much fruit for the salvation of myself and others; I can’t remember this undeserved trust without gratitude. – Can I just justify your hopes, and even more so the expectations and mandatory requirements of the Church? – Will knowledge, prudence, and art be enough to both guide those being saved and conduct the order of affairs of external administration? – There is a desire to act for the good: if only actions would correspond to this desire! – The Lord will give grace and the gift of the spirit; but the spirit can also be extinguished by inaction or incorrect action. “Let this not happen,” I filially ask, add to your good wishes, of which I have no doubt, a prayer to the Lord, so that the grace He bestows will not be in vain in me, and with your advice teach me how to warm up the gift that has been communicated to me by the laying on of your hands – to the praise of all of us on the day of Christ. 2. Word at the entrance to the Tambov flock In the name of God, worshiped in the Trinity - the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, I greet you, the flock entrusted to me by God, with an apostolic greeting - in the desire for grace and peace. May grace and peace multiply to you, as two sources of every good of soul and body: may your mind be filled with the knowledge of God and all truth that comes from Him, with corresponding feelings and dispositions; may your heart open to brotherly love and every kind of goodness, and may all your undertakings turn to the glory of the One God... the goodness of the air, the fertility of the earth and everything that is necessary for your temporary prosperity, may the generous mercy of God grant you, if it pleases you. To all of this – my unceasing sinful prayer to God. For we are no longer strangers to each other. At the hour of the naming, not yet knowing you, I had already entered into communication with you, having made a vow to God and St. The Church belongs to you with your care, your labors, and even this life. In equal retribution, as I believe from the confidence of your Christian conscience, you have done something similar, dedicating yourself to attention, and, if necessary, to obedience to my weak word and deed of faith in love. And now this mutual union, based on mutual self-sacrifice, is sanctified by the offering of a bloodless sacrifice, sacrificed for us to the Lord, from Whom, for this sake, may every blessing descend upon our begun coexistence. From this moment we have both good and evil in common, and this is not only for a while, but also for eternity; for this co-existence, although it began in time and for a time, is imprinted with a character that goes beyond time, because, being associated with mutual obligations, determined above, and on the day of judgment it will serve to justify or condemn us. This, it seems, is enough of an incentive for us to walk before each other, as before the face of God, with all attention and kindness, with mutual good wishes, in prayer for each other, and in mutual assistance to each other, working out our salvation with fear and trembling. I think, however, that there is no need to disclose to you our mutual obligatory relationship. This is not the first time you have entered into them; and let me remind myself of them to myself. I consider it necessary to offer you only one thing in some detail for the first time, namely: to outline the image of sound Christian teaching, which you need to heed, like a lamp shining in the darkness of human opinions and errors, and which I will follow in my feasible service to the word of truth. Listen to what I confess, what I teach and what I will seek to believe in, out of duty as a shepherd, and according to this judge who is ours and who is alien to us, with whom we should communicate and whom we should run away, what we should follow and what we should move away from. It will not be something new or our own that will be offered, but something that has been handed down to us since ancient times, like St. the law of faith and the unchangeable rule of life. Thus I confess that God, one in essence, is threefold in persons - Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and that these Three are not names of one and the same person, and not names of different actions of the same person; but three hypostases of one Deity. This is how the Holy Church commanded to confess, this is how I will teach, and this is the faith I will seek from everyone in the duty of shepherding. I confess that this trinitarian, all-perfect God, by His free will, without any internal or external necessity, in six days, with His one word, created this world, not pouring into the world and not merging with it, but remaining in Himself whole and unchangeable, although He is omnipresent and fulfills everything. This is how St. commands to confess. Church, I will teach this way, and I will dutifully seek such faith from everyone. I confess that the all-good God, having created the world, did not leave it to the mercy of fate and did not bind it with the bonds of some inexorable necessity, as unbelief and superstition teach; and with the same freedom and power with which he created it, with the same he rules over it and graciously cares for every creature, especially rational ones, freely directing everything towards His good goals, not constrained by the laws of nature, which themselves are nothing more than the expression of His will, and therefore are entirely subject to His free order and change where His infinite wisdom requires it. This is how the Holy Church commands to confess, this is how I will teach, and this is how I will seek faith from everyone. I confess that we, having been created for constant communion with God and unchangeable bliss in Him, in our first parents, by violating His commandments, fell away from Him, incurred His righteous wrath, and fell to temporary punishment and eternal condemnation, and that therefore every evil visible and experienced by us, internal or external, is not our natural state, or a consequence of our limitations, but is the direct fruit of sin - punishment, only by the grace of God is it converted into an instrument of purification for us, under the condition of faith, repentance and humble submission to the will of God. This is how St. commands to confess. Church, this is how I will teach and this is how I will seek faith from everyone. I confess that the Lord, moved by love, not tolerating His beloved creation, man, perishing in this plight, deigned to descend to earth, take upon Himself human nature, satisfy the truth of God through suffering and death and, after the resurrection, ascend to heaven and, sitting at the right hand of God and the Father, again open to man free access to living communication with God. I confess that all the restorative Divine powers, including life and piety, were placed by the Lord in the Holy Spirit. His Church, as our only physician, acts in it with the Holy Spirit, through St. sacraments and other sanctifying institutions, over everyone who approaches them with a heart open to faith... and that there is not and cannot be another way to receive the forces of grace, no matter what some dreamy minds may plan and no matter how otherwise they dream of being inspired. I confess that everyone who seeks salvation must first of all repent with the determination not to sin again, even if it costs his life; then proceed to the sacraments to receive grace, to strengthen those weak in the good of their natural powers, then to go as far as we can along the path of Christ’s commandments, among all the sanctifying institutions and prayers of the Church, which are essential to kindle the spirit of grace in us, under the influence of feats of self-denial to mortify passions - until we finally reach the bright region of dispassion and purity, to this measure of the age of the fulfillment of Christ. I confess that those who began this way, entering into communication with God, at the same time enter into communication with the invisible world - the Angels and all the Saints who previously pleased God, and, resorting to their intercession, receive timely help from them - most of all from our Most Pure Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary - our all-powerful intercessor and intercessor. I confess that for original sin the soul will be separated from the body by the action of death, and will remain in this separation until the future resurrection and judgment - either feeding on the hope of eternal bliss, if it followed the will of God in everything, or languishing with the fear of eternal torment, if it resisted the commandments of the Lord. I confess all this with all my soul, with all my heart and with all my thoughts, because St. commands to confess this way. Church... This is how I will teach and this is how I will seek faith from everyone... And so I deliberately outlined our entire confession to you in order to renew in your thoughts the bright face of our faith, - indicated the path that we are commanded to follow, and hint at those crossroads that are deviated, some due to lack of teaching, others due to ill-directed learning. And may the Lord deliver you from these deviations! Everything I depicted is not new! Hold on to this old faith, as our fathers held on to it, and for this they left us clear traces of their pleasing to God, from them there is Sergius of Radonezh, so zealously revered by you and glorified by all Orthodox Russia, whose memory is now commemorated. – Beware of new things in matters of faith and piety, and beware of these lying prophets who come in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves – understand the lies hidden in the attractive words of flatterers who seek to corrupt you under the guise of goodwill. I mean all those who are wrong-thinking and wrong-doing, not out of weakness, but out of perseverance, with the desire to attract others to their side - I mean... Those who do not believe in the Holy Trinity and think that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are not persons of one Divinity, but are names of one person - Those who reject Divine creativity and providence and think that the world with all the creatures in it spontaneously arose and is governed by itself - Those who do not believe in the fall of man, and who explain our disastrous state in another way, - Non-believers in St. The Church, as a single physician, containing all the restorative forces for us, and St. who consider its sacraments and sanctifying means to be simple rites without inner power, - Those who dream of receiving the sanctifying power of God's grace in some hidden, invisible way, and not in the way that is offered by St. Church, - Those who do not recognize asceticism and all works of self-sacrifice as necessary, flattering themselves with the false hope of combining the spirit of Christ with the spirit of the world - Those who shun communion with the Saints and contemptuously reject their intercession and intercession, as well as the destructive actions of the spirits of wickedness in high places, - Those who do not recognize the spirituality of the soul, its immortality, the future resurrection of our bodies and the eternal reward of all of us according to our deeds - Obvious and secret violators of the statutes of St. Church of God, who do not consider it necessary to observe fasts, confess, take communion, who do not honor St. holidays and Sundays, or, instead of properly celebrating them, indulging in unreasonable amusements and amusements - With daring self-justification, not maintaining purity before marriage, and marital fidelity after marriage, - inventing, instead of the God-blessed one, some other way of cohabitation - In general, everyone who is carried away and captivated by the indomitable self-will in their way of thinking and the rules of life... You see now who is ours and who is not ours, on whose side is the truth and where is the lie. - Avoid evil and do good. St. Apostle and Ev. John the Theologian, seeing the destruction caused by the appearance of false teachers in the flock of Christ, on the one hand, aroused the vigilance of believers, pointing out this appearance, on the other hand, he taught them to recognize the falsity of their teaching by internal spiritual anointing. Finding ourselves in somewhat similar circumstances, we turn to you the words of the same Apostle: beloved, do not believe every spirit, but tempt the spirits if they are from God: for many false prophets have gone out into the world... (1 John 4:1). Now there have been many Antichrists... who have gone forth from us, but they have not been maddened from us (1 John 2:18–19). Ask how to recognize them and their teaching? - According to the outline of the truth proposed by us, or according to the wise rule proposed by St. Ignatius the God-Bearer: adhere to the lawful shepherding, and you will never fall away from the truth. For shepherds and teachers are given to the Church by the Shepherd and Head of the Lord - for the perfection of the saints, for the work of service, for the building up of the body of Christ... Let us not be infants, blown about by every wind of doctrine, in the lies of men, in the deceit of the wiles of flattery (Eph. 4:12,14). May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him - the enlightened aim of your heart, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, and what is the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the abounding majesty of His power in us who believe, according to the working of the might of His might (Eph. 1:17-19). Amen. 3. For the consecration of the church in the Sukhotinsky Mother of God Monastery for women Behold, the church of the living God has been erected and consecrated! This is also the dwelling place of His glory, the resting place for the souls of the grieving, the place of nourishment and watering of the hungry and thirsty souls - with the word of God and the Holy One. sacraments, a place of sincere communication with the invisible world of Angels and Saints! – Thanks be to the Lord, who crowned this good deed with success! May He bless those who started it, those who carried out the labors of bringing it to an end, those who helped, assisted and everyone who came into contact with it in some way. This church is designated for you, sisters, who have left the world and have become ignorant of the Lord. You left, running, and settled in the desert, so that you could more easily approach your beloved Lord, and with your eye undisturbed by the dust of worldly vanity, you could see the beauty of His face. So the Lord shows a sign of His evangelistic approach to you, stretches out His hands to you to receive you, appoints a place where He is ready to listen to the desires of your heart, which is open to Him. I think that it is impossible to find a stronger motivation for you to rush about in this house of God, if not constantly, then at least every time you are called here according to the Rule of St. Churches. I have no doubt that this has been and will be so. But I cannot help but remind you that it is not enough for you to appear before the face of the Lord in a church that exists outside of you: you need to build a church for the Lord within yourself, so that you can always have Him in you and with you. For if it goes to everyone, then how much more does the word of the Apostle come to you: Do you not know that the church of God is natural... And so on. If it applies to everyone, then how much more should the commandment apply to you: to be built as living stone into a spiritual church, the holiness is holy, to offer sacrifices acceptable to God Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:4-5). It is all the more appropriate for you to think about this now, since the church built and consecrated now is a direct image of that invisible church that should be built for Him in our hearts. Add to the work that has already been completed in building this visible church another work, which cannot have an end - about preparing your heart for the eternal spiritual church of the Lord. Don’t think that it would be so tricky and so high that it would completely exceed your strength. You are already being built into this church. You just need to continue what you started continuously, and with the same zeal with which you started. To see, however, what exactly needs to be done, I will briefly depict to you the entire building of the church of the Lord in the heart. A place for the visible church is chosen and cleansed. – We need to clear the place of the heart within us for the building of a spiritual church. This clearing is accomplished by repentance, that is, by sincere consciousness of one’s sins and blaming oneself for them, so that one can stand before the face of the Lord unrequited, and expect salvation from His sole mercy. The Lord does not love those who are righteous to Him, and He is favorable only to those who cry out to Him with a publican’s voice: God, be merciful to us sinners. – In the cleared area, they deepen and lay the foundation. – The foundation of the spiritual church in the heart is faith and a firm determination to live by faith. Only faith, combined with determination, makes the inner building unshakable, and even inaccessible either to doubts and perplexities, or to inconveniences, resistances and sorrows. He who decides to live by faith no longer fears either sorrows or death itself: that is why he is considered to be invincible or standing on an indestructible foundation. Having laid the foundation, they then erect the building, laying stone on stone, fastening them with known substances, and directing everything according to the proposed plan and scale. All this, in its corresponding properties, is or should be in the inner church; here the stones are different virtues, for which, when and where the opportunity presents itself: meekness, abstinence, patience, obedience, mercy, hard work, etc., which, being added to one another, create the restoration of the body of the inner church; the cement that binds is on one side the tributaries through the St. the sacrament of grace, without which everything we have remains dry, incoherent, fragile, and on the other hand, love, without which no exploits and no labors have value, or, as the Apostle says, everything is nothing; plan and scale - reasoning that determines the measure, weight and number of labors, enterprises and exploits, without this internal co-measurer, they can disfigure the entire building, and so on. to make all the efforts already raised insignificant and useless. The skill for this reasoning, thorough and sound, is acquired by obedient living under the guidance of shepherds, spiritual fathers, elders and elders, who, for the first time, and sometimes for life, should constitute the only leaders in the creation of the heart for the Lord. The work of doing good, imbued with love, under the influence of God’s sacraments, with the guidance of shepherds and one’s own reasoning, raises the building to the top. Then its roof will be formed by deep humility, which will save this building from the dampness of vanity and man-pleasing, from the dryness of arrogance and pride, from the shocking blows of willfulness and disobedience. All that remains after this is to lead the building and put a cross on it. Both will be accomplished by one act of devotion to the will of God, which is precisely the head of the virtues of self-sacrifice and the cross on which our selfhood is finally crucified. Here is the church! Do you want to know what makes up its outer fence? Unshakable fidelity to all the statutes and regulations of St. God's Church, and in you, moreover, and your monastic charter. Behind this fence one can safely hide from all the storms and unrest raised by the spirit of the age, superstition and passions. As long as there is this loyalty, the building is safe; where it is not there, everything will go bankrupt, little by little, until no stone is left of everything. But we are still outside this inner church. It is necessary to enter inside it, to decorate it, to sanctify it, to make it fragrant, in order to worthily perform holy priesthood there - to offer sacrifices favorable to God. For the Lord does not want to dwell only in us, but also to dwell with us in us. You ask: how to go inside yourself? - Attention, sobriety, composure. When thoughts are scattered, they all float above external objects; but as they renounce these latter, they gather inside and, as they gather, they renounce even more from the outside. Through this interaction, inner sobriety finally matures, in which the eye of the mind looks inside the heart, and deep, unperturbed attention is established to what is there and to everything that comes there. How to decorate the inner church of the heart? Good thoughts, consisting of deep convictions in the truths of faith with corresponding feelings and dispositions, i.e. thoughts about the Trinitarian God, His boundless perfections, creation, providence, the sacrament of redemption and the entire economy of salvation, - about the future dispensation of everything, and so on, which (thoughts) cannot but fill the hearts with either fear, or contrition, or hope, or courageous readiness for everything, etc., that everything together makes up the beauty of the church of the heart. The illumination of this church is provided by the undisturbed, unceasing contemplation of the omnipresent God, without Whom it is impossible to gather inside, or to be filled with any good feelings, although it itself is mutually supported by these latter and matures together with them. This light of God's vision, illuminating and warming the heart, arouses in it incessant cries to God, or sighs from the depths, with the presentation to Him of various transient and incessant needs of the spirit, or with the expression of movements of love for Him - the sweetest, which all constitutes the incense of heartfelt prayer, rising like the morning, or, like a fragrant censer, ascending to God. In the church of the heart fragrant in this way, a spiritual sacrifice will be made, favorable to God, consisting of an offering to Him of consciousness, self-activity and freedom and expressed by a painful falling towards Him, in a contrite and humble heart. The Lord expects this sacrifice from us, He delights in it, and for its sake is ready to send down every good gift and every perfect gift. This completes the construction of the internal church to God and the internal sacred rites in this church. That's it! Whether this matter is difficult or easy, it is necessary. We cannot stop at external activity alone, although without it nothing internal can take place or be established. The external is done: let's take care of the internal. There is no doubt that it exists, and perhaps for its sake this external thing also exists; but one can be afraid that this visibility, so obvious, would not eclipse or obscure that invisibility, almost elusive. Therefore, be vigilant and do not allow the enemy to destroy the fruits of your labors by stopping you halfway. Son, give My heart, says the Lord. And we'll give it back. Remember the parable of the ten virgins... What did the holy fools lack? Internal doing. Outwardly they were in good order - they observed virginity, did not break fasts, went to the church of God, and fulfilled everything else prescribed by the charter; but they didn’t care about the organization of thoughts and feelings. And their heart, instead of a church to God, was a wilderness, overgrown with all sorts of wild plants, full of reptiles and insects, or a deserted building, the home of eagle owls and bats. Take care so as not to fall into their fate. What you have started is good and valuable, but even if you do it, complete it as it should. Otherwise, the very beginning would serve to condemn you - that you started and did not finish. And pray to the Lord and His Most Pure Mother, our Lady, by whom this church is consecrated, may they show you the favor of His goodness, perfect in everything, and may your spirit, soul and body be preserved at the coming of the Lord, may God grant you the power to be strengthened by His spirit in the inner man, to indwell Christ with faith in your hearts. Amen. 4. On the birthday of Her Majesty the Most Pious Empress Maria Alexandrovna, - in the Tambov Cadet Corps On days like this, attention involuntarily stops on objects loved by those people to whom these days are dedicated. What is closest to the heart of the Most Pious Empress Maria Alexandrovna? What is She most concerned about? What troubles Her soul? This is raising children. And thought used to imagine Her surrounded by children, despised or despised, brought up or brought up. Therefore, I do not consider it inappropriate, now, on the solemn day of Her birth, to say a few words about education, especially in this church, located in the house for raising children, and, moreover, on the day of the solemn act in it. The word about upbringing - in the church - you already guessed, will concern upbringing in the Christian spirit. Add to your guess that, according to the judgment of all who love the truth, there can be no lasting education other than that which is carried out in this spirit. This is how it is everywhere, at least, it is assumed to be so everywhere. And here, the mere fact that in this institution there is a church of God, and, of course, not as a random addition, but as a deliberate part of the building, or even its core, giving direction to all other parts, this alone sufficiently confirms that the meaning and content of this church served and serves as a guiding principle for everything that is taught and accustomed to here, and that educators and pupils gather in this church not only to offer their prayers to God, but also to receive lessons and instructions on His behalf in the not inconsiderable task of education, placing the beginning of faith and life by faith as the basis of one’s work. With this thought, should we wish that it would be so, or should we thank the Lord that it is already so? But I think in every possible way, not contrary to your conviction, I will say that it should be so. In fact, what do educators want? They want to enlighten the mind and form the heart. Where can we find solid foundations and effective tools for both? Nowhere else than in our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave us wisdom from God, righteousness, sanctification and deliverance (1 Cor. 1:30); that is, in the holy faith bestowed by Him, with all its saving institutions. Because - What does it mean to enlighten the mind? Does it mean to imprint in it sound concepts about everything that exists and happens, about property, the concept of what God is, what His properties are, in what relationship He was pleased to place Himself in relation to the world and to us? What is this world, where does it come from, what holds it together and where is it going? What are we, why are we here on this earth, what does this half-light and half-dark state of ours mean, what awaits us in the future, and so on? The totality of such concepts constitutes the wisdom that man has always so actively sought and is seeking. And whoever knows all this truly is not unjustly called enlightened, as seeing everything in a clear light. It should be noted that these concepts are answers to questions that trouble our minds. There is no person who is not troubled by these questions, and there is no one who does not solve them in one way or another. But their real solution - the most reassuring and the most correct - is contained in the revelation of Jesus Christ, and is taught by St. Church. Here God is the all-perfect Spirit, one in essence and threefold in persons, the creator of the world and the provider of all things; the world is a creation of God, called into being by the single word of the Almighty, and by the word of power His contents, bound in everything by unchangeable laws, by the good will of God at every moment ready to submit, and those who submit; man is a rational creature, full of perfections at the beginning, then fallen and upset, now restored by the Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit. Church by the grace of the Spirit, and finally having to appear in a new glory - in the next century, for faith and work of good deeds, and so on. What bright, sublime and fruitful concepts! After this, it is in vain that the mind begins to solve them on its own. The experiences of his decisions, before the coming of Christ the Savior, and now in the West, among those who have overthrown the good yoke of obedience to the word of a false God, tangibly convince how weak he is in this regard, and how it is more akin to him here, as in many other things, to remain forever a student and not dare to ascend to the teaching chair. That is why we reject all his nonsense very thoroughly and intelligently. What remains for the enlighteners of the mind? Not to invent, but to take ready-made Divine truths and imprint them on the minds of children, and then on them, as on the foundations of building the entire building of knowledge, or the entire body of sciences. What firmness and courage a mind thus enlightened acquires! How strong is the whole sum of knowledge in him, being imbued with a single spirit and common principles! What does it mean to form a heart? It means to arouse the demands hidden in our nature, transform them into feelings and dispositions, elevate them into the principles and rules of life, so that then one can say about everyone who possesses them: here is a perfect person. The question is, how to do this? Many people think that development is enough for this. Develop, they say, nature. As from a seed that has vegetated and opened, a tree or a flower emerges, perfect in its own way; This is how a person will come out perfect if he develops everything hidden in his nature. It seems that such a situation could be more reasonable and more thorough? But what turns out is not at all what is expected. For example, when developing the aesthetic side, they surround the pet with elegant objects and teach them to practice the arts. The taste develops little by little; but at the same time various kinds of lust are expressed, and, moreover, in forms that are not at all graceful. Also: in order to teach oneself to behave with dignity, one is introduced into society, and all the methods of decent mutual treatment are taught. The goal is achieved to some extent; but at the same time pride, arrogance, self-will, inaccessibility, and contempt for inferiors are introduced. They are also taught to engage in various kinds of enterprise and activity: there is success in this too; But isn’t self-interest, interest and ruthless pretentiousness growing more successfully? So it is in everything. What does this mean? Isn't good seed being sown? and what are the tares from? – Because the seed of our nature was damaged by the fall, and much that was unnatural and unnatural was grafted onto it, which, however, along with the natural, shows the right to satisfaction, hiding behind the guise of naturalness. That is why, where they indiscriminately develop everything that is found in a person, along with what is akin to us, they also develop what is not akin to us - and in our nature there are many parasites that often choke and dry up the natural branches. So, not everything needs to be developed in us; and develop some, and suppress and eradicate others. And this is the whole difficulty of upbringing and education. We do not have eyes or visual instruments to distinguish between the thin, intertwined threads of the natural and the unnatural. And even if it were possible to distinguish, there is no tool or anatomical knife to separate one from the other. Even if this were the case, there would be no strength to reinforce and revive what is akin to us and suppress what is not akin to us. So, while we are alone, with our own means, we cannot expect lasting success in the formation of the heart. And here the prudent educator fully feels the extreme need for supernatural help. And she is ready - in the Church of God, in St. its sacraments and all sanctifying institutions. Divine grace, communicated and warmed by them, penetrating inside us, separates what is akin to us from what is not, and uniting with the former, strengthens it and revitalizes it, and by cutting off the latter, it dries up and destroys it. Therefore, whoever grows under the influence of them, without special efforts on the part of parents or educators, except for the inevitable warnings, appears, upon entering the field of activity, with feelings and dispositions that are purely human (or - which is also true - Christian), without an admixture of ugly unnaturalities that humiliate humanity. Thus, if they wish to have strong, effective means for the formation of the heart, let them be educated under the influence of the saving sacraments of the Church and all its sanctifying rites: and their work will be crowned with complete success... Let them not alienate children from the Church and churchliness, from prayers, fasting, fasting, confession and communion, keeping holidays and visiting shrines, etc... and you can be sure that at the end of the course of education, the soul of the pet, like a pure virgin, will be presented to Christ for every good deed prepared. That's the whole educational program! Imprint the truths of faith in the mind, placing them as managers of all other knowledge and concepts, and lead the children steadily according to the instructions of our guardian mother the Church: and children will come out, strong in mind, and kind in heart, kind with lasting and unshakable kindness. Where in any branch of knowledge concepts are allowed that are contrary to the truths of faith, they darken the mind of those being educated and weaken it with an admixture of lies. And where, moreover, they somehow alienate one from the Church, they spoil the heart, allowing unnatural (passionate) feelings and dispositions to open up and grow stronger in it. In offering all this, however, I offer it not as a lesson or reproach, but as a simple reminder, in the form of sharing our mutual convictions, which it is unnecessary to renew and revive with such reciprocity, in the present age of uncertain aspirations, almost without a goal or a starting point. Let us not deviate from the right path, and instead of instilling evil in our trusting childhood! For there will be a time when we will all stand before the face of the Judge: lest at that time we should hear from the now silent children the reproachful question: “But you taught us the wrong thing, or: But you didn’t teach this!”... Amen. 5. For the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, - in the Sarov monastery Today we celebrate the Dormition of our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary. But this was the death of the Mother of God - true, similar to the death of every person. Why is it called Dormition, as if falling asleep or sleep? This could also be because the Most Pure One was not kept in the bonds of death and the realm of corruption for long, but after three days she was found resurrected, like her Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, but more importantly because this death was peaceful, quiet, sweetly pleasant, like a desired restful sleep, after the body was tired with the day’s labors. But shouldn’t our death be like this? Yes. The Most Holy Theotokos is our Mother, we are children. She precedes, we must follow Her. And here is a lesson from the Dormition for us who celebrate the Day of the Assumption: year by year, approaching death, we must take every possible care that our death is not a tormenting and rebellious tearing of the soul from the body, but a peaceful and serene exit from this world to another, like a quiet and peaceful fall asleep... The question arises: how to achieve this and what is required for this on our part? Death is not destruction, but a transition from this earthly home to another. But when - let's take an example from ordinary life - when do they move from one place to another not only with a calm and peaceful soul, but also joyfully? Then, when they are not attached to anything in the place from which they are leaving, they are not only not afraid of the place to which they are moving, but also desire in every possible way, for the sake of the consolations and pleasantries expected in it. Let us take a similar position regarding death - and we will meet it not only without sorrow and fear, but also with joyful desire... Namely - 1) Let us extinguish in ourselves all attachment to the body and everything corporeal, to the earth and everything earthly. For when nothing binds on earth, where will there be sorrow when leaving it? How freely and easily one thing is separated from another when they are not connected or glued, but only attached to each other: so easy will the separation of the soul from the body be when there is no attachment to the body and when it, while in the body, does not live in the body. A wanderer going to his destination calmly and willingly leaves the places where he stops. Why? Because he doesn’t have time to become attached to them - because they are strangers to him. Likewise, when our heart considers everything earthly alien to itself, it will not be difficult for us to move on to another life. Of course, we cannot be without some things, or even many things. But we can so position our hearts towards them that it will be as easy to part with them as to take off the clothes we don’t need. We'll take care of this. Is this a bit difficult? Yes... but you can do this not suddenly, but little by little. How does the enemy entangle the soul with earthly addictions? - By imposing them one after another, just as a spider entangles insects caught in its net, throwing cobweb after cobweb on them. On the contrary, whoever wants to get out of these networks should manage to do the opposite - cut off one addiction after another, starting with the smaller ones and reaching the larger ones. Just as someone stuck in the mud pulls out member by member until he is completely free: so let us cut off addiction after addiction until we become completely free. If we use such labor, then by the hour of death we can be completely renounced from everything and are ready to leave the earth and everything earthly without sorrow, waiting only for the beck of God. 2) But not only earthly addictions can disturb the peace of the soul at the hour of death. No less troubling is the fear of how to appear in the other world, where one must stand before the face of God - the righteous Judge, whose eyes are brighter than the sun - they penetrate everything and see everything, but we have many sins. Just as someone who knows what is behind them is afraid to go to a boss, and even more so to a king: it is so scary for a sinner to appear before God, so scary that, according to the word of God, they are forced to shout: mountains, fall on us! The reason for this is sins that offend God. Therefore, if anyone wants to face death without fear and peacefully pass on to the next world, let him take care to be sinless, or if he has already sinned, let him do so that these sins do not serve as condemnation for him. How to do this? With sincere repentance and determination to no longer violate the commandments of the Lord. If you have sinned, do not sin again, but repent of your previous sins. Repentance and contrition for sins with confession and a promise not to sin again erase sins from everywhere where they are imprinted - from our being, from everything around us - and even from the memory of God and make the repentant sinner innocent before the face of the righteous God, clothing him with the garment of justification, borrowed from the robe of the Lord, who suffered for us... The priestly permission tears up the handwriting of sins, and the torn handwriting loses all its power, according to the will of the Judge himself, who said: the trees that are allowed on earth will be allowed in heaven (Matthew 18:18). Confidence in this fills the sinner’s heart with trust, and although he knows that he has sinned, he goes before the Judge without trepidation, knowing that his arrival there was already preceded by justification, or that there is an Intercessor with the Judge, ready to intercede for him... For if anyone sins, the Imams will intercede with the Father of Jesus Christ the Righteous (1 John 2:1). If any criminal were sure that the heir to the throne, whose voice is strong with the king, would intercede for him, then he would go to the king without fear, no matter what crime he committed. So, without fear and embarrassment, a sinner who has repented can appear before the Judge of God; for there the only begotten Son of God will intercede for him, taking our sins upon Himself and bearing them on the tree, and saying: Come to Me, all you who labor and are burdened with sins, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28). So whoever wants to die in peace, repent and do not sin in the future... 3) If we then add to these two dispositions, i.e., renunciation from everything earthly and repentance, the desire for future blessings, then we will face death not only without sorrow and fear, but also with willingness. Others willingly leave a house when it is damp, or the stoves are smoking, or the roof is bad... Others, although they do not encounter such troubles in the house, willingly move to another house for the sake of what they expect to find in it more conveniences and benefits of everyday life. So, when we comprehend with our minds and feel in our hearts, on the one hand, the scarcity and insignificance of the blessings here, on the other, the height and immensity of the blessings awaiting us in another world, then not only with pleasure, but with strong aspiration we will desire the transition from this world to another, like Ap. Paul, who said about himself that he strongly wanted to be allowed to be with Christ and the Most Pure Lady, who every morning went to the Mount of Olives (where Her body was then laid for a short time) and prayed to His Divine Son to quickly take Her from here and give the opportunity to see the beauty of His face... in the villages of heaven. The soul, having comprehended what life here and life in another world means, will sigh for this latter, as a captive sighs for his fatherland, a wanderer for his native home, and someone sitting in prison for freedom... and with no small desire to call upon death as a deliverer, benefactor and comforter. Ask, how to lead the soul to such a mood? – You can think about the insignificance of earthly blessings and the greatness of heavenly blessings, or, most likely, by feeling the bitterness of everything earthly and tasting the sweetness of heaven. For then it will happen that having tasted the sweet, they will not want the bitter - they will turn away from the latter and desire the former. Or even better: then the soul will flee from this life to another, just as they run from a stuffy room into the fresh air. That's all we need to die peacefully. – Do not have an attachment to the local things, having cleared your conscience – live virtuously – cultivate in yourself a strong desire for eternal blessings. The first and last will come by themselves when the main thing is there, that is, a clear conscience and good deeds. Brothers and fathers! We know that among all the untruths on earth, one thing is undoubtedly true - that we will die... and that death will be either bitter and painful for us, or joyful and sweet. Let us not show ourselves to be our enemies, unreasonably grieving our transition from this life to another, when we have all the means to make it sweeter. Death today or tomorrow - we will be ready! Behold, I am coming quickly, says the Lord (Rev. 22:12). Little labor put in for this purpose will be rewarded with eternal joy. And even if we had to endure great labor and suffer, it would not be a loss... For the passions of the present time are unworthy of the desire for glory to appear in us (Rom. 8:18). Amen. 6. For the consecration of the church in the Temnikovsky nunnery Thus, your labors and your worries about building another church that will benefit you have now ended. – Thanks be to the Lord for this gift! - I say - for free: for although you had a lot to do, what could you do if not for the Lord! In unexpected benefits, and in everything else, have you not felt His close, beneficent hand? Having confessed the gift, what shall we render to the Lord, the Benefactor? Let us pay tribute, according to His intention, to the use of the gift, namely: - 1) The church was built not to be only an external - an empty witness of piety, but in order to be always full of those for whom it is appointed. And this imposes on you the obligation to attend all services required by the charter in this church. Having made a vow to work for the Lord in labors of asceticism and prayer, you, of course, do not intend to indulge your laziness in this regard. But don’t let any plausible excuses tempt you... Common among workers like you. Let the urge not tempt you, firstly, to omit this or that Divine service, to complete the required work out of necessity. Remember that work is not successful when there is no blessing from God on it, and this blessing must be attracted and brought down from heaven... With what and where? Prayer in the church. When a blessing is sought, one hour will replace the work of a whole day; whereas without it everything gets torn and tangled, and the day passes in vain. I think you yourself already have a lot of experience with this. Don’t become your own slanderers! – May you not be tempted, secondly, by the flattering thought of staying in your cell when others go to church out of a desire to pray more diligently in solitude from others... Is there no other time for solitary prayer than the hours appointed for general prayer? Then pray alone. And you must always go to the general service prescribed by the charter... Here in the congregation, prayer is warmer and more fervent and always more fruitful. Where there are two or three congregations in My name (Matthew 18:20), says the Lord, there I am in the middle... and where the Lord is, there is every spiritual good... What a pity that others deprive themselves of this treasure! Doesn’t it also happen that others, remaining in their cells, miss the general prayer, and do not have time to pray at home, and thus commit two evils - they violate the order and cause harm to themselves... Therefore - isn’t it better once and for all - to make it a rule for yourself: never indulge such a thought? Thirdly, do not let that indulgence tempt you, because you come to church not at the beginning of the services, or leave before they end. – Remember that every service is one whole, and only in its entirety does it provide complete benefit. Just as food is only tasty when it has all the seasonings, so the service only satisfies the completely spiritual taste when it is heard in full. Consequently, whoever misses the beginning of it or does not complete it to the end, he works and deprives himself of the fruit of his labors, or creates with one hand and destroys with the other. So, having created, decorated and consecrated this church, go to it without regret, rejecting all empty pretexts - and this is the first thing. 2) And you need to go to church not somehow, but as you should. For you can always go to church - not for praise, however, but for self-condemnation - go and not receive any spiritual benefit from it. Everything related to this can be combined in the following rules: with the first strike of the bell, you must drop everything and prepare your soul for church prayer: by reading: Mother of God, Virgin, Rejoice..., or: Heavenly King..., Our Father..., or any other prayer; approaching the church, at its threshold one must leave all worries and worries about matters, no matter what they concern, in order to enter inside with an undisturbed thought. When entering a church, we must clothe ourselves, as with clothing, with reverence, remembering to whom we are coming—and to whom we intend to address ourselves in prayer; Having taken your place in the church - the best thing is always the same - you need to gather your thoughts together and stand with your mind before the face of the omnipresent Lord, offering Him reverent worship with body and spirit in a contrite heart and a humble prostration; after this, one must, with an undistracted mind, follow everything that is happening - what is sung and read in the church - and this until the very end of the service. That's it! By doing this, we will not be bored in church - we will look around here and there and start conversations, and we will not wish that the service would end sooner. For then, moving from one prayerful feeling to another, and from one reverent thought to another, we will be like those who in a fragrant garden move from one group of flowers to another; as a result of which spiritual warmth - the fruit of attentive prayer - will fill our heart with inexpressible sweetness, which does not allow us to notice the physical in the state of labor - and will make every service short. – On the contrary, someone who is inattentive to what is happening in the church dreams of empty things and deeds; - but it doesn’t help these matters either, and wastes prayer time in vain - he upsets himself and deprives himself of the fruit of prayer - ready-made, which, so to speak, is given into his hands... May the Lord deliver you from this sin! 3) Using in this way, as we should - church services, little by little we will achieve the main thing for which these visible churches are given to us - namely, unceasing prayer to God, performed mentally in the heart, which makes our heart a church to God not made by hands... The commandment about this prayer was taught to us by St. Apostles; All the holy ascetics were all concerned about her... And we will be ashamed if, having built this material church, we do not take care of building the immaterial church... for which the material one actually exists. What is the use of having a tool and not being able to use it to do what it is designed for?.. Whoever attends all services without neglect and listens to them as he should, can easily achieve this invaluable spiritual benefit... Not much else needs to be added to this work of unrelentingly going to church, namely, to take care to preserve the warmth of the heart aroused in the church without extinguishing, through maintaining the attention with which the soul was overshadowed here. And for this - to love solitary sitting in cells (excluding necessary work), - frequent worship of the Lord in front of icons... reading from time to time the word of God, the scriptures of the Fathers - and most importantly - to acquire the skill of constantly saying a short but strong prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me... As such labors, the soul will be more and more overshadowed by grace the presence of God, which will lead the mind to God and fill the heart with sweet sighs: which is unceasing prayer. This gift of God, as a reward for your labor, is what I wish for you most of all... Having created this church and decorated it, so that you yourself may be built into a habitation of God by the Spirit - into a spiritual church - offering sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ... (1 Peter 2:4-5). Amen. 7. In the city of Morshansk, in the cathedral (Apostle. Zach. 258) During my first communication with you, I cannot find a better word with which to address you than the one that is now offered to all of us in the Apostolic Reading on behalf of St. Apostle Paul. The lesson contained in it is not verbose, but significant - and especially comforting for all of us, assuring us that the path we are following, and the way of living and acting, by which we can be saved, are the very ones that were prescribed and indicated by the Apostles, trace. as true as God himself is true. You will see this for yourself if, together with me, you trace the contents of the current Apostle. Here St. The Apostle Paul, having praised the Colossians for the fact that some of them, leaving Jewish dreams, and others - Hellenic errors, became Christians, then indicates what they, as Christians, should do, how to act and how to behave... And - namely: 1) Put on, - he says, - in the womb of generosity, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering, forgive, if anyone has anything against another, let peace be in your hearts, be grateful... acquire love over everyone, which is the basis of perfection, i.e. The Apostle indicates the feelings and dispositions characteristic of Christians, as well as the deeds corresponding to them. 2) Further he adds: let the word of Christ dwell richly in you. - The Word of Christ, that is, the teaching about our Lord Jesus Christ - how He, the only one of the Holy Trinity, came to earth to save us who had fallen, how He became incarnate, taught, worked miracles, suffered... rose again, ascended into heaven, sat down at the right hand of God the Father and sent down the Holy Comforter Spirit on St. Apostles, and with them founded and established St. The Church, and in general, the word of Christ is all Christian teaching. – May it dwell in you richly, that is, may it fill your mind, feeling, will, your whole being... 3) Finally, the Apostle inspires: be filled with the spirit, speaking to yourself in psalms and songs and spiritual songs, singing in grace in your hearts to the Lord. Psalms, chants and spiritual songs mean the entire order of prayers and church observances: St. the sacraments, the order of daily services, and all sanctifying acts and prayers performed in the Church by the legitimate priesthood. Put all this together - and it turns out that St. The Apostle Paul seemed to say this to the Colossians: now you have become Christians, see that you firmly hold the teaching of Christ, or the confession of St. faith and strengthened by the grace of God given to St. sacraments and warmed by sacred rites and church prayers, walk steadily along the path of the commandments of Christ under the guidance of lawful Shepherds and Teachers. This is what the Apostle Colossian taught!.. But this is the same thing that is working in us now, the same thing by which we hope to be saved. For look what we are doing?.. We pray at home and in the churches of God we gather for prayer, we are sanctified by the sacraments, and we kindle the grace acceptable in them with church sacred rites... That is, we are zealous to be filled with the Spirit, speaking to ourselves, according to the Apostle, in psalms and songs and spiritual songs. Further, both at home and in private, and in churches, we solemnly express the confession of St. faith, reading the Creed, which is an abbreviation of all Christian teachings; we listen and read the word of God and the Fathers' writings, read other soul-saving books and ourselves reflect on the truths of salvation... That is, what are we doing? We make sure that the word of Christ dwells richly in us. Finally, in life, we strive to the best of our ability to be meek, humble, generous, peaceful, loving... We strive, that is, to fill our hearts with Christian feelings and dispositions... which are indicated by the Apostle and which are expounded at length in the teaching about the commandments of the decalogue and the blessed commandments. Consequently, the way of confession of faith that we maintain, the way of life that we lead, the way of sanctification that is acceptable - in general, the path of salvation that we follow - is the same one that was established on earth by the Apostles and from them one another has come down to us and remains among us without any change - without addition or subtraction. What a great consolation! - Therefore, the hope of salvation with which we feed is not false, the boldness before God and people with which we are inspired is not false, the sense of our righteousness with which we are filled is not deceptive! - Let us give 1) thanks to the Lord, who has been so kind to us, let us give thanks for the fact that we are born and raised and grow old in the bowels of the one Holy One. Church, containing the complete truth, brought to earth by Him... without any special effort on our part... let us give thanks for this confidence that we stand in the truth, that we are walking the straight path - that the image of salvation that we hold is not false... For, brethren, on earth there is no greater consolation than that provided by the conviction that the one true God (besides whom there is no other god) is our God, that this God deigns to count us Our people, Our sons and daughters... and that we, by the way of our confession, our life and piety, do not offend Him, but please Him, do not move away from Him, but draw closer and closer to Him... 2) Realizing all this, let us make it a law for ourselves to keep the Holy Spirit holy. the faith we profess, keeping unchanged both the image of confession, and the image of sanctification, and the way of life prescribed for us by the Church, - not succumbing to those who have had the misfortune to fall away from it - to get lost and become rigid in this error - those, that is, who not only lack sanctifying sacraments and prayers, but also the very confession of faith is frantic, like the Molokans - and those whose confession of faith is not completely corrupted, but who, not accepting the true priesthood, deprive themselves of the Holy Spirit. the sacraments and, consequently, the grace of God, which cannot be received otherwise than through the sacraments, as schismatics are. For neither one nor the other contains the true image of salvation indicated to all of us by the Apostle... 3) But let us leave them to the goodness of God... praying for them, so that their minds, darkened by lies, will be enlightened - and their hearts, hardened by stubbornness in error, will be softened... Let us take more and more care for ourselves, so that, while containing the true image of salvation, we do not find ourselves unsaved - that is, we will holyly perform everything necessary for salvation... For it happens that another lies in goodness. a doctor and is not deprived of proper care, but nevertheless is not being healed... From what? - Because not everything is complete, and not everything is as it should be, he does what the doctor prescribes to him... The same can happen to us... that belonging to the true Church of God - this one healer of ours... we will not receive healing of spiritual infirmities, and therefore we will not be saved when we do not fulfill everything that is prescribed by the Church - and do it as prescribed... - What is the use that someone else has a pure storehouse before his eyes, but for quenching thirst, takes water from another muddy and unhealthy source?.. And it will be of no benefit to us if, grafted into the courtyard of the house of God - St. The Church, where the water of salvation flows abundantly, pouring out in seven streams on everyone, we will not use it, but will turn to other deposits - broken and waterless or containing rotten water... What exactly will we create? What the Apostle commanded: containing St. confession of faith, and strengthened by the grace of God, given in the sacraments and warmed by sacred rites and church prayers, we will walk according to the commandments of the Gospel and the Rule of St. The Church, under the leadership of legitimate Shepherds and Teachers, must walk steadily, without omissions and additions, without laziness and false apologies... in simplicity of heart, as before the Lord, the Knower of the Heart, who sees everything and has to repay a hundredfold reward for everything. This is what I decided to remind your love and your piety - in my first visit to you - to remind you only... for I am sure that all of you have been supporting all of this for a long time... and thus strive to live as best you can and save your souls... to remind you only so that, according to the Apostle, with this reminder you can warm your hearts with unflagging zeal to continue the ongoing course - praying to the Bountiful God, so that having begun the work in you His own - He did it... and presented you pure and innocent on the day of Christ, to the glory of His all-holy name. Amen. 8. On the fourteenth week after Pentecost Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. (Matthew 22:37). It seems why should we give a commandment about love for God. “Ask anyone, everyone will say that he loves God, and no one will dare to say that he does not love Him.” Moreover, the feeling of love is so sweet and joyful that everyone himself, out of a desire for peace and spiritual consolation, will take care to form it in himself. Despite this, however, the commandment to love God is prescribed to us by the Lord and the holy Apostles not once or twice... but on almost every page of St. scriptures and, moreover, with such insistence that whoever does not love the Lord - let him be excommunicated - maranatha, according to the Apostle... This means that, despite all the naturalness of love for God, it is possible not to love God when He Himself cares and instills it in us with the commandment and protects us with threats... This means that it is possible, even while saying that we love God, not to have this love, and thus deceive both ourselves and others. Yes, Brothers, it is possible. “But here’s the thing: we can deceive ourselves and deceive others, but we will never deceive God himself.” He sees the very secrets of the heart, and because He sees, He will one day reward everyone... To whom will He say this in the hour of judgment... go away... do we not know you?... To those who did not have love for Him, although they thought that they had it, and were considered by others to have it... What a sad mistake! - and all the more bitter because there will be no way to correct it then. So you see, Brothers, it is worth the effort to reach the point of certainty whether we have love for God or not. And if it turns out that it does not exist, we will take care to acquire it, or revive it if it begins to fade, and strengthen it if it weakens. For he who does not love remains in death. Let us go inside ourselves and look around us in order to collect simple and common signs by which we can accurately judge this. 1) Whoever loves someone, only talks about his beloved person or object; whoever he happens to meet, either directly begins to talk about him, or soon inclines him to a mutual conversation. “So, he who loves God only willingly talks about Him and hastily directs every conversation towards Him, and when he begins to talk about Him, he cannot stop talking: he is only pleased to be there, where they talk about God and His deeds, and is bored where they are busy with other things.” – On the contrary, he who does not love God will not speak about Him himself and is alienated from those who love to talk about Him. It is pleasant for him when they talk about everyday affairs, trade, judicial, military, perhaps - scientists, but not according to God; he willingly sits where they are engaged in news, fashions, gossip and runs away from where they talk about God and His works. He is inexhaustible when he talks about something empty, vain and worldly, and when the matter concerns God and the salvation of the soul, he will reluctantly say two or three words, and only that, or even this will not be said... For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. What the heart is full of, there are many words about... So let's see what our conversations are like and discover whether we have love for God or not. 2) He who loves someone willingly hurries to where he hopes to either meet his beloved and those closest to him, or receive news about him, or come across something that reminds him of him. Thus, he who loves the Lord willingly hurries to the church of God, where the Lord reveals His special presence, where believers enter into close communication with the Saints of God, presented to their eyes in images, and hear the word about Him. He who loves the Lord desires to be a communicant of the Holy Mysteries, for through this God draws closer to him, and he to God; he strains to go through the entire set of church rites and prayers, for in them he smells a trace of the fragrance of Christ, he feels sweet and warm in the church, as in his Father’s house: he carefully listens to every sacred rite and prayer here, and just as he eagerly hurries to the beginning of the service, so with some sorrow he crosses the church threshold at the end of it. Α whoever does not love the Lord cannot be invited to the church; when others come here, he hurries to another place, and if he sometimes comes here, it is reluctantly, not to the beginning and not to pray; only need or custom and shame force him to somehow speak and receive communion, but there is nothing to say about other decrees or prayers... The mere thought of the Church and something churchly will chill him. Let us see what our attitude is towards the Church and its entire structure, and we will see whether we love the Lord or not. 3) He who loves someone does not let thoughts of him out of his head, and, when left alone, mentally talks with him, imagining and kindly cherishing his image. – So, whoever loves the Lord does not retreat from thinking about Him, and as soon as he gains freedom, he mentally turns to Him, and speaks with Him warmly from the heart. - He, after legitimate affairs required by family, or service, or industry, does not seek entertainment, but hurries to retire in order to be alone with his Lord - in order to either indulge in the thought of God, or think, for example, about the limitless perfections of God, about the economy of our salvation, about our final fate, etc., or to stand in prayer and pray, or to open some saving book, or refresh your head with the holy truths set forth there. “On the contrary, he who does not love the Lord does not like to be alone, and after necessary tasks he rushes to entertainment - to festivities, or even worse. If need forces him to be alone, what does he do? is inactive, dreams of empty things, or plots intrigues, or reads empty books. “Let us look around at what we are like in this regard and see whether we love the Lord or not.” Here are a few signs of love and dislike for God that are close to us! But there is nothing to say about this, that whoever loves the Lord strives in every possible way to please Him by fulfilling His holy will - both that which is spoken in the commandments, and that which, in addition, is revealed to each of us in the circumstances of our life. For what kind of love for God will there be in someone who does not fulfill His commandments, but clearly and consciously violates them?.. Only in that case can one see love in such people when, having somehow violated God’s commandment, they immediately become contrite and hurt at heart because they have offended the Lord and hasten to cleanse sin by repentance and a promise not to sin again. Whoever, having sinned, not only does not feel pain about it, but also justifies himself, is a completely almost lost person! I will not expand further... And these signs are enough to see whether there is love in us or not, and thereby console ourselves, or care for our soul. If we find that we have love for God, even in the beginnings, let us thank the Lord for the fact that He Himself began to pour this life force into our hearts. And if we find that we are cold towards God, we will grieve about it, and hasten to light this saving fire... How? - By keeping everything that, as we said, serves as a sign of love for God - keeping it, albeit reluctantly, forcedly, self-violently... and the Lord will help. - The tree is cold by itself, but when they start rubbing wood against wood, they warm up and give off a flame. Also, when any member of the body becomes numb from cold or something else, they begin to rub it and awaken the lost feeling in it. – So when we begin to rub our soul, which has grown cold towards the Lord, by going to churches, praying at home, reading saving books, edifying conversations, frequent fasting and receiving Holy Communion. The Mysteries, without leaving, for all that, a single opportunity to fulfill the commandments, then surely our hardened heart will soften and begin to warm up with love for Him. You just need to not feel sorry for yourself, but force and force yourself first... Some time will pass, and what the soul was not in for will begin to be pleasant to it... and the longer we force ourselves, the more pleasant and sweet those things will be, and then a fire will ignite in the heart, which will transform your soul into a fiery Seraphim, burning with unceasing love for the Lord... May He who vouchsafes all of us with this. came to earth to create this heavenly fire. Amen. 9. On the Exaltation, - at the Tambov cemetery The word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those who are being saved it is the power of God. (1 Cor. 1:18). What good thought did the Lord put into the hearts of the creators of this church - to dedicate it to the glory of His cross? – How is this comforting for the living, and saving for those departing? How much food for faith does this combination of the glory of the Exaltation of the Cross with the temporary resting place of our ashes after our departure from this life provide? I remember at the same time our multi-significant icon of the Resurrection!.. There is depicted a cross, which with its lower end is lowered into hell and rests on the ground with its cross-bar... Along the longitudinal part, lowered into hell, our forefathers - Adam and Eve - ascend... and behind them are other righteous people, drawn by the right hand of the Lord, standing at the other end. – I think the meaning of this image is clear to you! It means that the Lord, by His cross, destroyed hell and freed from there everyone who had been held there before His coming. Therefore, the cross of Christ was a ladder of ascent from hell to heaven for those who lived before the Lord Jesus Christ... What is it for us? For us, it is a ladder of ascent to heaven, immediately upon the release of the soul from the body. For those who now believe in Christ Jesus no longer go down to hell. – How comforting it should be for us that those close to us, leaving this world, are not amazed by the obscurity of the path in their new state, but meet it ready immediately - and how sweet the confidence that we may not be deprived of the same consolation. Thus, thanks be to the Lord, who arranged all this for us. For all those departing from this life, there is prepared a ladder of ascent to heaven - namely, the cross... but in fact, only those who are accustomed to walk under the cross in real life ascend it... Those who in this life did not have time or did not want to walk under the cross as they should, will not receive any benefit from what is available for those departing from here to heaven. For they either will not find it, or even having found it, they will not be able to use it. After this, you yourself can take the lesson that the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross instills in us - to the cemetery! Be comforted, as it is said here, that after departing from the body, your ascension to heaven will be ready - in the cross; but together take care to prepare yourself with the skill of ascending it, and prepare yourself by prudently walking under the cross throughout your present life. At the same time, no one would sigh in sorrow - what to do? where to get crosses and how to walk under their weight? - Don't worry! “The Lord knew that without crosses there is no salvation for us, so he arranged our lives in such a way that we are constantly surrounded by crosses on all sides. There is only one thing left for us to do... to accept and bear these crosses as we should... I will show you what kind of crosses these are and how to accept and carry them. The first cross is our sorrowful stay on this earth, filled with sorrows, hardships, displeasures, illnesses and all kinds of troubles. - After all, we were created for bliss, but having violated the commandment, we were expelled from paradise - and now we bear the penance of a temporary stay in this vale of crying and lamentation... No one is free from this cross; but everyone is free to turn it into a healing medicine for themselves, and to poison their life with it. – To prevent this from happening, this is what is needed... It is necessary to consider this state as deserved, and to say to the Lord sincerely: I am not worth anything better; then reproach themselves that they themselves are to blame for all this, and finally complacently bear all the sorrowful things. Only by walking like this, under this cross, will we receive boldness and, upon leaving here, ascend the cross to heaven. The second cross is the totality of our weaknesses and shortcomings - mental and physical, and most of all the totality of passions and wrong feelings and dispositions of our heart. God created man upright, but, having heeded the advice of the serpent, he accepted into himself the seed of evil, which perverted his good nature... did not destroy it, but having been grafted into it, he stands in the face of it as temptation and temptation. No one is free from this cross, and who does not know how restless and sorrowful he is? For anyone who wants to turn this cross to their advantage, this is what needs to be done! – Do not give in to the wrong impulses of the heart; having succumbed accidentally, repent and again put yourself in a position of abuse against passions. Every refusal to passionate demands, every victory over them is a step - under the cross and preparation for the posthumous progressive ascent along the cross to heaven. The third cross or the image of the cross is labor that is inevitable for us and the hardship and patience associated with it in fulfilling the duties that lie upon us. There is not a single person free from obligations. But their fulfillment inevitably requires effort and constancy, or, what is the same, labor and patience... Thus, patience in the constant fulfillment of the duties that lie upon us, with overcoming all the obstacles associated with it, is a cross, and at the same time how we can properly use it. You are a father or mother - endure, fulfilling the duties of father and mother... You are a judge... endure, fulfilling the duty of a conscientious judge (there is nothing to say about an unscrupulous judge... he hangs himself on a cross to his destruction). You are a teacher, conduct the affairs of teaching with tirelessness... You are a merchant, conduct the affairs of the merchant as it should... So everyone, fulfilling the duties of his place and title, will meet with patience and labor, or, what is the same, with a cross, which, carried complacently, will gain strength, and to the afterlife free ascent along the cross to heaven. There are also many other crosses: there is the cross of mortification of superstition, the cross of crucifixion of self-will, the cross of rejection of all pleasures, or, in totality, the cross of strict selfless living; and, above all, the cross of devotion to God, when a person’s every thought about arranging his temporal and eternal fate freezes from surrendering himself to the will of God. That's how many crosses!.. And that's not all... And why count them all in detail... The whole point regarding them is brief - this is what it consists of: Carry the lot that has been given to you graciously, and fighting courageously with passions and lusts, walk with patience the path of deeds that are obligatory for you, striving to reach the serene region of decisive surrender of yourself to the will of God. By living in this way, we will undoubtedly acquire strength and boldness for the unhindered ascent of the cross to heaven, upon leaving this life!.. May the Lord make us all wise to create this way. - Those who grumble at their fate, who work according to their passions, who are lazy in obligatory matters, who are wayward and self-indulgent - also carry crosses - but not to save themselves... May the Lord deliver us from this foolishness, in which, hoping to save ourselves, we destroy ourselves, not suspecting the machinations of the enemy, who in this way entangles us, and prepares us in advance as a sacrifice to himself - in another life. Amen. 10. After the consecration of the church in honor of the martyr Maximilian, in the Tambov Mariinsky Orphanage It is written in the third book of Kings: And Solomon made a feast on that day, and all Israel with him (1 Kings 8:65). This was on the day of the consecration of the church he built! We find ourselves in similar circumstances now. And our church is finished and now perfected by consecration - the church, of course, is not so magnificent on the outside as Solomon’s, but more filled with grace inside. “That is why we are now creating a spiritual holiday, offering grateful songs to the Lord, the Performer of this deed. Celebrate first, you, the creators of this church, both for the sake of the successful completion of your work, and for the sake of the fact that this gift of yours is not rejected by the Generous God, but accepted into His favor, evidenced by His present gracious visit here. Let the founders of this institution and its trustees celebrate, because now it has only received its final education and has become a perfect thing. Until now it was as if without shelter, but now it is covered with a special beneficial cover. Until now there was only a shelter for the body, but from now on there is a shelter for the soul in this church. Celebrate, too, you children, or most of all, because both the institution and the church are for you. Celebrate, rejoicing that the merciful Lord, the only patron, trustee and shelter of the orphans, having given you other fathers in these trustees of yours, has now deigned to approach you so tangibly and so closely. “Bless the Lord now, and all the servants of the Lord who stand in this church of the Lord - in the courtyard of this house of God” (Ps. 134:1)! But is that all? All this, it seems, has already been done. Is there anything still unfinished? – Yes, and very important. Namely: it is necessary to establish such an order of life in this institution that it will most likely achieve the goal and purpose of this church. – The church is intended for children. “We need to make sure that the children visit it as often as possible.” Listen, children! – To you – my word! “You saw how the curtain was stretched out here, you heard the words from outside: take up the gates, princes, yours... and the King of glory will come in.” They listened to the question: who is this King of glory, and to the answer: “The Lord of hosts,” he is this King of glory. Then they saw how the curtain opened - and below was the King of glory - the Lord. “Here He now dwells with us, and will forever remain with you and with everyone who comes here.” For He Himself said: My eyes and My heart will always be there (1 Kings 9:3). Come here often, children, to the Lord as to your Father! – Children who have parents come to them morning and evening and receive from them greetings of love and blessings of good wishes. - You either don’t have your fathers and mothers here at all, or your mothers and fathers are not here with you... Come here to the Lord, your only true Father, - here morning and evening you worship Him as a child, in love - and from Him you will receive a blessing and a fatherly embrace. - This is not a comparison, but the real thing. The Lord willingly allowed children to come to Him during His earthly life, He forbade them to interfere with their coming to Himself, and when His children surrounded Him, He blessed them all, laid His hands on them, and, in addition, took others into His arms. - But what He did visibly then, He now does invisibly; Then he touched the body, and now he touches the soul. - From now on He is present with you in this church - He is the same forever... Approach Him with childlike simplicity! He will bless you too; and He will embrace you with His hands - invisibly, although nevertheless really. – And notice when, being present here and praying, you feel a special silence and peace in yourself – know that it is the Lord approaching you. Then intensify your prayer and pay attention to yourself. - Here a slight movement of warmth begins in the soul, - here the warmth grows more and more, - and a fire finally kindles in the heart. - Know that it is the Lord who has embraced your soul in His arms, who cherishes it and blesses it... And the soul does not know itself from joy and gladness! This is why you come here more often; for nothing on earth can compare with the bliss of the Lord’s embrace. Come on over. – The Lord is ready to receive you; stretch out your spiritual hands to Him - love, prayer, reverent desire for the Lord... Do not look at the fact that you are small. The Lord is God of both you small and great - Imitate the Mother of God in this. She was only three or four years old when Her parents, Godfathers Joachim and Anna, brought Her to the Church of the Lord and dedicated Her to the Lord. - And there, at the church, She then lived endlessly until the time of her betrothal to Joseph, staying primarily in the Church of God, in prayer and deepening in the word of God. – And do you see what you have been honored with? - To be the Mother of the Lord... Come run to this church more often and remain more patient in your prayers, - and you will be honored - not, of course, with what the Mother of God was honored with, but much - similar to that. From Her the Lord became incarnate hypostatically, and He will invisibly dwell in you by His grace and remain in you forever, as He said: I will dwell in them and resemble them. See how great the promise is! Then you yourself will become churches to God, and you will always carry Him in your heart. - Desire it! - The Mother of God, who spent Her entire youth in the church, will be your helper in this. Come to Her here. As the Mother of believers, She will meet you here every time you come here to pour out your prayers before the Lord. But why am I talking to children all the time? “Children go where they are led, and so they go as they are led... Everything rests with you, the teachers.” – Take into your work what is obligatory for children and give them the opportunity to do it in their own way. Remember the word of the Lord to those who for some reason did not allow children to come to Him... Leave the children to come to Me and do not scold them; Of such is the Kingdom of God (Mark 10:14). Do you believe that the need for piety is alive and strong in children, although it is not comprehended and not put into forms? Do not choke this sprout of spiritual saving life by allowing or establishing for children such a pattern of life and activities that would alienate them from the Church and alienate them from it. - If you allow this, you will kill the soul before it reaches the age at which it can not fear for itself, and not be afraid of those who kill the body. Do you believe that from this day on the Lord is here - with His special gracious presence - you know how He wants children to be brought to Him without restraint... Bring them here - bring them at every free hour. I cannot imagine a single substantive thought that could justify denying this to children. “Those who at that time wanted to prevent their children from coming to the Lord could justify their fear of disturbing the Lord, or depriving others of the consolation of hearing His word... What do you say in your justification?! Isn’t it so often heard that the height of the actions of faith is higher than the concepts of a child?! But who does not know that the sacraments of faith are received with the heart? – If children have a heart, then they have a friend of faith. - Yes - there is, - and what else?! One that we ourselves set as a model. Unless you are like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of God (Matthew 18:3). - Add to this that the atmosphere of the church, in which, together with all its sacred rites, our entire faith is symbolized - this atmosphere is pure, heavenly, divine! Who is capable of breathing and being revived by this air? – Are we, beaten by falls, wounded by passions, darkened by vanity, or these innocent souls?! Don't scold them to come here. They are here - in their real environment. - On the other hand, just as any other life is excited, develops and matures invisibly, intimately, elusively for observation, so spiritual life arises and sung in secret ways - deeper than our consciousness. Thus, in a seed thrown into the depths of mother earth, a sprout sleeps. – Tell me, how does he get excited about life? Indicate these hidden pathogens and the ways in which they penetrate to the heart of the seed? “The sun with its warmth and the earth with its humidity are involved here; - but whether they are the main figures here, or just guides of other figures - no one can say for sure. – So we breathe, and with breathing (in connection with other conditions) we support the fire of life within ourselves. It seems there is nothing special here except the mechanical movement of the chest - the entry and exit of air... But meanwhile, under this visible, there is a flow of higher life-giving elements from the atmosphere, invisible to us, which, passing to the sources of our life, refresh, nourish and strengthen it. – By the same invisible inspirations, spiritual life is excited, developed and matures in us. “The Kingdom of God does not come with discretion,” says the Lord (Luke 17:20). It is unknown how, sometimes the breath of God’s love embraces the soul, sometimes the breath of reverent fear of God refreshes it, like the breath of morning coolness, sometimes it revives the movement of the warmth of the heart; - but with these only actions we live in spirit. – It is in vain that in this respect they want to limit everything to knowledge. No... For the formation and strengthening of spiritual life there is one condition: to keep it constantly under the influence of actions in which Divine powers are hidden, in order to use their flow and influx... Where is all this? Here - in the church... Don’t scold children to come here... Understanding of St. faith and its actions must come later, like the flower after the formation of a trunk, in order to then bear the mature fruit of conscious piety. Clear concepts about the objects of faith are beneficial when, after their formation in the soul, they find a pious life already ready in practice: for then they illuminate it with consciousness and, all the more, make it strong and indestructible. - But what in these concepts when they find a life that has already formed and become stronger in habits and is completely opposite to them? It will be a barren flower that cannot bear fruit. When concepts are at odds with feelings, they are met with distrust, wavered by doubts and driven out by denial. Is this what you want from your labors? That is, do you want to destroy in advance what you only intend to build? They are usually afraid of wasting time. – We often hear: we have a lot of work to do, or are expected to do, and there are no free hours to go to church. – Isn’t it better to say that it’s not time that you lack, but the desire and disposition?... As if the order of your activities is not in your hands, and as if, in fact, somewhere in the world there are people so busy that they don’t have not only hours, not even minutes to spare? And who requires a lot of time?.. No need. – Set aside a few minutes in the morning and a few in the evening for a clear prayer with singing, and that’s enough. – But don’t consider this a waste of time. On the contrary, be sure that with this sacrifice of a little time you will speed up your work, and therefore a lot of time will be saved. For what is most necessary for success in any kind of learning? Peaceful spirit and attention. Where can I get them? Here - at the throne of God. They come down from above from the God of peace. Let the feelings calm down here, the thoughts be pacified and the souls of the children refreshed... - And they will accomplish incomparably more on that day than when they are not here. – Isn’t God’s blessing necessary for children?! Come here with them and take it here from the Lord. It will expand their souls and hearts and make them a capacious vessel for all learning. – Do not imitate those who want to do everything themselves, not trusting in anything and entrusting nothing to the Lord. For centuries of experience have already proven that they watch in vain and work in vain. 11–15. Teachings on the path to salvation Teacher, what have I done, will I inherit an eternal life? (Luke 10:25). This is how a lawyer once asked the Lord! And he asked the Lord, tempting Him, as if curious about what the Teacher would just say, for he himself knew what answer to this should be made. – But you can ask about the path to salvation and not out of empty curiosity, but out of a sincere desire to receive a direct answer to it - unknown or forgotten, ask out of deep need, because the soul hurts and the heart is tormented by bewilderment - what, having done, will we inherit eternal life? Such painful bewilderment is all the more natural the more uncertain the sphere of thoughts surrounding the questioners, and the more differences of opinion they encounter in human writings and speeches. – And isn’t this the situation we find ourselves in now? Look around and you will see that those who are from us say more than one thing. Another, for example, says: pray and the Lord will save; another: cry, be distressed - and God will not humiliate you; third: do alms, and it will cover many sins; that one: fast and rush to the house of God; and this one: leave everything and go away, running and settle in the desert. That's how many different answers we have! – And these are all truths, saving rules, which one inevitably encounters on the path of salvation, although they do not fully embrace it. - As for those who consider themselves to be from us, but have ceased to be ours, - I mean Christians, carried away by the spirit of the age and superstition - to those who, having appropriated to themselves several sound concepts borrowed from Christianity and having dreamed a lot about themselves, left us and separated in heart from Christ the Lord, although they still confess Him with their tongue - as for them, then among them is even more sad and painful dissent, deviating from the path of truth and wandering at the crossroads of lies. Have you yourself either heard in conversation or read in books how others speculate about the order of things that should be in their minds, instead of the one that now exists? There is no mention of saving the soul here. Eternal bliss, if it is allowed, is considered already possessed, as it were, according to some rights of humanity, and all concern is directed to how, in addition to this, to sweeten earthly life and transform it from sorrowful to heavenly. - In this spirit, another proclaims: do not trust anything except your mind, follow the instincts of your nature, be independent, live for your own pleasure, do not allow someone else's hand to lie on your neck - and you will be happy; another preaches: where there are no public entertainments, theaters, etc., there is life, not life. There you hear: you can’t take a straight road, you need the ability to live - the ability to conduct business in such a way as not to lose your interest and not allow others to notice your plans, intentions and feelings (they call this prudence...); It says here that if you don’t defend your honor and dignity, you will perish. – Do you notice what gloomy wisdom all this is! And yet it can be said to form the basis of the customs of the world, and it can be found circulating freely in simple conversation, and in a large meeting, and in a printed book - more than one. - Imagine now what must happen in the mind and heart of your friend, and sometimes, perhaps, of your daughter and your son, when in one, another, third place they encounter similar speeches, when in one book they read such thoughts, in another and a third even worse - and this is not one day or month, but whole years - when, moreover, around them they see customs imbued with the same spirit, and here in their heart, tempted by temptations, whimsical ones arise thoughts that shake a good mood - imagine that all these varied impressions - at one time - will gather in a young, and perhaps not young, soul - what then should the heart feel, especially the heart that has not yet forgotten the Lord and treasures the word of truth that came from the lips of the Divine? – I hear from the depths of this heart a cry emanating, similar to the cry of the Apostles, frightened by the storm, and Peter, who began to drown: Lord! save me, I'm dying. God! What shall I do, what shall I do, that I may be saved? - Mothers and fathers! can you hear this cry? Don't think I got carried away. No! I deliberately wanted to find out how natural it is, especially now, to ask about the path to salvation, or about the path to the Kingdom of Heaven. “And I am sure that if the Lord were here among us now, then everyone who seeks lasting good, and who sees how the current spirit, the current teachings, the current orders contradict each other, all of these with one voice would turn to the Lord, first of all, with the question: Lord! What shall we do that we may inherit eternal life? What can we do to be saved? But, brethren, the Lord is the same yesterday and today, the same forever (Heb. 13:8). “Then He ordered the Jew to seek an answer in the law: what is written in the law, how do you read it?” Now He would command a Christian, without a doubt, to turn to the Holy Gospel - in general to the New Testament teaching or to the Church of God, and would ask him: what is contained here, as you understand? – It is obvious that the Lord, having drawn the Jew’s attention to the law, wanted to inspire him: there is nothing for you to ask; the path of salvation is prescribed in the law: do this and you will be saved! That is why the law was given to lead you to salvation. – Similar things should be said to Christians, who are shaken by the perplexities inspired on them: there is no need for you to ask! Christianity is the only path to salvation. – Be true Christians, and you will be saved. - Why St. Church, what are the dogmas and commandments, what are St. sacraments, our fasts, vigils, prayers, consecrations, etc.? - All this, or all, the contents of St. The Church is the right path to salvation. Who heartily accepts and diligently fulfills everything that St. commands. Church, he is not outside the path of salvation. Therefore, if this is in us, then we should not question the place, but glorify it; not to look for where salvation is, but to accept it ready-made, presented to us or encompassing us; with all our strength to give glory, honor and worship to the Lord, who saves us in His holy Church. What, that is, should we create? – To reverence sacredly and unswervingly follow all the teachings, statutes and decrees of St. Church, without listening to any empty speculations of the newfangled philosophy, which seeks to destroy everything without creating anything? I think that in your mind there is still uncertainty - what exactly needs to be done to be saved? Now I will answer you to this in a few words: believe in everything that the Holy Church commands to believe, and receiving the powers of grace through the sacraments and kindling them through all other sacred rites, prayers and institutions of the Holy Spirit. Church, walk steadily along the path of the commandments proclaimed to us by the Lord Jesus Christ, under the guidance of lawful shepherds, and you will be saved. “I will postpone a detailed disclosure of this until another time, and I will conclude my word with a prayer that the Lord will grant you light and reason, so that you may know Him and clearly understand the path of salvation, brought by Him to earth and established in the Church, and which has already led so many holy people to heaven, so that you all will not be deprived of this good aspiration. Amen. From the past conversation we are left with an explanation of one rather important point. – We told you that even now, with the great difference of opinion among the people around us, it is natural to ask: Lord! What, having created, will we inherit eternal life? God! What shall we do to be saved? We also said that such a question is unnecessary for a Christian living in the bosom of Christ’s Church, according to the spirit of Christianity; because Christianity is the only path to the eternal Kingdom, or the path to salvation, paved by God on earth. To one who follows this saving path, why should he ask about the path to salvation? – Be a true Christian, and you will be in heaven; Be a true Christian and you will be saved. But perhaps it is not clear to everyone what it means to be a true Christian, or what exactly in Christianity is offered as an integral condition of salvation and at the same time as a decisive sign that someone is going to eternal life, and not to destruction. – The explanation of this point is left to us. Then we answered this with a general statement; now we will explain this in more detail, taking as a guide the comparison of the path to salvation with the ordinary path. Anyone who is about to set out on a journey, in order to successfully complete his journey, needs to know this path, know its direction and longitude, as well as everything that may be encountered along its length - and during the procession itself, one must see both it and what it is surrounded by. Likewise, a Christian who wants to achieve the eternal life must know the path leading to it, and everything in contact with it, everything that is above it, and around it, and in front of it; it is necessary to illuminate the mental atmosphere with a collection of sound concepts about everything that exists and happens; it is necessary to know: what is God? What is this world, how does it stand and where is it going? What are we, why are we here, and what awaits us beyond the grave? How should we behave in relation to everything around us - to the Supreme Being - God, to our brothers - humans and to the invisible world - Angels and Saints. He who knows all this walks in the light; but he who does not know this sits in darkness, and if he decides to walk, he will stumble, because the darkness blinds his eyes. – And only Christianity disperses this darkness, giving correct answers to all this in its teaching. It teaches that God, worshiped in the Trinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit, having created everything with His one word, contains everything with the verb of His power, and leads everything to His destiny, moreover, he watches over man, and the fallen - prenaturally restores him in Christ the Savior, admonishing him with revelations and guiding the commandments that define all his obligatory relationships and constitute the actual path that he should follow. go. The totality of all these concepts is the light that shows us the path and illuminates it. So, learn the Orthodox Christian teaching and hold it with all your heart, and you will see the path to the Kingdom, and everything surrounding this path, and everything that can be encountered in its continuation. - This is the first thing. But even if someone knows the path, and this path is illuminated: what is the use of this knowledge if there is no strength to walk along it? A sick, weakened, legless person, lying along the path that must be followed, and it is so necessary that if he does not go, he will die - he will only be more distressed by the fact that he knows and sees this path. We would have been in this position if the Lord, having enlightened us with the light of knowledge, had not given us the strength to follow the instructions of this light; for we cannot walk on our own, we have no strength, we are weakened, broken. – But don’t be embarrassed! All Divine powers, including life and piety, have already been prepared for us by the Lord, who has called us into His wonderful light (2 Pet. 1:3), and they are given to every believer in the holy sacraments of the Church, given unenviously, in such abundance as anyone wishes and can contain. Baptism regenerates, anointing strengthens, St. Communion most sincerely unites us with the Lord Jesus Christ, St. repentance raises up the fallen, who falls again after baptism, and so on. Every sacrament gives a special divine power that a person needs on the path to the Kingdom of Heaven... So, knowing the sacraments contained in the Church, be a communicant of them as often as possible, with faith and according to the entire rite established in the Holy Order. Church of God - and the Divine powers needed to complete the path to the Kingdom of Heaven will never become scarce in you. - This is the second one. But along the way, your strength may weaken and deplete, you may encounter temptations and hobbies. – From the first the procession must stop; from the second - take the wrong direction; the end of both is destruction. How can this be? We need to renew our strength and weed out temptations and hobbies. – What is needed for this? One thing: to unswervingly fulfill all the decrees of the Church and all its rites - sacred, prayerful and sanctifying. And here's why! - In St. In the sacraments we accept the grace of the Holy Spirit, like a Divine spark falling into our nature. – Just as in order for a spark falling into a substance to turn into a flame, air and the movement of this air are necessary; so a kind of atmosphere and movement of this atmosphere is necessary in order for the spark of Divine grace, received by us in the sacraments, to penetrate our nature and turn into a flame. This atmosphere is what constitutes our churchliness - all the rites of sacred rites, prayers and observances of the Church that surround a person in all positions; and the movement of this atmosphere is the unceasing succession of the Church’s sacred rites one after another and the continuous participation of man in one or the other. Here we mean daily services: Vespers, Matins, Liturgy, church holidays, processions of the cross, prayers for various occasions - in homes and churches, a journey to St. places, - most of all, St. fasts with fasting and communion of the Holy Mysteries. – The more diligently one participates in all these rites, the stronger and stronger the spark of grace will flare up in him, until it turns into a flame that consumes his entire composition - mental and physical. Whoever acts this way will never run out of strength, he will never lose courage on the path and will not fall into carelessness. This same method is given to us in order to weed away from ourselves the lures and entertainment of the world. He who lives according to the rules of the Church, as if hidden behind a fence, is not afraid of its temptations. Churchliness is, as it were, a funeral service and a chastisement from the darkness produced by the breath of the worldly spirit. If this infection touches anyone, run to church, and everything will go away, or be unswervingly faithful to the instructions of the Church, and the world will not find a chance to infect you; for everything that is in the world is also in our Church, only in its purest, most Divine form... There are festivities there - we have St. holidays: there are balls, we have church services; there are theaters, we have Divine ceremonies. “Everyone compare what is best, and do not get carried away by empty bait and do not leave, for the sake of it, what is essential, fruitful and nutritious.” So live according to the church, and you will live as if in a spiritual atmosphere in a fence - and your strength will never weaken in you to continue your journey, and no bait will draw you to the crossroads. - This is the third. So as not to tire you, I will briefly tell you the fourth. – There may be obstacles along the way that you won’t know how to overcome: nets may be placed that you won’t be able to avoid; There may be combinations of paths in which you cannot figure out where to go; a cloud may come that will completely hide the path and frighten you with thunder and lightning: who then should you turn to? What should I do? Who will help in all such cases? – Angels from heaven? But they appear only in emergency circumstances, leaving the usual course of affairs to our existing order. So who will help? Shepherds are spiritual fathers, who were given to the Church, according to the Apostle, in order to prevent Christians from being perplexed, and to lead everyone steadily along the path to the eternal life, teaching everyone to come to the measure of the age of the fulfillment of Christ (Eph. 4:11-15). So, be submissive to the leadership of the spiritual fathers, and you will avoid crossroads and stumbling blocks on the way to the Kingdom of Heaven, and you will soon and safely flow to the gates of heaven. This is all that Christianity offers us about the path of salvation: 1) to know and maintain the Christian teaching, which communicates sound concepts about all things and indicates the very path to the Kingdom - in the commandments; 2) to be under the influence of the holy sacraments of the Church, through which strength is bestowed, even to life and piety; 3) participate in all sacred ceremonies, prayers and rites of the Church, as prescribed by the charter, in order to thereby kindle within oneself the spark of God’s grace and recapture the charm of the world; 4) entrust oneself to the leadership of legal shepherds and spiritual fathers and obey their leadership instructions. So - “Learn and hold in your heart everything that St. teaches. Church, and receiving the powers of grace through the sacraments and kindling them through all other sacred rites of the Church, walk steadily along the path of the commandments prescribed to us by the Lord Jesus Christ, under the guidance of legal shepherds, and you will undoubtedly reach the Kingdom of Heaven and be saved.” Amen. In the last conversation we reached the following conclusion: “learn and keep in your heart everything that St. teaches. Church, and receiving divine powers through the sacraments and warming them up through all other sacred rites and prayers of the Church, follow steadily the path of the commandments prescribed to us by the Lord Jesus Christ, under the guidance of legal shepherds, and you will undoubtedly achieve the Kingdom of Heaven and be saved.” And this is the answer - the direct and only answer - to every questioner: what have we done, will we inherit eternal life? All those who were saved were saved in this way and not in another way, and all those who are now being saved are saved in one way and not in another way. There is nothing more to say about this. But I am afraid that there is no one among you who judges this wrongly? Doesn't anyone think that not everything that has been said is equally necessary, or that not everything is necessary for everyone - that perhaps you can do without some things without thereby detracting from your salvation, others can be left to your own devices, not being obligatory for everyone. Therefore, I find myself forced to explain to you that everything we have said, i.e., the sound teaching of the faith, walking according to the commandments, receiving the sacraments, participating in all the prayers of the Church and the leadership of legitimate shepherds - all this is essential in the work of salvation, so that only there salvation is accomplished, where everything is together; where something is lacking, there the work of salvation is exposed to great danger and is spoiled. - Because What kind of salvation can one expect who does not contain the true teaching of the Church and thinks incorrectly either about God, the world and man, or about our present state of corruption, or about the method of our restoration, which is one, or about death and our future fate, or about any dogma - when the Lord himself says that if anyone rejects His words in the seven adulterous and sinful generation, he will also be rejected before His Father who is in heaven (Mark 8:38)? And whoever the Lord rejects, where is his place? Certainly not in the Kingdom of Heaven. But there are people who say: believe as you want, just live well, and don’t be afraid of anything; - as if one can live well without having sound concepts about the objects communicated by true faith. Don't be flattered, brothers! The composition of true life includes not only behavior, but also a sound way of thinking, so whoever lacks the latter should not be said to have lived a healthy and good life. On the other hand, to live well means to live pleasing to God - a Godly life is all led according to the will of God - and one of the first definitions of God’s will regarding us is to believe in Him whom He sent (1 John 3:23; John 6:29), i.e. in the Lord Jesus Christ and His divine teaching. This means that the one who says: believe as you want, just live well - when truly believing is a commandment - is like a person who himself destroys the foundation on which he wants to build a house, or like someone who wants to cross a river in a boat, which he deliberately breaks under himself. What kind of salvation can one hope for who violates any of God’s commandments, for example: the commandment of truth or mercy, abstinence or hard work, purity or non-covetousness, marital fidelity or any other, belittling the severity of his sins with some kind of misinterpretation - for example: nature attracts, the heart demands, - or trying to obscure their ugly appearance from the conscience with some visible, not entirely difficult, deeds of piety - for example: by visiting churches, arranging valuable icons and lighting lamps? What kind of salvation, I say, do you expect for such people, when it is directly said that if you want to take it into your belly, keep the commandments (Matthew 19:17)? - that the unrighteous, no matter what kind they are, cannot inherit the Kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6:9). Of course, external works of piety are also needed, and essential in the matter of salvation, but not alone: ​​it is also necessary to fulfill all the other commandments of God. This is fitting to do, says the Lord, and not to forsake them (Matthew 23:23). Just like walking without legs or flying without wings, it is impossible to reach the Kingdom of Heaven without fulfilling the commandments. How is it that others arbitrarily plot to work out their salvation on their own, not accepting Divine powers, even to life and piety, through St. sacraments, and without warming them up with sacred rites and prayers of the Church? I have already explained that we, fallen, are weak, and cannot take a step on the good path, without special grace-filled help - that this grace is received in the Holy Spirit. sacraments, and what is acceptable is at first like a small spark, which is then kindled to a flame by active participation in all the rites of the Holy Spirit. Church of God. All this is clear by itself, and is recognized by one’s own experience, and is testified by everyone. But there are people who say: “all this churchliness is needed for the simple; for those who understand the matter, mental, spiritual or heartfelt service to God is enough.” – Blessed are you, simple souls, who unquestioningly accept everything and willingly obey every voice of the Church! You are like trees planted by the springs of water, which yield their fruit in its season. And those who understand the matter - in their own way, of course - are similar, in spiritual terms, to skinny blades of grass growing on dry, rocky or sandy soil, and showing barely weak signs of life in themselves; or even worse: they are like seeds that are still buried in the depths of the earth, not yet frozen or frozen. Imagine rain, snow, stormy weather in the yard, and place a man in the open air in such weather, uncovered, as he should be, with clothes; - How long will he live? Exactly - in such circumstances there is one who shuns the sacraments and all our life-giving churchliness. Such people are pathetic! selfishness and selfishness eat away at their bones. Finally, the Lord chose the Apostles; the Apostles handed over their work to the bishops, appointing presbyters to work with them. All of them together constitute the God-established shepherd in the Church, whose work is to elevate everyone into a perfect man, according to the age of the fulfillment of Christ (Eph. 4:13), sanctifying with the sacraments, warming with sacred rites, and even more so, guiding with advice in the multi-disciplined flow towards spiritual perfection. – And thank God that it is so! We are blind; Just as a blind man needs a guide, so we need a pointer to the path to the Kingdom of God - in many cases we need a person who, as it were, took us by the hand and led us out of the confusion of thoughts and feelings into which the enemy and our own unreason sometimes plunge us. – Don’t say that “the word of God is the leader of all; we ourselves will read and see what is needed.” – The Word of God contains general instructions for everyone, and what exactly I need, and in my circumstances, this should be explained to me by another – a living, experienced voice. Without this, I must wander at crossroads and be in constant danger. And this is why we need the help of prudent pastoral advice. How can it seem to others, and perhaps not a small number of them, that they have no other obligatory relationship with their shepherd than an invitation, if necessary, to perform a sacrament or some other sacred rite? Such people forget that they have no control, they fall like leaves, but there is salvation in much counsel (Proverbs 11:14). From all that has been said, the same conclusion emerges again as before: “If you want salvation, find out and hold in your heart everything that St. teaches. Church, and, receiving Divine powers through the sacraments and kindling them through all the sacred rites and prayers of the Church, walk steadily along the path of the commandments prescribed to us by the Lord Jesus Christ, under the guidance of legal shepherds, and you will undoubtedly achieve the Kingdom of God and be saved.” – All this is essential in the matter of salvation, everything is necessary in its entirety and for everyone. Whoever does not accept or allow one thing, there is no salvation for him - he will not heal his infirmities and will not avoid illnesses. The Church of God is a healer, containing in its structure medicine, healing all our spiritual illnesses. The components of this healing are: Orthodox teaching, life according to the commandments, the sacraments with the sacred rites of the Church and the guidance of pastors. – Just as in bodily illnesses healing is healing only when it is composed of all the substances indicated in the recipe, so in our spiritual illnesses, healing can take place in us only when we accept all the elements that are part of our only spiritual healing – Christianity, or the Church. – Take away any element from bodily healing, and it will no longer have its effect. Do not accept anything that is inevitably part of Christianity or the Church, and you will deprive yourself of the healing that is so necessary for you, and therefore you will remain in the same unhealed, destructive state - you will not be saved and will not see the Kingdom of Heaven. Amen. Having previously discussed the path to salvation, we learned that whoever wants to save his soul needs to know and sacredly maintain the Divine teaching of the holy faith, and, moreover, it is necessary to accept Divine powers through the Holy Spirit. sacraments and kindle them through all church rites, and then, with their help, walk the path of God’s commandments, under the guidance of legal shepherds. We also saw how necessary all this is, and how necessary everything is in its entirety, so that in vain will he flatter himself with the hope of salvation if he arbitrarily rejects any of these, the salvation of the working elements. Turning now to ourselves, to the order of life that reigns among us, what do we find? “We find that all this is already operating in our circle, that we are not deprived of the lawful God-established shepherdhood, through which the saving sacraments are performed for us with all the sacred rites,” preaches St. faith and interpretation of God's commandments; that, therefore, we have all the means to life and piety, or we live in a saving, so to speak, atmosphere. Salvation is so close to us that we can almost touch it. How bitter it will be for us if, at that hour when the dignity of each of us is decided, we find ourselves not having accomplished our salvation! - Thinking about this, you again cannot resist the question: what will we create? What shall we do with these Divine means for salvation, so that we may be saved? 1. Let us thank the Lord, who has been so kind to us - let us thank you for the fact that as soon as we are born, we already enter into a saving environment and find everything necessary for salvation ready, and before we come to consciousness, we are already rushing along the path of salvation - the general flow of those being saved. Just as in visible nature the smallest insect, when born, finds everything necessary for its existence around itself; This is how the Lord surrounds us with warm care as soon as we were born, and then continues it until the end of our lives. From the cradle, our mother Church still takes us into her arms - revives us to a new life, nourishes and protects us on all our paths, and does not retreat from us until she lowers us into the grave, with a prayer that is soothing for those who remain and not powerless for those who have departed: “in the blessed dormition, grant eternal peace, Lord, to the deceased slave, or to the deceased slave.” What deserves all this? - Nothing. – There are many peoples who do not know the true path. Those who are born among them must intensively seek this path - and will they still find it? and we enter it without any effort on our part, we find it without looking. Why is this so? - Only God knows that. But in every possible way, in this action of Divine providence one cannot help but see God’s special favor towards us. Let us thank the Lord for all this, who has provided so kindly for us! Let us give thanks for this and for the very conviction that we possess truly saving means; for in connection with this conviction there is another conviction - in God’s special closeness to us, in the fact that the one true God is our God, and we are His people. And nothing can be higher than this good on earth. 2. Hearing this, not one of you may be ready to exclaim, as if already perceiving salvation: My Lord and my God! But do not forget, brethren, the word of the Lord: do not everyone say to Me: Lord, Lord! will enter the Kingdom of God (Matthew 7:21). “Here comes the question again: what else will we do?” This is what we will do. With all our thoughts, with all our hearts and with all our strength, let us devote ourselves to this Divine dispensation of our salvation, namely: a) we will maintain an unshakable conviction in the truth of this dispensation of salvation and its urgent necessity for everyone in general. Ah, brothers! overcome the temptation of your mind and the superstitious wisdom of others that reaches your ears. Do not give in to doubts and do not allow the peace of your faith to be shaken by daring and proud questioning: what is this for and why is this? It would be better this way or that. Avoid these temptations. We are not the first. – How many have already been saved this way?! - We are sick; we are being treated. – Does the doctor explain why he treats the patient this way and not differently: let us remain silent and humbly submit to everything, as if to God’s dispensation. b) And this is not the only thing; - let us also add compassion to this entire dispensation, that is, we will set ourselves up so that our hearts find pleasure in the worthy acceptance of St. the mysteries, and in all Divine services and sacred rites, and in listening to the preaching of the truths of God, and in attention to the leadership and advice of shepherds, and in any general matter prescribed by the law of God. Whoever has sympathy for something is drawn there. Who has sympathy for the works of salvation; - and strives for them. Someone has sympathy for something else; - that’s what he’s running towards. This is why it happens that while some are in a hurry to go to church, others are going to the theater, to a ball or a party... But you yourself know what to expect from these latter? - Translate your heart from these vain places to the joyful region of God, and there you will find delight and the fullness of heart contentment. “Where the treasure is, says the Lord, there is the heart.” “It has become that where the heart is, there is the treasure.” – What kind of treasures does the world offer?! – And are they worth it to defile the heart, predestined to be the abode of God?! No one would have thought that it was possible to combine both! No, you can't. “Our heart is one and simple, so where it is, everything is already there, and in anything else it is no longer there, and it cannot be there.” Because he who is in the world with a heart is in the church without a heart. And vice versa, whoever is in the church with a heart is in the world without a heart. Somewhere - it’s inevitable to be without a heart. And without a heart - what kind of life is this! It is good in the world to be without a heart; and in the Church of God to be without a heart means to be a hypocrite in the eyes of the all-seeing God. That is why, to everything prescribed, one must also add - c) zealous, unforgiving and unmixed fulfillment of everything that is required for salvation. There is one thing, one thing: if you want to be saved, stick to saving deeds; but if you don’t want to, as you want, just know that you cannot work for God and mammon. - Let us decide, brothers, to walk firmly on the path of salvation, not deviating either on the right hand or the other. Let us reject double-mindedness and straighten our feeble feet! What can you say about a patient who lies in a good hospital, is treated by a good doctor, receives direct medicine against the disease, and neglects all this: does not listen to the doctor, does not take medicine? - What can you also say about someone who stands before a pure source, feels thirst and has the opportunity, even is forced, to quench it from this particular source, and instead leaves it and runs to a river full of mud, reptiles and stench - and from there drinks water that does not quench his thirst? Of course, you won't approve of either one. But won’t we pronounce this sentence on ourselves if, having all the means of salvation, we do not use them as we should? And will not God’s reproach apply to us: I have forsaken the fountain of living waters, and dug up for myself treasures of brokenness that cannot contain water (Jer. 2:13). So, brethren, thanks be to the Lord that, in His great mercy, He has brought His salvation so close to us. But let’s do our best! The path of salvation is indicated and made clear. He is in front of us. But still we will not be saved if we do not go this way! Look again at the entire structure of this path! - We said: - learn and maintain the teaching of faith and receiving power through the sacraments, follow the path of the commandments, under the guidance of shepherds. – Here, the knowledge of faith and commandments, the sacraments with all the sacred rites and the guidance of shepherds constitute the organization of the path of salvation, which is outside of us. What is the matter of salvation itself? The point is to follow this path. - Let's go! – Now is the time acceptable, now is the day of salvation (2 Cor. 6:2). Amen. While I was thinking of what to tell you at the end of our conversations about the path to salvation, a legend came to my mind that I read in one of the ancient fatherland books. It is very close to what we were talking about, and I do not consider it superfluous to convey it to you now in the form in which it is pictured in my head. One deep old man, who lived in a secluded desert, fell into despondency and the darkness of his thoughts began to crush his soul, instilling in him bewilderment whether he was going the right way, and whether there was any hope that his labors would finally be crowned with success? The elder sat with his head bowed. My heart ached; but the eyes did not give tears. Dry grief tormented him. While he was so overcome with grief, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him and said: “Why are you troubled and why are thoughts entering your heart? You are not the first and you are not the last to follow this path. Many have already passed through it, many are going through it - and many will pass through it to the bright abode of heaven. “Go, I will show you the different paths that the sons of men walk, as well as where these paths lead.” “Look, and understand!” Obeying the sign of the Angel, the elder stood up and walked; but he barely took a few steps forward when he became beside himself and plunged into contemplation of the wondrous vision that opened to his intelligent eyes. He saw on his left side, thick darkness, like an impenetrable wall, inside which noise, alarm and confusion could be heard. - Peering more carefully into the darkness, he saw a wide river, along which waves moved back and forth, right and left, - and every time a wave flashed before his eyes, it was as if he clearly said in the elder’s ear: this is a wave of unbelief, carelessness, coldness, this is unmercifulness, debauchery, bribery; these are bliss, fun, envy, discord, and these are drunkenness, uncleanness, laziness, unfaithfulness of spouses, and so on. and so on - and every wave turned a countless number of people on itself in front of him, lifting them out of the river and again plunging them into its depths. In horror, the elder exclaimed: Lord! Will all these really perish and there is no hope of salvation for them? The angel said to him: look further, you will see the mercy and truth of God! The elder looked at the river and saw it along its entire breadth and length covered with small boats, in which sat bright young men with all kinds of tools to save the drowning. They called everyone to them, and shook hands with others, lowered poles and boards to others, threw ropes to others, and sometimes plunged hooks and hooks into the depths, would anyone grab hold of it? So what? Very few responded to their calling voice, and even fewer were those who properly used the instruments of salvation given to them. The majority rejected them with contempt, and with some kind of wild pleasure they plunged into this river, which emitted fumes, stench and fumes. The old man stretched his gaze into the distance of the river, and at the end of it he saw the abyss into which it was cast. Young men in large numbers quickly swam in boats back and forth, at the very edge of the abyss, carefully giving help to everyone; but, despite this, every minute, at every point of the river, whole thousands of people, along with the river, were thrown into the abyss, from where only groans of despair and gnashing of teeth were heard. “The elder covered his face and began to sob. - And a voice came to him from heaven: “It’s bitter, but who is to blame? Tell me, what else could I have done to save them that I would not have done? But they bitterly reject any help given to them. They will reject Me if I come to help them in the most bleak places of their suffering.” Having calmed down somewhat, the elder turned his eyes to the right side, to the bright east, and was consoled by a joyful vision. Those who, heeding the call of the bright youths, gave them a hand, or grabbed some saving tool, were taken by them to the right bank. - Here they were received by other persons, led into small slender buildings, scattered in large numbers along the entire length of the coast, where they washed them with clean water, clothed them in clean clothes, girded them, put them on shoes, gave them a staff and, having strengthened them with food, sent them on their way - further to the east, commanding them - not to look back, to walk without stopping, to look carefully at their feet, and not to miss a single similar building without enter it and not refresh yourself in it with food and advice from those to whose care these buildings are entrusted, as well as everyone who enters them. The elder ran his eyes along the shore and saw that all along it, these delivered ones were preparing to set off. “Joy and enthusiasm were evident on everyone’s face. It was clear that they all felt especially light and strong and with some irresistibility they rushed along the path, the first stages of which were strewn with pleasant flowers. The elder then turned his gaze further to the east, and this is what was revealed to him! – The pleasant meadow did not end far from the shore; then the mountains began, lying in ridges in different directions. They walked, rising higher and higher, and intersected by abysses, sometimes bare and rocky, sometimes covered with bushes and forests. Travelers and workers were visible everywhere along them. Another climbed a steep slope, another sat tired or stood in thought, he fought with an animal or a snake; one went directly to the east, and the other in an indirect direction, and the other cut transversely the paths of the others; - only everyone was in labor and sweat, in struggle and strain of strength, both mental and physical. Rarely does a traveler always see the road; often it completely disappeared or was fragmented into crossroads; in some places it was hidden by fog and darkness, in others it was cut off by an abyss or a steep cliff; there she was blocked by animals from the oak forest or poisonous reptiles from the gorges. - But that’s what’s wonderful! Scattered throughout the mountains were beautiful buildings, similar to those into which those rescued from the water were received for the first time. As soon as the traveler entered them, as he was commanded at the beginning, then no matter how exhausted he was before that time, he came out of there cheerful and full of strength. Then the beasts and reptiles could not bear his gaze, and fled from him; – no obstacles stopped him for long; and he easily and quickly found a path that was hidden in some way, according to the instructions that he received in those buildings. - Every time someone overcame an obstacle or defeated an enemy, he became stronger, taller and more stately: the higher someone climbed, the more beautiful and brighter he became. Towards the top of the mountain the terrain again became smooth and flowery; but those who entered it soon entered a bright cloud, or fog, from which they no longer appeared. The old man raised his eyes above this cloud and from behind it, or from behind the mountain, he saw a wonderful, indescribable beauty of light, from which sweet sounds came to him: “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts!” The elder fell on his face in tenderness, and the word of the Lord rang loudly over him: “Thou shalt thus, that ye may comprehend” (1 Cor. 9:24). Rising to his feet again, the elder saw that from different heights of the mountain, a considerable number of travelers, in different places, were rapidly running again to the river, sometimes silently, sometimes with shouting and blasphemous, abusive words. An appeal was addressed to each of them, both from above and from the sides: “stop, stop”! But driven by some small murins, they did not heed caution and again plunged into the stinking river. Then the elder cried out in amazement: Lord! what is this? and heard in response: “the fruit of arbitrariness and disobedience to the God-established order”! “That’s the end of the vision.” The angel, showing him to the elder, finally asked him: “Are you comforted?” - And the elder bowed to him to the ground. I think, brethren, there is no need to tell you much to interpret this vision. – The river is the world; people immersed in it - living according to the spirit of the world, in passions, vices and sins; the bright young men in the boats are Angels and, in general, grace calling for salvation; the abyss into which the river with people fell is destruction; a beautiful building on the right bank - the Church, where, through the sacrament of repentance or baptism, converted sinners are washed from their sins, put on the garment of justification, girded with power from above, and set on the path to salvation; climbing the mountain, with different difficulties - different labors in cleansing the heart from passions; beasts and reptiles are enemies of salvation; smooth terrain towards the top - peace of the heart; a bright cloud hiding travelers is a peaceful death; light from behind the mountain - blissful paradise; the buildings scattered throughout the mountain are churches of God. - Who enters these buildings on the way, i.e. receives the sacraments and participates in the sacred rites and prayers of the Church, uses the advice and guidance of pastors, he easily overcomes all obstacles and soon ascends to perfection. He who arbitrarily rejects them, not obeying the instructions and advice of the shepherds, soon falls, and the spirit of the world carries him away again. I consider it unnecessary to attach any admonition to this. I only beg you, brothers, save yourself from this evil age! Amen. 16. On the week of the publican and the Pharisee Open the doors of repentance, O Life-Giver! St. puts such a tender song of prayer into our mouths. The Church is beginning to prepare us for repentance. There are still three weeks before Lent, and perhaps no one is thinking about it; but from afar she shows us his door and wants to predispose us to enter it. Although not even though we must meet the time of fasting; but she wants us to meet and spend this time as it should. And so, on this day, next Sunday and beyond, she instills in us one after another edifying rules in two parables and two most striking incidents, of which the current history of mankind began with one, and with the other it will end. Let us learn and heed the lessons of our mother! Now the parable of the Publican and the Pharisee tells each of us: “Do not rely on your righteousness, like the Pharisee, but place all the hope of your salvation in the infinite mercy of God, crying out, like the Publican: God, be merciful to me a sinner! For the Pharisee, it seems, was of good conduct, but was not justified before God.” It is incomprehensible to us how it is that the creation of good deeds, or righteousness, is obligatory for us, as a necessary condition for salvation, and yet we cannot base our hope on them, but, no matter how many righteous deeds we have, we must consider all of them insufficient and resort to other means to replenish them. This is incomprehensible to us; but that's how it is. A Christian, in the feeling of his heart, must bear a deep conviction of his lewdness, despite all his righteousness, or despite all the abundance of good deeds, for which he must, however, be vigilantly zealous. This is how everyone who was saved was saved, and left us in their example an indication of the possibility of such feelings and an incentive to kindle them in ourselves. Look at the prayers of repentance, which are the outpouring of the souls of the Saints of God, glorified by the Church. How they condemn themselves before the Lord!.. And yet everyone around them considered them pure and blameless before God!.. Do you think there was insincerity here? No! It was a sincere cry of the soul to God! And therefore, it is possible, deep down in the soul, to recognize oneself as indecent, despite all the visible purity of the soul, or the correctness and honesty of behavior. And how could it be otherwise? If you base your hope of salvation on righteousness; then we must present to God complete righteousness and all-encompassing virtue. Only such righteousness and such virtue can be the basis of our salvation and feed us with trustworthiness. But look what this requires! Complete righteousness, or all-encompassing virtue, is composed of the following three parts: 1) From good deeds, apparently performed for everyone by the body, in their own time and in their place. This is what it is: if anyone asks for alms, give it to him. Whoever caused offense, forgive him. The enemy has come, kill him. Sit down at the table, eat food according to the rules and abstain. It is time to pray, pray reverently and as commanded... You go to a position, work hard, and so on and so forth. Every moment and every place has its own good deeds, which everyone who enters into them must certainly perform. In this regard, a person’s entire life should be a continuous chain of good deeds, from the minute he comes to consciousness in this world until the moment he leaves it... Just as those who embroider pictures with beads, row after row, attach beads to their places and it is these, and not other beads, to this or that place, and only then, as they observe all this, do not confuse the beads and do not allow breaks and omissions, does the picture receive a proper appearance and its name: so in relation to us, then only will the Lord consider someone virtuous when he develops the whole picture of his life in such a way that he does not will miss a single place and a single moment of time without doing something obligatory for him at that time. Now stand here, leaning on your righteousness, and say: do you live in such a way that you always do good and never omit the deeds that are obligatory for you, and do not allow the deeds to be half-good or even completely unkind? If so, lean on your righteousness; and if not, look for another support for your salvation! 2) The other part, which is part of complete righteousness, consists of good feelings and dispositions hidden under apparently performed deeds. This is the essence: love, peace, patience, meekness, mercy, self-control, humility, reverence, detachment from everything, and so on, and so on. Good deeds, apparently performed in order to be truly good and serve for salvation, must certainly be an expression of some of the internal good feelings; so, if at their core there is no good feeling with which they should be inspired, then they are worthless and repugnant to God. So, for example, a reverent turn of mind and heart towards God is a good, God-pleasing inner mood. When it is in the soul, it demands urgently and appropriate deeds, which happen, namely: home prayer, long bows, going to the church of God for services, visiting holy places, honoring icons, lighting lamps and incense, and so on. There is a similar sum of visible actions for the expression of each inner feeling; for example, to express mercy there are seven acts of physical and seven acts of spiritual mercy. But we must always remember that the latter, that is, visible deeds, only have value when they serve as an expression of the former, that is, internal feelings. Thus, all visible deeds of piety: bowing, praying, going to church, etc., will only be truly good deeds when they serve as an expression of inner piety, or reverent turning to God of our mind and heart, and without this latter, they are nothing. The same must be said about all works of mercy, that they are only truly good when they serve as an expression of sincere brotherly love for all for the glory of God, and not some kind of adaptation to others, a desire to show off, or, as is often said now, a desire to reveal humanity; this is paganism in Christian clothing. The same must be said about all other external affairs - that their true value is determined by their internal disposition. For otherwise, you can, for example, be in church with your body, but in fornication with your soul: condescendingly excusing with your tongue, but condemning in your heart; show respect by body position, but harbor contempt inside; do not look with your eyes at faces, but in your soul become inflamed with lust, and so on. and so on. Outwardly, all these deeds are good, but their value before God is destroyed by the feelings that are nourished when they are performed in the soul. And therefore, you can base your salvation on righteousness only when you can be sure that all our feelings and dispositions are correct and pleasing to God - and, moreover, not for an hour or two, but throughout our entire lives and continuously. So, come here, you who want to base your salvation on your good behavior, and tell me, did you ever slip under the visible good deeds of your wrong feelings, desecrating them?.. If you didn’t slip through (but who can say this?), then rest in your righteousness; and if it slipped, as everyone should recognize, then humble yourself and look for another basis for your trust in salvation. 3) The third part of complete righteousness is a zeal strong as death for the glory of God, inspired by fiery love for God and inspiring all the good feelings of the heart and all visible good deeds. When there are good dispositions in the heart, one might, it seems, be able to calm down about one’s fate. But here's what, brothers, take note! We were created by God, created in the image and likeness of God, created so that we would glorify the name of God in the universe, or so that we would completely devote ourselves to God... And yet, this is what can happen! Some people are compassionate and show their compassion through their actions, but they don’t even think about God, despite all the deeds and feelings of those who are compassionate. Such kindness will not be remembered before God, for it was not accepted from Him as a commandment, and is not dedicated to Him as service and sacrifice. Others are meek and without anger and demonstrate this disposition by deeds, not allowing themselves to be carried away by feelings of discord and revenge; but at the same time he follows some kind of instinctive disposition towards compliance, formed by the consciousness of powerlessness and timidity, and not the commandment of the Lord, Who says: Forgive! Vengeance is mine - I will repay! This kind of meekness has no price before God. Another is abstinent and extremely abstinent: he sleeps little, hardly eats or drinks, he is rarely seen outside, he is always at home and at work; but he does not dedicate his labors to God, but either to self-interest or to empty human glory. The Lord does not recognize such abstinence and hard work as worthy of reward. Same with everything else! It is not enough to have good feelings and dispositions (which can be natural - innate), they must also be headed by one fundamental disposition - zeal for the glory of God, be imbued with it and serve as its expression. If this does not exist, or if it does not exist in the proper degree and measure, all our kindness will be counted as nothing in the face of the Lord, Who will one day say: get away from Me; We don’t know you!.. We don’t know you because throughout your life you did not let Me know about you by dedicating your good feelings and deeds to Me. So, come, you who seek salvation from righteousness, and tell me, has there always been zeal for the glory of God in you to the proper extent, and has it always alone inspired your good feelings and deeds? If so (and who can say?), then rest in your righteousness; and if not, look for another way to justify yourself before God and another basis for your salvation! So, whoever wants to base the hope of his salvation on righteousness, just let him do it so that this righteousness is perfect, complete and comprehensive, that is, so that his whole life is a continuous chain of good deeds, without interruption or omission, so that under these deeds there are always good feelings and dispositions hidden, of which they should only be visible expressions, and so that all these feelings and dispositions are inspired by one zeal for the glory of God, or were a sacrifice to God... Therefore, whoever has all this, come, stand boldly before the face of the Lord and tell Him, if you dare and if your conscience allows it: I am not like other people. And if there is something missing, be silent and, not daring to raise your face to heaven and open your lips, from the depths of your soul cry out in the publican’s voice: God, be merciful to me, a sinner! Do not look at the fact that there are some good deeds and good feelings, and that sometimes you feel a fit of hot zeal for God. God does not require something, but everything, the entire fullness of righteousness and kindness, and when any parts of it are lacking in a person, he rejects the whole person as indecent. Will you take clothes from a tailor when everything is there and well made, but the skirts or sleeves are missing? Or, when the carpenter brings you a table, cleanly finished, only without a leg or some other part, will you tell him: okay, leave it? So in relation to us, God cannot recognize someone as righteous if he lacks any parts of righteousness. But if no one can boast that he has done all good deeds unfailingly, and had all good feelings, and has always been inspired with all his might by the zeal of God, then it is better not to think of basing his salvation on righteousness, so that at the right hour he will not be deceived in this hope; Let him better forget about this righteousness and, no matter how much good he does, let him keep in his heart the feeling of his indecency before God and look for other ways to justify himself, the example of which is the Publican! Come, fall down and cry before the Lord, who created us, with faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, with His priceless blood shed on the cross, washing away all our sins and making up for all our shortcomings with His boundless holiness. Be jealous of virtue, do not let your eyes sleep, so as not to miss an opportunity for good, not to allow unkind feelings and not to weaken in jealousy; But place all hope of salvation in the Lord, who from God will bring us righteousness and sanctification and deliverance (1 Cor. 1:30). Amen. 17. On the week of the prodigal son Last Sunday, through the word of the Gospel parable, St. The Church does not rely on its own righteousness. And we saw that there was no possibility of somehow basing the hope of our salvation on it. For where can we live in such a way that our whole life represents a continuous chain of good deeds and, moreover, in such a way that under these good deeds there are always good feelings and dispositions of the heart, and then all these feelings and dispositions with all deeds are inspired by one zeal for the glory of God? Where can we live like this? Meanwhile, all this and all this only together constitute complete righteousness, so that if something is missing, that righteousness is no longer righteousness and does not have the power to open us the entrance to the Kingdom of Heaven. But on the other hand, only the righteous, pure and holy can inherit the Kingdom of God, because nothing unclean will enter it. So what should we do? How can you make your unrighteous life righteous? How can you justify your lies? Where should we put our sins, and how can we whiten the impurities and defilements of our souls? For if, in the absence of righteousness, we still do not seek this and do what follows therefore, there is no hope of salvation for us! We are dead! The God of truth has no concessions, and has no regard for his face: either be right, or seek a false justification in the face of a righteous and impartial Judge. Alas! it's too close for both of us! and every soul that seeks salvation inevitably passes through this tightness! Not seeing the truth in herself, she is struck by the feeling of God’s wrath and is ready to fall into despair. But, thanks be to the Lord, she hears a comforting voice to the thief from the cross: today you will be with Me in paradise! and she comes to life with trustworthiness... Ah, brothers! if there were no cross, there would never be any joy in any soul; there would be only sorrow and distress both in this life and in the future. Have you, brethren, heard with your heart this call from the Lord: come to Me, all you who labor in feelings of hopelessness and burdened with sins, and I will give you rest: I will take you under My roof, I will pacify you, lighten you and fill your soul with trust! Come, all you who seek salvation! Come, let us worship and fall before Christ, crying out to Him from the depths of our souls: save us, Son of God, save us! Don’t we know any other savior for You? So this is the straight and unforgettable way of salvation, not righteousness! That’s why the New Testament begins: “Repent and believe the gospel.” Repent: recognize yourself as sinners, unrequited before God, and cry about it in the sorrow of your soul; believe in the Gospel: believe that the Lord nailed all our sins on the cross and tore away their handwriting, and that every sinner who believes in Him receives forgiveness and is declared right in the face of the truth of God. Currents of tears of repentance and heartfelt contrition for sins, dissolved and softened by faith in the Lord’s death on the cross, are the basis of our justification and, consequently, our salvation. That is why John the Baptist, preparing the people to meet the Lord, said: repent... That is why the Lord Himself began His preaching with the same word: repent, and then, sending the Apostles to preach while still with Him, commanded them to say everywhere: repent. That's why St. The Church, teaching us to delight in salvation during the approaching Lent, puts this song in the mouth of each of us: open the doors of repentance, O Life-Giver! She has already offered us the parable of the publican and the Pharisee, in order to teach that salvation lies in the publican's beating of the chest with a cry of repentance: God, be merciful to me, a sinner, and not in self-justifying conceit: I am not like others... I give You praise, etc.; and now he offers the parable of the prodigal son to show that the heavenly Father is more dear to that son who, turning to Him after a sin, says: I am not worthy to be called Your son... than the one who, thinking that he never violates His will, says: I have not transgressed Your commandments... Come, let us cry before the Lord who created us, the righteous Lord, but ready to have mercy on us for the sake of our crushing tears... Who would not have thought, judging by the examples of the publican and the prodigal son, that tears of repentance are needed only by those who have become entangled in the passions of dishonor and great sins, and not by those who have already stopped sinning and live regularly! No no! Tears of repentance are necessary for everyone, and without them there is no salvation for anyone in the world: moreover, continuous tears are needed, and not so much that you cry once, confess, and that’s enough... They are the same in life as a field or background in flowery matter. Just as this one-color field serves as the basis of flowers and fills the empty spaces between them, so tears of repentance serve as the basis of righteousness and make up for the shortcomings of righteous deeds in our lives. So, no excuses! It's okay to cry and cry! To make it clearer for you what tears are and how one should cry, I will give you several cases regarding this from the lives of the Saints. One holy man, it seems Ephraim the Syrian, was walking with his disciples to a city or village and, passing by a cemetery, he saw a widow shedding bitter tears over her grave... and, no matter how much her relatives who surrounded her consoled her, she did not want to listen to anyone. She seemed to have forgotten everything, saw and heard nothing; only grief consumed her heart and soul. Having passed it, the elder, turning to his disciples, said to them: just as this widow is killed on this grave, so we need to kill ourselves by crying for our soul, which we have killed with our sins and buried in a land alien to it, the world and the lusts of the flesh. Having said this, the elder burst into tears and sobbed all the way until they came to the place where they had to hide their tears. And there is also a legend about one old man who, having left the world, retired to deserted places, but did not build cells for himself, but moved from place to place like a migratory bird. Whether anyone saw him eating food is unknown; but no one ever saw him without tears, sobs and lamentations. If it happened that he, like a desert dove, approached a city or village, he did not go inside, but sat outside, on some stone, and, bowing his head to the Persians, cried out with tears: “Oh! O! O! Alas! oh, woe! oh, trouble! Will something happen? will something happen? “It happened that the inhabitants of that place came out to him and, out of compassion, began to console him, but this further aggravated his grief and multiplied his crying and tears. They offered him food, clothing, and money, nothing consoled him, nothing occupied him, and his tears were his bread day and night. Sometimes they addressed him with a speech, saying: what are you crying about and what misfortune has befallen you? Tell us; Perhaps, according to our strength, we will help you and ease your bitter fate. But the elder began to cry even more from these words, covering his face with the same howl and scream and not having the strength to utter a single articulate word. And only after much pestering, through tears and sobs, did he sometimes say: “I don’t know if you will help me, but here’s my problem: my master entrusted me with great wealth, and I squandered it all on balls, theaters, festivities, feasts and a luxurious, unclean life with harlots. Now my master is looking for me, and, having found me, he will bring me to trial and a shameful execution. And I don’t know what to do!.. will something happen?.. will something happen?” - and again indulged in crying, sobbing and screaming. Do you understand what he was crying about? He cried about his sins and was afraid of the judgment of the Lord of all - God!.. Let's cry like this, and maybe God will have mercy on us! No one would say at this: “Look, all the crying, groans and tears!” Is such an unnatural state pleasing to the Lord Himself? Yes, yes. Tears are the only thing pleasing to the Lord, and only with a contrite heart do He accept those who come to Him mercifully and favorably. Regarding one soul seeking salvation, this is what the Lord showed in a dream vision: it seemed to her that she, in a crowd of many others, was in the spacious courtyard of a holy monastery, among which stood a most beautiful church. Everyone was expecting something. Suddenly a voice rang out: the shepherd is coming, the shepherd is coming!.. The people parted, and everyone saw the Savior coming in a shepherd’s robe. His face was of extraordinary beauty and His welcoming gaze spread joy wherever it fell. He walked through the space between the people and the church and stood at the door of the church. Everyone's eyes were fixed on Him... With a wave of his hand and a sign of his face, He began to call to Him from the crowd of people who He needed. Those called were clothed in light and, the closer they came, the more luminous they became... It is clear that these were signs of special grace and mercy. But, having called two or three, the Savior stopped as if in bewilderment. The soul that saw the vision, not bad in life, not shying away from deeds and labors and doing the good that she could, from the very appearance of the Lord, dreamed that, probably, for the sake of such a service to the Lord, or for the sake of the fact that she was not the same as others, the Lord would show her some sign of His special favor. Therefore, when He stopped calling, it seemed to her that now it was her turn. Having stepped out from behind the others, she turned to the Lord: is it not me, Lord?.. but the Lord did not even look at her, but only expressed contempt and rejection with his gaze and movement of his head. The soul that saw this was struck like an arrow and fell with a cry of despair. Those around her rushed to help her, but she pushed everyone away, shouting only: I am a sinner... I am lost... The Lord rejected me, but without Him how can I live and where can I seek salvation? But the Lord was already close, and the soul, groaning in grief, barely lifted its head when it saw the Lord, who stood over it with outstretched arms, ready to lift it up. A comforting word came from His Divine lips: this is how you should come to Me! And that was the end of the vision. Do you see how you need to come to the Lord? There is no point in speculating here! The Lord Himself established this path of prayer: this is the path we will follow. He came into the world to save sinners: we will come to Him as sinners, only as sinners crying over our sins with the determination not to repeat them again. There is not one righteous person on earth; all are sinners and all are justified by tuna, by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, for the sake of faith in Him and tears of repentance and contrition! Let us cry over our sins, so that we may be saved! Amen. The Sunday before last our mother, St. Church: be zealous in every way for a virtuous life, but do not be proud of your good deeds, because you cannot do enough of them so that you can finally base the hope of your salvation on them. Therefore, without slackening in good deeds, do not rely on your own righteousness. Last Sunday St. The Church told us: only the pure and the saints will enter the Kingdom of God... Since you do not present yourself to the Lord as pure in the unwavering fulfillment of His commandments, then be zealous to cleanse yourself from all sin with tears of repentance. Weep over your sins, as one weeps over a dead person, in order to cry out for mercy from God. Now what is she saying? Now she is depicting to us the terrible judgment of God and thereby wants to inspire her obedient children to greater and greater works, and to awaken the careless and careless ones from sleep. First she says: work and do not weaken in your labors; for when the Lord comes and all the holy Angels with Him, then He will place you at His right hand and will say to you: come, blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. And from that moment you will begin to taste bliss, for the expression of which there are no words in human language. Then you will forget all your labors and sorrows. And to the second, that is, to the careless, St. now says. Church: I constantly impress upon you, live, my children, as true Christians should live, but you do not listen. I invite you to repentance, but you close your ears to my call; I tell you: weep for your sins, but you not only do not cry, but you mock those who weep, you even mock the penitential statute itself, as well as the entire order of Christian life. Be afraid! The image of this world will pass away, a strict Judge will appear and strike you with His wrathful rejection: depart from Me, the curse, into eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angel. Here's today's lesson! it is clear and complete, with all its simplicity and brevity. And I have nothing left to add to this except one thing: imprint the image of God’s judgment on your mind and heart and always carry it with you, without taking your attention away from it. You will see for yourself with what inspiration and what readiness for all kinds of work your spirit will be filled if you care even a little about the salvation of your soul! On the other hand, what fear and what contrition will be poured into the hearts of those who are not entirely correct, indulge in passions and indulge in liberties. It can be said that if somehow this image of God’s judgment could be deeply imprinted in the souls of people, then everyone would in a short time become efficient zealots of good deeds. For believe that true news would come from heaven, that tomorrow or the day after tomorrow the Lord will come! Would anyone then indulge in pleasures and amusements? Would you indulge your passions and commit sins?.. Would you still put off repentance and correction?.. What kind of crazy person would do this, and everyone who had not lost their sense would rush to quickly do everything that could still be done in this short time. Just as students for whom an exam is coming, only think about how to prepare for the exam: some hardly sleep or eat, much less even allow themselves to think about games and pranks - so it would be with us if the memory of God’s judgment never left our heads... Our only concern would be to fulfill everything required by the Lord without fail, and thereby be pleasing to Him at the hour of judgment. But our misfortune is that we are accustomed to distance this hour of judgment from ourselves, we are accustomed to it, or we have given ourselves the right to do so. Everyone thinks: how long have I been living? I hear everything: here is the judgment! here is the trial! and hitherto there is no judgment. Maybe not yet. Our fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers also waited for the trial, but we still don’t see it, so much time after them. All this is so. One can add even more that it has been 18 centuries since the Lord said about judgment and how they are waiting for judgment, and still there is no such thing. But what of this? It has not existed before, but perhaps we will not have time to leave this church before the Lord comes. For it is certain that He will come and that no one can say definitively when He will come. And we won’t take a breath before Ov appears. Noah told his fellow citizens: stop sinning, otherwise the Lord will drown you with a flood. Perhaps at the beginning of the sermon some people calmed down, but then, as ten, twenty, a hundred or more years passed, everyone gave themselves the right not to believe the threat that had not come true for so long. But this disbelief did not delay the event. The flood came and took everything... Perhaps a minute before this, Noah repeated his sermon, and they laughed at him, but nevertheless, what was ordained by the Lord was fulfilled; Perhaps the flood caught someone laughing like that. Likewise, we have many people who are delaying the hour of judgment; others, perhaps, do not believe it; but all this will not remove the judgment, and there will be a moment when what the Lord has laid down will be fulfilled - it will be fulfilled when, without tea, it has suddenly captured us. In the days of Noah, says the Lord, they ate, they drank, they married, they trespassed, they built and traded. Nobody thought about the flood. But the flood came suddenly and took everything... So we eat, drink, have fun and worry about various things - we don’t even think about God’s judgment, but maybe he will come right away and find us in what we have. For just as lightning, appearing at one edge of the sky, in one instant runs to the other and covers the entire sky, so will the appearance of the Son of Man be sudden and instantaneous. And we are moving this decisive time away from ourselves and moving it to an indefinite distance, so that it seems that there is no end in sight when this will happen. But here’s the thing: delay God’s judgment as long as you want. Perhaps, in fact, the Lord will not come soon to judge the living and the dead; but what benefit or indulgence does this give us?.. Still, He will come and judge us and judge us without partiality, according to the law of the Gospel, which we have accepted. Yet our duty to be true Christians does not diminish in the least. Even now, even in a thousand years, we will have to stand for judgment, we will still have to; and at that judgment we will give an account of the use of present hours, days and years, real ones, and not future, imaginary ones. So isn’t it better for us to behave every hour as if the Lord were about to appear at that hour, or better as if we were already standing at judgment. Oh, if the Lord would allow us to put our minds in such a mood! What zeal for holiness would then begin to consume us! The enemy knows the power of this thought and in every possible way knocks it out of our heads with various plausible assumptions. But, brothers, let us manage to counter all his machinations with one simple reasoning. Let us tell him: “even if the judgment is not soon, but if any relief can be extracted from here, it is only for those who can be sure that the hour of their death coincides with the hour of the distant judgment; What does it matter to us? Behold, now or tomorrow death will come and put an end to everything we have and will seal our fate forever, for after death there is no repentance. Whatever death finds us in, that is what we will appear in for judgment. Death will find us unrepentant sinners, and the righteous Judge will see us as unrepentant sinners and condemn us. Death will find us repenting of our sins and zealous for good; this is how the judging Lord will recognize us and have mercy. But when our death comes, no one can tell us. Maybe another minute, and everything will be over... and we will go to the throne of God, and we will hear from Him a sentence that no one can change.” Let us contrast such reasoning with the evil enemy, who, with the thought of the remoteness of God’s judgment, attempts to obscure the picture of this judgment in our minds and thereby weaken our zeal. And in fact, what is the use of putting off the time of the Last Judgment behind the mountains, when death, no less menacing and decisive, stands behind us? Let us submit, like obedient children, to the saving inspiration of our mother – the Church! Let us fill our memory with the picture of God’s judgment and let us not take our attention away from it! Judgment emanates more than just fear and horror... It can also provide abundant consolation. For there it will be said not one thing: go away... curses..., but also another: come, blessed ones, and the last before the first. You just need, thinking about God’s judgment, to arrange your life in such a way that you do not end up on the left side, with the goats, but on the right hand, with the sheep. And for this, what is needed?.. To fulfill God’s commandments with all zeal, and if we fall into any sins, to repent and cry about it, constantly persuading our soul with such church songs: “You who live on earth, my soul, repent; the dust does not sing in the grave, it does not take away sins; cry out to Christ God: Knower of the heart, those who have sinned; Don’t even judge me first, have mercy on me!” (Sedal. 3 departments). “How long, my soul, do you remain in sins? How long will you not accept the offer of repentance? Receive in your mind the coming judgment by crying to the Lord: Knower of the hearts, those who have sinned; Don’t even judge me first, have mercy on me!” (ibid.). “Soul, repent before your departure, the judgment of sinners is unwashed and unbearable; cry out to the Lord with tenderness of heart: those who have sinned in knowledge and ignorance, O Generous One, through the prayers of the Mother of God, be generous and save me!” (for the 4th department). Amen. Today's St. The Church devotes itself to the memory of the fall of our Forefathers, and you have heard what plaintive lamentations it puts into the mouths of our forefathers who were expelled from Paradise and sat directly opposite it! The feeling of loss was so vivid then: paradise was in sight and from it, perhaps, came the fragrances of flowers and trees, reminiscent of the blissful life that they had so recently tasted in innocence. It was impossible not to complain to our forefathers. But this was not the lament of Adam and Eve alone; then fallen human nature lamented! All the powers of the soul and all parts of the body cried out. The ancestors passed it on only through words to the creatures that lamented with them and to their future offspring. From that moment on, lamentation, crying and sadness became akin to human nature and began to form the main tone of our heartfelt feelings and dispositions. And who among the descendants of the primordial, the heirs of fallen human nature, will not testify to this with his own experience? In fact, we love to have fun; but what does it mean that, after the most complete joy, the soul plunges into sadness, forgetting about all the joys that it had not previously remembered? Is it not that from the depths of our being the soul is given to know how insignificant all these amusements are in comparison with the bliss that is lost with the loss of paradise? We are ready to rejoice with those who rejoice, but no matter how varied and great the objects of human joy are, they do not leave a deep mark on us and are soon forgotten. But, if we see a mother crying over her dead son, her only support, or a wife tearing herself apart over the grave of her beloved husband, grief deeply cuts through our soul, and the word and image of those who mourn remain indelible in our memory. Doesn't this also mean that sorrow is closer and more akin to us than joy? You listen to singing or music; Of course, cheerful tones also resonate pleasantly in the soul, but they glide only on its surface, leaving no noticeable trace in it, while sad tones immerse the soul within itself and remain memorable to it for a long time. Ask a traveler, and he will tell you that, out of the many things he has seen, the ones that stand out in his head are mainly those objects and places that plunged him into sad reverie. These examples are enough, it seems, to explain the idea that the main feeling of our heart is sadness. This means that our nature cries for a lost paradise, and, no matter how we try to drown out this cry, it is heard in the depths of the heart, in spite of all the stupefying gaiety, and clearly says to a person: stop having fun in self-forgetfulness; You, fallen one, have lost a lot: better look, is there a way to get back what you have lost?.. One pagan overheard this cry of the human soul, and this is what allegory he clothed his thought about it with! Some old sage was walking in a secluded place, immersed in thoughts about the fate of mankind. He was brought out of this reverie by the question: “You probably saw him? Tell me where he went; I will rush after him and perhaps overtake him.” Turning around, the sage saw the girl. She was wearing the clothes of the royal daughters, but worn and torn. Her face was gloomy and tanned, but its features showed the former high beauty. Having examined the wanderer, the sage asked her: what do you need? She repeated again: “You probably know him; tell me where and how I can find him”? But what are you talking about? said the sage. “Don’t you know about this,” answered the maiden. Oh ma! And I think that there is no person who does not know about my grief. The sage asked her with sympathy: tell me what your grief is, and maybe I’ll figure out how to help you? “Think and think,” she answered... I’ll tell you what: I was in a bright country, full of joy. I felt good there, so good! Marriage was being prepared... My fiancé, I don’t remember his facial features, was of indescribable beauty... I’ve almost forgotten everything... but I remember that everything was ready for marriage... when someone came and spoke to me such sweet words... Then he gave me something to drink. I drank and immediately fell into unconsciousness or fell asleep. Waking up, ah, it would be better if I never woke up! – I woke up and found myself on this earth gloomy and stuffy. Where did that bright home of mine go? I didn’t know where my fiancé and his joyful eyes were. At first, I just ran back and forth in unconsciousness, tearing out my hair and beating myself in the chest from the intense torment that tormented my soul. Having calmed down a little, I decided to look for what was lost... And for how long I have been walking the earth and not finding what my soul loves. During the day I ask the sun, and at night - the moon and stars: every day, walking around the earth, have you seen where the one my soul is looking for? and they do not give me an answer... Are there mountains where my voice is not heard? Are there forests where my cry would not be heard? Are there any valleys that my foot will not trample? But I’ve been wandering around for so long now, looking for what I’ve lost, and I can’t find it. But tell me, don’t you know and haven’t heard where is what my soul is yearning for! The sage thought a little and said: if you told me the name of your groom and the name of his kingdom and the country where your bright home was, I might show you the way there, but the way you speak, no one can guide you! Will not your fiancé take pity on you and send someone to show you the way to the blessed home you have lost, or will he not come for you? Having said this, the sage turned away, and the maiden went on again to look for the unobtainable. It’s clear what this allegory means! It depicts a soul lamenting the loss of paradise and communion with God, looking for Him and not finding Him. Such is every soul, such are our souls by nature! What's the difference? The fact is that the pagan soul only searched and searched, but did not find what it was looking for, and the pagan could not go further! The mind encounters clear signs - indicators of the fall and loss of paradise, but does not know how to find a way to restore the fallen and return the lost. We, brothers, are not the sons of night and darkness, but the sons of light and day. We cannot have any confusion about this. We know that the Lord and Savior Himself came to earth to seek and save the lost, He Himself calls everyone to Himself: come to Me... and I will give you rest. You have lost your kingdom... It is approaching! Repent and believe in the Gospel, and I will take you to Me, and you will be with Me in paradise, in the abodes of My Father, to have fun and supper. So, brothers, marriage is destined again. The Lord Himself offers Himself as the Bridegroom to the repentant soul, for which purpose He sent bridal leaders into the world, first the Apostles, and then their successors, so that they would betroth to Him the souls of men who lamented the loss of close communion with Him, presenting them to Him, through the sanctifying actions of the Church, as pure virgins, without filth or vice, or anything from such. Thank the Lord! So we were called to marriage! Here we are already in the bride of Christ, in St. Churches! So our souls have received a pledge of disgrace - the betrothal of the Holy Spirit to the Holy Spirit. sacraments, like a wedding ring! What else remains? We can only wait for the door to open, for the Bridegroom to come out and call us to Himself, to the eternal abodes. Then our heart will rejoice, and no one will take our joy from us. Oh, God grant! But, brothers, you know the conditions under which all this – what is promised – will really be given to us! Paradise and marriage communion with the Lord will be returned to us if we appear pure and blameless before Him when we appear to Him after leaving this life. We have already been cleansed in baptism, and how many times have we cleansed ourselves in repentance! But let’s take a closer look at ourselves: are there any other spots in us that disfigure our face or clothes, and let’s hasten to wash them again with tears of repentance. Now is the time favorable, now is the day of salvation! The days of cleansing are coming! Let's take advantage of this favorable time! We all sin a lot. If not everyone has mortal sins, they still have sins. Having become dusty on the road is not the same as having fallen into the mud, but still he cannot remain like that. You need to wash your face and clean your dress. Likewise, those who follow the path of this multi-tempting life cannot help but be stained by at least something. Whatever it is and no matter how insignificant it may seem, you cannot leave it on yourself - you need to cleanse it. For the Lord says that nothing unclean will enter His Kingdom. When nothing is unclean, it means that not only great, but also small uncleanness will block our path to the Kingdom of God... With this in mind, let us be zealous to cleanse ourselves of all defilement of the flesh and spirit in the coming days, so that we do not forever lose the blessed home so graciously returned to us. Amen. 20. On Wednesday of the first week of Lent We have already completed half of the field of fasting! A few more, and let us begin the sacrament of repentance, so that, having purified ourselves as we should, we may be worthy of communion of the holy, most pure and life-giving Mysteries of Christ, for the healing of soul and body, and not for judgment or condemnation. May the Lord vouchsafe us this great gift of His grace! And He will be worthy, if we do not prevent Him from worthy. For He desires to join everyone and to associate everyone with Himself; if this does not happen, then we ourselves are the reason for this. And this is what we most need to take care of the rest of the time: eliminating the reasons that could prevent the inquisitive Lord from communing with us, for this is the essence of communion! What can prevent this? – mainly – one thing: impurity of the heart. For how can the Purest One enter the church of the heart when this church is not clean? Let's clean it up! Of course, it would be better to always keep it clean, and therefore always be ready to receive the Lord, or, better, be able to always carry Him within yourself. But if we are not so happy in this regard, if, without being careful, we fell into sins, became entangled in passion and thereby desecrated our inner church, let us hasten to wash it in the bath of repentance set before us. When the Lord demands purity and holiness, he does not necessarily demand continuous holiness; and it absolutely requires cleansing of sins through repentance and confession. Sins hinder the Lord’s communication with us, but not sins committed, but sins, after they were committed, left unmourned and unconfessed. Ο! Grant us, Lord, an abundance of tears of contrition and frank, without self-pity, confession of sins! But, brothers, let us be forced to soften our own hearts a little! In the past few days we have already quite prepared ourselves for this. Fasting somewhat humbled the flesh and lightened the soul; home solitude and going to churches cleared away the smoke and fumes of worldly vanity; Hearing what is sung and read in church and praying at home, with reading, whoever can, saving books, have already replaced many bad ideas with good thoughts. All this is needed. Continuing to continue to act in this way, let us apply one more work or technique exclusively aimed at crushing our petrified heart. In the hands of natural scientists there is one device consisting of a large concave plate, which, receiving rays of heat, collects them at one point and ignites there the substance that will be placed. Something similar can be done with the heart. Let us collect in the vault of our mind all the amazing truths that holy faith presents to us, and bring them to our hearts. Pressed and penetrated by them from all sides, it may succumb to their strength, soften, warm up, melt and give rise to vapors of sighs, and burn with the fire of contrition. I don’t consider it necessary to list these truths: you know them. For example, this: by sin, the boundless love of the Creator and Provider is insulted, the vows of baptism are broken, the second is the crucification of our Lord and Savior (i.e., when we sinned, we sold Him, like Judas, we strangled Him, spat on Him, cursed at Him and finally crucified Him), through sin all the high advantages of Christian and - not only Christian, but also human - were lost, and man became like cattle. Moreover: now tomorrow is death, then judgment, which, without repentance, there is no possibility of changing. Also: maybe we, like a barren fig tree, are left only for this time of repentance, in the hope that we will bear the fruit of tears, and if this does not happen, we will be flogged. Collect these and similar amazing thoughts in your soul and beat your heart with them... Especially do this during prayer. Work without self-pity with prayer will surely be crowned with success! Just don’t forget one thing: don’t trust your heart!.. It is deceitful and is the first traitor to us. You must take him in your hands and squeeze and beat him without pity, just as they squeeze and beat the laundry that is being washed; one must beat this heart because it, like a greedy sponge, absorbed into itself every impurity it encountered, and reap in order to squeeze out this impurity. When the heart softens, then it is easy to control it: then it is ready for anything - and flexible, like silk material. Then whatever you say, it will do everything. Tell him: cry, he will cry; say: confess your sins, - he confesses; tell him: stop sinning, and he will answer: I will stop, I will stop. Then there will only be one more thing left to do on him: to point the mirror of the Word of God, or Divine commandments, at him, and make him look at him in it. Then it will be reflected in this mirror with all its spots, wrinkles and wounds, that is, with all sins, both large and small; here it will see pride, arrogance, fornication and vanity, ostentation and lust, resentment, anger, envy, and so on... in general, everything in which one’s heart sins before the Lord. Ask him then: is that you? and it will readily answer: yes, it’s me... the unfortunate one! and at other times it will hide or point to another. Tell him: are you guilty of all this? It will answer: yes, I am guilty and I did all this voluntarily... but at another time it will not say this. Tell him: are you unrequited? - yes, unrequited; and at other times it will utter an abyss of excuses and excuses. Add to him finally: fall at the feet of the merciful God and beg Him for mercy... cry and lament, confess all your sins and make a firm intention not to indulge your passions anymore, not to sin and not to offend your Lord! And she will do all this like an obedient child. And at other times, don’t even tell him! That’s how expensive softening and contrition of the heart is!.. It alone replaces all the rules and all the guidelines. Usually, a lot of rules are written on how to prepare for repentance and how to carry it out... But I will tell you one thing: soften your heart and crush it, and then it itself will teach you everything! Just as a poor person in straits is inventive in easing his lot or begging for help... so will a contrite heart appear... For then it will be in straits, like a caught and convicted criminal. How it will then begin to worry about how to alleviate its grief and avoid imminent danger! How joyfully it will then grasp at the methods offered by the Church, such methods to which it is otherwise necessary to attract it already, like a lazy slave, and it will grasp at them all the more joyfully because these methods are so uncomplicated: - relearn all your sins, that is, all sinful deeds, words, thoughts, feelings and dispositions, and go and confess them to your spiritual father! And you will be blameless, and you will emerge from the bath of repentance clean as a wave and white as snow. That's it! See how little!.. And what a fruit! - Such that it is impossible to describe him... for the one who does this, the Lord will no longer consider him unworthy of His dwelling, but will do with him according to His promise: we will come to him and make our abode with him with the Father and the Holy Spirit through the communion of My blood and flesh. And then - here comes the kingdom! That’s all we’re looking for and what we’ll achieve with this! Let us do this, brothers! Let us hasten to arrange this in time for the communion of St. Mystery, so that through this we may be worthy to be one with the Lord. Ο Lord! help us! oh Lord! good luck to us! Amen. 21. Friday of the first week When the arrival of a king is expected in some city, its inhabitants take every possible care to prepare for a worthy reception of him: they level roads, straighten streets and houses, and take special care to clean the house designated for the residence of the sovereign in a manner befitting the king’s presence. Then, when everything is prepared, they go out to meet him at the time appointed for his arrival. If they talk here, it’s only about the desired high-ranking visitor! When will the news finally spread: he’s coming! - everyone plunges into deep silence, only their eyes are directed to where he is expected to arrive from. This is exactly the same with us now. The Holy Church has long announced to us: the Lord is coming, coming to all who want to receive Him! Having entered St. Lent, we began to prepare to meet Him in the undoubted confidence that He would come to us in St. The sacrament of His body and blood will dwell in us through communion. For this purpose, they abandoned everyday affairs, fasted, went to churches, went into solitude, prayed, read and listened to what was being read. Then we had to, having reviewed our whole life, make the obstinate right and the sharp smooth - with a confession and a vow not to spoil our path any more; they had to put in proper order all the functions and needs of the body, these streets where the Lord would pass; Most of all, take care to remove the church of the heart by arousing good feelings and dispositions in it, so that, having come, the Lord calms down in it and with His peace rests us in bliss. Has all this been done, brothers, as it should be? If so, then we are completely ready to meet the Lord. And He will be delighted with us... and we will be delighted with Him. Now what? - Now go out to meet Him. A few more and the Lord will come! Let us wait for Him in deep silence, as the aforementioned citizens wait for the sovereign! Let all our feelings and thoughts be silent, and the eye of the mind calmly look where it expects to meet the Desired, delving into the Mystery of body and blood. Have you ever sat in a lonely room at midnight? You probably felt how at that time a stamp of silence was placed on everything, and a kind of majestic silence passed throughout the world, making the slightest movement noticeable. This is the state we will put ourselves in from now on, in the hope that the coming of the Lord will come upon us, and in due time He will fall upon us like rain on a fleece and like a drop dripping onto the ground. The wise virgins met the Lord at midnight and were led by Him into the bridal chamber. Let’s arrange midnight silence and we will meet the Lord in our souls! Israel, after three days of preparation, brought by Moses to the foot of Sinai, in motionless silence, in fear and trembling, waited for God, who would appear to him on the mountain and say to him: so let us settle inwardly, and reverently wait not for the terrible appearance of God in thunder and lightning, but for the appearance of the Lord, who brings us an abundance of mercies. Who will say: “as in deep silence? Really without any feelings? No, not without any feelings, but only without fussy and stormy movements, with a quiet feeling of tenderness, dissolved by the joyful hope of truly tasting the Lord. But - “the great Lord comes. How not to be afraid and not to tremble! Yes! go with fear and trembling to meet Him, but not with the kind that torments and forces you to run and hide, but with the kind with which the Cherubim and Seraphim stand before the terrible throne of God, drinking bliss from it, despite all the fear. “But they are bodiless and pure, while we are flesh and full of sins”! You cannot approach the Lord with sins, and do not approach. God is a consuming fire and will destroy, like Dathan and Abiron, everyone who comes to Him in sins. Are these fears just coming to you? – If you have recognized all your sins, been sick and lamented over them, confessed them to your spiritual father and made a firm intention to sin no more, believe that, at the hour of priestly resolution, all your sins have been completely blotted out, you have been declared innocent and clothed in the royal robe of justification, in which you can boldly proceed to the wedding feast of the Son of the Tsar. If you have definitely prepared as you should, then do not offend the Lord, who is coming to you with an abundance of mercies, with empty fearfulness. Fix your eyes full of reverent love on Him and so disappear in Him with the warm uplifting of your heart to Him until He comes and dwells in you. So, brethren, it’s still a little while, but the one who is coming will come and not become stubborn. Let us draw near by faith and love, so that we may be partakers of eternal life; with faith and love let us meet Him and open the doors of our hearts to Him, so that He may come in and dine with us. From now on, let us take care to establish the supper itself. He will bring Himself to this supper, but what about us? - And we will bring bread and salt. Salt - lamentation and contrition for the sins of the past; bread - a firm determination to sin no more. This is what He most desires to taste in us when we partake of Him. This is both the proper meeting of Him and the resting bed on which He will rest, having been satisfied with us and satisfying us with Himself! May the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ grant you, according to the riches of His glory, with the power to be strengthened by His spirit in your inner man, and for Christ to dwell in your hearts by faith (Eph. 3:16–17), through the communion of His holy Mysteries. Amen. 22. Saturday of the first week of Lent Glory to You, God! Glory to You, God! Glory to You, God! We thank Thee, O Lord our God, for Thou hast not cast us away as sinners, but for Thou hast made us worthy to be partakers of Thy holy things! We thank You, for You have granted us, unworthy, to partake of Your most pure and heavenly Mysteries! May we be according to Your word, O Lord: He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him! So, brethren, now is not the time for interviews and teachings, but for doxology and thanksgiving! To the only Lord who has visited you, may your appeal be. You now have within yourself - all the mentors of a single Mentor... Listen to Him! Listen to what He will tell you in the secret of your being, hidden, but nevertheless real. He will not talk to your soul in articulate speech, but rather, directly into your heart, He will imprint the suggestions necessary for your life. Keep only the silence within, sharpen the ear of your heart, apply it to His mouth and listen. He gives to everyone his good needs: to some peace of spiritual strength, to others enlightenment of the eyes of the heart, to others healing of spiritual wounds, to others the arousal of zeal for good, to others readiness for deeds of self-sacrifice, to others conviction in the truth - to each his own. But the more someone pays attention and readiness for active obedience, the more lessons he will receive, such lessons that are not transmitted to memory, but are imprinted on the being. Don’t deprive yourself of this benefit! Do not hinder the Lord from working in your spirit: imprison them alone in the church of your heart. Let them be alone. As in the parable, the groom, having brought the wise virgins inside the bridal chamber, closed the doors, and no one from the outside could disturb their mutual communication: so you, having received the Lord within yourself, close all entrances and exits, shut yourself up with Him inside, and put away all external entertainment. We were sick, more or less; Now they have received a doctor and all-effective healing. Let us allow this medicine to fully act in us and, member by member, penetrate the entire composition of our being, pass into all the organs, into the womb, into the heart, to cleanse the soul, to sanctify thoughts, strengthen the bones together, to enlighten the simple five senses and show us as a village of one spirit, and no longer a village of sin, to show us as the house of God, from whom let every evildoer and every passion flee. That's how much more the doctor needs to produce! Let's not disturb Him! They say that the patient's sleep favors the effects of medicine. Let us calm down, as if we fall asleep for everything external, in order to give freedom to the accepted doctor and medicine to act unhindered in us with all His power. Is now the time to do something extraneous? Let your soul rejoice in the Lord and the Lord in your soul. They haven't seen each other for a long time. Sins separated them! ABOUT! if only these sins would never be repeated! Like someone who is off the road, peace is dear; so precious is the repose of the Lord in our souls now. He is tired of searching for us and seeking entrance to us. With our sins, passions and worldly customs, we drove Him out. All the time He was looking for us, sometimes like a lost drachma, sometimes like a lost sheep, and did not find us, because we tried in every possible way to hide from Him. It happened that He captured us somewhere, stood at the door of our hearts and pushed us to open it, but we did not open it: He pushed us with words of truth, and we did not listen to them; pushed with worries of conscience, and we drowned them out; pushed us with external sorrows, but even that did not bring us to our senses. Finally, the auspicious time of fasting has come. We calmed down a little, labored in feats of prayer and abstinence, came to our senses, opened our hearts to Him both through confession and contrition, and He entered into us in Holy Communion. Let us give Him the pleasure of our soul! Let us not disturb His peace by the speedy resumption of vanities, much less passionate deeds and customs... How many times have we driven Him out!.. Let us tolerate Him within ourselves even now. Indeed, the Lord is merciful! That’s right, he will again seek entrance to us and will enter again. But what if His current condescension towards us is the last limit of His long-suffering!.. What if, after being forced to leave us after this, He pronounces the final verdict: behold, your house is left to you empty! This rarely happens, but it happens. Why do we know whether this will not come true for us if we again allow ourselves to offend His burning heart with love for us! Then what? - then seven fierce demons will enter and hover within us, tormenting and tormenting us. Ah, let us be afraid of this, brothers! But let us place this fear at the door of our heart, as a guard and protector of the external, but inside we will embrace the Lord with all our love and in this sweet communion we will remain with Him until the grave, keeping firmly the covenant now firmly established with Him and the vows given in confession: I will not sin, I will not sin, and walking in such a way as if we had just come out of the font, in the renewal of life. Amen. 23. In the second week of Lent It’s already been a week, for some a day, since you approached the cup of the Lord, as a vow not to sin, you were again accepted into sincere communion with the Lord, you accepted the intention to lead a new life, and, strengthened by the grace of the sacraments, you entered the holy. field of truly Christian activity. - What? Are your business going well?! Brothers and fathers! “I do not assume among you those who are careless and careless, - I do not assume those who are cold, - only according to custom, - having begun the sacrament, they continue to live as they lived before, or to live as they live, without caring whether the order of their life is in accordance with the will of the Lord received in the sacrament; Nor do I imagine those who, having approached the sacrament with sincere desire and having decided in their hearts not to offend the Lord any more, have already managed to fall back into their former passionate deeds and habits. “I think that all of you are now bringing joy to the Lord and His Angels, having appeared here with the same purity and fullness of life with which you were released from St. Communion - and not only the same, but also greater, having managed to apply the fruits of good deeds as an acquisition for the grace-filled powers received. I ask one thing from the Lord, and I will require it, and so be it. But if so; then, zealous for a correct Christian life, caring about how to show yourself pleasing to the Lord, who has recently shown such great Mercy to us, you rightly faced the question: how to do so as not to fall again - how to arrange such an order so that it does not interfere, but favors the new life, begun by vow, required by the conscience and desired by the heart. Probably everyone has already solved these questions for themselves - as best they can and as they find best. “But so that no mistake can creep in in such an important matter, I’ll tell you a few words about it, namely, about how we really need to arrange things so that the new life we ​​have begun can be preserved, strengthened, and grow.” Christian life, taking root in the heart, develops and grows in the field of our life, like a tree. Therefore, the knowledge of the ways of nurturing it in us can be achieved comparatively by the methods used in nurturing trees. Watch what the gardener does with young roots or grafts - and do the same with yourself and with your Christian life. – He fences his tree and, when necessary, covers it so that the unfavorable actions of external elements do not damage it: this is the first thing. Having fenced it off from the outside, he waters it so that it has enough matter around it to absorb into itself and form nutritious juices from it: this is the second. Next, so that it grows evenly, in addition to his supervision and cutting off excess branches, he ties it to a stamen or pole, firmly and reliably established in the ground. Similar care should be taken for the sprouts of our spiritual life: Firstly, it is necessary to protect him from harmful influences from the outside. What does this mean?! We have set a firm intention not to sin... We must now put aside everything that could shake this intention - namely: change previous customs and leave the habits that fed our passions, - build a new order for our behavior, - or our activities at home and outside, and all our relationships, and most of all, protect ourselves from tempting encounters with such objects, persons and things that can arouse the sinful passions that torment us... If we don’t do this, we can easily the mouth - and the sprout of our spiritual life - will again die out like a tree subject to the harmful influence of heat or cold, or malignant dew! But even having protected this sprout in the manner shown, it should not be limited to this alone... No, it is also necessary, secondly, to nourish it... It is necessary to provide it, so to speak, with the elements, which, by assimilating for itself, it would multiply its juices, grow and become stronger... That is, you need to do this: 1) read and listen to the word of God and the scriptures of the fathers, as well as reason about saving truths yourself and conduct conversations about it with like-minded people or persons most experienced in spiritual life; - 2) go as much as possible for anyone, often to the Church of God for Divine services, and at home establish a prayer corner, a time of prayer and a prayer rule; 3) not to omit a single opportunity that presents itself for doing good or any feat of patience or self-sacrifice... If we arrange ourselves in this way, then we will, as it were, surround our inner man with light, warmth and moisture, and we will water him with various kinds of spiritual elements, drinking which, he will be like a tree planted when waters come out... develop and mature magnificently and quickly; and if we don’t, then this sprout, like a tree on dry and sandy soil, will soon become exhausted, dry up and die. What leveler can we finally attach to this tree so that it grows evenly and does not produce unnecessary extra shoots?! This is closest to your own reasoning. – Watch everything yourself carefully and direct everything towards one goal. “If you can’t do it yourself,” you often stop in bewilderment, “turn to your spiritual fathers: ask the elders and they will tell you.” But, with all this, do not forget the main gardener and educator of our inner tree of life - our Lord Jesus Christ, to Whom you surrender your souls entirely. The Lord never abandons those who are devoted to Himself, but either through His own inner suggestions, or through His spiritual fathers, He leads them directly and unforgettably on a short path to perfection in the Christian life! This is what those who want to retain the beginnings of a new life and succeed in it should do! – I don’t spread much. Because those who are zealous for salvation do not need long convincing. Just remind them, and they immediately take into their rule everything that is considered soul-saving for them. I want you to be the same, - only one more thing I think needs to be added... Having arranged everything that has been mentioned - and what has been mentioned is not just a set of words, but everything is essentially necessary in the matter of preserving and nurturing spiritual life - having arranged all this in this way - most of all, beware of distraction of the attention of the mind, from the predilection of the heart for any objects, and burdening the will with much-concerned care. Absent-mindedness, addiction and over-concern are the three worst enemies of inner life. Once allowed inside, in a short time they will drown out spiritual life and plunge you again, as it were, into a lethargic sleep - into oblivion, carelessness and coldness. And this is spiritual death. May the most merciful Lord deliver you from this and make you wise for salvation! Amen. 24. In the third week of Lent Offering the honorable Cross to your worship and honor on this day, St. The Church wants to incite us to bear the cross, if we have not yet taken up this holy work, and to confirm us in bearing the cross, if we have already begun it. She seems to be telling us this: do you see the cross on which the Lord, by the will of us, stretched out his hand for our sake? - come and be crucified with Him. Now the Lord from the cross invites each of you to take up your cross and follow Him. Take it... take it and do not be afraid: for just as the Lord from the cross gave up His spirit to God and the Father, so from the cross there is only one way for you - to the heavenly abodes following the Lord, who will say to every cross-bearer, as to a prudent thief: today you will be with Me in heaven! I don’t think anyone would refuse this obligation; but it may happen that not everyone definitely knows what the obligatory crucifixion consists of for us, and therefore can consider himself a crusader without being one. That there is no one in the world without a cross, everyone knows this; but among these crosses there is also a robber’s cross, on which people are also crucified. To avoid a mistake, which in this regard is very dangerous, I will briefly show you what the cross is made of, which each of us must take up and carry... It is composed primarily of the constraint of the flesh and of our entire external life and of the patient fulfillment of the rules that impose this constraint. We received the commandment from the Lord and St. The Apostles - to crucify the flesh with passions and lusts, - to put to death the evils that are on earth, to present all the members of your body as instruments of righteousness, - as before they were instruments of sin. Others consider this violence, but in reality it is essential for this to be so. Look what sin does in us! Establishing itself in the heart, it penetrates all the powers of our soul - it fulfills all the functions and members of our body, establishes our home life in its own way, and in its spirit selects social relationships and connections.... Thus, around the sinner there is, as it were, a sinful atmosphere, which the sin living in us produces and then feeds on. Having made a firm intention to work for the Lord, we must first of all dispel this atmosphere - disrupt this sinful order of life and establish new orders everywhere, according to the spirit of the new life. We must not go to places where we fell into sin, or where we were kindled to sin.... If this is a theater, give up theaters, if it’s festivities, give up on them; if dating, stop them. To leave in our external relations only matters of office or matters of title, and, moreover, to conduct them in such a way that their fulfillment is according to God, and not to please passions; and then, abandoning previous acquaintances, connections and ways of pleasantly passing time, establish new connections and new activities in the hours remaining from duty: instead of empty conversations, conversations about spiritual subjects; instead of balls and evenings - visits to God-fearing people; instead of reading magazines - reading the word of God and the writings of the fathers, and so on, so on. Having changed your behavior outside - in society, you need to change the order of your home life. Set other hours for getting up and going to bed, - determine the prayer rule - in the morning and in the evening, - determine your table and the time for it... and how to sit down and how to get up from the table, how to leave the house and how to enter it, what to use what free time for, how and who to receive, and how to conduct the reception; - the very decoration of your home should be different - you need to cleanse the passionate and place edifying - spiritual. All this is done by everyone starting a new life, as if by instinct of this life. - It’s embarrassing, of course... But it’s the sin that lives in us that is embarrassed, not us; We are freed from the bonds of sin through this constraint. – This is one wing of the saving cross that we must take upon ourselves. Having rebuilt everything around us in this way, we move on to ourselves. “And here, after all, every member of the body is the seat of sin.” We must restrain him here too. The senses must be constrained... let the eye not look at tempting objects, let the ear not listen to passionate speeches, let the sense of smell and touch not irritate sin that has just subsided. Further, our belly worked for voluptuousness: we must exhaust it and accustom it to sober satiation; - the body loved to bask and relax in sleep and inaction: - we must accustom it to work and tension, to work and vigil. And lust - what outcomes did it not have?! they all need to be blocked. What did not the tongue say - this fire - the babble of untruth? it is necessary to bind him... to embitter his very skin somewhat with cruelty for his addiction to one pampering one. Having established such an order, we will kill the uds that are on earth, or we will make all members of the body instruments of righteousness. This is hard, but it is saving. By acting in this way, in relation to the body, we will be doing the same thing that washers do, i.e. - to rinse, squeeze and beat your body in order to drive out everything sinful and passionate from it - and restore it to its original sober purity... Here is another horn - the saving cross that we need to take upon ourselves! - All this together constitutes what I called at the beginning - constraint of the flesh, and of our entire external life, and patient compliance with the rules that impose this constraint. That is, having imposed new rules on your external relationships and activities and on your body, you must strictly fulfill them so that they have their saving effect... Each of these constraining rules is the same as a plaster on a wound. The plaster is not removed from the wound until it has done its job: so we must remain in this new order, without changing it, until we are established and strengthened in it, until it becomes as usual for us as the sinful order was before. But all this is only an external cross... There is also an internal one. I’ll tell you about it briefly... It consists of self-coercion and self-resistance. While a person is in sin, he does not love good, does not sympathize with it and does not think about it. Having now set a firm intention not to sin, he recognizes himself as obligated to desire only good, to think about it alone, and to find pleasure in it alone. But turning to himself - to his inner self, he does not find these dispositions there. The mind wants to do something else - it dreams and soars, the heart is cold to goodness, the inclinations of the will are turned to something else. - What to do? “We need to tear them away from one and chain them to another, tear them away from the passionate and sinful and tilt them towards the good, dispassionate, spiritual. - That is, you need to contradict yourself in the bad and force yourself to do the good... And this is in almost every case. For example: there is an opportunity to help someone in need!.. Conscience says: - help, and the person is ready; - but selfishness sits on the side and repeats: don’t give it, you need it for yourself. This selfishness must be overcome or suppressed and the soul must be disposed to voluntary giving. - Who offended? “The Christian conscience says: forgive me,” but pride forces you to take revenge. We must take our heart away from this unkind passion and incline it to meekness and condescension. So anyway. Everywhere you need to tear yourself away from the passionate and bow down to the holy and God-pleasing... This is the internal warfare produced by self-coercion and self-resistance, as if with two hands. She's sick! “How painful it is when a splinter is taken out, or how painful it is to tear off a finger that has stuck to an iron in the cold: it hurts the heart so much when it is torn from one thing in order to bend it to another.” “It’s painful, but it’s saving.” That is why it is called the saving cross, exuding rich healing to our passionate heart. This is the inner cross, or the inner side of the cross, in connection with the previously described outer side, constituting one cross - which every Christian undertakes to take upon himself, and which everyone who has abandoned sin actually takes upon himself - is enslaved to the truth. - May the Lord bless your labors - workers of God! - Be patient in this new order... The wounds of the cross are burning only at the beginning; and then the crucifixion nails will begin to exude healing oil on the wounds they themselves inflict. Such orders are constraining, but they are the path to freedom for the children of God. Be patient! Passions will subside and your spirit will soar with an easy flight to the throne of God, and, having established itself there, will begin to taste the bliss of the mental contemplation of God - before it leaves the body, and before that day begins, after which there is no longer any sadness, no illness, no sighing. Amen. 25. In the fourth week of Lent When, passing through some deserted place, you come across a tree or other plant on sandy rocky ground, you cannot help but regret it. It stands sadly. The lack of nutritious parts in the earth and air depletes it. It is apparently drying up and withering away, and it seems that its appearance and condition clearly says to everyone passing by: I feel sick here; take me from here and transplant me to another place. A tree growing with flowing water inspires completely different feelings - on wet and rich soil. It is full of life and, enjoying complete contentment, with all parts of its composition it seems to sing a grateful song to the Creator of every creature for this opportunity to drink with all its lips the nutritious juices from everything that surrounds it. Don’t you, brethren, often find human souls in similar circumstances?! Yes, they too often die of hunger and languish, as in a stuffy dungeon, from the lack of what can nourish them and give them contentment. And this is often in complete contrast to the external and magnificent state of those people! - Christianity is our holy faith, or St. The Church was appointed by God to be a place of peace and contented education for human souls... But not everyone abides in it, and while abiding, not everyone properly uses everything that it offers. And here there are many souls exhausting and exhausting themselves through sheer foolishness. Look how all this happens. The plant, being of earthly origin, receives its food from the earth and from what is around it: on the contrary, the soul, created in the image and likeness of God, being of heavenly origin, can only feed on the heavenly elements - emanating from God and directed towards it, or attached to it. So - The plant needs light: without it it withers. “The soul also needs light—heavenly.” This is the truth of God. It is abundantly offered in the Church of God to everyone who wants to listen: it is offered in the reading of the word of God, and in sermons, and in church songs, and in the entire structure and rites of the Church, and in the writings of the fathers, and in many, many soul-saving books. Those who wish, abundantly draw here the light of God's truth, and rejoice under its radiance. But not everyone does this, and not everyone who, in appearance, seems to be a container of God’s truth, actually contains it. There are people who sit day and night studying some science - mathematics, physics, astronomy, history, etc., thinking that they are feeding their soul with truth, but their soul withers and languishes: from what? – Because there is no truth in the places where they want to find it?! I do not say this because the sciences cannot contain the truth... but because now it has been expelled from there - and has been replaced by dreams, then by assumptions - often contrary to the truth. “But you can’t deceive a soul, just as you can’t deceive a hungry man by giving him a stone instead of bread.” Here she is languishing! But this seems to be another useful activity - scholarship. What can we say about those who greedily read our periodical writing? - Look with what effort a young, and sometimes an elderly person, strives to quickly get the usual monthly release, - with what uncontrollability he rushes to devour, as they say, the received prey?! Here there is no food on the mind, and there is little sleep... And what fruit?! two or three successful phrases, two or three flattering fantasies, two or three deceptive assumptions - and that’s all... everything else is worthless. And the soul is dissatisfied. Another, third book is taken... still the same... My soul hurts! - Mutual conversations are started... everything is the same - because both the subjects of the conversations and the way of interpreting them are taken from the same books... Add to this the pettiness of everyday activities and relationships, and you will understand that if you were to open that ear with which the speech of the soul is heard, you would hear a bitter cry in it: take me out of this prison... I feel sick here! - Let me look at God's light! - So it is. - But who will listen?! You see, now it is not in the tone to feed the soul with the truth of God!.. and it is tormented. – And it would be good to go far for this truth... No, – it is right there; but they do not want to open their eyes to receive its light. – Enter the church; – listen to what is sung, read and acted here – and you will see the light of God’s truth. - Open the Gospel, or at least hold this Divine book in your hands, and that will be more joyful to your soul. – Don’t we now have enough paternal writings in a translation accessible to everyone? – And how many other spiritual books and timely spiritual publications are there?! But we do not know all these treasuries of God’s truth, we have not even heard their names. - Brothers and fathers! - what kind of Christians are we, - when we don’t even pick up those books in which Christianity is explained, but read, - don’t know what? - And we torment our souls in the stuffy darkness - we are the sons of light and day, as St. called us. Apostle?! – I'll add one or two more thoughts. – Plants need air to live and grow. Without it, it will freeze. – The soul also needs heavenly air... This, as I have already told you more than once, is all churchliness or all the Divine sacred rites of the Church... Here only the soul is, as it were, in its own atmosphere, and outside it it is suffocating. Just as a consumptive person languishes, so the soul languishes outside the Church - in the seemingly vast customs of the world... And this is why - who only knows that there are balls and theaters, festivities, and parties, living pictures, and buffoonery and the like - his soul deeply aches and languishes when he is left alone with himself! The plant needs moisture - the juices that it drinks with its roots and, passing into the trunk, forms itself as a reworked sediment of them... A kind of reworking and sedimentation of spiritual juices is needed for the soul as well. - This is accomplished by everyday good deeds, or by fulfilling the commandments, which are the cases in the ordinary course of our life. - Just as the juices in a plant, or the food in our body, remaining unprocessed, only burden and burden without bringing benefit: so all the spiritual elements that the soul accepts - the truth of God, the sacraments and sacred rites, etc. They will only burden her, here and forever, with the judgment of conscience and God, if she does not transform all this into her spiritual blood through good deeds. - This is why the souls of people are sick, sorrowful and sad, who are immersed in only everyday worries, or only official matters, and even worse - in passionate matters; but they don’t even think about doing any good. They do not let a single particle of nutrition into the soul, and it dries and dries. “I’m not saying this because the affairs of the service and the affairs of everyday life - family worries, bargaining - different turnovers and different enterprises were detrimental to the soul... No. They are not harmful in themselves, but what is harmful is if they are only engaged in them, without caring about virtue, and if when doing them, they do it not for the glory of God, but for some selfish purposes. Just as the juices in our body turn into living blood by combining them with the oxygen of the air, so all matters, both official and everyday, can turn into an element nourishing for the soul if we dedicate them all to God! - And when this is not there, there are also no good deeds: then what should the soul feed on?! So she languishes then, and complains to the person, and clearly says to him: transplant me from this dry or rotten soil - to the field of God, the field of good deeds required by the commandments of Christ. That's it! But you know all this, brothers! You know that the soul, abundantly illuminated by the light of the truth of God, contained in the pure and heavenly air of the prayers and sacred rites of the Church, and strengthened by the nourishing food of good deeds, is like a tree planted at the spring of the waters, which will yield its fruit in its season, and its leaf will not fall off. And the other, deprived of all this, is like a noble plant, kept with bitterness in a place where there is no light, no clean air, no humidity... and withers! - This is the news. But bless you if you create! - Why do you, man, tyrannize your soul, indulging in the riot of worldly life in foolishness and blindness?! These thoughts to offer you were inspired by this day, dedicated to St. John Climacus, desert dweller and mentor in desert life. It seems to many that the desert, or some kind of monastic monastery, is a dry place that offers nothing nutritious for the soul. But look at the deeds of St. John, - unfold his Ladder, read something in it, - and you will see how much life and strength he had! The desert exhausts only the flesh, but richly nourishes the soul with all kinds of heavenly food. – The world seems fat to you; but it fattens only the flesh, and starves the soul, without even the slightest particle of nutrition for it. According to this difference, all who want to grow their souls should organize their lives into a living tree, worthy of being transplanted into heavenly paradise. Amen. 26. In memory of Alexy the man of God, - in the Ascension monastery Marvelous is the life of Saint Alexis, the man of God! How could he endure this and not speak out for such a long time, having before his eyes faces for whom he burned with love, knowing that he would have made them happy if he had spoken out, and enduring trouble from them only because they did not know who he was? - Still, he was a man - and a living man, with a heart - and what kind of heart?! His soul was truly sick and did not hurt easily; but he conquered this pain with a firm determination to be faithful to his adopted intention, and softened it with the strong love that he burned for the Lord. - In this position, he looked like someone crucified on the cross, but not yet given up the ghost. “Just as in this crucified man a slight movement or vibration of the body tears open the wounds, and increasing pain pinches the heart and darkens the head: so with him, whether he saw his father or heard his mother’s voice, whether he met a stern gaze, or the affection of a stranger, whether they forgot him for a long time, or increased care for him, all this and much like could not help but torment his heart! “But he endured everything, covered everything with silence, was always in the same calm and non-rebellious state, without rushing here and there like a desperate person. This is how the Lord endured on the cross, and this is how all the martyrs endured. Here is an image of true monasticism - and a very close example for you to follow - the sisters of this monastery! Those who dedicated one of the thrones here to Alexy the man of God, truly wanted to inspire you, so that, having before your eyes the example of such a patient man, you would imitate his life. For you, too, have undertaken to solder yourself to the world. Continue patiently in this self-crucifixion. “Imagine that your monastery is the same as the cabin of Alexy the man of God, and the city before your face is the same as the house of his parents.” And how he was not carried away by the thoughts and feelings that were aroused in him by objects so close to his heart; so remain unshakable in your intention, despite the fact that temptations are so close to you. Do not come down from the cross to which you have raised yourself. I'll tell you briefly how to do this. The crucified man will never come down from the cross unless the nails with which he is nailed to the tree are taken out. Do not take away from your heart those dispositions with which you can be chained like nails to the monastery and monastic life - and you will not leave your cross, - and you will remain in the bearing of the cross, - and this bearing of the cross will lead you to perfection, and will directly transfer you into the kingdom of God's love. Exactly - this is what you do: 1) Keep unquenchable the fire of jealousy with which you sought the monastery and entered it. Remember what vows came from your heart then, what plans were made in your head about deeds of pleasing God, what feats you were ready to undertake in order to show your selflessness! - Remember all this more often... and thereby inflame your jealousy if it begins to cool in you at least a little. You know for sure from experience that when this zeal is strong, nothing matters... You are the first in the church, the first in obedience, the first in loyalty to the monastic rules. And when she weakens, the arm does not rise, the leg does not walk... the church is not nice, and the eyes look at the monastery gates. You see what a disaster it is to weaken the first jealousy!.. Keep it, and do not allow it to weaken in you. 2) You left the world and everything worldly outside the monastery gates. And let him be there... Don't bring him inside the fence. This is what it means: do not allow your heart to again become addicted to anything worldly, material, carnal, no matter how insignificant it may be. Don’t worry too much about your needs, and don’t make interdepartments your main priority; don’t stir up a storm of controversial thoughts about ranks and advantages in your head and heart; don’t accumulate unnecessary things, but when you have food and clothing, be content with them. – Otherwise, how will you differ from people who work not for the Lord, but for mammon?! Don't say: how is this possible? – It’s difficult, really, but not impossible. – By doing everything that you do, you can keep your heart detached from everything. - Do this, and it will be good for you... 3) Remain in patient obedience, in mutual agreement and strong peace, covering with loving condescension the infirmities that befall each one, remaining faithful to the monastic rules and reading the instructions of St. ascetics and private advice from your spiritual fathers and experienced elders. Be like a ball that rolls without a crack no matter where you push it. “Each of you can easily do all this, as long as you resolutely renounce your will.” - As long as there is one’s own will, one cannot help but be in the midst of chaos and commotion, discord and disobedience in the most peaceful monastery. One's own will is the seed of hell - there is a road for Satan and his hordes to the peaceful dwellings of God. 4) The main thing is to convince your mind and your heart that you are already dead to everything here; move with your consciousness and feeling to another world - and remain there, showing yourself to be alien to everything around you, to everything created and earthly... So settle inside, as if there is no one and nothing in the world except you, and the one worshiped God in the Trinity. – Let this thought touch your heart even just a little, and you will see for yourself how it will reorganize everything external and internal!.. Here are four nails for you? Zeal for salvation is unquenchable, expulsion of everything worldly from the monastery fence, renunciation of one’s will, death to everything and living to the one God! - Pierce the hands and feet of your heart with them, and you will reveal yourself crucified - and you will be able to say with the Apostle that not only the world has been crucified to you, but you to the world as well. May the Lord set you up for this work and strengthen you in your labors and the heart diseases that are inevitable with this - through the prayers of Alexy, the man of God. Amen. 27. In the fifth week of Lent This Sunday is dedicated to the memory of St. our mother Mary of Egypt, and we have already praised her together with the Church at the All-Night Vigil in singing and spiritual songs, and prayed to her to help us in the difficult task of correcting our lives and our character. “Now we’ll learn this business from her.” – The Holy Church, offering us the example of Mary of Egypt, wants to inspire: “if you want to repent and correct your life as it should, this is how you repent and correct yourself! – But did you act like this during this fast? - If so, good for you... And if not, you still have two weeks left, you will have time to correct what is faulty, - or complete what was omitted. Just don’t be lazy.” But who will say: “Mary of Egypt is an example to follow! “Does everyone really need to flee to uninhabited places—to the desert, to the mountains?” No, not everyone. But everyone should imitate her work in self-correction - her firm determination to change her life and how she reached this determination. Here are the sides to be imitated! How did the Rev. get there? Maria until she decides to change her life? The Lord brought it. - For what? Because, with all the uncontrollability of the passion that overcame her, she never thought of remaining forever in this bitter slavery. She endured violence from the flesh and the enemy who acted through this flesh, and succumbed to infatuation, but did not completely surrender herself to it. The Lord took pity on the suffering of the creature and came to free it from the bonds that tormented it. - This is a lesson from the most sinful part of the life of the saint. Mary of Egypt. So, if anyone has the misfortune of being enslaved to some kind of carnal or mental passion, take at least enough strength so as not to surrender to it irrevocably - do not be like those who, out of hope, abandon themselves to the work of a student. Passion definitely binds a person and, like a follower, leads him to deeds that satisfy it; - but even under the bonds of slavery, at least show a reluctance to such things - remain dissatisfied with them. Don’t say: “well, it’s true that it will be so... let it be as it was, or let things flow as they flowed.” But like one who, not having the strength to resist, when he is dragged bound, at least rests his feet; and you, despite the strength of the passion that attracts you, at least show her resistance in some way, tell her: well, this is the last time, I won’t give in again; and even if you fall, say the same thing again and so on; just speak not with your tongue alone, but also with your heart, and cry out to the Lord for help. - Like someone whom the enemy, having tied up, leads into captivity, leaving his lips unbound, - although he is drawn after him, but having the opportunity to shout, he screams, whether someone will hear and free him: so shout to the Lord: “Lord, first I will not even perish, save me; “Lord, before the end, grant me to repent.”... And you will be heard. - Like a midwife lying in a cradle, although it cannot move with its arms or legs, but with its cry it takes its mother by the heart and, as it already draws her to itself: - so if you cry, you will also attract the Lord to you, Who said that it would be sooner for a mother to forget her child than for Him to forget those who cry to Him. When the Lord finally comes to you, pay attention then, brother, and do not allow yourself to fail to properly take advantage of this great condescension of God towards you. Then you will be like St. Mary, when she was caught by the judgment of God before the entrance to the Holy Sepulcher. “How she, struck by an invisible force, didn’t think for a long time, but immediately came to the realization that the reason for this was her sin, and immediately set the intention - to leave behind this destructive sin of hers - and never return to it... You should do the same.” Pay attention! When a strong remorse of conscience, or fear of judgment and death, or the proximity of danger, like a sword over your head, or a feeling of the greatness of God and His great goodness, or something else, strikes deeply in your heart and shakes all your limbs, so that you feel as if all the bonds that had oppressed you until now have fallen away from you; - know that it is the grace of God that has touched you and gives you freedom to embark on the path of goodness - freedom that you lacked before. Listen! this minute is dear! What you feel at that time is a work of grace... Add your case here too - exactly this: say: I lived badly, indulging passions... From now on I will not... Then, having confessed and accepted permission, adhere to the prescribed vow... This is what St. Maria. She did not put off her intention to change her life until tomorrow; no, but right away - she decided and did it... This is what everyone should do. – Grace having come, it certainly resolves the bonds of passion; but if someone does not immediately decide to lag behind passionate affairs, then he will again be chained to these bonds. – When the Angel appeared to Peter the Apostle in prison, his bonds were asleep; but if he had not then followed the Angel out of prison, but had remained in it, the prison guard would have come and put him in shackles again - and locked the prison, and the saint would have remained. Peter is still a prisoner. Thus, the bonds of passion again bind everyone who, having felt the action of God’s grace freeing him from passion, does not decide to immediately change his life, but postpones it until another time. Don't delay, brother! “For you don’t know whether such a favorable moment will come again.” Having made a firm intention to correct oneself, one must immediately and by doing so begin this correction, as St. Maria. Leaving everything, strengthened by the sacraments, guided by the advice of her spiritual father, she rushed into the Trans-Jordanian desert - through solitude, fasting and prayer, to dry out the sinful habits that had been sown and nurtured by a vicious life. Take up your labors and exploits immediately. Of course, not everyone has the same path to conversion. He who retires into the desert lives alone; whoever goes to the monastery is saved among the brotherhood, who remains in the order of family and civil life common to all. Many have already walked all these paths - and all of them have been saved and great people. Which one to choose - let him decide according to his own mood, the inspiration of God's grace and on the advice of his spiritual father. Just know that you won’t get better without difficulty. A great struggle lies ahead for all who want to overcome the flesh that wars against the spirit. What the Rev. couldn’t stand. Maria!... And work for everyone! It is necessary, as I said before, to remove everything that can feed passions; and this costs a lot of work. We must do everything that can nourish and strengthen the new life we ​​have begun; but this does not happen without difficulty. It is necessary to learn from the truth of God - to be under the influence of the sacraments as often as possible with participation in the sacred rites of the Church, to fight passions and do good deeds that are opposite to passionate habits; but all this is work. And most importantly, what is needed? - you should never be left alone... Cling to your spiritual father, find someone who is like-minded, delve into the advice of St. fathers - and don’t do anything unless you’ve done it in all these places. - Don’t look at the reverend about this. Maria. – She lived alone; but her path was according to God’s special election. “It’s better for us to adhere to the general order of life.” - The eagle soars solitarily to the heavens, and so high that it is sometimes invisible. - But that is an eagle... - So to the works of the Rev. Mary’s self-correction, her constancy in this, and unwavering fidelity to her vow - imitate... and in other respects - follow the common path of those being saved. - Just be firm, don’t allow yourself to relax... and after working a little, don’t think that you’ve already done everything: for the end crowns the work. Write this blessed end in your mind, and flow towards it, according to the Apostle, forgetting what is behind, and stretching to what is before, until you reach the place of rest from your labors, which the Lord has prepared for all His workers. Amen. Bring great joy to the earth, praise the heavens of God's glory. What joy is this that the earth is commanded to preach? – The joy of salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. – The whole earth was in deep mourning; and although she hoped with confidence, she did not see deliverance for a long time. Finally, the good news was brought from heaven, proclaimed throughout the whole earth, and joyfully received. - Bring this great joy to the earth. Heaven, touching the earth, saw only crying, groaning and grief. But then the face of the mourning earth brightened, and as an image of the accomplishment of this, the boundless Divine perfections were revealed in all its fullness; then how can heaven restrain itself from praising this glory of God? Praise the heavens for the glory of God. Heaven, which is invited to praise the glory of God, is the world of angels; and the earth, which is commanded to preach the gospel of great joy, is people... Why should the angels be reminded of God’s praise, when they already cry with incessant voices: Holy, Holy, Holy - the Lord God of Hosts! – And perhaps it is not superfluous to remind people: do not forget, friends, about the great joy, the only true joy, brought to you from heaven at the hour of the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary. When the Archangel for the first time announced to the blessed Virgin: Rejoice; then, one might say, the dawn of a joyful day was just dawning, which was to shine later... But even then, the Most Holy Virgin, who understood the power of the words of greeting, spontaneously burst forth with a song: My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior (Luke 1:46-47). In what ecstatic songs should the soul now pour out its joy when it knows the Resurrection, the Ascension, and the Descent of the Holy Spirit, the foundation and glorification of the Church of God on earth, and the establishment of the Church of the Firstborn in heaven! - Judging by this, we should not have those who are not rejoicing; and if so, then what can we say: rejoice. - He who rejoices rejoices - remind him or do not remind him of joy; just as someone who does not have joy in his heart will not rejoice, no matter how much you tell him: rejoice - rejoice! – Thank the Lord! and we are introduced into the treasury of heavenly blessings and stand at the source of all joys and consolations. If we have partaken of these blessings, then we drink consolation and rejoice; and if we have not received communion, we cannot rejoice, no matter how hard we try, until we taste those blessings that bring joy. So the meaning of the proclamation: preach great joy to the earth is unambiguous with the invitation: taste, people, the good things brought by the Lord to earth, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. He who sat in darkness, languished in this darkness, and then was brought into the light: he cannot help but feel the consolation that he sees the light of day, the joyful sun and all the variety of creatures illuminated by it. He will never forget the previous languor and the moment in which he was delivered from it. – And we by nature are in darkness: has the light of Christ shone in our hearts? Does the eye of our mind contemplate God in the Trinity worshiped - this intelligent Sun and all the secrets of the Divine world rule and redemption revealed to us - this Light that illuminates everything that exists and happens!? Do we remember the moment when darkness was driven away and intelligent light bathed us? - He who can say this rejoices... He who cannot: first come out of darkness, and you will rejoice. He who languished in chains and was released: he remembers well how the news of freedom came to him - how they opened the prison, broke the shackles - and brought him to freedom... and cannot help but rejoice, because he tastes freedom. – The bonds of sin, the evil customs of the world and the tyranny of Satan lie upon us. - Do we remember such a moment in our lives when, like an Angel, the aspiration and desire for freedom flew into the soul - when some extraordinary power poured into the soul - and with it, one after another, the bonds of sin, the world and the devil fell away? - With whom this happened, in the realm of the joyful freedom of the children of God, he rejoices and has fun... With whom it did not happen... seek this freedom first, and you will begin to rejoice... and all the holy Angels will rejoice with you. Who lay in relaxation, covered with wounds, and was then healed: can he not have a sense of health and walk without rejoicing in strength and vigor from the presence of new strength? – And we are relaxed from negligence, and wounded from passions. - Did the Physician of souls and bodies come to us, and did our soul listen to His word, like a paralytic: take your bed, - and like a sick person: behold, you are healthy... Whoever has been granted this cannot help but sing a song of joy, jumping and playing; and whoever is not, seek the Doctor first - be healed and you will rejoice. Who was in exile, or ran away from home without permission, and then returned and was favorably received; will he forget how his father came out to meet him, fell on his neck and kissed him, how they then washed him, dressed him and organized a feast for his return?.. And remembering this, how can he not be comforted by this continually, staying in the house of his merciful father?! Do we remember the melancholy of separation, the defeated timidity and driven away fear of return - in repentance, the merciful embrace of the Father - in permission, the feast - in communion... and most importantly, do we carry in the depths of our hearts the conviction that we are in the Father's house - and not in exile, - in mercy and love, and not under anger and oath? If so, our spirit cannot but rejoice, even if the body were torn with iron nails; and if not, there is no joy for us, even if we surround ourselves with all the joys of the world... So, brethren, whoever has tasted the blessings brought by the Lord to earth - that is, this light of knowledge, and this freedom from the bonds of sin and the power to do good - and this healing of the wounds of the heart, and this sonship to God: - he abides constantly in heavenly unfeigned joy. “We will please such people, and we will wish for those who are alien to this state to enter into the joy of the Lord through the direct path of tasting the blessings that bring true joy.” Do not be flattered, brothers!.. Spiritual joy is not a momentary, accidental, forced passion of the heart, but is a reflection of the constant joyful state of the whole being, mainly from its relationship to God - and the perception of the mentioned benefits from Him. – You can force your heart into joy; but joy will be spewed out of him immediately, like a stick vertically immersed in water. – You can deceive the heart for a moment by presenting imaginary benefits to it, but this will not be joy, but intoxication, which usually ends in great languor. Be careful and do not be deceived. “You may encounter many lights—lights of superstition—which are not the lights of knowledge, but will-o’-the-wisps, similar to those that always almost hover over the corpse of a dead person... Look and do not be deceived. “There are people who think that they are expanding the circle of freedom by not limiting their desires, but who in reality are like monkeys who willfully entangle themselves in a net. – Don’t get carried away by their example. You never know the world offered joys, as if healing the wounds of the heart, but which even more languish and corrode the wounds, like water mirages in the desert, or salt water that kindles thirst! Alienate yourself from them. And the prince of peace, breathing anger towards us in his heart, always turns to us with a sweet, fatherly speech, offering contentment and peace. Reject charm and this flatterer who charms us. Let your heart know no other joy than the joy of salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. - The Most Pure Lady Theotokos, the first friend of joy, may she rejoice us all with this joy - some in the feeling of real salvation, some in the sure hope of receiving it - may everyone now sing with her: my soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior. Amen. The now-remembered event of the Lord’s solemn entry into Jerusalem was, one might say, the last admonition to the foolish synagogue. The leaders of the Jews long ago decided to put the Lord to death. But here He is, humbly entering Jerusalem on a donkey, shaking the whole city - everyone is loudly welcomed, showing that His desire alone is enough to destroy all their plans, and that if He surrenders to death, He surrenders voluntarily. – He immediately reminds them of a self-fulfilling prophecy: “Behold, your King is coming to bring them to their senses,” and by the very event he offers a new prophecy about calling pagans instead of them, in order to shame them and irritate their jealousy. The blinded ones did not heed the admonition. - The Lord foresaw this - and shed tears for the perishing! There is triumph all around, and the Lord himself is in tears!.. What could console Him?.. except the laudatory voices of the children. The Lord saw that this people, now crying out: Hosanna, would in four days shout: crucify, crucify Him... But these children and all those who cleave to Him with childish simplicity will remain unfailingly faithful to Him. “His blood will be shed, and it will moisten this earth, and give birth to a new generation on it - fresh and full of life, like fronds from dates, and with unthinking faith devoted to Him, like children crying: Hosanna!.. Thus, brothers, the blood of the Lord has already been shed and has brought forth its fruit. Instead of one nation, all nations are now crying out: Hosanna to the Son of David, - instead of one church in one holy city - how many true churches have been erected on earth, and how many cities remain faithful to the Lord! But the law of the Lord’s consolations and hopes is one. Only those His Spirit rests on are those who, like fronds, are full of life and, like children, are turned with all their hearts to the Lord. – We read this law in the words of the Lord: leave the children to come to Me and do not scold them: for such is the Kingdom of God (Luke 18:16). It is not children’s powerlessness that is taken as a model here, but the freshness of their children’s strength—the liveliness of their actions and simplicity. Has this law been accepted by us?.. Of course it has been accepted, along with the entire law of Christ. And if accepted, then all the obligations associated with it are accepted... What does this oblige us to?! Obliges – 1) Start working for the Lord from a young age, as soon as we realize our obligations given in baptism; and not put off this task until old age, meanwhile indulging in passions and working for the world... Shall we offer the infirmities of old age and dry bones to the Lord, who shed His blood for us?! - Shall we bring more? - God knows. - In old age, passions will definitely subside: but will the Lord be pleased with a life in which passionate deeds are not visible simply because there is no strength to satisfy passions, while the whole being is saturated with passions?! – This does not mean that conversion in old age is not possible. God, who is able to raise up children for Abraham from stones, will send the Spirit and the old bones will come to life, and the old man will begin to work for the Lord with youthful vigor... But how many such examples do you know?! – Don’t almost all elders who have spent their lives in passions languish from boredom, grumble and are consumed by despair? – Blessed is only that old age to which one has lived continuously through a life pleasing to God! 2) But for this it is necessary - having begun to work for the Lord from a young age - to carry out all the deeds of this service with youthful liveliness and vigor. In the Old Testament it is commanded to offer fat to the Lord. Why, giving thanks and bowing to the Lord for mercy, David sang: I will offer you a burnt offering richly (Ps. 65:15). This is an image of the fact that in deeds of pleasing God, one must bring to the Lord all the disposition, all the heart, all the fullness of feeling, and not just external, coldly done deeds... Let the heart first burn with love for the Lord, and then say in all your bones: Lord, Lord! – Who reads prayers to the Lord, but is distant from Him in heart; who stands in the church, but with his thoughts in his soul he organizes a marketplace; whoever gives alms - let it be seen, and in general performs all works of piety regularly, but without the participation of the heart: that work is not fronds of dates, but dry courage, ready to be burned... Son, give Me heart (Proverbs 23:26), says the Lord. – He who does not give his heart to the Lord does not give anything. “He may have things to do, but he does them according to routine—coldly, like a machine, or like a lazy mule or ox, reluctantly, forcedly—like a tied up follower. Look how children, when they do something, are all in the action - inseparably - and act with enthusiasm. - So we need to work for the Lord! 3) Do not think that it is difficult to maintain such liveliness. - No; – The Lord is near: – He is working in us. “You just need to surrender your heart to Him with childlike faith and simplicity.” Blessed is the heart that nourishes this unthinking faith - one in which the thought does not double into the feeling of the heart, in which conviction in the truth is inseparable from the readiness to act on it, in which every word of God is accepted inseparably by the whole being... The mind does not play tricks there, trying to undermine the foundations of the truth with various questions made up of its unreason and narrow-mindedness in the knowledge of spiritual things, the heart does not cover the commandment with a passionate fog thoughts by which our desires are tempted, deviating from what is commanded, either completely or temporarily. Every word there is accepted entirely as it is - absorbed like water by a sponge, or drops of rain by thirsty earth... This is why there is a lot of life, liveliness and strength, where there is unthinking faith. There they will hear, for example, “come on,” and they give, “forgive,” and they forgive, “look for this and that,” and they search; look at things this way - and they look like this... Neither thoughts, nor feelings, nor desires are allowed to arise in the consciousness contrary to what comes from the mouth of God; they accept everything without hesitation, like children from the lips of the father or mother they love, or from the teacher to whom they have clung. Let us arouse and confirm such dispositions in the heart!.. And in this way let us now bring to the Lord three-branched fronds - spiritual, pleasing to the Lord. - The Lord, who sees the heart, will see them and bless them... Our song - hosanna to the Son of David - will reach His ears - and He will protect us - from the reproachful cries of foolish wise men: look, what are they doing?! - From the mouth of a baby and those who piss, He arranges His own praise... And He does not want to accept another... May God favor us all to be so constituted. Amen. 30. Wednesday of Holy Week Today the reading of the Gospels ends. And I want to draw your attention to what this reading means and what does it oblige us to? – What does it mean to read all the Gospels in these days? It is a repetition of the will given to us by the Lord Jesus Christ. - The Lord, having died for us, left a testament to all who had faith in Him - a testament written and signed by His blood. Everyone who comes to the Lord by faith enters into a covenant with Him and undertakes to fulfill the testament He left, as depicted in the Gospels. Tomorrow the passions will take place. In a day, we will be offered to honor the image on the shroud of the Lord, after He is taken down from the cross, martyred and wounded. – The first thought of anyone who comes to kiss the shroud will be the thought of the covenant confirmed by the death of the Lord. With His emaciated appearance and ulcers, He will remind each of us: do you remember and fulfill My testament, which you undertook to fulfill when you entered into a covenant with Me? - So that every Christian before the shroud can answer in good faith: yes, Lord, I remember your covenant and I know your testament - St. The Church decided to read all the Gospels before the Lord’s suffering in order to renew in everyone’s memory the whole picture of the obligations bequeathed by the Lord. This is why all the Gospels are read in these days! So, is the goal being achieved? - Yes, - to a greater or lesser extent, everyone knows what the Lord expects from him as from a Christian? - But perhaps not everyone clearly understands the entire essence of the matter bequeathed to us - perhaps he did not sum up all the obligations imposed by the Testator under one overview - did he not depict in one general picture everything related to this? “I undertake to help you,” and to depict the entire content of the Lord’s testament in one short essay. “This will help us, in the face of the suffering Lord, either to become more strengthened in life, if it is in good order, or will encourage us to change it and correct it, if it is faulty.” You know that the essence of Christianity is the restoration of fallen man. Man in creation is destined to be in communion with God in order to live in Him and be blissful. By transgressing the commandment, he fell away from God - he lost true life - and had to suffer both temporarily and eternally. The Only Begotten Son of God, having taken upon Himself human nature, revived it in Himself, satisfied it with the truth of God by death, and returned to man bliss in God. - In order for people to be able to assimilate these blessings at all times, He established St. The church is the house of salvation and the courtyard of those being saved. - Anyone who now wants to achieve his destination - to taste the bliss of communion with God - can be granted this only through communion with the Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit. Church... No one can come to the Father, says the Lord, but by Me... (John 14:6). This is the essence of His testament to us. From this it is self-evident that the more specific points of this testament concern: 1) the path of ascension to communion with Jesus Christ, 2) staying in God through communion with the Lord, and 3) staying in the Church, where all the forces and ways to accomplish both are found. 1) How do we ascend into communion with the Lord, and what lies with us as a result? The path to ascent to communion with the Lord is as follows. Coming to repentance of his sins, a person would be ready to fall into despair if the Lord did not stand before him with merits... Having assimilated them to himself by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, he arises in the hope of salvation and receiving Divine powers, sets the intention to work for the Lord all the days of his life... and for this through the sacraments he is united with the Lord. Because of this, this is what is required of every Christian: a) Know and acknowledge your poverty and wretchedness - that you are poor and blind and naked, and would perish temporarily and forever, if not for the Lord... b) Know and grow in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, who came into the world to save sinners. – He satisfied the righteousness of God for you, quickened you in Himself and seated you at the right hand of the Father in heaven. c) Believe with complete faith that the Lord, who saved the whole world, also saves you - and cry out to Him with Thomas: My Lord and my God. d) As a result of this, you hope to be saved. Keep it in your heart that the danger has already passed; but do not indulge in carelessness and bliss, but walk in deeds of self-sacrifice, the oblivion of which has plunged you into trouble so many times. d) Warm up a sense of peace with God. – Contemplate in your spirit the bright face of God, benevolent to you; but do not relax not only passions, but also passionate thoughts, and every time they break through against your will, hasten to cleanse yourself with tears of repentance, or always remain in tears of repentance, washing away all impurity with them. f) Carry in your heart the conviction that you are the son of God, to whom the power has been given to cry out to Him: Abba Father; - and remembering this, act as if on behalf of God, in the sight of God, for God - always for the glory of His all-holy name. Here is the first series of feelings and dispositions bequeathed by the Lord! 2) Having entered into communion with Jesus Christ, and through Him reunited with God, a person stands before the face of God, from Whom he had fallen, and contemplates Him in His infinite perfections, and in His works of creation, providence and accomplishment of everything... And these are the feelings and dispositions that everyone should be filled with at this! This is what the Lord requires from each of us: a) Contemplating God with the most hidden and incomprehensible, be amazed at Him. Let every thought be silent in you, just as every creature, heavenly and earthly, is silent before Him. b) Contemplating Him as infinitely great, fall before Him in humiliation, filled with reverent fear and awe. c) Contemplating the all-perfect One, praise and glorify Him, calling out to Him together with the choirs of Angels: Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Hosts, fill the whole earth with Your glory! d) Contemplating Him as omnipresent, all-seeing and all-fulfilling, walk before His face, just as you would walk before a king looking at you. e) God created you and protects you - you are all His... Submit to Him as the Lord of life, in a feeling of complete dependence on Him. f) God, who created you and provides for you: everything that is yours has become His. Thank Him for everything... Be grateful and be patient if something unpleasant happens to you, and never allow your feeling of contentment with the orders of Providence for yourself to weaken. g) God, the controller of everything, leads you to your destination. Therefore, everything that happens to you will be from God. - So, surrender yourself to the will of the all-good God, Who knows better than you what you need - rest in Him, not allowing yourself to be tormented by empty perplexities and frustrations of the spirit; and having full hope that He will lead you to His end, lift up your mind and heart to Him in prayer. h) God, who created everything and controls everything, will put an end to the present order of things, transform heaven and earth, and establish an eternal kingdom of bliss for man... And so expect this second coming of the Lord, and not only believe him, but also desire and prepare to meet Him at every hour... Prepare for death; - remember judgment, heaven and hell, and be like a stranger on earth. – Here is the second series of feelings and dispositions bequeathed by the Lord! 3) Those who enter into communion with Jesus Christ, and through Him with God, achieve this in no other way than in St. The Churches, according to her instructions and guidance, are established and remain in this communion in no other way than by remaining in communion with the Church. In the Church, all the grace-filled means necessary for this, and everyone in it who uses these means and turns to God, becomes one body, filled with one spirit. The Church is a house of salvation or a vessel of grace-filled means, and a courtyard of those who are being saved. A. The Church is a house of salvation or a vessel of grace-filled means... And so turn to it and in it seek satisfaction of your spiritual needs. Everything you need can be found in it. a) You need mental enlightenment. – The Church is an educator. Believe and keep in your heart that she alone is the pillar and affirmation of the truth - and in her seek this truth - in the word of God, in the scriptures of the Fathers, in the available church teaching. - According to the guidance of this enlightenment, look for everyone else, and trust it to them. b) You are weak - you need reinforcements. – The Church is the giver of grace and the educator of the spirit of grace. Our mother’s seven breasts are open—seven sacraments. Approach them by faith - and drink from them with life-giving powers according to your needs, and then warm them up by walking in all the rules and rites of the Church - fasting, fasting and everything else. c) You are surrounded by enemies. You need intercession and protection. The Church is your intercessor and protector. Go to the churches of God. Gathering her children, the Church brings down her intercessory power on them... Here is the bloodless Sacrifice, here are the choirs of Angels and Saints, here are prayers for every need of soul and body... Run here and protect yourself with church prayer. B. The Church is the courtyard of those who are being saved... All believers are one body with one spirit... So - a) Stay with everyone in unity of spirit: – remain in like-mindedness, not seeking independent views in matters of faith that cause heresies; remain in sympathy with everyone and in a readiness to promote the good of everyone. These are the three elements of true love, which will further teach you to greet every brother with goodwill, goodwill and concern; He will teach everyone to do more with honor than himself, and to keep the face of his neighbor clean; will teach you to sacrifice everything for the good of your soul and body - and, in constant mutual exchange, to be sincerely hospitable, modest, peace-loving, compliant, truly loving, etc., will teach you to behave this way not only in relation to benefactors and friends, but also to enemies and ill-wishers. The Church is the courtyard of those who are being saved: - all believers are one body with one spirit... b) Be zealous with all your zeal to remain in unity with her - and to bring yourself under the same spirit with her... And for this, remember the vows given when you entered into her at baptism and renew them more often in memory; deny yourself and continually sacrifice yourself to God;... devour your mind to Him and accept the mind of Christ, devour your will, and walk only in the will of God - devour your heart - and love nothing but Him; Devour your body to Him in labors and bodily embitterments, for the sake of salvation... Be sober and watchful... and keep your feelings undistracted... This is the third series of feelings and dispositions bequeathed to us by the Lord! There are also special wills - to parents and children, - to husbands and wives, servants and masters, superiors and subordinates, shepherds and flocks, those who sell and buy, judges and those judged; every rank and status: but they are clear already from the first testaments... Let the spirit of love and self-sacrifice in zeal prevail everywhere, to create in everything the single will of God, to which all life should be devoted. Here is a brief outline of the testament left to us by the Lord - and this is what the Church wants to reproduce in our minds, reading all the Gospels to us these days, in order to present us with a shameless face at the foot of the cross, on which hangs the One who bequeathed this testament to us - to present us, at least, as knowing, if not completely fulfilling... But, brethren, what is knowledge?! It will only expose us! Let's force our soul a little - won't it become jealous of applying knowledge and action?! Not enough time?! No - not a little. – And in one minute everything can be corrected... Let’s do this: let’s check our lives according to the proposed outline, and we will wash everything that we find faulty with tears of repentance, making a firm intention to be correct in those parts in which we were previously faulty. The Lord who suffers for us on the cross will accept the intention as the deed itself, as long as it is sincere and accompanied by a willingness to stand in it to the point of the stomach. Let us at least please the Lord with this - in these days His remembrance... There was a time in the Old Testament when the books of the law were read aloud to all the people, with oaths to the disobedient and blessings to the obedient, and all the people answered: all; Great is the Lord’s speech, let us create and listen... Here the Lord Himself repeats His covenant to us from the cross; Let us open the ears of our hearts, put together our feelings and dispositions according to what is written, and say: Let us, Lord, keep everything You have commanded, even if we had to go to prison or to death for that. Amen. On Great Wednesday, if you remember, I offered you the covenant bequeathed to us by our Lord Jesus Christ - written by His blood and sealed by His death on the cross. - The clauses of this will, due to their number, could then only be briefly indicated, or only titled. But how they should all constitute the main subject of our knowledge, as well as the main concern of our life and activity; then I consider myself obliged to explain them to you in more detail; and I ask you to apply all possible attention and patience in listening. I think I will explain this to you now because the Lord, after His resurrection, appeared to His disciples for fourty days, speaking to them about the Kingdom of God: But the Kingdom of God, which is within us, consists of what else if not in the feelings and dispositions to which He who died for us and rose again obliged us? - Thus, by talking about this, we will enter into participation in the conversations of the Lord, and in some way we will continue His work, which He accomplished in the days ahead of us. “Besides, perhaps the following weeks themselves, in their content and meaning, will guide us first to one point or another of the wills laid upon us for execution.” At least this can be said affirmatively about this week and without much of a stretch. Remember what the essence of God’s new covenant to us is? Here's the summary: - in living communion with God through the Lord Jesus Christ in His holy Church. – The main point is living communication with God. But it is impossible for us who have fallen to come into fellowship with God other than through the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, we must first be united with the Lord Jesus, who sincerely shared our nature; further, having achieved this, one must live in this communion with the Savior and the communion with God acquired through Him, in union with all those who are united with God - constituting the Church of God, to which are entrusted all the means of salvation and the guidance of all those being saved. So learn this: the essence of our covenant is in communion with God through the Lord Jesus Christ in His holy Church. - Arise, fallen one, look at the Lord and unite with Him; – flow from Him through a number of other dispositions to God and immerse yourself in God-contemplation and God-pleasure; but do it the way it is done in the Church of God, being in union with all who call on the name of the Lord. – A true Christian, firmly holding this God-ordained order, walks along it with his mind and heart all his life and collects in it holy feelings and dispositions that please him here and reliably prepare him for eternal bliss. This is something I consider it my duty to discuss with you as often and as variedly as possible. It's all up to you. If we stand in this rank, it is good for us, but if not, we are lost. So our first task is to unite with the Lord Jesus Christ. – We have already united with Him. – All that remains is to preserve this combination, warming up the feelings and dispositions that support it. “To those who are not with the Lord, we must say: arise, fallen one, look at the Lord and unite with Him.” And whoever is with the Lord must be taught: do not forget the fall from which you were raised, do not take your eyes off the Lord who saved you, and with strong faith drink into yourself His saving power. - Otherwise it is like this: - know and contain your poverty in the feeling of your heart, - know and carry the wealth of Christ in the feeling of your heart; and then, by the power of faith and love, transfer this wealth of Christ to your poor self. – He who is combined with the Lord constantly contains these feelings and, moving from one to another, maintains in himself or sets in motion his living combination with the Lord. So, it is necessary - a) Know and contain in the feeling of your heart your poverty, your wretchedness and your irresponsibility before God. This is the first truth about ourselves. We were highly placed, but through the envy of the devil, having violated the commandment, we were subjected to condemnation and oath, were upset in soul and body, condemned to external disasters, fell under the tyranny of Satan, and are in danger of being cast into eternal fire after death, prepared for the devil and his angels. For those who believed, all this has already passed. But we must not forget this, so as not to fall into self-forgetfulness, and not fall into the same place again. Our path lies over the abyss of flame, into which we are constantly ready to plunge if grace leaves us; - and she will leave if we forget that we ourselves are blind and poor and naked... This feeling will constantly direct us to the Lord or force us to run to Him, as they run from a stuffy place or building engulfed in flames to freedom. Just as oil keeps a lamp burning, so this feeling will support the burning of faith in the Lord in our spirit. As the former weakens, so does the latter. He who loses it is out of action of those being saved. That's how important it is! Let us take care - to kindle in ourselves the feeling of our poverty, our wretchedness and unworthiness before God - so that we can constantly remain in a feeling of self-abasement and humility... and cry out from the depths of our souls: Lord, save me, I am perishing. b) Know and carry the riches of Christ in the feeling of your heart. – The feeling of one’s poverty, wretchedness and irresponsibility before God is one thing - joyless, and, perhaps, can lead to despair, a completely destructive sin. - Therefore, without abandoning it, we must dissolve it with the knowledge and feeling of the riches of Christ... For, in fact, man is not only poor and perishing, but we are saved and enriched in the Lord Jesus Christ - in fact, there is such a dispensation according to which the Divine overshadowing of saving grace is extended over a perishing person. Therefore, we need to look not only at ourselves, how insignificant we are, but also at the Lord, how rich and good He is, that is, how the merciful God promised to send His Son for our salvation, who, at the fulfillment of times, actually came to us, became incarnate, suffered, sacrificed on the cross for the sins of the whole world, rose again and resurrected everyone, ascended and, sitting at the right hand of God the Father, intercedes for us, and rules over everything as a King, arranging everything for our salvation. Holding in our minds such a dispensation of salvation, let us perceive it in our feelings, so that together with the Apostle we can ascend to that state in which all the skills of being are credited with the surpassing understanding of Christ the Lord. – The consequence of these two feelings will be – c) The very combination of the heart with the Lord. For when, in this way, both the feeling of one’s damnation and the feeling of Christ’s riches meet in one and the same spirit, what can keep them from combining with each other, as water combines with dry earth, or like two elements akin to each other? The feeling of irresponsibility ascends to the Lord, who has been sacrificed, - the feeling of corruption accepts the Lord - just as our stomach, the fear of death and hell is healed by the vision of the Lord, the King and the Conqueror of all. – Each feeling finds its corresponding satisfaction in the contemplated Lord. From this combination, their heavenly daughter is born, true faith in the Lord the Savior, which is neither the knowledge of the Lord, nor the knowledge of one’s poverty, but is both together - in mutual penetration. – The combination of the heart with the Lord by faith is an internal grace-filled action, by which all the fullness of Christ is transferred to our insignificance and poverty and assimilated to us. – This is a Divine action by which a new hidden person of the heart is created within us. These are the elements from which it is composed: I, a perishing person, would have perished forever, but the Lord Jesus Christ, who took away all the evil that lay upon the human race, accepted me into His mercy, and by Him I am saved. Faith sees the Lord as the only source of its blessing, disappears in Him with its heart, embraces Him with love, lives by Him alone and for Him alone. When this combination of the Lord with the heart takes place, then what He promised happens to each of us: I go down to him and dine with him, saturating him with all My endless blessings. As a result of this, in the depths of the human spirit it is spoken like Thomas, by the touch of the Lord: My Lord and my God! – This is the truest voice of faith and its truest symbol. Here's a short picture of how the heart is united with the Lord!.. First, it will feel its poverty and irresponsibility before God; then he will feel the riches of Christ, and finally, by the power of faith, he will transfer this last to himself, saying in himself: everything that the Lord has done for everyone, He gives in His goodness and to me and saves me... And saying this, it is firmly grafted onto the Lord, like a child who loves his mother wraps himself around his mother’s neck... Having wrapped himself in this way with the Lord, the believing soul remains like this - looking with love into the eyes of the Lord, holding her over the abyss and saving in Himself... May the Lord, who desires to save us all, help us to settle inwardly, so that all of us, even at the hour of His final appearance to the world, can boldly cry out with Thomas: Our Lord and our God! Amen. For almost a week now, our ears have been filled with church songs about thirst. - Each of us is inspired to cry out to the Lord: give my thirsty soul something to drink... And the Lord himself calls all those who are thirsty to Himself, saying: thirst, that he may come to Me and drink. – Now in the Gospel the Savior talks with the Samaritan woman about thirst. The Samaritan woman asks Him: give me such water that I won’t have to go here to the well for water and won’t even be thirsty at all. The Lord says: “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst again” (John 4:13–14). You can guess that the discussion here is not about simple thirst, when you want to drink water, but about another thirst that is more valuable and more extensive. – The word thirst signifies the highest needs of the human spirit, which cannot be found complete and lasting satisfaction anywhere except our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In this regard, the Samaritan woman represents the image of human nature, with an unsatisfied thirst turning to the Lord, after repeatedly satisfying it from the well of self-invented created goods and still not finding peace from thirst. This Gospel is always read to us in the spring, so that we understand its meaning, do not rush like foolish children to the bait of pleasures that are usually revealed to us at this time of year, and do not cease to be in the Lord - the only source of all-satisfactory blessings. So that you yourself come to the same conclusion, I will just tell you what human nature is and what it seeks. “You will see how many thirsts there are, and how unfair we are to ourselves, satisfying one side and leaving the other in the shadow and contempt. Man, as you see, not only has a body, but also a soul - and in the soul itself, or in his inner life, not only a soul, but also a spirit, which are incomparably higher than the soul... Each of these parts of the human being - spirit, soul and body - has its own needs. The feeling of need is thirst. Therefore, we have three types of thirst: bodily thirst, carnal - sensual thirst, spiritual thirst and spiritual thirst. The first carnal seeks earthly and sensual pleasures, the second spiritual seeks the blessings of everyday life or the blessings of the world; the third - spiritual - seeks spiritual benefits - heavenly, or God and Divine things. I will indicate these thirsts in even more detail... So in our body there is a need for self-preservation - to eat, drink, sleep; - there is a need for movement - to walk, work, work, which is turned into a need to walk, dance, etc. similar; - there is a need to use the senses - look, hear, touch, smell. – Three classes of carnal needs, three kinds and sensual thirsts, which are satisfied by the sensual things that surround us... Whoever is primarily occupied with satisfying these needs is on the level of an animal. - He got up, walked around, talked, dreamed, read, ate and then fell asleep again, - walked, turned around, looked, listened to empty speeches, and chatted himself, and went back to sleep... This is the whole program of life... Empty; – but unfortunately a very, very large circle of people belongs here. - Here thirst is quenched for several hours and comes to life again, and eats a person like a worm. In the soul there is a need for knowledge - a person wants to explore and find out everything, scientifically, or by hearsay, or through reading. Every minute you hear: what is this, from what, how, for what?.. Everyone has this inquisitiveness. - There is a need for enterprises or affairs: - in the household, in the trade sector, in military, academic, judicial, civil or rural life... Not a minute passes without someone thinking of doing something, and doing it - and having done one thing, he takes on another... This is enterprise - care and much concern. – There is a need to decorate yourself, your home and your life. You need good furniture, clothes, good paintings, sculptures, singing, music and the like. Man wants to plant paradise around himself to replace what was lost. – These are the so-called innocent pleasures. There are three needs in the soul: - the need for knowledge, enterprise or care, and the search for aesthetic pleasures... There are just as many thirsts in it. Here the thirst is never satisfied, but constantly consumes a person, despite the fact that he does not give himself a minute of rest. You know all this yourself. In the spirit there is a need for contemplation of God and Divine things, satisfied by knowledge of the spiritual world; there is a need for peace in God, or peace of conscience, satisfied by fulfilling the will of God; - there is a need for communion with God, or tasting God, satisfied by prayerful disappearance in God. As many needs in the spirit, there are as many thirsts - that is, a thirst for prayerful renunciation from everything, peace in God and contemplation of God, which, not being satisfied, leave melancholy, but being properly satisfied, the spirit rests, and brings peace to the soul and body, making up for their shortcomings with its fullness, or replacing their methods with its own; - for example, by offering prayers to God - aesthetic pleasures, by peace of conscience - thoughtfulness, by contemplating God and Divine things - a fruitless search for truth through a scientific method. Here we have three classes of thirsts and three types of thirsts in each class - all nine, as if nine lips, from which a person hears an incessant cry: I thirst!.. All his life, some people struggle to somehow drown out this cry and do not have time. Why? - Because, first of all, it distributes these thirsts incorrectly. Look how it happens: sensory needs come first and there is more care about them, then spiritual needs, which are already satisfied to a lesser extent, and spiritual ones are considered last, and there is little or no care about them, so that a person is now in the wrong position - at the top he has what should be at the bottom. And in this form, working to satisfy a person is the same as trying to fill a vessel with water, turning it upside down. This is why a person does not have contentment - he is not satisfied, he thirsts and thirsts, despite the fact that he constantly strives for contentment and is surrounded by many blessings. Thus, whoever desires peace must correct this mistake, and he will find peace and peace that surpasses all reason. It is necessary, t. That is, first of all, to satisfy the spirit by elevating it to communion with God, eating God and contemplating God. Further, by the power of the spirit, and according to his instructions and guidance, satisfy both mental and physical needs. God, the fullness of goods, having filled the spirit, through it will pour out additional satisfactions on the needs of the soul - on its knowledge, enterprises and pleasures and on the needs of the body, giving them measure and weight and purpose. You see now that a person can stop crying out: I thirst! Then, when the spirit is satisfied through Communion with God. The question is: how to do this? Here's how. Man was originally created to be in communion with God - to live in God and be blissful. And so it was. In the fall, he separated from God and lost Communion with God. Having lost communion with God, he became unsatisfactorily thirsty. – His spirit weakened, left alone, his soul with its needs prevailed over him, itself, in turn, submitting to the predominance of the flesh. – To restore the fallen, the Lord came, and, having satisfied the truth of God with His boundless suffering, He sent down the Divine Spirit, so that, being acceptable to believers through the sacraments, He would restore the spirit of man to His rank, and through it the soul and body – and thus return to the fallen the perfection predetermined for him – a sweet and all-satisfied life in communion with God. All this happens like this: a person comes into repentant repentance about his lewdness and his guilt before God; then, by faith in the Lord, he arises to the reliability of salvation, then, having made a vow to belong to the Lord, he receives the sacrament. The grace of the All-Holy Spirit, which came through the sacrament, vividly unites him with the Lord, like a wild branch with a vine, and through the Lord leads him to the deepest communion with God. – Having been filled with this communion with God, the whole being of man is at peace, enters into Sabbath in God, not disturbed by any cries of lower needs. That's the whole secret! If anyone is thirsty, go to the Lord and drink from Him water, from which those who drink thirst no more. And without this, the nine needs shown will incessantly torment the poor soul, giving it no rest, whittling it away like worms whetting the heart of a tree, and draining it like leeches drain the vital juices of the body... This does not mean that those who have entered into Communion with God do not feel their mental and physical needs and do not satisfy them; but the fact that the thirst of such people loses its burning intensity and persistence, and that under this condition, a delightful all-satisfaction descends to them from God. - He who lives in God has everything - and lacks nothing, or is not bothered by feelings of poverty and deprivation. That's where all the power lies! Now the Lord calls us all: thirst, let him come to Me and drink... Let us all go to the sweetest Lord, and let us quench our thirst with Him. But so as not to go to any wells after this, even if they were dug by some celebrities. Amen. Now St. The Church remembers St. Fathers who became famous for the firmness of their confession of faith in the Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, who defended this dogma and approved it at the first Ecumenical Council. Offered to our attention and honor of St. Fathers in order to inspire us with their zeal to stand until we bleed for the Divinity of our Lord and Savior, and to arm ourselves with courage against everything that rebels against Him. - How can we fulfill this suggestion of our mother, the Church, at this time? Do you know what the wicked Arius preached blasphemously? He preached that our Savior is not the true God, although he called Him with the highest titles. Such a teaching sought to destroy Christianity itself as the only path to salvation. For if the Savior is not God, then there is no salvation for us. This is why the only begotten Son of God and God became incarnate, because the wisdom of God did not find any other more convenient way for our salvation. We are one with the humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ; humanity in the Lord is hypostatically united with His Divinity and in Him with the Triune God. Believers become one body with the Lord, and just as the Lord is one with God who is worshiped in the Trinity, then all believers through Him enter into unity or sincere communion with the Trinitarian God. This is the whole secret of salvation! “I am in the Father,” says the Lord to the disciples, “and you are in Me.” Why did I pray to the Father: that they may all be one, as You are the Father in Me and I am in You, that they also may be one in Us. So you see that by rejecting the Divinity of our Lord and Savior, Arius attempted to destroy the most necessary link in the chain of reuniting us with God, placing us in the same dark distance from God - or what is the same, with the Gospel in his hands, he wanted to undermine the foundations of Christianity. This is why all the holy Fathers, everywhere zealous for true salvation, rebelled against him then, all who wanted to work out salvation by deed themselves, and not to philosophize only about it. By this they showed us an example, also in their own way, in our circumstances, to defend in every possible way the Divinity of our Lord and Savior and to arm ourselves against everything that is contrary to it. For the Lord, or our salvation, has many enemies, and there were and are, vowel Arianism has long disappeared; but the unspoken walks through the Christian world and collects victims for itself - from the circle of those who are inattentive to the matter of salvation, - most of all from the circle of those who trust too much in themselves. Please consider the following thoughts: Those who confess the Divinity of the Lord with all their being worship Him as God - they worship with their mind, their will and their heart, they bring Him into their inner church and seat Him, as on the Cherubim, - with all the strength of their spirit, so that these latter have no movement other than that given to them by the Lord sitting on them. This is the essence of confessing our Lord and Savior by God, and not in one oral reading: I believe in the one Lord Jesus Christ, etc. Even while reading this, one can be internally, according to the mood of one’s spirit, an Arian... So, confessing the Divinity of the Lord, one must have Him as the God of the mind, the God of the will and the God of the heart. The mind has the Lord as God when it unquestioningly accepts everything He brought to earth and the teaching preached through the Apostles... If anyone has the Lord as God for their mind, then how can he not only speak, but also think anything contrary to His clear teaching? When God speaks, the creature must silently accept His word as a law for itself. And so, if someone does not accept something from the Christian teaching or does not accept everything, or accepting something, is delusional about it, then his mind does not recognize Christ as God - he suffers from Arianism. This does not mean that it would be disgusting for the Lord to know anything other than the Christian teaching, but that the Christian teaching should stand at the head and guide everything. Accept this teaching for yourself and go with it into the realm of all other knowledge, rejecting everything that disagrees with it. He who acts in this way truly worships the Lord with his mind as if he were God; anyone else is an Arian. The will has the Lord as God when it unquestioningly bends its neck under the yoke of His saving commandments, or when it patiently and reliably follows the path of salvation, which was established by the Lord and Savior, without inventing its own self-made paths in arrogance. “You and I once found out what this path is.” – I repeat to you: having received Divine powers in the sacraments and warming them through all the sacred rites of the Church, walk, in the light of faith, along the path of the commandments, under the guidance of shepherds, and you will be saved. - He who humbly submits to this saving yoke worships the Savior as if he were God; he who acts differently is an Arian. - This does not mean that it is only permissible for us to walk in the rank shown. No. But tune your inner self according to the program shown, and then act under its sanctification and under its guidance in all circles where you can act - in the family, in trade, in warfare, in the civil service, wherever you want - just do not allow yourself to violate the order that the Lord has established as a law for us and as a condition for our salvation. Whoever has such a mood sincerely confesses the Savior as God; whoever doesn’t is an Arian. The heart has the Lord as God when, completely clinging to Him, it delights in Him alone - and besides Him only in that which bears the clear imprint of His face, His properties, His favor and special closeness... You can already guess where this leads. The Lord dwells in the Church. Churchness is His vestment - there is a trace of His stench... The heart that loves the Lord here only finds sweetness and peace... It enjoys only spiritual singing, spiritual painting, spiritual action, that is, sacred rites; – spiritual poetry, – that is, church songs... Here is the paradise of that heart that has the Lord as its God. - This does not mean that we are not allowed any pleasures - aesthetic or even bodily... No. It is only impermissible to tear the heart away from the Lord and attach it to anything other than Him. - Set your heart so that it finds true - pleasing - delight only in Divine things and in the entire Divine institution of the Church on earth - and then look - which pleasures strengthen and elevate this pleasure, accept and taste, and those that weaken it and extinguish it, reject them. He who acts in this way has the Lord as the God of his heart; and whoever does otherwise is an Arian. Such a lesson is offered to us today by St. Church . She inspires us: worship the Lord Jesus Christ as God with your mind, and do not understand things otherwise than as He depicted in the Divine teaching of the Church, or in accordance with that and according to the guidance of that. Worship Him as God, by your will, and do not establish for yourself any other order of life than the one that He established for our salvation. - Worship Him as God with your heart, and find no taste in anything other than Him and the Divine things, which are His traces. – Remember, brethren, that in Christianity the main thing is not the sonorous word and not the external deed, but the inner mood. - The Lord is God for us - when He is the beginning for our knowledge with His teaching, - the beginning for our enterprises - with His commandments, - and the beginning for our aesthetic pleasures - with the beautiful structure of the Church. He who does not have this is an Arian; for him the Lord is not God. If not God, then not the Savior. – And to whom Jesus Christ is not the Savior, he is a victim of destruction and is subject to the condemnatory determination of the 318 Godly Fathers, who were at the first Council of Nicea, although outwardly he belongs to the Church of God. Amen. What kind of lordship surrounded St. Church Feast of Pentecost! We see special manifestations of joy in the songs and in the image of sacred rites, and in the decoration of churches, houses and even paths. And it’s clear why. – This is all the fruit of the joy of life through the Holy Spirit in Christ Jesus our Lord. And how many instructive – lofty symbols there are here! “Of many, I will draw your attention to one, namely, the fact that now everyone is preparing bunches of flowers and fragrant herbs, the aroma of which they inhale with effort, especially at that time when prayer appeals to God in the Trinity are read. What does this very simple-looking action mean? It expresses that the descent of the Holy Spirit has the closest resemblance to breathing. And indeed, the first acceptance of the Holy Spirit, and His presence in the Church, and how He spreads throughout the entire body of the Church, and how each member of it is received, is most obviously reflected in the action of our breathing. - Look how it is! – The descent of the Holy Spirit is the first breath of humanity by the Divine Spirit. – Look back and remember Ezekiel’s prophecy about a field full of human bones. Remember how, according to his word, bones copulated with bones, how they were then covered with veins, flesh and skin, but there was still no spirit in them. And it was said to the prophet: prophets are about the Spirit; and he prophesied, he said, and everything came to life. – This field of bones is an image of fallen humanity, which, at a distance from God, had no life in itself and was without spirit, as the Apostle says. But the merciful Lord did not abandon him, but prepared him to receive revival through various providential actions. By the time of the appearance of Christ the Savior, it, one might say, was completely ready to accept new life - it looked like a whole corpse, in which bones were joined to bones and covered with veins, flesh and skin... only there was no spirit in it. And the Gospel clearly says that the time for his revival has already come. There was little left: he didn’t have the Holy Spirit - why? - as if Jesus was not glorified. But the Lord rose again and ascended into heaven in glory... The Divine Spirit descended, and humanity came to life, breathing in the Divine Spirit - this is for the first time, like a newborn child coming into the world, inhaling air for the first time. – The Apostles, or the entire first Church gathered in the Zion Upper Room, were only the lips through which humanity received this first inhalation of the Spirit. But let’s make this comparison further. The air taken in by breathing usually passes into the lungs - from a large channel into smaller and smaller ones until it reaches the final limits. The receivers of the life-giving elements of air are the lungs, and the way of communicating its life-giving power is the very action of breathing, performed by oscillating the chest - or inhaling and exhaling. – So it is in relation to the Holy Spirit. Having once breathed the Divine Spirit, the human race has been breathing It incessantly ever since. The lungs in which this happens are the Holy One. Church ; the channels in the lungs are the Divine sacraments of St. Church and its other sanctifying actions. The vibration of the chest is the annual movement of all the sacred rites of the Church, for example, Lent with all its rites, then the fifty-day festivals, then there will be fasting again, and again bright days, and so on - this is exactly the vibration of the chest. This is how the Church of Christ breathes, or all Christian believers everywhere. And just as Christianity is in humanity, all of humanity breathes in it, although not all of it participates in the life-giving actions of this Divine breath. The reason for this is that in one part of humanity the respiratory organs are damaged, while another large part does not expose itself to the influence of this beneficial breath. For just as in order for breathing to produce its full effect in the body, it is necessary that the channels of the lungs are not damaged or clogged: so in order for the Divine Spirit to exert His full effect, it is necessary that the organs that He Himself established for communicating Himself are intact, that is, all the Divine sacraments and sacred rites are preserved in the form in which they were established by St. The Apostles, at the inspiration of the Spirit of God. – Where these institutions are damaged, there the breath of the Divine Spirit is not full and therefore does not have full effect. So with the Papists, all the sacraments are damaged, and many saving sacred rites are distorted. – Papacy – lung with scabs or festering. – Among the Lutherans, most of the sacraments and sacred rites were rejected, the rest were distorted both in meaning and in form. “They are like those whose three-quarters of their lungs have rotted and the rest is smoldering.” – Close to us, but even more damaged are our schismatics, Molokans, Khlystos, etc. All of them do not breathe or breathe incompletely; therefore they are smoldering corpses, or wasting away, like one whose chest is upset. However, let us not delude ourselves that we possess sound instruments for breathing the Divine Spirit, that is, the true sacred sacraments and the real structure of the Church. There are also conditions here for revival by the Spirit. - Look how. “Whereas the air from above descends into the lungs and disperses through them through the channels, the dead blood and juices that have not yet lived, produced from the food taken, ascend there through other vessels from below, and also disperse through the channels of the lungs. – Being inspired here by the life-giving elements of the air, these juices are transformed into living blood. - Obsolete, - gloomy blood is the image of sinners darkened by sins, and new juices are newborns or those who have converted and accepted the catechumen of Gentiles or infidels... Both are revived in the holy Church of God, exposing themselves to the infusion of the Divine Spirit in the holy sacraments. – Christian sinners are deprived of the Spirit; but - they fast, confess, receive Holy Communion. sacraments and begin to breathe the Divine Spirit again. Without the breath of the Divine Spirit there is no life. Just as the Church breathes the Spirit, so we should all breathe it. The mouth by which the Divine Spirit is received or the heart is opened to receive Him is living faith; contact with Him is participation in the sacraments and sacred rites according to the rules of St. Churches; assimilation of Him is action according to His inspiration, expressed in the demands of conscience and the commandments of the Gospel. He who lives like this breathes the Spirit and is quickened by Him. – The true evidence of spirituality is prayer, which is rightly called the breath of the Spirit. He who prays well, collectedly and warmly at home or in church breathes the Spirit... I pray you, brethren, do not get drunk with the wine of sensual pleasures, but rather be filled with the Spirit, speaking to yourself in psalms and songs and spiritual songs, making melody and singing in your hearts to the Lord, always giving thanks to everyone in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God and the Father (Eph. 5:18-19). Amen. 35. In the Sofia Usman Monastery Hear what was said to the ancients: Thou shalt not swear a lie, but swear thy oaths to the Lord (Matthew 5:33). So our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, among other instructions, spoke to the people who had gathered around Him from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seaside region of Thirsk and Sidonsk. The meaning of this saying is this: what is promised to God with an oath must certainly be fulfilled. It was as if the Gospel now began on purpose, beginning with these words, so that on my first visit to you, sisters, I would have a reason to remind you, and with you, myself, of the vows we have made. For all Christians make vows to God in the sacrament of baptism, and those who enter into monasticism add new ones to those vows common to all, which rest exclusively with them alone. You know, sisters, what these vows are - you repeated them publicly in front of the Church - in the hearing of all Christians, monastics and non-monastics, and at the same time you heard an admonition from your father. Promises are good; but remember that the Lord will reward you not according to what you promised, but according to what you manage to do. I bring this word to your memory not because I think that you do not care about the word given to God, and so that there is a need to tell you: do this and that. No, I am sure that you do and work - every way according to your strength. For my part, calling on God’s blessing for your labors, I wish one thing: continue as you began - do not weaken, remembering that the end crowns the work and that only the one who endures to the end will be saved (Matthew 24:13). Just as a skillful spinner keeps a thread straight, no matter how much she spins: so the thread of zeal for monastic life must be led evenly from the moment you cross the threshold into the monastery until the moment you pass through the doors of the tomb. Unabated jealousy means a lot, if not everything. Have you ever seen complex machines that are driven in pairs? - It happens there that when there are steam, the car is in motion, and the more steam, the stronger the movement. If the vapors weaken, the movement will weaken, and if they stop, the movement will also stop. Like couples in a car, jealousy is in God-pleasing life. When there is jealousy, all things go smoothly, all work is not effort; there will be no strength, no labor, no order; everything is in disarray. So do not weaken in the labors of monastic life! Move and disturb your soul yourself, so that it does not indulge in dormancy and do not give the enemy a chance to laugh at you. Do everything so that this strength of spirit does not weaken: for in it lies all the strength. - Exactly: - Remember often the first inspiration with which you, having left your entire family, kinship, and hopes, came here. Remember how your soul burned then, how you thought that, having entered the monastery, you would only pray - both in the cell and in the church, only engage in the thought of God, soul-saving conversations or reading spiritual books - that you would live in solitude - not get into fussiness, be at peace with everyone - in unquestioning obedience to the abbess and the elders. Of course, your desire was sincere. Bring this first inspiration to your memory more often, and it will be renewed in you even now, just as you refresh the air in a room by introducing new air from outside. To this stimulating thought, add another: keep in your memory as many examples of jealousy as possible presented in the lives of the Saints. – Read the Chet-Minea, and collect in your memory how the Saints of God, men and wives, worked tirelessly, sparing neither their strength nor even their bellies. And then, in every free moment, remember Thekla, Varvara, Sigklitikia, Sarah, Theodora, Anastasia of Rome, Mary of Egypt, Fevronia, Euphrosyne of Polotsk and others, with all the works of their tireless asceticism. Don’t idly think about this, but attach to it the obligatory conviction that you should all be the same as those blessed virgins showed themselves to be - and every such thought will be a source of pain, gore and urge. Just as during a race the running of one arouses tension in the other, or as you yourself, working together, take care not to fall behind each other: so will your zeal be inflamed by thoughts of the great labors zealously undertaken by the holy ascetics. Aren’t there any zealous people among you, so zealous that their zeal is more noticeable among everyone? – But even without that, encourage one another, with advice and examples. How do you talk when you are together? Don't talk about anything other than your main cause, which you took part in. Just as traders, when meeting with each other, talk about how to bargain better and more successfully: so, when you meet, do not allow yourself empty speeches, but in every possible way incline the conversation to the main thing - how to proceed, how to finish what you started, so as not to stumble and become a laughing stock to the enemy. Have you noticed how one word gives birth to a number of other words - each word is a series of thoughts; rows of thoughts turn into rows of undertakings and deeds, good or bad. He who speaks about empty things is empty in his head and heart, empty in his life... He who speaks about good things becomes more and more passionate about good and becomes rich in it. If in this way, while maintaining the first inspiration, you warm it up, either with the examples of ancient ascetics, or with mutual coercion, you can hope that your jealousy will not weaken. But do not forget that no matter what you do to preserve this living spirit of jealousy in yourself, everything will be of no use if in the order of your life - I mean the private cell and the general monastery - there is something that can directly extinguish this jealousy. Get yourself in such an order that you know only the church and the cell (or general obedience), and in the cell - handicrafts, reading and prayer. Move from one of these things to another, and do not allow yourself to be entertained by anything extraneous. Let the elders guide the younger ones. Choose the most convenient time and method for doing everything yourself. Above all, avoid external distractions and wandering with internal thoughts. Beware of gossip, maintain peace among yourself, mutual preference and obedience without grumbling. Just as you cannot heat rooms when the windows and doors are open, just as you cannot light a fire when the firewood is damp or is deliberately poured with water, so you cannot keep the fire of jealousy unquenchable in yourself if something contrary to this is allowed in the order of life. For all that, do not let go of your thoughts - the end to which a zealous and careless life leads. Remember the parable of the wise and foolish virgins, and put yourself in the position that both of them should have experienced. - Some are received into the palace by the groom, while others hear from Him: we don’t know you. Stand mentally at this palace, and imagine what will happen to you if you hear - we don’t know you! and thus irritate your spirit. – Whatever someone sows, that will also be reaped. What will a field give birth to when its reins are not watered with sweat? Thorns and thistles, whose fate is burning. Remember how one son kept pestering his mother: I’m going to save myself, I want to go to a monastery, let me go. No matter how much she tried to persuade him: wait, I’ll die, then you’ll go, and he didn’t want to listen, he left. “But when I got there, I thought correctly that I had already done everything by entering the monastery of those being saved, and I gave in to carelessness: I slept a lot, was lazy in obedience, and rarely went to church. No matter what they said to him, he, like a deaf man, did not hear anything. But the Lord, who did not want the sinner to die, this is how he rescued him from sleep. - His mother, who lived in a worldly way - in a secular way - with all the comforts, in all the pleasures that seem to be the customs of the world - died and accepted a lot according to the nature of her life. His son also fell ill, a careless monk and was approaching the end. “The brothers, surrounding his bed, shed tears, knowing how he lived, and fervently prayed to the Lord to have mercy on him. He soon forgot and walked away. They had just prepared him for the funeral when he woke up. The brothers rushed to him with joy; but he only beat himself in the chest and cried bitterly. No matter how much they asked him: - tell us - what is it - what is it, he could not utter a single word from the intense grief that consumed his soul. - Having finally calmed down, this is what he told them: “When my soul approached the end, another world opened up to my gaze: I saw how the Angels retreated from me and evil, tormenting spirits approached. I can’t describe the horror to you. They took me and carried me through places of impenetrable darkness, screaming, laughing and cursing. We all rushed down for a long time. Then the smell of sulfur and stench was smelled, noise was heard, more and more audible, groans and cries of despair could already be heard. I was frozen in horror. - But here are the doors - the mouth of hell! They were just swinging to throw me, when someone flew in quickly and stopped the executioners. I became. My eyes opened, and I saw a boundless sea of ​​fire, in which the condemned were crammed, and I could hardly catch my breath. “Suddenly my mother appeared from the fire and said: are you here too, son?!” - How you didn’t give me peace, saying: I’m going to save myself, I’m going to save myself! Is that how you were saved?! - With this word, one splash from the fire of Gehenna fell on my hand. - All the parts of my being shook and I woke up. I cannot come to my senses from the trembling and horror that my soul experienced.” - From then on, this brother lived another 12 years, mourning his previous careless life, and then he safely departed to the Lord in peace. Remember this, sisters, thereby kindle the spirit of jealousy in yourself. The end of the careless and careless is one. But the Lord does not give such stunning admonition to everyone as he did to the aforementioned brother, but by bringing to light one example or incident, he wants everyone to be admonished and excited by it. “The fact that you left the world is good and valuable before the Lord.” Take care in perfection and finish this matter. Look what the current Apostle preaches! Not the one,” it says there, “the real Jew who outwardly belongs to the Jewish people; but he is a Jew who is internally like that in the mood of his spirit. The same can be said for us. Whoever is within the walls of a monastery does not follow from the fact that he is already a monk... No, one must also create within oneself the spirit of monastic life. Be jealous of this. Amen. Inspecting your churches, I saw your unflattering zeal to rush towards the house of God and your readiness to cordially communicate with everything that works and who works in them. This alone pleases and testifies to your living faith. But when, at the same time, I bring to mind your intentions - either to renovate dilapidated churches, or to restore abolished, but still memorable monasteries; then I cannot help but say with the Apostle: I thank my God Jesus Christ, for your faith is so clearly proclaimed by your works in the presence of all those who know you. Therefore, further, wanting, like the same Apostle, to teach you a certain spiritual gift for your strengthening, I must involuntarily limit myself to one consolation - the common faith - yours and mine (Rom. 1:11-12) and one expression of good wishes to you. So, may the Lord bless your labors and your undertakings, may he improve your outer and create your inner. I believe that this will come true according to your faith. For the abundantly merciful Lord will not put to shame your works of love and your trust. But at the same time I cannot hide my fears: - the enemy would not laugh at the simplicity of your faith, and, covering up the roadblocks with plausibility, would not deviate you onto the wrong path, portraying it in your mind as right. - In this assumption, I consider it my duty to remind you of some warnings, which, however, are valid everywhere and for everyone. 1) In deeds of piety and in works pleasing to God, do not forget to balance the internal with the external. External - these are deeds that are visible to everyone; internal is invisible to others, but nevertheless known to conscience and visible to the All-Seeing, the mood of the mind and heart, that is, the way of thoughts, dispositions and feelings. The outer one is leaves without fruit or a flower without an ovary - a barren flower. The internal one, if possible, is like the power of vapor, not limited by anything and therefore dissipating in the air. The same and the other together are a leafy tree, full of vital juices and abundant in fruits, pleasing the eyes of all. Thus, not only by silence testify to your non-resistance to faith, but also in your thoughts do not contain anything contrary to it. Don’t worry about just one thing, so that you don’t speak provocative speeches with your tongue, but also drive away every hostile feeling from your heart. – Stand not only with your body in the church, but with your mind and heart stand before the throne of the Most High, etc. Where the internal is not in accordance with the external, there is contempt, hypocrisy and hypocrisy... May the Lord save us all from this infection that is destroying many, many! “Often we have to appear in positions that we are not in our inner mood. But there will be a time when all this will be brought to universal fame. “And then someone will be praised not according to what he appears to be, but according to what he is in his heart.” This is the first and most important thing! 2) Set laws for your inner being: submission of the mind to the definitions of dogmas, submission of the will to the commandments of the Gospel, submission of the heart to detached hopes and aspirations for good in the future. – There are many temptations to the mind from the diversity of thoughts and other thoughts that surround us or the almost universal enslavement to vanity; there are many temptations to the will from the examples of non-Christian living among Christians around us; There are many temptations to the heart from the pleasures of the world scattered before you, with which the enemy attempts to obscure the heart’s memory of the desired eternal bliss and tie it to the earth. It is appropriate to fight against all this especially now, when the superstition of the mind is increasing, evil customs are expanding, and the charms of the world are multiplying richly. Do not say: it is difficult to overcome yourself and resist the hobbies of others. We are not alone. The Lord is near, Who said: Be of good cheer, for I have conquered the world. The Lord Himself is our wisdom and strength and comfort. 3) For your external, make it a law - the statute of St. Churches. Take a good look at this statute, and you will find that it determines our behavior in every detail. Here food, work, rest, staying at home and in the church, activities of the day and night, etc. are defined. For example, you came to the church: the charter has already determined how you should stand in the church, i.e., quietly, not speak, listen to what you sing and read, etc. - Also: sit down at the table: - the charter states that when you can eat, - now, for example, only Lenten. The hour of sleep has come: it has already been said how one should go to sleep in a Christian way - namely: make peace with everyone, confess your sins, pray, etc. Likewise, for every matter there is a rule in the Church. A Christian, a member of the Church, must live according to the Church, just as a soldier lives according to a military man. Nowadays it is especially urgent to remind us of this often: for many Christians, carried away by superstition, do not want to know the rules of the Church, considering it below their rank, and themselves above it. No, brethren, the charter of the Church comes from God. Whoever does not submit to him resists God. St. The Apostles, Martyrs and all the Saints who lived according to the order of the Church and laid their lives in it are witnesses to the fact that there is nothing arbitrary or fussy in it, but everything is established with wise proportionality and consciousness of need and imposed on everyone as a duty. Are not the experiences of all the essence of indicating the urgency of the law? 4) Having thus established your inner and outer self, do not rely on your own labors or exertion, but completely surrender yourself to the all-arranging welfare of God. Look for fulfillment from Him, just as from Him there is beginning and continuation. Without Him everything is nothing. You need to make a sacrifice out of yourself and your deeds to God. God, who looks upon everything, will accept her graciously only when she is dedicated to Him. He who confines his affairs within himself, or in his external life, wastes time and labor in vain. Here, perhaps, there will be some other fruit for him from this, but not in the future. Son, give Me your heart, says the Lord (Proverbs 23:26). The heart means the whole person. He who does not give himself to God is outside of God. He who is outside of God is outside of true life and bliss. The darkness and emptiness terrify us. There is darkness and emptiness in that spirit in which God does not dwell. But how will He dwell in one who does not surrender himself to Him and does not devote himself entirely to Him? This tradition is the opening of the heart to the Lord who interprets and seeks entrance into it. Many people think that the more independent they are, the higher they are. But this is flattery. For this reason Satan fell; and thus draws everyone into his fall after the first successful experiment with our forefather. Come to Me, and I will give you rest, says the Lord; – and didn’t say: and rest yourself as you know... Thus, in devotion to God, live according to the rules of the Church, in obedience to the dogmas, commandments and prohibitions of God. By balancing your inner with your outer in this way, you will glorify God in your souls and bodies - glorify with complete glorification, for which He who Himself glorified Himself with the Father after He glorified Him on earth will not deprive you of eternal glorification. Amen. 37. In the Troyekurovskaya community, at the foundation of a small warm church Seeing the constant rise of your community from strength to strength, one cannot help but rejoice; One cannot help but rejoice at the multiplication of your tabernacles and the increase in the number of those who work and want to struggle in the same field with you - and this zeal to have a separate, more secluded place for trusting the Lord with the innermost desires of your heart and attracting from Him the help that is so much needed in your internal and external life. Thanks be to the Lord, who so arranges everything! Your society, in its present state, is like the ovary of a fetus. The fruit is already visible; but he still has to mature - and appear in all the beauty destined for the first formation. The hand of the gracious Lord is not stingy. He who began this work in you will accomplish it for the glory of His holy name. I believe that you also believe in. And believe; hope will not be put to shame. But know that hope is a mutual matter. You expect special help and assistance from the Lord; and He expects from you special loyalty to Him in everything - both big and small - He expects that you will always show yourself worthy of His special favor. This is what you are most concerned about, sisters. “No one’s business has ever stood or remains behind the Lord.” The Lord rewards with His blessing all who abide in His will. If you keep My commandments, says He Himself, you will remain in My love (John 15:10). – Do you know what God’s will for you is? - Stay in it. And the Lord will not deprive you of His good things, who walk in kindness (Ps. 83:12). In your present form, you are a community. But this is only a pre-initial state, semi-mundane and polynomous. You can't stop at this halfway point. We must go further, and therefore demonstrate the virtues of the most perfect rank that has been revealed, so that we do not enter it unprepared. As for the community, here is the law for you, represented by the example of the first Apostolic Church: the people who believed were one in heart and soul, and not one thing was said to be from their possessions, but they had all things in common (Acts 4:32). Just as everything was common there, so let everything be common among you: one goal, the same work, the same joy and sadness, the same cares and concerns. Like-mindedness and unanimity, uniting you internally with mutual sympathy, will lead you to rapid cooperation and mutual assistance and, making all of you one body, will make each of you as strong as all of you are strong together. The model for you is bees. Look at the constant troubles they are all in... But they are all building one cell - they all act at the same time - in unison, under the control of one queen. That is why their honey is sweet, because the world that animates them is sweet. For what is good and what is good, but how can brethren live together? Like a well-tuned harp, so is a peaceful community, rendering to the Lord a harmonious song of praise and a friendly tribute of unanimity and unity of command. Like a multi-colored field, so is a kind community, flaunting the variety of good heartfelt qualities that distinguish the sisters. Like a garden with many fruits, there is a hardworking community, rich in an abundance of acts of love and reciprocity. Show yourself as such - one jealous of the other to succeed in obedience, peacefulness, in forgiving random insults, merciless work for others, in non-judgment, in mutual respect, in mutual care, maintaining the honor of the community before outsiders, in unfeigned love for everyone. But being such as community members, plant the seeds of virtues and, which has to be revealed in you, monasticism and even hermitage. Get used to detachment from everyday customs, reducing them more and more, and from this move by succession to the solitude and sojourn with the one and only Lord that is possible for you. Learn to keep your senses undisturbed: - the eye from visions, the ear from hearing, taste with smell and touch - from sweets and tenderness. And from this, according to correspondence, move on to keeping thoughts undistracted and not carried away by the feelings of the heart. Get used to working according to orders, and undertakings according to advice - so as not to do anything according to your own will and your own intelligence, but everything according to the judgment of your elders, and thus in advance show yourself as students of true obedience, zealous to succeed in renouncing your will. Most of all, get used to the work of prayer, rushing to the house of God and alone in your cell - falling painfully to Him, as often as possible. – Prayer is both evidence of perfection and a way of success. The higher the prayer, the purer the soul. The burning of the spirit in prayer is the fruit of his communication with God, Who is fire and kindles fire in the spirit of everyone he touches. - Start with the simplest and ascend to the most perfect: - from day and night prayers, - standing and kneeling - to the inner presence of the Lord in your heart, or to unceasing prayer. When this seed is seeded, then the soul is ready for monasticism, or it is already a nun: for a monk is one who in his heart incessantly remains one with the Lord. The more sisters achieve this perfection, the more your community will approach the level of a monastery. And when you have all become such: then spiritually you will enter the rank of monastics, whether you are externally defined as such or not. Desiring this for you, I pray with my unworthy prayer to the Lord to help you both in the labors of external organization and internal prosperity, so that you may achieve everything to the extent of the age of the fulfillment of Christ. Amen. 38. In the Sezenovsky monastery, for the consecration of the church The All-merciful Lord especially deigns to be present in churches consecrated by prayerful invocation of His grace. Therefore, such churches are rightly called the tabernacle of God with men, a place of special dwelling among the people of God, as He Himself certifies: I will dwell in them and walk, and I will be their God, and they will be my people (2 Cor. 6:16). In ancient Israel this was evidenced in a way visible to all. A cloud overshadowed the tabernacle and the word came from the cloud. Then, throughout their wanderings in the desert, the pillar of cloud, rising and standing over the tabernacle, was the leader of the Israelites in their procession to the promised Canaan. We do not see a sensual cloud above the Christian church; but nevertheless, we are confident in the reality of the gracious overshadowing of God inherent here. This church will not be erected and move like the tabernacle - the marching church of the Israelites, but nevertheless it is a sure sign of the way for those marching to heavenly Canaan. This last property of it gives me reason to show you the structure of the Israelite procession around the tabernacle in order to lead out from there - with what good dispositions we should surround this church so that it would be our guide on the way to heavenly Canaan. When the tabernacle was consecrated and built, God commanded Moses from that time on to arrange the procession so that three tribes walked in front, three behind, three on the right and three on the left, and in the middle the tabernacle moved, carried by the tribe of Levi. This is an image of the fact that in our procession to the heavenly fatherland, under the leadership of the Church, three feelings and dispositions should be in front, three behind, three on the right and left sides - and one more core, corresponding to the tabernacle itself. I will briefly show you what these are, not by allegorically interpreting the names of the sons of Israel, but by arranging the feelings according to their inner meaning. The three front ones are the highest spiritual feelings. This is faith that the Lord truly is here from now on with His gracious presence, that this church has become His house, where His eye is directed and where His heart dwells; the hope that the Lord who is here clearly listens, like a loving father, to all the requests sent to Him, and is ready to satisfy them; love for the church, for which it is sweet to dwell in it, as in the house of one’s own father, for which the spirit rests peacefully in it, as a child rests peacefully in the bosom of its mother. These are the main, source, hidden dispositions that serve as exciters and drivers of others. They mature in spirit and are turned, one might say, face to face to God himself - to this intelligent east. On the corresponding back side there should be bodily works in relation to the house of God, like a house of prayer - prayerful works lifted by the body. And there are also three of them: the labor of unlaxly going to church - to all services at the first call, without reservations and without self-pity or rewarding imaginary obstacles, according to the following law: as soon as you hear the call, drop everything and hurry to the church; the work of patiently staying in church from the beginning of the service to the end - without moving, always in one place, without loosening the limbs - with some of their tension, giving vivacity; the work of reverent standing - quietly with bows, - with eyes turned to the valley or mountain, to icons or sacred rites, - with ears directed to what is sung and read, - with a silent tongue, - without looking around, wandering with the eyes and without talking. All such dispositions express bodily labor in prayer, supported by the inner prayerful spirit and supporting it back. After these dispositions of the higher and lower - front and back, the cross line is formed by spiritual prayer works, or activities - namely: on the right side there will be three positive deeds. This is standing with the mind in the heart in the presence of God, accompanied by fear, sobering, imparting vigor and refreshing our inner church, like fresh morning air; an in-depth understanding of the power and meaning of everything that is sung, read, and acted, with a heart open to the acceptance of possible feelings and dispositions that may be born in it - with a readiness to carry them out as the suggestions of God; a peaceful disposition of a benevolent spirit towards all people, not excluding the enemies themselves, according to the commandment of the Lord: if you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift before the altar (Matthew 5:23-24) and go and make peace. On the left side there will be three negative deeds, namely: not plundering thoughts or not allowing the mind to wander to different places and objects when we are standing in the church, and returning it back every time it voluntarily indulges in dreams; not burdening the heart with the worries of life, mercilessly driving the devotee further and further and leaving him no free time to occupy himself with heaven; not attachment to anything earthly - or freedom from all attachments that drag you down and do not allow you to rise up to grief. Here is a prayer cross, performed spiritually in our nature, under the shadow of which prayer itself acts in the middle: both as prayer with bows, and as a peaceful aspiration of feelings towards God, and as a hidden approach to God in the spirit. Whoever sets himself up in this way, in relation to the church, will find in this very mood the right guidance and a way to achieve the heavenly fatherland. One might say that he is already floating towards him. For do you notice how all these feelings and deeds, when arranged in appropriate order, represent a soaring bird? Its head is faith, hope and love; right wing - standing in the presence of God, a heart open to accept God's suggestions and peace with everyone; left wing – undistracted mind, freedom from care and addictions; – the back part is the work of going to the church, standing in it, and praying; her body is prayer itself. – The bird, inhaling and exhaling air, setting its wings in motion, acting with its head and other members, successfully flies and does not even fly in any other way. Likewise, ascent to God in prayer in churches is no other way possible than when we have all the aforementioned dispositions. Without one, the work of prayer will be distorted or cease, just as the flight of a bird stops when, for example, a wing or other parts are missing. Everyone experiences this, and will test it on themselves if they want to experience it. Anyone who wants to pray will certainly encounter all these dispositions, and everyone who prays already has all of them. On the contrary, those who do not have them have not yet begun to pray as they should. And without prayer there is no life, no ascension to the kingdom; man is bowed down and perishes. - Rise up, then, and honor the houses of God, scattered everywhere, in order to inspire in us the spirit of prayer and from earth to heaven, to give us a foretaste of eternal blessings on earth. He who shuns churches is an enemy to himself; but even he is not a great well-wisher who walks in them not as he should, but somehow. Why is it that someone goes to church for decades and still doesn’t know how to pray, doesn’t even understand what prayer is? - Because it does not fulfill all the internal structure necessary for staying in church for prayer. - Spare yourself: everything I said is not new to you, sisters. Almost constantly staying in the church, you, of course, soar to the sky like birds - with light, full flights... However, take the trouble to check your prayerful mood according to the proposed model, and if you notice that you are missing some feather in the prayer wings, take care to acquire it: for our prayer bird has the advantage that it is possible, at any time, to give birth to it again and reproduce everything that is sometimes lacking in parts of its structure. Amen. 39. In the Sezenovsky monastery, after covering several sisters with a ryassophore Thanks be to the Lord. - So, even on the tree of your monastery, ovaries appeared, even in the field you cultivated, trustworthy shoots vegetated and emerged from the ground, still new brides are brought and betrothed to the groom. Thank the Lord! But we must not forget that it is not a matter of numbers, but of strength. Remember how many people gathered to Gideon - and yet, according to the sign indicated by God, only three hundred of them turned out to be trustworthy warriors. Others, increasing in number, did not add strength and would only interfere with the production of warfare; why were they sent home? I bring this to your memory not in order to weaken the desire to enter the monastery, or to discourage those who wish to enter it, but so that both those who have already entered and those who still want to join - to irritate a greater zeal to show themselves worthy of what they are destined for and destined for. For although it is not a matter of numbers, but, of course, the more good ones, the better. I don’t think that any of you, entering the monastery, did not have the zeal to be a good nun; But at the same time, I think it is very likely that not everyone is jealous as they should be, and a considerable part, perhaps, waste the energy of their zeal on things they should not. - Why do both?! Most of all, because at first it was not clear what the purpose of monasticism is - and what one should strive for upon entering the monastery. It is desirable that among you there be as few as possible those who only care about being - first, dressed up, then - ryassophore, then - monastic. This is the end of desires, having reached which, they indulge in peace, and, as if nothing else was in their thoughts, they remain satisfied with their position. Of course, without such order it is impossible to be in the monastery; but the external order of monastic life is not always the order of monasticism. – The latter is accomplished internally with difficulty and sweat, unseen by others and known only to God, and to the soul jealous of its salvation. Are you ready to see the desert? “So the Lord asked the Jews, because some of them went out to John the Baptist just to see how he was dressed in clothes made of camel’s hair and girded with a belt, where he was in the desert and what he was doing. But they had to go out to repent and cry about their sins. I will also ask you: why did you go out into this desert?.. I am asking not to denounce anyone; but by sincere desire, so that among you there are no such people who supply all the power of monasticism in black clothes and in the order of receiving them. The business you are deciding to undertake is a great and valuable matter; but it must be done properly. It is all internal; the external in it is only an appendage. All the power lies in cleansing the heart from passions. Look how: Man was originally created upright; but he fell and was upset. Selfishness has surpassed him and brought with him an entire horde of passions, distracting from good and leading to sin. A person suffers in this state. So the Lord established a medical clinic on earth - St. Church with St. sacraments. In baptism, Satan and all his works and all his ministry, and all his pride are denied - that is, all passions - and they accept the power to overcome them. Those who have fallen after baptism are offered the sacrament of repentance, in which the vows of baptism are repeated again and the lost powers of grace are renewed... The repentant, if he falls again, rises again along the same path of repentance... He will fall again, and he will rise again... and so on until the end of his life... And this is the general path of salvation. That’s why we have fasting fasts. - Of course, it would be better not to fall after baptism, or having fallen once and having risen through repentance, not to fall again; but passions are close to the heart, and life in the family and society provides many reasons for their irritation, and it happens that a Christian cannot stand and falls, or he stands twice and three times, and falls the fourth and fifth time. - He repents, but he falls again. But it hurts to fall as long as your conscience is true and your sense of piety and fear of God is alive. How to eliminate this nuisance is partly in our will, then the other one flares up in spirit - to arrange oneself in life in such a way as to fulfill the vows of baptism and repentance without failure, or to live without hurting one’s conscience and without offending God - in overcoming and eradicating passions. Not hoping to successfully fulfill this in society, another leaves, running, and settles in the desert, that is, leaves society and enters the monastery. Thus, entering into monasticism is the determination to live, no longer succumbing to the passions of passions, and monasticism itself is a continuous feat in overcoming passions and eradicating them in order to appear pure and blameless before the face of God. So that's your business! Pay all your attention to it and direct all your strength. The monastic rule, the main points of which are fasting, obedience and prayer, provides you with an order of life that does not provide food for passions, or in which they may not be aroused. But it does not destroy passion. You can be completely correct in the behavior required by the monastic rules, and be full of passions in your heart. There are laywomen dressed in light dresses - nuns in spirit, and there are monastic ones - laywomen in heart. You need to look close to your heart and see what comes from there - and cut off everything that is passionate. “The struggle is before you, and the struggle is unceasing.” – You have few reasons for bad deeds, but your thoughts and feelings are not always consistent with the outside. Managing them as they should is the goal of your exploits. – Lay people struggle most with bad deeds, and nuns - with thoughts and lusts. If you want to be saved, go inside yourself, become your attention at the entrance of your heart and consume everything that is enemy – coming out and suitable. Entire books have been written and written about how to succeed in this matter. – I’ll tell you one thing... Be zealous for purity, and in this zeal, fall painfully to the Lord, praying for help. He who trusts in the Lord will receive mercy. At the right time, you don’t know where admonition and strength will come from... See it in action, and action will teach you the art of managing yourself. Do not reject external guidance either - in scripture and the living word; but the inner is stronger and more fruitful. Having lived like this, you will appear unflattering to the servants of God in monastic life. Whatever you succeed in, may the Lord grant you both meaning and strength. Amen. 40. In Kozlov, - in the cathedral Walking around your city and examining your churches, I could not help but see so clearly your love for the holy faith and the Church imprinted on everything, I could not help but notice the spirit of sincere piety animating you. I rejoice in this, as one who has gained much self-interest, and I thank the most merciful Lord, who is thus attuning you, praying for His goodness to preserve the same spirit in you until the time of His last coming, so that you may appear blameless on the last day before the face of the whole world. - But while expressing such joy about you in front of you, I cannot hide my fears for you, lest your minds decay from simplicity, lest you deviate into crossroads - into unfruitful concepts and deeds. Therefore, I consider myself obliged to say a few words in relation to this as a warning to you... Take care, brothers, most of all, so that the spirit of zeal for St. faith and life pleasing to God. You have it, and it is predominant. But how many spirits have entered the world, and every spirit seeks dominance; then look, do not get carried away in any way that is not for the glory of God and not for your own praise. – You cannot live without the spirit of life; Everyone who lives is inspired by something. The spirit inherent in us is the spirit of Christ, which alone must animate us, subordinating all others to its power and making them instruments of service to itself. The Spirit of Christ is known to you as Christians. – This is to do everything for the glory of God and one’s salvation. Opposite to it is the spirit of the world, according to which, in God-forgetfulness, they work tirelessly, chasing empty dreamy goals, never achieving them and never enjoying the peace of this achievement. Otherwise, he is called a flattering spirit, which, under various appearances, captivates many, transforming into an angel of light. – For example, it is impossible not to have. But who with oblivion of God and His holy. law, indulges in lust, he is inspired by an unkind spirit. - Acquire; but by God and for God. It is impossible not to have pleasures in life: otherwise life is not life. But whoever sets the goal only for joy and pleasure has strayed from the wrong path. You must have a good name. But anyone who only bothers to hear good reviews or the noise of flattering rumors is pursuing a dreamy goal. All these are wrong spirits, each of which is born into many branches and species, which it is impossible to count. One thing is common to all of them - to deviate from God and, plunging into God-forgetfulness, extinguish zeal for salvation. - Watch out for all this, keeping the true spirit of Christianity still alive in you. Keeping the spirit of zeal according to faith, be careful not to exhaust the strength of this spirit in vain, not to waste it on something that does not bring glory to God or salvation to the soul. There are many things and deeds that seem good without actually being so. You know how this is possible and in what respect it is possible. To avoid mistakes, here's what to do: do everything with advice. In matters of trade, for example, you consult with skilled traders, in matters of craftsmanship - with skilled craftsmen. And in matters of faith and piety, consult with those who are entrusted with their care in the Christian world and their creation in your souls. Of course, your best advisor is the very spirit of piety. But on the one hand, not everyone can have it in force, on the other hand, there are already many examples of deviation towards the wrong directions, which, judging by the faces and places where they are found, seem to be right. - How long does it take to fall into a mistake? Nowadays, many are carried away by novelty... but not everything new is good, just as much of the old has outlived its time. We need to take it apart. The old, however, as tested, is always better than the new, not yet tested. - In matters of faith and piety, the older the better, or even the old is the most faithful. Of course, only the spirit should remain unchanged, but even in the external expression of this spirit, much is so essential and close to the spirit that it cannot be touched except at the expense of the spirit itself. – Breathing, for example, is the external expression of life. But since creation, man has been breathing all the same, and all with the same air. – Almost everything is of the same kind in the outer vestments of our faith and the Church. There is very little here that can be compared to the cut of a dress or the way it is sewn. And what is the need to change, for example, the design of an icon, or the notes in chants? - especially when the old creates and the new destroys. – Europe is driving us crazy; but almost all of Europe and in its entire composition became pagan. “Isn’t it better to leave her to herself?” The true light came to us from Byzantium. And we are not little, we didn’t come into the world yesterday. Soon it will be a thousand years since we believe in the Lord and keep His holy law. And in this let others learn from us, as they should: for the truth is with us. I did not touch on this to force you to put the external on an equal footing with the internal. No. To each his own, and the inner is always higher. But here is a new warning: be careful that, while indulging in worries about external matters of piety, you do not forget its inner spirit; but be careful not to abandon the external entirely under the pretext of preferring the internal to the external. – The external can still happen without the internal, but the internal can never exist without the external. Have you ever seen plant power without the visible body of the plant?! And the bodies of plants - trees, how many are there without inner life?! Not leaving the external is the law. But let us not stop at him alone. And under him - under his influence, guidance and instructions to mature internally. The inner faith is composed of the knowledge of St. faith and corresponding deeds, or from the totality of sound concepts and St. feelings and dispositions. – I especially draw your attention to a collection of sound concepts about everything, or to clarifying for yourself the truths of St. faith. See how the teachings of the world spread! And how many books are written and published, imbued with the spirit of the world! The ability to read is also expanding more and more. Do not be too greedy for worldly writing. There is, of course, some good, but there is also a lot of bad. I consider it my duty to warn you: do not get carried away by that reading. – You cannot remain without enlightenment. But we must distinguish light from light. And the dung heap smoking in the darkness emits some kind of light. But what kind of light is this?! - A lamp shining in a dark place, according to the Apostle, is a revelation of God, - or the totality of the teachings of the contents and proposed by the Holy Spirit. Church. - Strive for him. Be zealous to master it, and you will be truly enlightened... Brothers, beware! Many evil teachings are now being spread. - Oppose them with the knowledge of truth. Listen to the conversations that will be said here - in this church every Sunday - take care to purchase books, according to the instructions of your shepherds, as I will instruct, or read, talk, reflect. Let the Word of God dwell in you richly. And you will walk in the light, as children of light and day; darkness has no power over you, and you will never be stumbled. If you are jealous of such enlightenment, then in it you will find guidance on how to generally balance the internal with the external - how to avoid wasting the strength of the spirit of zeal for faith and how to preserve this very spirit. That is, appear and will always appear as you should be before the face of God and the Christian world. May the Lord bless you in this way, mother-in-law, so that you will comprehend and, appearing to the Chief Shepherd, receive an unfading crown of glory, which the Lord has prepared for those who love Him - and those who are sincerely zealous for His glory and the salvation of their souls. Amen. 41. On the fourth week after Pentecost How merciful and condescending the Lord is to us! How much He has done and is doing for us, and how little He requires! He has adorned us with His image, He has put everything under our feet; when we fell, He Himself deigned to come to us and suffer for us, and surrounded us with all the saving means in St. His Church; He guides us in every possible way on the path of righteousness, and by preserving us here, he promises the eternal kingdom to the obedient. Is all this not enough? How much does he require from us? – No more than how much we ourselves voluntarily give to destroying sin when we are devoted to it. “I speak humanly,” teaches Ap. Paul, - for the weakness of your flesh. Just as you have presented your servants to uncleanness and iniquity for iniquity: so now present your servants to righteousness as holy (Rom. 6:19), as you heard in the present Apostle. That is, work for the Lord with at least the same zeal as you worked for sin. I don’t think anyone would refuse such a small request. But it may not be clear to everyone what exactly this requirement is. I will briefly explain its contents to you. The Apostle Paul defines it with the words: “Just as you presented your slaves to uncleanness, so now present these slaves to righteousness.” Ouds are parts of our mental-physical composition, or the organs of our body and the abilities of the soul. This means that if we list these organs and abilities and show how each of them can work for the Lord in contrast to the work of sin, then it will naturally explain what exactly the Lord requires of us. Our body has the following functions: functions of the sensory organs - vision, hearing, smell, etc., functions of movement - arms, legs and the whole body, - work and rest, sleep and wakefulness, - functions of nutrition, consumption of food and drink, - organs of speech, etc. The soul has the following abilities: imagination and memory, meaning and reason, wishes and enterprises, sensations and aesthetic pleasures, and above all these, the powers of the spirit turned to God - vision of God, conscience, God's pleasure. When a person works against sin, he works for him with all these functions and abilities, just as when he turns to God, he can and must work for the truth with all of them. It's natural. Where a person is with his consciousness and heart, there he is with his whole being. In its varied composition, it resembles a sponge and absorbs the moisture in which it immerses itself - either the corrupting poison of sin, or the life-giving elements of God's truth. It's like this: – We have sensory organs - eyes, ears, sense of smell, etc. When a person works against sin, then all these organs are directed only to that which bears the mark of sin and feeds it: the eyes look voluptuously, the ears love to hear sweet speeches and songs, the sense of smell is to smell aromas that excite lust. Hence - glazing, thirst for pleasant impressions, skin bliss, etc. When he turns away from sin and enslaves himself to truth, then the eye abstains from visions, the ear from lustful hearings, and turns to one holy and saving thing - the vision of sacred images and the hearing of sacred things. chants - and all other feelings are connected, so that from them there will be as little as possible impressions and less entertainment - and so that the soul has more freedom to be alone in itself with the beloved Lord. Thus, the sensory organs are enslaved to the truth. We have functions of movement - arms and legs, the need for work and rest, sleep and wakefulness. - When a person works in sin, look at what kind of movements he has?.. - He loves festivities, dances and dances, or even worse - he is devoted to theft and robbery, or laziness and drowsiness; For others, the day is turned into night, and the night into day. Enslaving ourselves to the truth, we undertake to move only along the paths of truth: to set a measure for sleep and wakefulness, work and rest, determine the places where to go and what to go for; - instead of dancing, love bowing, instead of disorderly festivities - going to churches and dwellings of poverty and suffering, - accustoming your hands to work and giving alms, - taking away part of your sleep for prayer, and so on. We have a need for nutrition or consumption of food and drink. He who labors under sin is subjected to overeating, sweet eating, feasting, drunkenness, etc. Being enslaved to the truth, one must love abstinence - in order to eat food and drink in moderation - and according to the charter of the Church. We have an organ of speech. Sinners have sinful words. Hence - idle talk, idle talk, gossip, laughter, jokes, witticisms, and even blasphemy. But whoever has set it in his heart to please the Lord, faithfully fulfills the commandment: Do not let any corrupt word proceed out of your mouth (Eph. 4:29), remembering how much evil comes from the tongue. Thus, member by member, the whole body is enslaved to the truth and becomes a faithful instrument of salvation for those who seek the Lord. They say rightly St. Fathers: enslave the body to the spirit, and you will see what a friend and co-worker it is to you. But both the functions of the body and the abilities of the soul must be enslaved to truth in order to completely please God. The imagination, which loves to dream and admire bad images, must be bound by sobriety and concentration of attention, by girding up the loins of thoughts, as the Apostle commands. – A memory filled with passionate objects must be cleared and filled with holy memories. A self-willed mind and prone to false assumptions must be subdued by frank teaching and adorned with the knowledge of the truth, so that it thinks about everything and understands everything, as the Lord commanded. A will that is wayward and given over to passions is to subordinate the yoke of the commandments, so that it desires and undertakes only what is in accordance with the all-holy will of God. A heart that is greedy for sensual beauties is to be distracted from them and to form in it a taste only for the holy and heavenly, in order to thus prepare it for tasting the blessings of heaven. So ability after ability - and the entire soul will submit to the truth. Whoever arranges himself in this way will work for the Lord, both soul and body, and will become a faithful fulfiller of the Apostle’s commandment - to enslave all his souls to righteousness, as opposed to enslaving them to lawlessness. It is clear to you now what is required of us in the words of the Apostle: just as you presented your slaves to uncleanness, so now present your slaves to righteousness (Rom. 6:19). I don’t consider it necessary to apply any further persuasion after this. The matter is so obvious that it naturally obliges every conscience that sincerely desires to work for the Lord. - I’ll just add one thing. Look at the end, where does sin lead, and where does truth lead? Or what is the fruit of both. – Now the Apostle points out that the end of sinful deeds is death, but the fruit of righteousness is life. - That is, sin kills, truth gives life. Have you seen how, when sharp acids are poured on any metal, these acids begin to corrode and decompose its constituent parts little by little and finally completely eat up the body and it seems solid, so that there is no way to guess what was before. This is exactly the same effect that sin has on our being. Like some poison, entering inside, it decomposes the soul and body and every part of the soul and body, and thereby destroys a person. Just as cold or noxious air introduced into a greenhouse full of various plants and flowers kills flower after flower that it touches, so sin destroys ability after ability in the soul, and strength after strength in the body. There seems to be enough incentive to run away from sin. On the contrary, just as spring warmth and moisture revives everything that froze during winter, so everything killed by sin comes to life in the composition of our being, when our spirit turns to God and devotes itself to pleasing God. For then the Sun of Truth shines in the mind - the breath of Divine love warms our soul, the life-giving elements of God's grace penetrate and refresh all the powers of soul and body. – God is the source of life. He who surrenders himself to the Lord is one spirit with the Lord and drinks with full lips the drink of life from this inexhaustible source. This alone is characteristic of true life. Or that's the only way he lives. Others have only a ghost of life, although they reveal a multi-moving and seemingly multi-sided life. God! send Thy light and Thy truth - so that we can clearly distinguish between the paths of life and death, good and evil, fire and water, and, having gained wisdom for salvation, willingly become enslaved to the truth, freed from sin: let sin not reign in our dead body and so that we do not listen to it in its lusts. Amen. 42. On the occasion of fires. First word 1 What should I tell you and what should I start talking to you about? “Our situation is sad, our sorrow is great!” The hand of the Lord is heavy on us! How long have we been tormented by drought? But before this disaster had passed, another one struck - a fire. We had not even begun to think about how to recover from this fire when another one attacked. Before this was over, the evil news about the continuity of fires spread everywhere, and drove us out of our homes. Our city is now like Job, who was oppressed by one disaster after another, until, having been deprived of everything and covered with wounds, they were thrown out of the city. And so, just as he sat on rot outside the city, so now all of us have almost been taken out of our houses and live in wastelands, coastal areas and dried-up streams, like bees driven out of their hives by suffocating smoke. This is what we have come to! It would seem that quite a test. But the hand of the Lord is still high. Everything that could depend on human foresight has been done 2 and, thanks be to the Lord! – the danger is no longer as formidable as it was at the beginning. But still, peace has not yet returned to us, a sense of security does not come and trust does not dawn on our spirit. What else should we do for the Lord to return our peace to us? I will offer you one comparison, and you yourself will guess what we need to do so that the Lord accepts His hand weighing on us. When the teacher, raising his hand, begins to threaten, all the students, who know that they are doing something wrong, immediately correct their liberties. Order will not be restored - the teacher will not lower his threatening hand. But what is our life if not a school of piety, and who is the teacher in it if not the all-caring Lord? Here His threatening hand is stretched out over us and does not fall. It is true that we have not yet come to everything in order, or not everything, we have put everything in order within ourselves, that He does not let it go. So let’s not be more ignorant than inexperienced children! Just as Joseph’s brothers, when he put them in a cramped position, immediately recognized their guilt and began to say to each other: “Hey, we have sinned for our brother’s sake” (Gen. 42:21), i.e., we suffer this because we sold our brother: so each of us, now in a cramped position, let him come to himself, admit everything that he finds faulty in himself - whether it’s small or great, and will make a firm intention to improve. Let one realize one thing, another another, each one his own, and let us all cry out together: we have sinned, O Lord, we have sinned and are worthy of Your extreme disgust; but do not leave Your mercy from us and have mercy on us who humbly repent to You! And - the Lord is merciful! – our trouble will probably end! Is the Lord consoled by our suffering?! No. But our souls are dear to Him, and as soon as they come to their order, He immediately stops any corrective disaster. Such is the law of God's providence for us! For example, David sinned. God invited him through the prophet to choose one of three punishments - either a three-month war, or a three-year famine, or a three-day pestilence. David chose the latter, saying: let me fall into the hand of the Lord. But look what happened! Since David's heart was deeply broken before the Lord by the very appointment of punishment; then the Lord, carrying out His decree about punishment, does not send death for three days, but only from morning to noon. And the Lord gave death in Israel from morning until noon. See what the power of crushing is! And not only that: as soon as David saw the angel beating people, he cried out: Behold, I have sinned! - that is, as soon as he completely realized that all the guilt was on him alone, and repented, then at that very moment the Lord commanded the angel destroying people: enough now; Take away your hand (2 Samuel chapter 24)! So the punishing hand of God is lowered! Who did it? Repentance. Let us also turn to him, and we will see mercy. For this is probably the only thing the Lord is waiting for, to have mercy on us. “God could have immediately stopped every disaster,” says St. Chrysostom - but He does not stop grieving until He sees that conversion and repentance have taken place in us, firm and unshakable. And, therefore, when this last thing happens, troubles will immediately cease by the merciful hand of the Lord. Just as a goldsmith immediately takes gold out of the forge when he sees that it has been thoroughly cleaned, so God immediately takes away the clouds of troubles when he sees that we have completely reformed.” Yes, if we had started repentance and correction earlier, then this misfortune would not have befallen us at all. If we had understood the drought, the fires would not have come. But just as during the drought our churches were empty and our places of entertainment were full; then new admonition was needed. And here it is! And that this is so can be judged by the example of Nineveh. What is more menacing than that definition: three more days, and Nineveh will turn into a city! And yet Nineveh remained intact. From what; because as soon as the prophet announced to the Ninevites about the execution of God that was prepared for them, they immediately repented before the Lord in sackcloth and ashes. They repented and were spared; for the Lord does not seek destruction, but salvation. “I,” he says, “will speak against the tongue and against the kingdom, that I will uproot and destroy and waste.” See how! - I will waste, I will destroy, I will eradicate... What a formidable definition! What then? If that tongue turns from all its wickedness, then I will repent of the evils I have thought to do to them (Jer. 18:7-8). That is, if the people repent and correct themselves, then no matter how threatening the definition may be, they will not suffer any disaster. Thus, it was in our hands to avert the cloud hanging over us. But we ignored the first admonition, and now we suffer a new punishment for negligence and carelessness, a punishment that is already more sensitive. What to do?! We missed it then, but now at least let’s take advantage of the lesson properly. Let us repent and bear fruit worthy of repentance: we will correct everything that is faulty in us. Let's put aside pride. Let us purge from our hearts the root of evil – the love of money. Let us increase mercy, truth, and meekness. Let's stop luxury. Let us reject fine jewelry and clothing. Let us despise vain amusements that kill the time given to us for doing good. Let us give force to the statute of St. Churches. Let us increase prayers - secret: in every place and at all times - public: here in the church of God, keeping ourselves in them, as in everything else, in due order and obedience to the commands of God. Let us do all this, and I can assure you that our desired peace will return to us. But - someone will say: “We are already overwhelmed with grief and losses, and here they still beat us with reproofs and strict lessons. Give us a word of comfort. Pour oil on the burning wounds of the heart.” But, brethren, I was not concerned about sweet words, but wanted to show you a deed that alone can bring you true and lasting consolation - and not only provide consolation, but also avert the very disaster that has befallen us, and restore everything to its former order and order. For there is nothing more powerful than repentance. You can, of course, come up with a lot of soothing words, but what good will they do? They can only close the wound from above, leaving malignant matter inside. But in this case, new cauterizations, cuts and plasters will certainly be needed, otherwise - new troubles to heal our sinful passions. Repentance completely heals all spiritual wounds, and therefore makes unnecessary all the cleansing measures arranged for this by God’s fatherly providence for us. There is no need to say that we must complacently endure the disaster that has befallen us. That's what you do, as far as I know. And remain unchanged in this disposition, inspired by the example of Job, who alone suffered more than all of us, and yet did not cease to be of good nature. Outwardly, we are already similar to him. Let us take care to become like him in the inner mood of our minds and hearts. Look how his troubles have robbed him! – And yet he did not lose heart under the weight of temptation. But what? “The Lord,” he says, “the Lord has been taken away, as the Lord willed, so it was: blessed be the name of the Lord from now on and forever (Job 1:21). Let us also bless the Lord and humbly - in faith and love - kiss His hand that punishes us. For everything is from Him. Other persons involved here, if there are any, are only instruments of His truth and mercy. The source is He alone. And He does not punish out of malice; for he is dispassionate, and according to one desire we have spiritual salvation. Let us therefore surrender ourselves to Him, in heartfelt confession: Thy will, O Lord, be upon us. We will give him everything; and we ourselves will only pray repentantly and prayerfully repent, with the firm intention of living piously, according to all the commandments and justifications of God. And truly, let us not be put to shame in this hope. May Thy mercy be upon us, O Lord, as we trust in Thee! Amen. 43. On the occasion of fires. Second word 3 The Lord has already begun to show His mercy to us by sending rain. Thanks be to His merciful condescension towards us! “It’s time for us to become more hopeful and calm down.” But yesterday’s, although small, fire renewed our fear, and we are again restless in anticipation of a sudden disaster - we have no trust in anyone or anything, and in every unfamiliar face we continue to meet our ill-wisher. That is why our holiday is not a holiday, so that the prophetic threat has been fulfilled over us: I will turn your holidays into pity, and all your songs into lamentation ( Am. 8:10 ). Well? - And let's cry... We have now gathered at the place of crying. Behold a field watered with tears! And who among the city residents has not spilled them here?! - So, according to your kinship, come, let us mourn before the Lord who created us, like the Israelites who mourned Jerusalem on the rivers of Babylon! The Mother of God will not be offended by this! She herself, I think, not without sorrow now looks at this place, which in previous years was seething with crowds on this day, but now it is so empty; - and this is not due to a cooling of zeal, but all out of the same apprehension and fear. Come, let’s cry! But why cry? - Ο to everyone. Let us first lament that our life here is full of troubles and sorrows: now the earth shakes, now the sky shakes, now water rushes to drown, now fire threatens to devour, now drought and crop failure, now illness and pestilence, now these visible and even invisible enemies constantly almost keep us in fear, worry and fear for life. There is trouble on all sides. How can you not cry here, especially when you remember that initially, when the Lord first looked at His creations, there was all the goodness in them? - Of course, we ourselves are to blame for this, and we are righteously condemned to bear the burden of this life. But still one cannot help but grieve that this is the case, and that our land, once beautiful, has now been turned into a vale of tears. How many people will encounter clear days in their life?! “And even those are given only so that we do not fall into despair, only to maintain the faith that not everything is lost, that the Lord is not completely angry, and there is hope of deliverance from troubles, although in a way only known to God. Then we will move on to crying, especially because we sin, and with our sins we further increase the sorrow of our stay on earth - we anger God and give Him the work of inflicting punishments on us for our iniquities. It is a pity for the Lord to punish us, but it is even more a pity to leave us without punishment. Because if the Lord does not punish our sins and iniquities, then our land will become worse than hell, and evil will soon destroy our entire race. How can we not cry, thinking that we are locked in such opposition on all sides! With our sins we upset ourselves, and cause harm to others, and we annoy the Lord and disturb the invisible world: but we continue to sin and become more and more entangled in troubles and needs. At least it is no less gratifying that there were and are those who are being saved among us, and that the path of salvation in St. Church of God: but again it is sorrow that we see few of those walking this path, and we ourselves do not always direct our steps there. How can you not cry! Let us finally cry, just to weep, just to sow with tears, in hope that we will not reap with joy, as the prophet David promises: those who sow with tears will reap with joy (Ps. 125:5). Because what should we do?! “We can’t figure out anything how to improve our situation!” It seems that all precautions have been taken, but trouble keeps breaking out, as if from under our hands, and again plunges everyone into anxiety. So it’s better to sit down and cry, without saying anything and by crying only letting you know that it hurts and hurts. May the Lord himself come and see what is wrong with us and come up with a cure for our wounds. Like a child who cannot speak, feeling pain, only cries, directing his hands and eyes to his mother, and she herself, having come running, removes the cause and calms the child: we will do the same. Let us sit down and cry, with the eyes of our minds and hearts fixed on grief. We have, more caring than our own mother, a providential Lord who is quick to help and comfort. He will surely come and reassure us, as He Himself assures through the prophet: He will call to Me, and I will hear him... (Ps. 90). And even then, it must be said that if we loved crying more than joy, we would not have had so many disasters; If we had not madly indulged in joys and empty amusements, then the Lord would not have needed to calm us down with external sorrows, and thereby return us to that mood of crying and lamentation, which we must constantly have, as exiles from the fatherland. God does not despise a contrite and humble heart. If it were always like this, the Lord would not humble us as he does now - that many have nowhere to lay their heads. But, brethren, let us weep and mourn, but all in a Christian way, and not like pagans who have no hope. May no word of murmuring come from our lips, and may the feeling of despondency and hopelessness not darken our hearts. Grieving, crying and being sick is a human thing, but giving in to despondency and despair, murmuring and blasphemy is a satanic thing. Let us dissolve sorrow with hope, and a cry of tenderness will be born, not burning and tormenting, but spreading joy and softening. Let us cast sorrow upon the Lord, and He will preserve us; For whoever trusts in the Lord will receive mercy. We confess the truth of God in punishing us, and He will send mercy to meet it: for with Him is not only judgment, but also mercy. Let us endure in complacency; For the Lord is not completely angry, and does not quarrel forever. He beats us; Let us feel the pain, and, praying for mercy, let us strengthen our prayer with the determination not to offend Him with our sins. Let us cry out: have mercy, Lord, have mercy! - adding, moreover: we will not, - so that the reproach of the prophet does not apply to us: you beat them, and without being hurt, you crushed them, and did not want to accept punishment: you hardened your face more than a stone, and did not want to turn (Jer. 5: 3). Amen. 44. On the occasion of fires. Word three 4 Have you, brothers, ever been in the work of a carver or sculptor? – If you have been, you have correctly noticed how artists of this kind, having drawn in their minds an image of what they intend to make, then proceed to work, with tools adapted to different techniques, cutting, cutting and finally finishing part by part, until the taken substance takes on a form similar to the insubstantial image that they carry in their minds. These works came to my mind on the occasion of the current feast of the Image Not Made by Hands of our Lord and Savior and together on the occasion of the embarrassing situation in which the fires put us. Having compared one with the other, I find that the latter in the hands of God’s providence are the same as the actions of a chisel and other tools in the hands of an artist, that through them the Lord wants to impress on us the thought that He has destined for us in His mind. From here, to our considerable consolation, I conclude: our present sad situation means that the Lord, as an artist, providentially took us into His hands, like an unfinished substance, however, suitable for dressing - and now, through troubles, like blows of a hammer, one after another, he cuts off in us everything that is unnecessary and contrary to the image into which He wants to lead us. In fact, what are we in the hands of God if not a substance processed according to His intentions for us?! The Apostle Paul, explaining how from the same womb, at the same time, the blessed Jacob and the rejected Esau were born, this is what he says: therefore, O man, who are you, who answer against God? The food says to the one who created it, why did you create me? Or the scoundrel in the clay does not have the power, from the same confusion to create a vessel for honor, but not for honor (Rom. 9:20-21). Isn’t it obvious that in the hands of God every person, or the human nature in everyone, is the same as clay in the hands of a potter, and that just as this potter makes from clay whatever vessels he pleases, so God, through His providential actions, raises every person to the state for which he finds him capable? Don’t stop wondering: where is our freedom, and where is God’s truth? – The all-wise Lord always knows how to reconcile this kind of action with both our freedom and His justice. Let us take better care to correct our short-sighted conclusion about the nature of the educational and educational actions of God's providence. We are used to saying when any grief befalls us: God forsook us, forgot us, abandoned us. But according to the indicated teaching of the Apostle, it turns out quite the opposite - that this means that the Lord has turned His eyes to us - and that from now on he begins to act on us with special care and solicitude - as the same Apostle literally interprets in another place: for whom the Lord loves, - says, - the Lord punishes: he beats every son, but he accepts him. If you endure chastisement, God will be found to you as sons (Heb. 12:6–7). Punishment is both an action that causes pain and training or education. Apply this to us, and you yourself will say the same thing that I said before - that the Lord beats us with our present situation: but this beating means that He carefully took us into His hands and wants, out of His special love for us, to lead us into some splendid image. This is the true meaning of God’s real providential action on us! Fix your intelligent eyes on it, and drink from it, like from an abundant source of sweet water of heartfelt consolation! So, we should not be discouraged now, or kill ourselves with grief, but rejoice in God’s special election and thank the Lord for it, and not so much bear in mind the grief as care about showing ourselves worthy of such good providence of God for us, so that otherwise the Lord would not repent that he took on us, assuming us capable of fulfilling His goals, and again would not leave us to disappear into obscurity, like worthless people who publish only crackling and dust - restless and useless. In these feelings, let us surrender ourselves entirely to God’s providential action on us - without contradiction, without perseverance and self-rule - so that he can do with us and from us what His holy will pleases. Just as marble calmly stands under the blows of the sculptor, as clay flexibly fits into forms according to the intention of the craftsman, and as any other substance submits to the artist: so humbly and humbly we must also surrender to the artistic action of Divine care for us, in the trustworthy faith that such a wise and powerful Artist will make of us not just something, but something great. In this faith, let us complacently wait and endure until the Lord fulfills for us everything planned for us. Not with one blow does a beautiful statue emerge from the artist’s hands. It takes time and time until the head, torso, extremities appear, and then the small details of each part are formed. Let's not get bored while the test lasts! If it lasts, it means that not all of God’s thought has yet been expressed in us - that, therefore, if He now stopped His actions on us, we would leave His hands as an unfinished work. And He doesn’t want this. Let us endure it complacently. Of course it hurts to endure; for we are a living, feeling creature: but we will reinforce our complacency with the presentation of that spiritual beauty to which the trial we endure will raise us. For this is what the Apostle writes: if you endure punishment, God will be found to you as sons. You see to what rank the Lord raises us with these sorrows! How great is it that we will have to endure for this! Sonship to God - what can compare with this? Therefore, imagine this future perfection more vividly, and thereby dissolve the bitterness of the present situation. For any punishment at the present time does not seem to be joy, but sorrow; Afterwards, the fruit of peace will reward those who are taught in righteousness (Heb. 12:11). It would be possible to indicate exactly what features of our present circumstances Divine Providence wants to imprint in us. But I think that this comes naturally to everyone the first time. Who does not see, for example, what the Lord wants to inspire us: do not rely on wealth and do not cleave to it, because it is insignificant and disappears like dust. Do not put your trust in princes and in the sons of men, because in them there is no salvation. Do you see how strong they are? Everyone backed down and left everyone to their own devices. Do not rely on your quickness and foresight. Trouble will burn under your hands and before your eyes, and you will not be able to do anything against it. Do not dream of turning the earth into paradise and know that just as day gives way to night and night to day, so joy gives way to grief and grief to joy. Do not be stingy, and hasten to transfer all your property to the heavenly treasuries through alms; for now everything was instantly lost and in vain. And many similar lessons were inscribed by the finger of God’s providence in the disasters that befell us. They are self-evident, as I said; therefore there is no need to talk much about them. But here’s what I think needs to be noted: these suggestions are imprinted on the heart and remain a real feature in it, not according to the law of necessity, but according to the law of rational freedom. Marble, for example, under the artist’s chisel turns into this or that statue, without any participation on his part. Moral traits from the actions of God's providence are imprinted in our hearts not necessarily, but under the condition of their free perception. Exactly, we are matter in the all-effective hands of God; but in order for us to be formed according to God’s intentions, we must perceive God’s suggestions with our consciousness, voluntarily bring them to our hearts, and inscribe them in our will as a law. And here is the final lesson for us from the test we are in: to listen, to learn, to bow to suggestions and turn them into a law for ourselves, or, what is the same, into a living trait of the spirit. The more suggestions we translate into a law for ourselves, the more we will have the features of the image that the Artist who builds everything wants to reproduce in us. The more such traits there are, the closer to the end of the artistic actions of our formation by the providence of God - the sooner the end of our shy position. You see for yourself what all this obliges us to do. Let us hasten to take advantage of God’s instructions! Let us hasten to follow the prescribed program, and soon we will leave the bonds of labor into the freedom of the children of God. Let us not miss the opportunity to earn God’s mercy and be enriched with spiritual perfections, so that later we will not regret that we had good in our hands and lost it through lack of understanding. May the Lord make us all wise for salvation! Amen. 45. On the occasion of fires. Word four 5 Thank the Lord! Calm begins to overshadow our city, houses welcome their residents and the flow of business no longer encounters obstacles due to the absence of workers 6 . The attempts at fire, after repeated failures, almost ceased, thanks to the vigilance of the guardians of public safety - both always and especially established for this case. The named members of the 7 can now more easily attend to the healing of the wounds inflicted on us, as far as means allow. So, thanks be to the Lord! – we have good hopes! But we have not yet completely returned to normal order; we are still not without fears and embarrassments. Just as a slight rustle frightens someone who has been afraid, and how a sore spot worries with pain from a light touch: so we have smoke from a chimney at an unusual time, or a poorly discernible pillar of dust in the distance seems to be the beginning of a menacing disaster, and again revives already hushed anxieties. From this side we can say that the cloud has not yet cleared! Such a long ordeal! “And perhaps more than one of you has a soul crying out from the heart: relax us, Lord, let us rest!” Yes, let us cry out more earnestly in prayer, so that the Lord will weaken us! “However, we will not allow ourselves to be cowardly for the sake of something that does not weaken us as quickly as we would like. That's right, that's how it should be. After all, you are not one of the unbelievers who attribute everything to chance. After all, you believe that everything is from the Lord, both great and small. Add to this faith that reassuring confidence that everything that comes from the Lord comes not to our harm, but to our good - that, therefore, what we now endure was allowed by the Lord for our creation and salvation... And having established yourself in this thought, wait complacently for the end, strengthened by the conviction that not everything has yet happened in us that the Lord intended to produce in us. The woman, having mixed the flour and added kvass to the mixture, waits for the whole mixture to leaven. Will she plant grain if she is not sure that everything has already been leavened? - And again, having placed the bread in the oven, does it immediately take it out? - No; - but waits until they are completely baked. And from such patient waiting you get delicious bread - both leavened in moderation and baked properly. Will you praise a woman if she rushes into something and thereby spoils the bread?! - So the Lord, having sent us troubles, poured into us, as it were, a new leaven and waits for it to penetrate our entire composition. He has put us in the furnace, and is waiting for the fire of testing to work its effect in us. Wait, too. Do not disturb the Lord, and with your cries do not force His compassion to hasten by finishing what He began in you ahead of time, so that otherwise you will not emerge from these actions having not reached the destined measure. So the doctor, having applied a plaster to the wound, does not immediately remove it, but waits until it produces its effect. You will not deny that we are all wounded by sin and that we need bandages. Here they are attached. Let them have their effect. Be patient and don’t demand that they be picked as soon as possible. Let the malignant matter be pulled out and the affected area tightened. We are being treated by a wise Physician, Who has no equal. Let us complacently surrender to His healing actions on us! Do not focus your attention and feeling on your present state alone - mournful and difficult; but rather direct the eyes of your mind to the future - to the good that will be brought to us by sorrow if we are complacent. Look, the farmer, having sowed the seeds with great difficulty, patiently waits until they sprout, grow and ripen, praying that the Lord will send rain and a bucket in due time. Does he worry when, in due course, it rains, thunders and lightning falls?! - Another is bored due to bad weather; and the farmer rejoices and has fun, because he looks not at the present, but at the future, - he cares not about the pleasures of summer, but about the needs of winter, - not about what he now endures, but about what he will receive for it later. Let us not complain about this present disaster, but rather give thanks, knowing what good it will bring for our soul. We will commit the time of ending your grief to the will of the Lord; Let us ourselves take better care to enter into God’s intentions for us, so as not to hinder His action in us, and thereby give Him the opportunity to quickly complete His work on us. God, stronger than we ourselves, wants to extinguish the fire, but waits until the latter does his work in us. So it's all up to us! We used to think that the Lord burdens us when he sends some kind of disaster. But it turns out the other way around: - we bother the Lord, putting Him in the need to invent such admonitions for us. So the prophet Isaiah complained about the people of Judah, that they were troubling the Lord a lot with their unbelief, stubbornness and disobedience, saying: Do you give all the work of the Lord (Is. 7:13)? This is what it means: the Lord, through His providential actions, brought the Israelites to reason - so that they would not deviate from Him with their hearts, so that they would not offend Him with their sins and untruths, would not indulge in insane pleasures and debauchery, would not forget the house of God and reverence for it and in it, would not oppress the innocent, would not be deceitful in courts and auctions, would not waste time in inventing means. wasting time to the detriment of oneself... and so on. and so on... The people did not heed the lessons of God. If the Lord did not love the people, he would immediately betray them to his destruction. But how He did not want him to perish, but in every possible way wanted him to come to the mind of truth and to the love of holiness; - so he sent him, for admonition, test after test, trouble after trouble, sorrow after sorrow. And about this work the prophet complains about the people of God, saying: what kind of work are you giving to the Lord, that is, that you are not corrected, do not turn to the Lord and do not begin to live holy?.. But for you everything is nothing, as God Himself says through another prophet (Jer. 3:9-10). So, brothers, the Lord is working on us today. We will not allow such a complaint to fall on us. Let us hasten to guess what the Lord wants from us and do it. What he wants, each of us will be told by our own conscience. Amen. 46. ​​On the occasion of fires. Word five 8 Glory to Thee, our God, glory to Thee! - Now we are almost completely calmed down, brothers! “The expectation of troubles, either from the duration or from the failure of the fire, no longer torments us and does not strike us with crushing fear - and everything with us has taken its usual course. Previously, either grief over losses or fear of new losses outraged the eye of our mind and we could not calmly turn to ourselves or discuss what was happening around us. Now we can, it seems, calmly talk about everything that happened to us. What happened to us, and what came out of what happened? – Is it a test or a punishment? – A measure of correction, or a sign of God’s rejection? No, the Lord does not reject us: otherwise He would not have taught those vigilant about our safety to so quickly and actively block all passages to evil-directed fire, and would not have given them the opportunity to so quickly stop its actions. No, he does not reject: otherwise He would not have preserved our churches, 9 which, having preserved, He gives us the assurance that His arms are open to receive us, and clearly tells us: come to Me, you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. No, he doesn’t reject it. If this were the wrath of rejection, who could resist and what force could stop its effect? – But now we see that the Lord is not completely angry with us, and is not at enmity forever. What has He done to us? “He took us out to war to show ourselves and others how courageous we were and how skillful we were in waging war for the salvation of the soul and the glory of our Hero and God. The devil slandered Job against God: he insincerely honors You; he only shows that he honors You, because You endow him with everything; but command to take from him wealth, glory, power, health, and you will see that he will fall away from You like an autumn leaf from a tree. And so, to justify Job and His favor towards him, the Lord takes him out to battle, without telling him in advance: stop, there will be battle, being confident that he will stand anyway. The fighting begins. Job is attacked from all sides. His herds, houses, children fall, but he stands like a pillar, unshakable: in all these things that happened to him, Job sinned nothing before the Lord (Job 1:22). The enemy makes a new attack, more sensitive - it attacks his flesh. But even here Job does not sin below with his lips. The wife-advisor approaches with a flattering speech: “rtsy is a certain verb and die.” And this does not shake his firmness: if it is good, he says, we will receive from the hand of the Lord, lest we endure the evil. So the fight ended. Who is the winner?! Job is honored with the victory, but the enemy retreats disgraced. Don’t look at the fact that he became poor, lying on rot and in wounds. This is not what the enemy needed. It was not houses and herds, not children and slaves, not external splendor and color of the body that he coveted. He wanted to shake the spirit of Job's piety, and tear the word of grumbling out of his mouth, or place a feeling of despair in his heart. How he failed to do this means he lost the victory. Job justified God’s favor towards him, and God doubly rewarded him against everything he had lost. A similar thing happened to us. Has the enemy slandered us to the Lord? Who can tell us? “But it is absolutely certain that the Lord has now arranged a test of our piety. He wanted to show that it is not only the external favorable environment that keeps us in faith in Him, and it is not only the absence of losses that makes our devotion to Him strong. That’s why he brought us out to battle and allowed them to throw kindled arrows at us. You know how swift the attacks were on us, how strong the blows were, and how painful the wounds were! “But this is not a sign of victory.” How Job triumphed in victory on the dunghill; so we, with the loss of our houses and with all the anxieties that troubled us, could not have been defeated. For strength does not lie in the external position, but in the internal mood of the mind and heart. We hesitated, and the victory was lost. If we resisted, victory is ours. What exactly?! - Go inside yourself, and with your conscience, before the face of the Lord, either share the self-interest, or count the losses and deprivations. Stand before the Lord and force your conscience to give sincere answers to the following questions: - has the misfortune that has already befallen you been endured with complacency, or is it still only expected? -Have you seen the hand of God in all this, and not chance? – Were there not movements of murmur and doubt in your heart about God’s protective providence for you – in these particular circumstances? With tears of sorrow, did your heart rise up to God in gratitude? – Has your soul accepted the lesson about dispassion for earthly things to the point of feeling like a wanderer on earth? “Have those who suffered not darkened their hearts with envy of those who did not suffer?” Didn’t the victims rise above the victims, and even worse, weren’t they carried away by the malicious hope of somehow getting rich at their expense? – Did it occur to you that such and such our sins were truly the cause of our common misfortune, and was it our intention to certainly get behind them and not repeat them again? - Has it been confessed in the depths of our hearts that this should have been done to us - and that we are not only ready to endure this, but also everything with complacency and warm love, completely throwing ourselves into the hands of God, like children of a child-loving Father, who knows better than us what is good for us and what is bad - a bucket or bad weather?! If we can sincerely give reassuring answers to all this, then victory is on our side. Do not look at losses and worries, but at the spirit of piety living in the heart. If it is intact; nothing all losses. For deprivation of all the blessings of the world does not destroy the soul, while one movement of grumbling destroys the soul if it is not cleansed by repentance. If so, then thank the Lord! And if not, then woe to us! “Woe to us that we have suffered so much for nothing, and not only for nothing, but also to the detriment of our salvation, that despite such great external losses we also suffer internal destruction.” But, brethren, may our sorrow not be aggravated; Let us give each other the assurance that we all, like Job, in all these things that happened, did not sin before God, lower with our lips, and did not give madness to God - that, despite all the burden and sensitivity of the trouble, we only confessed: the Lord gave, the Lord is taken away... if we accept good from the hand of the Lord, will we not endure evil... As the Lord willed, so it will be! Blessed be the name of the Lord forever! – If there was something wrong, we will grieve about it and correct it. If something is weak and lifeless, we will resurrect it and raise it to inspiration. Let's take care of this; for only such feelings are a sure guarantee that the Lord will soon compensate for our losses and return us to our former prosperity! – May the all-merciful Lord grant this to all of us! Amen. 47. On the occasion of fires. Word six 10 Thanks be to the all-merciful Lord, who keeps your city safe and sound! “You see the troubles that are heard around you, but they turn their menacing faces away from you!” - In the surrounding villages and neighboring cities, fire is consuming the property of civilians, and you, like some kind of shelter, are covered from its sudden attacks. True, your trouble was not far away; but like some unintentional blow, it soon stopped and did not happen again. So, thank the Lord! But, brethren, beware and take care not to lose such great mercy of God, and do not bring upon yourself the sorrows and troubles that will pass you by. The Lord's mercy and judgment are swift. Position yourself so as not to drive away mercy and attract judgment. Cover yourself a little, until the anger passes. Where to hide? – Under the merciful and strong hand of God, with a childlike heart devoted to God and complete submission to His all-holy will. Confess before Him every minute that in this mercy you see only His mercy, and pray that He will extend His mercies to you. Confess that you are unworthy of any leniency for your sins, and beg Him, not with His anger, but with His goodness, to turn your souls to Himself, remembering your great former troubles and your considerable present weaknesses. So, brethren, do not let the flattering thought enter your heart, as if you are getting rid of real troubles for the sake of some distinctions and advantages, as if others are more sinful than you - and therefore suffer; - and you are more worthy than them, therefore you are free from suffering. - No, not like that, but this is how you interpret everything that is happening with us! “We all fell asleep, indulged in carelessness, and began to forget the will of God and the holy law of Christ. The Lord, out of His love for us, did not want us to remain in this state forever, for there is destruction in it, - He decided, in the advice of His providence, to awaken us from sleep with sorrows. And here and there they appear, or they only hear troubles from the fire, as a threatening suggestion to everyone everywhere to repent, as if the word of God to everyone: wake up and sleep! In this respect, everyone is equal - both those suffering and those not suffering; are still invited to repentance and correction of life. Therefore, the latter are not considered at all better than the former. Isn't it even the opposite? – For why does not the Lord strike every place, although everyone needs revival equally? - This is because He does not desire our sorrows, but our awakening from sinful sleep. He awakens some with present disasters, and others with hearing and anticipation of such disasters. But don’t you see that in this case He makes some preachers of repentance for others? – The choice to become a preacher falls, of course, not on the weakest, but on those who are more perfect in mind and stronger in heart. Here is your interpretation of why the Lord strikes those, but not us. - This is because they are stronger in spirit than us, and we are weaker than them; they endure misfortune complacently, but we would perhaps fall into murmuring and despair. Those, despite the cloud of troubles, can see the finger of God in them and understand His hidden intentions; and we would, perhaps, be completely lost if such a grief befell us now. So the Lord spares us not because of any merit, but because of our extreme weakness. “He chose those - the strongest - as teachers for us - the weakest, through them admonishing us and rousing us to consciousness and self-correction. Therefore, thank God, and not only show compassion to the victims, but also give honor to them as mentors and saviors. Position yourself in this way, not allowing yourself to indulge in thoughts that are derogatory to our suffering brothers. Humble yourselves, do not exalt yourself; - so that it is not considered necessary - and against the will to humble those who exalt themselves! Do not think, however, that the Lord looks at us less kindly, or considers us worthless for anything good. No, and we get our due. They are honored by teaching, and we by prudent discipleship; Those are considered strong in spirit, and we are attentive to the ways of God's providence and prudent. That is, the Lord judged us in such a way that although we would not have endured the present disasters, of course, as we should; but we have enough intelligence and conscience to understand the troubles of others and rise to our own rank. Enter into God's intentions for you, and by your very deeds show what the Lord expects from you. And how He expects repentance and correction from everyone; then hurry to go inside yourself, examine what is faulty there, and make a firm intention to correct it for the glory and pleasure of God, who spares you. Now stand before the face of the Lord and give an answer: is it sincere, and does everyone sincerely believe in God, in the Trinity of the worshiped One, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit? – Don’t be surprised by such a question! Nowadays, many people err in this, as in many other things. Do you believe that everything came from God, through His omnipotent Word, and did not come into being by chance? Do you believe that everything in the world - both big and small - is governed freely by the good and wise providence of God, and is not subject to some fate of an irresistibly unchangeable course of events? “Do you believe that we were created for bliss in paradise, but by disobeying God’s commandment we lost paradise, and now we are in poverty as punishment for that?” – Do you believe that from this state of fall we cannot in any way free ourselves and be saved; because the all-good God, not wanting our race to perish, sent His only begotten Son into the world - to accomplish our salvation and to establish on earth a house of salvation open to all - St. Church ; that this God-established Church, preserving the only reliable and faithful image of salvation, is our Orthodox Eastern Church? – And believing, do you completely obey all the commandments and institutions of the Church? Do you go to churches? Do you willingly listen to the word of God preached here? Do you honor holidays and keep fasts – that’s all? – Do you accept God’s holy mysteries as you should? Are you not wisely dismissing any prayerful and sanctifying institutions of the Church? Do you accept the church bureaucracy, and are you obedient to the priesthood that exists among you, as a face established by God to guide you on the path to salvation? Are you diligently following this path? Are you rich in good deeds, not missing a single opportunity to do them? Moreover, do you keep your heart pure from all wrong feelings and dispositions? Is there fear of God? Are they peaceful with each other? Aren't you jealous? Are you undermining each other? Don't you suffer from the sin of condemnation and gossip? Are you ready for cooperation and mutual assistance? Are you not devoted to pleasures, amusements, fashions and other sensual pleasures and vices? Do your children respect their parents? Are parents concerned about passing on to their children the treasure of faith for salvation? Are traders jealous of fair measures and prices? Do judges forget the truth in court? Are the guardians of order and security always vigilant, and do they look after the common good?! Inspect yourself for all these and similar points! - If you find that you are right in all of them, set it in your heart to succeed even more in this rightness, with the help of God. And if you find something faulty, take care to correct it - now set a firm intention to do so and give your word to the all-seeing God, who will spare you. This is what the Lord expects from you! Hurry to fulfill His will, so that otherwise you will not be touched by the troubles going around. If any warrior, when the alarm is sounded in the military camp, does not wake up and rush together with others to stand in ranks in all military armor; then either he will suffer great punishment from the military leader, or, even worse, he will fall into the hands of his enemies. Look, we wouldn’t be able to tolerate something similar if we remain immersed in carelessness when we hear calls for awakening all around us! - Of course, who will understand the mind of the Lord and who will comprehend what God wants? But regarding what God wants by surrounding us with calamities, it is not difficult to see His intentions. God sent a prophet to the Ninevites with the threat that in three more days, and Nineveh will turn if they do not repent. The Ninevites repented and the Lord canceled His threat. And for how many years did Noah preach: repent, otherwise God will drown you with a flood? “They didn’t listen: the flood came and took everything.” Here too, through the misfortunes of others, the Lord clearly tells us: wake up from your sleep, look around, correct yourself! “We will be attentive, and we will correct everything that needs to be corrected.” After all, the law of God’s judgment was pronounced long ago, and no one has the power to abolish it. Remember what is written in the Gospel! – The pillar of Siloam fell and killed 18 people. Citing this incident, in His teaching to the people, the Lord said this: “Do you think that those 18 were more sinners than all those living in Jerusalem? No. But I tell you that unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way (Luke 13:4). Hearing this, understanding this, let us understand the ways of God’s truth and, following their instructions, let us hasten to turn away the wrath of God, which is always ready, and to retain His mercy, which now covers us. Amen. 48. On the occasion of fires. Word seven 11 You, sisters, were not much alarmed, and I was going to console you with my weak word. But, thank the Lord, your sorrow has already been dissolved by the consolation of the active participation of charitable people whom the Lord has raised up to help you. One cannot help but rejoice to find you in this state, enlivened by joy. Of course, you would have been able to bear the grief that befell you with a complacency worthy of you; but the Lord, condescending to the possible weaknesses of the heart in you, did not allow you to be under temptation for a long time. The wound is already healing and soon, perhaps, no trace of it will be noticeable. Therefore, I put aside a word of consolation, so as not to shame you by suggesting cowardice in you. Nevertheless, however, I find it indecent not to occupy your attention with what happened to you. Here, apparently, there was a visitation of God upon you: where is the visitation of God, if not to stop at feeding your soul with the lessons hidden there? “Indeed, blow and pardon, wound and healing, threat and mercy: the Lord wanted to tell you or show something special in you. What would it be? Let's not go far and get lost in guesswork. He wanted to test whether you are attached to perishable, material, everyday things. A simple lesson, but very important! - Remember your vows, how, when you took upon yourself the monastic life, you promised, leaving the world, to leave all its worries, so that in solitude you could serenely stand before the one God in unceasing prayers. All worldly addictions, like unnecessary growths, should have fallen from you outside the gates of the monastery. Like that young man who wanted to enter monasticism, but was always stopped by love, finally overcoming himself, he went out of the city or village, and, throwing off his very clothes, ran to the nearest monastery, and remained there forever, not even remembering what he had: so, naked from any attachment to material things, all those who enter them should enter the monasteries - and not only enter, but always to remain there as such, without diminishing this renunciation, but on the contrary, elevating and strengthening it. Meanwhile, however, even in the monastery, a person still remains a person. He needs shelter, clothing, and food. And all this must be mined, prepared and stored. You know how to combine this property and labors regarding it with the complete renunciation from everything promised at the beginning. This is primarily the art of monastic life - with visible worldliness, to keep lifelessness in the heart, or to contain everything - as if you have nothing. But just as it’s easy to get burned when walking near a fire, or walking through a muddy place it’s easy to get stuck in the mud, so it’s not surprising that when you have something, you become addicted to what you have, whether it’s small or large. It is not surprising, therefore, for those who are in the monastery to become addicted to their corner, and to their clothes, and to everything else that is at hand - to become addicted without noticing it, not even wanting to allow any addiction into themselves, and being offended if someone began to suspect us of it, or make hints about it. For outsiders, it doesn’t matter whether we have some secret passion or not. They see that the monastic order is being observed, and they are pleased with us, even ready to praise us. But it is not all the same for you and me, sisters; it is not all the same for the Lord, who accepted the sacrifice of our vow. With all our possessions, keeping an unloved heart, and with all our labors and worries, silent carelessness about everything is an urgent law for us! But is this really so - how to test it and who will tell us about it? – Self-examination is deceptive. Here pride will always distort, and instead of the truth, it will present its ghost; that is why this matter is not entrusted to him. But since the work of the monks is at the same time the work of God, and the Lord values ​​them as His chosen ones, and wants to show them perfect in everything: then He takes this test upon Himself and through various external circumstances - deprivation or only the fear of deprivation - allows them to understand whether their heart is attached to anything or not: - whether it is suffering from addictions, or is completely detached and free from everything. This is exactly what He has done to you today. He looks from His holy heaven at the sons of men and leads everyone in this way, so that He may save everyone. He looked at you mercifully, and, having disturbed your life a little, gave you a lesson: “Look, do you have an addiction to earthly things? Your heart must belong to me as your groom. See if it has deviated to something else”? – This is the real meaning of what happened to you! The predilection for the earthly and material is well compared to the rooting of a tree on earthly soil. The more multi-branched the root, and the deeper it sends out its branches, the harder the tree stands and the more difficult it is to pull it out. Equally, the more attachments the heart has and the stronger these attachments, the more difficult it is to tear it away from the earth, and the more painful it is for the heart when it is torn from it against its will. Applying this to your circumstances, this is what I find: - as if a gardener or the owner of a garden walked through the garden and tried first one tree and then another to see if they were firmly seated; So the Lord, your Provider and Guardian, especially now touched you and disturbed you in order to test whether you have not taken deep roots of addiction to earthly things, whether your heart easily parted with everything that you have, whether you are as free as a bird is free, flying from one place to another not only without pain, but also with pleasure. This is what the Lord wanted to lead you to! But what is in you and with you? “What is in you, you will determine for yourself with your conscience, and hasten to renew and purify your covenant with the Lord, Who sees everything.” Outsiders cannot speak about your inner state of true judgment. Neither your cries, nor your anxiety, nor your tears are sure signs of your addiction to things. All this may be the result of an unexpected fright and its ongoing effect. Only God and your conscience can see true addiction. There, having gone inside yourself, tell the Lord in the secret of your heart whether your heart is guilty before Him or not. – Do not be ashamed of self-condemnation and do not impose on yourself what is not in you. The Lord loves sincerity and truth. With this righteous face illuminated, present yourself to Him, and give Him an account yourself. For my part, if I wish you any consolation, I cannot help but remind you: do not leave this case without any verification of your inner dispositions and feelings, in which lie all the strength and all the value of your life. Of course, the fact that the Lord only threatened and immediately showed mercy can very well be interpreted as a good sign of the absence of strong attachments in you. But this is a guess, which we and you are pleased to dwell on, but with which we should not be completely satisfied. The judgment of conscience is another matter, and even more another matter is the judgment of God! – Reservations here are all aside: they are inappropriate here. See how your value is determined! -You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world! – This applies to all Christians: but in all perfection it can only be fulfilled by monastics. Take heed, lest your light be darkened, and let not your salt be overcome! - So arrange yourself! I’ll say one more word! – It is comforting to see compassion for you in those living near you! It's comforting to know that you are surrounded by sympathy! – And who doesn’t know how necessary this is in our earthly life! But let this not turn you away from your main sympathy - for the invisible world. Your life is the life of the angels. Move your attention and heart to heaven, and live there. This is both because of your meaning and because only in this way will you find peace for your souls, despite all the worries that are inevitable under the conditions of earthly life! – They say that the higher you are from the ground, the less vibrations and movements there are in the air, and there, at the very height, everything is quiet and calm, no storms, no thunder, no lightning. This is an image of the peace that a soul finds that has extinguished all earthly attachments and lives in heaven with its heart - in unceasing warm prayer and constant devotion to God. I wish this blessing for you above all. Then, no matter what happens to you, nothing will alarm or disturb your peace. Amen. 49. On the occasion of fires. Word eight 12 There is a time to be silent, says the Wise One. And isn’t this remark directed at us, in the current circumstances?! – Grief compresses the heart and binds the tongue. So Job’s friends, seeing him for the first time in a suffering state, sat with him for seven days in silence, either unable to utter a word from the pain of their hearts, or unable to find words to fully express their compassion. What can I tell you that is commensurate with your grief?! - Of course, it would be a lot if I attached to you the word of the prophet Isaiah about the people of God: from feet to head there is integrity in them (Is. 1:6); but in every possible way it will not be far from the truth if you equate the state of your city with another image of the same prophet: it has no form, no kindness (Is. 53:2). Thinking about this, I’m perplexed whether to console you, or indulge in lamentation and crying with you. The prophet Jeremiah, seeing his holy city of Jerusalem devastated, sat down on its ruins and mourned its destruction in lamentable songs that now make up one of the sacred books. Jeremiah the prophet did not sin in expressing his lamentation. We would not sin if we began to mourn your losses together with you. But aren’t they already mourned, and aren’t they still mourned, more bitterly than any lamentable word?! “And what is the use of reminiscing wounds that have begun to gradually heal over time?!” - So let’s look for better words of consolation! In this regard, if compassion can console you, I will sympathize with you with all my soul, and I testify that everyone who receives the news of the disaster that has befallen you will sincerely sympathize with you. If prayer can bring down consolation; then I prayed and pray my sinful prayer, so that the God of all joy, the Father of generosity, Himself will pour consolation into your hearts! “Let us all, now gathered here, unite in this one prayer, and we will surely receive what we ask, according to the false promise of the Lord Himself: the one in need will call to Me, and I will hear him, I will remove him from trouble, and I will glorify him (Ps. 90:15). Thus, He who commanded them to fearlessly come to Himself alone for peace and relief will surely give rest to the toiling and burdened ones. Lest we ourselves turn away from ourselves this consolation ready from above by some wrong feelings and dispositions regarding what is happening to us. The Lord sees everything, sees the most secret thoughts of the heart, and deals with us accordingly. Whoever turns to Him with all his soul and, despite any external troubles, does not sin before Him in his heart, will soon receive not only internal consolation, but also external mercy. Oh, God grant, and good luck! And he will prosper - just do not, for the Lord’s sake, deviate into wrongness in your heart. And, firstly, do not think that everything that happened to you was a matter of pure chance - that the eye of Providence did not see and the finger of God did not direct these incidents. No, if a hair does not fall from the head without the will of God, especially not without this will so many houses fell, so many people lost their fortunes, and the whole city suffered and is suffering. True, God Himself sends some disasters, and only allows others; but what is allowed, like what is sent, is still in His will. For if he had not wanted to, he would not have allowed it, and no one could have done us harm, no matter how strong and cunning he was. God is the master of this world, and He does not allow anything to happen in it against His will. Doesn’t it happen that some villain, having prepared everything for committing evil and having overcome all obstacles, at the hour when he should get down to business, is struck by fear and is kept from committing evil?! – God sends His angel, and He blocks the path of the villain, as Balaam once did. If the path is not blocked, if evil is allowed, it means: that’s what God wants. So confess in your mind and heart! Having established yourself in this thought, do not think further that what happened to you happened for nothing, that is, for nothing and for no reason. No. Whether the Lord allows or sends anything, everything is with a wise and good purpose - for our good and eternal good: - sometimes in order to awaken us from sleep, sometimes - in order to test our love for His Holy One. the law and the firmness of obedience to Him, sometimes - for the correction of the heart and cleansing it from passions, sometimes - for the appearance in greater glory of the servants devoted to Him, sometimes, perhaps, according to some other unknown plans of His providence - but always for the salvation of us and our neighbors. In this confidence, no matter what befalls us, we can always endure it complacently, diverting attention from the present burden and turning it all to the good that can be born from that good, as all the passion-bearers did, and as the Lord Himself taught them, either by the appearance of angels, or by the opening of heaven, or by His appearance. Turn the eyes of your mind and the feelings of your heart there, and be jealous not to miss the opportunity to receive from the Lord the spiritual good that He prepares in these calamities for everyone who wants to receive and preserves in himself the mood of the spirit due to it. What exactly the Lord wanted to produce in you by sending you your misfortune is not with our minds to guess; but, it is true, in one - one thing, in another - another, in each - its own. Only one thing can be considered common to all - this is the incentive to repentance and correction of life. In general, everyone always needs this, whether someone is happy or unhappy. For who can boast of having a pure heart even if he lived only one day on earth? - Who, therefore, can harbor the thought that he does not need repentance, cleansing, correction - therefore, cleansing, corrective and penitential measures are not needed? - If so, then, in the present circumstances, the one who will do best is the one who is more likely to turn to cleansing his heart and correcting his life, or, if it is correct, to correcting his feelings and dispositions. Tears are generally comforting, and tears of repentance provide even more consolation through the deep reconciliation of conscience and heart with the all-merciful Lord and the restoration of boldness before Him. Hurry to arouse them, brethren, and you too, and the Lord will hasten to you with mercy, just as in ancient times He quickly had mercy on the Ninevites, who repented through Jonah’s preaching. Thus, having recognized in our misfortune the finger of God admonishing us, let us all go into ourselves together and each separately, subject everything to a strict conscientious analysis, and if we find anything there that cannot be pleasing to God, we will make a firm intention to leave it behind and correct ourselves. By this we will reproduce in ourselves a mood of spirit that is capable of attracting from heaven not only consolation, but also mercy. In this case, consolation will undoubtedly be poured out on us, and it will be poured out immediately; and mercy can come immediately and can be delayed, according to the insight of God, who knows what is more salutary for us. But it is certain that the Lord is not completely angry and is not at enmity forever. He struck, and he will heal. In His right hand are both life and death. But whoever trusts in the Lord will receive mercy. This effective hope will be reborn in a purified conscience - it will undoubtedly be reborn and will undoubtedly attract mercy. With these feelings, come, let us bow down and fall down, and weep before the Lord who created us! - Lord, raise up Your power and come to save us! Amen. 50. On the occasion of fires. Word nine 13 Upon my return, I hoped to find you completely reassured and in my first service to celebrate with you the complete cessation of all your troubles; but I am not worthy of such consolation! “I saw a lot of people suffering in other cities and towns, and I hoped to ease my heart with some consolation, having seen the beginnings of your calm and recovery; but here again the fears and anxieties that had subsided were renewed! Therefore, it is fitting for us now to complain in the words of the prophet: How long, O Lord, do we cry, and You do not hear? - We cry to You for being offended, and You do not deliver? – Why do you show our eyes only labors and illnesses and let us see only troubles and misfortunes (Hab. 1:2-3)? And the goodness of our present alone would be so little comforting! “So our future is darkened by drought.” Woe to us, brethren, for trouble will come from trouble, as another prophet says (Joel 1:15). The Lord surrounded us with punishments and trials, so that behind us there was a burning fire and in front of us a field of destruction (Joel 2:3), and we became like a man who ran away from a lion, but attacked a bear; – from her he jumped into the house, and here he was beheaded by the serpent when he leaned against the wall (Amos 5:19). What should we do and where should we turn?! Where to look for relief and what medicine to apply to your wounds? “There is nothing left for us to do but turn to the Lord in tears and cry: God, be merciful to us sinners!” Let us imitate in this the ancient prophets, who, appearing among the people of God during public disasters, either consoled them, then reproached them and urged them to repentance, or simply gave in to tears: they cried themselves and called everyone to cry. U lute, u lute! “Your vengeance is hasty,” cried Micah (Micah 7:2). Cry now. On all roads let there be weeping, and on all roads let it be heard: alas, fierce, alas, cruel, - Amos invited (Amos 5:16). And the prophet Joel announced to everyone: “Weep, all of you, as a bride cries for her virgin husband, girded in sackcloth.” The earth weeps because the fields are devastated, the villages weep for the wheat and barley, the priests weep, the farmers weep... everyone weep, crying out to the Lord: woe is me, woe is me, woe is me (Joel 1:8-15)! We will do the same. Let us fall before the Lord and weep, adding nothing except the publican’s words: God, be merciful to us sinners! – Let us talk to Him like this in contrition of heart: We do not claim any right to mercy; we are not worth them; for we are sinners in everything - in word, in deed, in thought, and in all our feelings. We repent and pray: God, be merciful to us sinners! If Your all-seeing eye sees the hardness of our hearts and the weakness of our resolve to correct ourselves, send contrition yourself and strengthen our feeble will. But, God, be merciful to us sinners! We do not arrogate to ourselves a quick deliverance, we do not dare to plan - tomorrow, in a week or a year; but, surrendering entirely to Your will, we pray for one thing: God, be merciful to us sinners! We do not dare to say anything before You, but we only hurt, to the point that we cannot move, and in this illness, weeping like children, we cry: God, be merciful to us sinners! We are weak. Do not allow us, Lord, to fall under the weight of troubles. Give strength to our hearts, overshadow us with good faith, so that despair will not overwhelm our spirit - and, God, be merciful to us sinners! Thus praying with contrition, let us add to the crying the persistence of prayer. So the Syrophoenician woman, mentioned in the current Gospel, received what she asked for the sake of persistence, adorned with humility. The Lord had already told her: go ahead, you are not ours. But then he was defeated by the persistence of her prayer. Let us cry out for ourselves relentlessly, and we will surely receive mercy. He who Himself disposed us to patience in prayer by the example of an unjust judge, implored by the widow’s persistence, will yield to our persistence and show mercy to us. Oh, brothers, has the Lord really abandoned us alone to the end, to be trampled underfoot by everyone who passes by, and will not return His mercies to us!? - No, the Lord is merciful! - do not lose heart, lift up your heads, arise to trust! It’s not enough yet - the coming one will come and will not hesitate to help us. As to the angel in the vision of the prophet Zechariah, who asked the Lord, “until he has mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, when the whole earth is at peace,” the Lord Almighty answered with good words and words of comfort (Zech. 1:17): so, surely, the Lord has good words for us too. Of course, we do not have a prophet who would convey to us such comforting words from the Lord: good cities will yet be poured out; but we have the word of the Lord Himself - that He is not completely angry and is not at enmity forever - that whoever trusts in the Lord will receive mercy and that God will not despise a contrite and humble heart. Turn to Me, says the Lord, and I will turn to you, and I will not set My face on you, for I am merciful, and I will not be angry with you forever (Jer. 3:12). Let us turn to Him in repentant contrition and humility, in undoubted hope, in persistent prayers. Let us call upon the Lady, our ambulance and intercessor, for help. Let us call on all the Saints, let us fall tearfully before them all, so that with a common voice the Lord, besought, will soon turn His wrath into mercy, and restore us to peace, security and contentment. We have no other refuge! - Cry relentlessly: God, be merciful to us sinners! - And He will turn His fatherly heart to us and will soon have mercy! 14 Amen. 51. After the consecration of the Church of the Resurrection of Christ, in the village of Olshanka, Borisoglebsk district If we were to gather into one the souls of all those who are here and look around everyone with one glance, then, with all the diversity of faces and states, with all the differences in thoughts and dispositions, it would be impossible not to see one common feeling to all and imprinted in everything, a feeling of joy and spiritual joy about the construction of a church and such a church 15. This, on our part, is a due tribute to the pious zeal and patient work of the church builder - a tribute to the free spirit, which is, however, involuntarily extorted. And indeed, knowing what the churches of God mean in Christian life, one cannot help but be filled with special pleasure when you see them erected with love caring for your own salvation and the salvation of others; one cannot help but express gratitude to the Lord, who put in the thought and helped; One cannot remain unappreciative of those who heeded the suggestion and did not spare labor and wealth in execution. With such feelings may our current celebration and our participation in it be crowned! But, brothers, we should not limit ourselves to this alone. The peace of consolation is proper only to the sacrifice of love. So that we, who have not made such a sacrifice here, may deserve to enter into the same peace, let us also make a different kind of sacrifice on our part - the sacrifice of ready submission to the will of God, which is revealed in the construction of churches among Christians - and for Christians; because this is associated with well-known obligations imposed on us, which we must renew in our conscience every time we participate in a celebration similar to this one, or celebrate a celebration commemorating it. I want to remind you of these obligations. I don’t think that you need a lengthy word about this when you yourself show yourself to be so zealous for the church. Therefore, I will limit myself to a brief indication of the meaning of churches for us and what this meaning obliges us to do. What does the church mean to us? – The church is for us what the heart is for the body. This was prefigured by the ancient tabernacle, which was always within the people, whether the Israelites were on the road or camped. Here and there the tribes of Israel were always located around the tabernacle, so that it precisely formed the center or heart of the people. Why is the tabernacle such as this - the canopy of future blessings? Then, in order to teach us to have such churches, in which that which the tabernacle only pointed out acts in truth. Let us fix our attention on this thought and follow it. Every movement, state and action of our body is vividly reflected in the heart. Vigor and drowsiness, strength and weakness, health and illness, benefit and burden, etc., everything is generally reflected in the heart and causes corresponding actions on our part. Isn’t it the same thing between us and the church? Doesn’t every spiritual need of ours respond to the church and cause corresponding actions from it? “Look: someone is sad,” he goes to the church to sing the paraklisis to the Mother of God; received joy, he goes there to sing a grateful prayer; - a house must be built, - a blessing is taken from the church; dig a well - the same; rain is needed - the church walks through the fields to attract rain from heaven; illness has befallen, the church comes to intercede for recovery; a child is born - it is reborn to a new life in the church; whoever has sinned is cleansed of defilements in the church; a new family is conceived - it is united in the church; If someone is going on a journey, he is guided by prayers in the church; someone died, his body is escorted to rest in the bowels of the earth from the church, and an intercessory prayer is offered for his soul in the church, and so on, and so on. In general, there is not a single significant thing that would be done properly, in a Christian way, besides the church, or without contact with it. How we are attached to the church by what threads. We are drawn to it every time we conceive something new, and from it we begin our work. Thus, it is palpably true that the church is the true focus or heart of our Christian life. This is how it is... this is how we should always recognize our churches in our hearts, and behave or act in relation to them accordingly. There is no need to talk about this when everyone is outright Christians and always acts this way themselves; but not all Christians are straight Christians. Anyone who has any deviations in this regard is reminded by our current church celebration that just as the body cannot live without a heart, so a Christian cannot live Christianly without the church and everything that happens in it. The integrity of the heart in the body is a condition of life. Hit the heart and there is immediate death. Shouldn't the same be said about the church? Yes! Do not afflict the church with vanity and self-will, otherwise you will die in spirit. This is, of course, not the substance of the church. Its material composition often ages, burns, and collapses, but those belonging to the church, despite this, still remain alive in spirit. But ascend a little higher than these material vaults, or penetrate a little deeper than this material composition of the church, and you will see that it is so. Although the one in the church, who is not aging or dying, cannot be struck to death in any way: but whoever touches him with the edge of superstition or willful deviation from inuda, he strikes himself and causes death to himself through self-inflicted actions. Look at those who shun churches and expose their inner mood! Why does it blow coldly from them, like from a grave? - Because their spiritual life is either shortened or completely extinguished by cutting themselves off from the churches and their entire order. Here, of course, it is not only Molokans and schismatics; but also - even more so - superstitious people who, under the pretext of some purity of concepts, tower above these, however, complex buildings, and everything that is in them. May there be no such thing between us! – True, it is comforting to be sure that strength is not in individual cases, but in the spirit and mood; but does this clause apply to everyone? – It is also comforting that while the churches stand, there is hope of understanding their meaning and turning to them those who do not understand and do not want to understand; but still, until this comes true, the latter stand on the side of the perishing. How can you not regret this? – Who will say: don’t they live? - They live, but how do they live? – What kind of life does one have who does not accept the life-giving elements from where life comes from? The life-giving elements in the blood come from the heart and through its action disperse throughout the body. Blood comes to the heart, unable to support life, outdated; and from the heart comes already living blood and spreads revitalization throughout the body. The church does the same to us. In everyday life, during working days, we, through inattention to ourselves, collect unkind thoughts, feelings and dispositions, which, like outdated blood, weigh down and deaden the soul. Having visited the church, on Sunday or on a holiday - having visited properly - we leave there completely new, as if refreshed. Others, after that, there are thoughts in the head, other feelings and dispositions in the heart. Everything in the soul is remade by what is done, read, sung and instilled in the church. For those who are attentive, what is the wealth of holy thoughts in the word? How many examples of holiness are there in images? How many striking reminders are there in actions? By accepting all this wholeheartedly, he thereby refreshes his inner being, just as one who goes out into the fresh air after a night of stuffiness is refreshed, and he becomes relieved there, as one who ascends higher and higher from the earth becomes relieved. That's why St. The prophet David pleased those living in the house of God and he himself felt especially joy and joy when they said to him: let us go to the house of the Lord! “You must know, however, that this revival and renewal in the church does not come for nothing. One must be especially attuned to this: one must dispose oneself to stay in the church with fear, to pay attention and concentration, to accept with a heart opened by faith all the heavenly influences that are ready here. He who does not have such dispositions is as good as in the church; therefore he will not receive anything there, which he could have received if he had stayed in it properly. I think enough of these similarities between the church and the heart! Whether all of us who are present here are so disposed towards the church - let everyone’s own conscience tell us about this. For my part, I will only remind you that the current day of the consecration of the church obliges us to delve into our relationship to the church, trust them and correct them if something wrong has crept in. Do not neglect these responsibilities and do not consider them unimportant. The church is a symbol of Christianity and a place of God’s grace-filled means. He who is alienated from the church has become outside the streams of grace and is in danger of drying up. Blessed, on the contrary, are those who are devoted to the church and everything in the church! They soon become like a tree planted at the source of waters, always bearing abundant fruit. This is what I decided to tell you today - to some as a lesson, to others as a reminder, to others as confirmation in the rules, in which they themselves are already steadily abiding by the good disposition of the heart and the free choice of the spirit, protecting themselves from hesitations and arising perplexities by their experiences of the good consequences of that. In conclusion, I again invite you all to give thanks to the Lord for the completion of this church! – May His all-generous goodness bless those who labored in its creation, and may this blessing remain in their generation from generation to generation! Amen. 52. On the Exaltation, - in the Sukhotinsky Convent We now celebrate the glorious Exaltation of the honorable and life-giving cross of the Lord. Everyone knows why it was necessary, how it was accomplished and why it is celebrated with such greatness in the Christian Church. Remember all this. After the removal of our Lord Jesus Christ from the cross and His placement in the tomb, the honest life-giving cross remained on Calvary, and then, together with other crosses - robber crosses - was thrown into a deep cave that was right there - near the very place of the crucifixion. Over time, this place was littered with all sorts of rubbish and forgotten. When Constantine the Great converted to Christianity and his mother Helen decided in her heart to build the Church of the Resurrection at the very site of the resurrection, then, by God’s special guidance, the Cross of the Lord was found. The people, who were present in countless numbers, wanted to see the cross. The Queen commanded that the wishes of the people be fulfilled, and the Bishop, lifting it up, showed it to everyone. This action of lifting or erection, as the crown of the labors that preceded it, together with the miraculous actions of God touched upon it by the saints. The Church established the commemoration every year, as a sign of God’s special mercy to St. Your Church. Let us thank the Lord’s providential care for us, but together let us learn from her what she obliges us to do by this. For, remember also that each of us carries his own cross, with which, at the calling of the Lord, he follows Him and on which he must, following the example of the Apostle, be crucified with Christ. Golgotha ​​for this cross is our heart; it is raised or established by a zealous determination to live according to the spirit of Christ, and is composed of different heart dispositions, main and source in Christian life. Just as the salvation of the whole world comes from the cross of the Lord, so our salvation comes from our crucifixion on our own cross. But how the life-giving cross of the Lord was thrown into a pit and covered with rubbish; So we too can throw down our cross and throw it away with negligence and carelessness, and then we are not among those who are saved, but among those who perish. Therefore, we urgently need to clearly understand for ourselves what our cross is made of in order to correctly understand whether it stands in our heart, or has been thrown off it, are we walking with this cross after the Lord, or have we turned away from the Jews, and, having cast off this good yoke of Christ, are we wandering without knowing where and why? I will explain the composition of our inner cross, especially in relation to your monastic life, sisters, with whom the Lord destined me to now celebrate the honorable Exaltation of His cross. And your cross, that is, monastic, is similar to ordinary Christian crosses, only it has its own structure and some features in the same parts. True, it is a little, or maybe not a little, heavier; but also more fruitful. And if from the cross there is life in general, then from under the monastic cross there are abundant streams of life. I will not explain everything in detail to you, but I will only indicate such feelings and dispositions, without which you cannot take a single step in monasticism, without which you cannot live in a monastery like a monastery - and monasticism is not monasticism, but ordinary life, only within the monastery walls. So listen! The lower part of the cross, the one that enters the earth, corresponds in the inner cross to self-sacrifice, with which the earth of the heart is torn apart and the cross is implanted into it. To reject oneself means to treat oneself as others treat the rejected one. In monasticism, this action takes on a new form - killing oneself and the whole world. A monk is the same as a dead person buried in the ground. The walls of the monastery are his tomb. His clothes are a funeral shroud. He leaves everything outside the walls of the monastery and in all that exists has nothing akin to himself: he is alien to everything and everything is alien to him, so the word of the Apostle suits him perfectly: peace has been crucified to me and to the world. (Gal.6:14). Whoever has acquired such a disposition has laid a solid foundation for the internal cross and monasticism. The upper part of the inner cross, or the one going upward, standing straight - longitudinal - is made up of patience, i.e., such firmness to stand in the intentional, which is not shaken by any obstacles, any displeasure and labor. Without patience, it is impossible for anyone to stand in goodness, much less for a monk to stand in monasticism. For a layman, patience is constancy in enduring all the labors and fulfilling the duties assigned to him; for a monk, moreover, it is the firmness of staying in his rank and in his place. Every step here is an exercise in patience and, therefore, not even a step here can be taken without patience. Look through the monastery charter and see how wide the field is for works of patience. Only one who has died to himself and the world can endure everything required here, as it should. The transverse part of the internal monastic cross is obedience - this disposition in which they do not undertake anything themselves, do not plot anything, but only listen and unquestioningly carry out the orders of others. The obedient one is like a ball that rolls without a crack wherever the blow imparted to it directs it. He voluntarily renounces independence and gives himself up as a tool for another. He acts either on advice or on command, trusting neither his thoughts nor his desires. That's why everything is open. If others do not see something, he himself reveals himself to the chosen or appointed one, so that something evil does not hide under the guise of good. Now put everything together, and you will see that the mortification of everything gives entry into the monastery, patience makes it safe to stay in it, obedience embraces all the activities of those living within it. Here is a three-part cross from which true monastic life flows! But what kind of life is this, who might think? – Alienation from everything, – renunciation of one’s will in obedience, extinguishing almost every feeling in patience – is this life?! But don't stop at just appearance. Each of the monastic virtues shown, in addition to the external - harsh - side, also has an internal, living and joyful side, which is either presupposed by it or develops from it. So, patience is supported and lives by the hope that the monastic work is not in vain. Anticipating the desired good, hope feeds patience and makes it insatiable. Hope fills the heart with joy from the certainty of possessing what is desired and with this joy dissolves the sting of the patience of labor. Because of this, the sufferer rejoices and does not suffer so much as enjoy, despite the fact that others see him as suffering much. Obedience is enlivened by love. Obedience is the renunciation of one’s self-activity and one’s reasoning—the actions that are most dear to us. You must have great strength to overcome yourself and abandon them. By force of will you can, of course, overcome yourself, and firm determination succeeds in this. But while she acts alone, acts of obedience are like breaking dry branches. Only love is strong to impart painless flexibility to novitiate. Love is ready for all sacrifices and cannot consider labor, waste of time, waste of strength and property to be anything. Where there is love, everything happens willingly, easily and quickly. Only obedience out of love makes all the labors to which it is obliged joyful. Finally, mortification to oneself and to the world is enlivened and caused by faith that this is how it should be, and it cannot be otherwise if the one who desires this life wants to be in it what should be. Holy faith tells us that we were created for life in God, but fell away from Him and fell into the bonds of selfishness and the charms of the world, and that therefore he who wants to rise again to life in God must die to himself and the world. This conviction of the inevitability of such an order - with a living desire for one's true good - nourishes the mortification of everything and gives it life, especially in connection with another conviction that only by this disposition can one be grafted onto Christ and, having been crucified with Him, draw complete revival from Him. Thus, the basis of the inner cross is faith with self-sacrifice or mortification to everything, - its longitudinal part is patience, strengthened by hope, - its transverse part is obedience, inspired by love. If you imagine the cross as a tree, then its root is faith, from which first of all self-sacrifice and determination grow - to give up everything and take on the one task of saving the soul at a distance from everything. From self-denial is born love, ready for any obedience; out of obedience, or contemporaneously with it, patience develops, crowned with hope that ascends to heaven - into the inner veil, as the Apostle says. Where all these dispositions exist, there the tree of the cross does not stand alone bare, but branches into many shoots of various virtues, is covered with the leaves of external virtue and abounds in the fruits of good deeds. There is oblivion of the world and its customs, an unceasing stay in the monastery without an outcome, love of solitude, prayerful work in cells and churches, fasting, tirelessness in handicrafts, willingness to help each other, mutual forgiveness, mutual encouragement for good, peace, abstinence of the eyes, tongue and ears, and so on. and so on. Blessed is the soul that, having entered within itself, finds all this in its heart! This is an obvious sign that the tree of the cross has been erected in him, planted firmly and abounding in living inner strength, so that it can truly be called a life-giving tree, not only in general, but precisely for this heart. What we have with you, sisters, see for yourself! If all the virtues I have indicated are really in your heart, then your cross is standing - erected. If not, then know that it is buried with the opposite of unkind feelings and dispositions. I do not name these latter ones, because they are self-evident. - But I cannot help but attach a desire, or even a petition: if you find that your cross has either bowed down, or completely fallen, or, even more, is covered with dust and debris of bad thoughts and desires, take care to open it, cleanse it with repentance and again erect it and plant it in your heart with a firm determination to be zealous for the salvation of your soul - to the point of your stomach. Believe that without this cross there is no spiritual life, and there is no salvation, and there is no joy in monastic life. Without the cross, no one has been saved and will not be saved. Just as the Lord entered into glory by suffering on the cross, so all who follow Him, through a kind of cross, enter into co-glorification with Him. – Do you want to enter into this glory? Climb first to the cross, and from the cross you will go to heaven. Amen. 53. On the day of the Kazan Mother of God Now celebrating our Most Holy Lady Theotokos, miraculous for the sake of Her Kazan icon, for the deliverance of Moscow from Lithuania, your thoughts involuntarily turn to other places where She, our ambulance Helper, was pleased to show her special mercy to us, such as: Vladimir, Yaroslavl, Murom, Tikhvin, Pskov, Smolensk, Kaluga, Tambov, Kursk, Kyiv, Pochaev, etc. Is there an area in our country that would not witness the imminent intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos?! So, if we imagine everything together, then in amazement we will stand mentally before the wondrous image of the protection of the Most Holy Theotokos, extended over all of Russia, in which She, with the face of our glorified princes and princesses, boyars and noblewomen, saints and priests, saints and martyrs and Christ for the sake of fools, constantly prays for us to the Lord - to deliver us from troubles and sorrows, not to lead us into temptation of the heart ours and confirm us in doing His holy commandments. Thinking about this, come all of you and reliably lay down at the feet of the Lady, before Her honorable icons, all your needs - both physical and spiritual, both private and general. Help is ready! - We are just waiting for a favorable time. However, from this side, it seems that we are very good. Who does not know our faith in the Lady Theotokos? And who doesn’t see how relentlessly we pester Her with our prayers? “But is the other side of us, befitting the celebration and evoked by it, working properly? – After all, you can’t just ask and ask for everything. On other days we ask: is it really possible to just ask for everything on holidays?! No. On holidays, petitions are only hinted at, but the main thing that should be presented to the person being celebrated on these days is a kind of feasible offering. When he accepts the offering, he will remember the one who brought it, remember his constant requests and needs, and immediately begin to satisfy them. This is how it happens in our everyday life. So it is appropriate for this to be in our spiritual life. Because if we are supposed to serve God in a human way, then all the more can we treat His Saints in a human way. Judging by this, there is no doubt that the Most Holy Virgin Mother of God now, on the day dedicated to Her, expects a decent offering from us. Failure to do this is both uncommendable and unhelpful. What shall we bring?! – Virgos love flowers. We will bring flowers to the Virgin Mary. But like the Most Pure Virgin - pure flowers, like the Ever-Virgin - unfading flowers, like the Queen of Heaven - flowers of paradise, - heavenly - spiritual. Do you understand correctly what kind of flowers these are? These are those that are seeded in the heart by the action of the Most Holy Spirit and, under His gracious influx, grow and bloom - flowers of holy feelings and dispositions with which the heart of a Christian should be filled, and which are rightly called paradise, heavenly plantings in our heart. What kind of flowers of this kind are required from us could be found out by pointing from garden flowers to flowers of virtues similar to them. But do not strain your mind on this, so as not to get lost in the breadth of comparative considerations. Let us look for better indications of this in the word of God. All the flowers, as many as there are, are only various combinations of the seven colors of the rainbow, which appeared in the sky after the flood as a sign of safety and pardon for criminal humanity. A kind of rainbow shines in our spirit when, after the waters of impure thoughts and desires have subsided, and after God has offered the sacrifice of complete surrender to His will, He deigns to imprint on us a tangible sign of His reconciliation with us. These are the colors this rainbow is made of: - the spirit of wisdom and reason, the spirit of advice and strength, the spirit of knowledge and piety, the spirit, and finally, the fear of God. Take whatever you have from this, and bring it now as a gift to the Most Pure Virgin Mary. Rainbow flowers appear through the refraction of the sun's rays in a prism. This leads us to the following thought: - the unapproachable light of the Trinitarian Deity, reflected in the heavenly forces that receive it, spiritually colors them according to the degree of its mysterious refraction in them, and thereby determines the characteristic features of the nine ranks of Angels. Something similar happens in us. When the purest, undivided light of God's holiness falls on our nature, composed of a nine-fold hierarchy of forces; then, according to how in which part they are refracted, it gives existence to the following nine spiritual flowers - the fruits of the Holy Spirit, as St. counts them. The Apostle, saying: the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control (Gal. 5:22-23). Take from these what you have, and bring them now as a gift to the Most Pure Virgin Mary! The flowers in the rainbow are arranged one above the other in an ascending order and, moreover, in such a way that one seems to enter into the other and all form a continuous ladder reaching to the sky. I will point out to you one place about a similar combination of virtues, as if about the overflow of spiritual colors. Having received the powers of grace, teaches the Apostle Peter (2 Pet. 1:4-7), having brought all your diligence to the work of salvation, further give in your faith virtue, in virtue reason, in knowledge self-control, in self-control patience, in patience godliness, in godliness brotherly kindness, in brotherly love love. Does anyone have anything like this? - Take it with a generous hand and bring it now as a gift to the Most Pure Virgin Mary. This is how diverse spiritual flowers are and how rich the flower garden of virtues is supposed to be in the heart of every Christian! Grant, Lord, that your hearts may also be adorned with such perfections! Then go to this garden, collect these flowers and make bouquets of them in honor of the Lady Theotokos. – They say that there is a language of flowers, and that by combining them you can convey your thoughts to another. Do this now, and begin this silent, yet intelligible conversation! - Take, for example, if anyone has the color of abstinence, sobriety, attention, or preservation of the heart, and you will say to them: behold, we bring You a bouquet of chastity! Take also, if anyone has it, the color of renunciation from everything, unquestioning obedience and unceasing persistence in prayers and deeds of selflessness - and you will thereby express: behold, we bring You a bouquet of monasticism! “Take one more thing—the color of patience, impartiality, fear of God and prudence—and the Most Pure One will see in you the bouquet of fidelity to one’s duty brought to Her.” - Similarly, make other combinations, but not without thought, but in such a way that in this combination you express yourself - your rank and title - as they should be, according to the requirements of Christianity. – Here – on earth – we are hidden from each other internally and distinguish ourselves from each other only by external signs and differences. But our inner mood is open to heaven, and for it we are what we are in our hearts. “Let us attune ourselves in our hearts in such a way that as we are recognized here by our appearance, we are seen from heaven by our inner mood, reading our heart, or understanding the meaning of the combination of spiritual colors of virtues in it. By doing this, we will now bring to the Mother of God - each one his own - Shepherds - true shepherding, monks - good monasticism, judges - Christian judging, merchants - honest trading, spouses - fidelity, virgins and youths - purity, etc. Blessed are the souls who can now appear as such! The Most Pure Virgin smells their spiritual fragrance, understands without words the meaning of their offerings and abundantly fills them with her blessings! In reality, maybe not everyone has everything; but in every possible way there is something from what is shown. Bring whatever you can. The All-Merciful One will be satisfied with even little, as long as it is offered with sincerity and zeal. What will those of us bring to Her (if there are any) who not only cannot make a bouquet, but cannot even find one wilted flower in themselves? - What will we bring to Her, poor people?! – Let us bring tears of repentance, in the confidence that they can replace all flowers and all their various combinations. Have you seen how colorfully a ray of sun plays in a drop of dew when it catches it on a flower?! Let's do something for ourselves to adapt to this! Let us intelligently walk through all the colors of the virtues that are obligatory for us and, not finding them in ourselves, let us water them with tears of deep heartfelt contrition. When the Sun of Truth subsequently shines in us, His ray will be reflected in many colors in our tears. “These are not ours,” but we will bring the flowers reflected in our tears to the Ever-Virgin, crying out: do not turn away from the current of our tears, even as the Virgin who gave birth to Christ took away every tear from every face! - Amen. 54. On the day of the Archangel Michael We celebrate the day of the Archangel Michael and other ethereal forces. You are now all truly in heaven - in the choir of angels - intelligently standing before God and together with them giving honor and glory to Him who sits on the high and exalted throne... I will not disturb your high chamber with my word and will not bring you down. Stay there. According to my strength, I will ascend to you, and together we will think about the inhabitants of heaven. There is the beginning of the real history of the human race - do you know that?! But even though you know, let’s remember it together. The invisible world is better than the visible and angels are more perfect than man. But like creatures, they also needed to be given a commandment in order to test the inclination of their will and establish their freedom in goodness. The commandment, as it should be assumed, was given to them immediately after their creation. We cannot determine what it consisted of; but it was of such a nature that it served for some to fall, for others to rise... The first of the disembodied did not submit to this order of the King of all. Whether he did not see sufficient grounds to submit to the Divinely established order, or whether it seemed to him that it was possible to establish a different order of celestial life, for one thing or another, only he rebelled against God and His will and carried away with him a third of the lower angels. – On the contrary, Michael the Archangel remained faithful, and following his example, all other angels, with the exception of the fallen, surrendered with their whole being to the Divine orders. The Just God cast down Satan from heaven with all his followers, using the Archangel Michael and other angels who followed his example as his instrument. Michael the Archangel is depicted this way - slaying Satan, trampled underfoot. Since then, Michael the Archangel has been the guardian of the glory of God and Divine institutions, and Satan has been the fighter against God and the annoyor of God. I will not depict to you how the rejected and overthrown Satan led the first-created people to transgress the commandments of God, and how through them he poured the poison of evil into the entire human race and into the entire visible world created for us. - You know all that. I just want to make one very simple application from what has been said to ourselves, which is not useless for us in the present spirit that is beginning to prevail around us. Now come down from heaven and go within yourself. And we have a power equal to the angels - the mind - the king is in the head, as they say... And this king is in us and for us - either Michael the Archangel - the guardian of the glory of God and Divine institutions, or Satan - a fighter against God and a rebel. Let me briefly explain to you how and when. Our mind is rightfully called the king in the head, but it is not an independent king. For his sake we are called rational creatures; but it is not the source of our real rationality. God created him capable of recognizing the truth, but did not give him the power to discover and understand all truth himself. The fullness of all truth and all knowledge is in God. Our mind must learn from Him... This is how God created him, this is how he acted in relation to him... Right after creation, he appears to him, talks with him, establishes a dwelling for him, gives him commandments, and so on. So, the purpose of our mind or the will of God, imposed on his nature, is that he should learn the truth from God, humbly accept the truths communicated from above, or wholeheartedly submit to the revealed teaching and all the will of God revealed to us. The mind that submits to this commandment of God imprinted in its being, - preserving it and protecting it - is Michael the Archangel, and the mind is arrogant and in its arrogance, rejecting the revelation of God and preaching: I don’t need the revelation of God, I want to know everything myself, - and I will find out everything myself; - such a mind is Satan - a fighter against God. God truly revealed His will to us and gave us saving institutions in the Church to help and guide us who have fallen on the way to the Kingdom of Heaven. Briefly, all this can be depicted as follows: “God, worshiped in the Trinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit, - who created everything with a word, and provides for everything in parts, saves us fallen and perishing - in the Lord Jesus Christ by the grace of the Holy Spirit, given through the sacraments, under the guidance and protection of the Holy Spirit. Church, promising an endlessly blissful life after death to all who submit to His will, and threatening those who disobey with eternal torment.” Here is all the revealed teaching or all the will of God about us! The mind must submit to all this teaching - humbly accept it all, and imprint it on itself, so that it becomes, so to speak, itself - becomes one of its internal unchangeable principles - and this is not only in such a generality as is presented here, but also in all the details or in all the particulars. The mind that really does this - saturating itself with these truths, being imbued with them, valuing them and fighting for them, sparing no effort - is Michael the Archangel - the guardian of the glory of God and the guardian of Divine institutions. - On the contrary, the mind that rebels against this God-established order of knowledge and life, preserved in the Church of God and not only does not submit to it, but also strives to completely destroy it - there is Satan - a fighter against God and a rebel. I will offer you several examples of Satanism in my mind... God says about Himself that He is threefold in persons - Father, Son and Holy Spirit; This is how the God-submitting mind confesses and defends this truth. The God-fighting mind contradicts this and, on the contrary, teaches that either there is no God, or if there is, then He is singular, not trinity, and lives in Himself without being concerned with the world. This is what another mind preaches, and wants to put it on its own, and for this he is Satan. God says that the world was created by His word out of nothing in six days. This is how the God-submitting mind confesses and defends this truth. But the God-fighting mind resists this: the world, he says, was created and settled by itself, and wants to set it on its own; – that’s what Satan is. God says that He provides for every little thing and creates in the world whatever He wants. This is how the God-submitting mind confesses and defends this truth. But the godless mind says that there is no providence of God, and that everything is built by itself according to the laws laid down in the nature of things, which God himself cannot overcome. He says so and wants to stand his ground - and for this he is Satan. God says that man has fallen and after his fall he is saved by the Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit. Churches, etc. This is how the God-submitting mind professes and defends this truth. But the God-fighting mind does not want to admit anything like that; it does not believe in either the Fall, or the Incarnation, or God-manhood, or redemption, or St. Churches, nor St. sacraments, nothing holy, not even the future life and reward; does not believe, and wants to drag others into unbelief and resistance to God - and for this he is Satan. I won’t continue anymore... These examples are enough so that you can distinguish Satan from the angels of light. And forgive me that on this bright angelic day I have darkened and stinked your souls - with a reminder of such stinking suggestions of Satan. I did this so that no one would lead you astray, hiding behind the bright title of rationality and arming yourself with the imaginary rights of reason. Be firmly convinced that reason is always a disciple: either a disciple of God - and then it sincerely accepts all the revealed teachings contained by the Church, or a disciple of Satan - and then it rebels with rage against the entire structure of our salvation. In vain does the mind boast and shout: “I know everything myself, I know differently, according to my concepts it doesn’t turn out that way, and so on.” It is Satan who teaches him to pomp so much - and under this pomp he covers up his disgusting personality. But the mind actually thinks that it means something, and begins to expand, rebel against everything and destroy everything, and not suspecting that it serves as an instrument of Satan. For there is only God’s order and Satan’s disorder... Where there is no God, there is Satan’s. So, by these signs, distinguish the spirits - who they are, and call everyone by their name - without fear of error or exaggeration. Don’t think that I suspect any of you of such a bad state of mind. No. I have confidence in myself that everyone who brightly celebrates this day in honor of Michael the Archangel and other ethereal forces also has an archangelic mind, that is, completely devoted to the revealed truth and the God-established order of salvation. But look around! – You live in society, you see a lot, you hear a lot. Not infrequently, perhaps, what is visible and audible directly bears the stamp of fighting against God. – Do not be embarrassed by this and do not waver in the truth. – From the fact that lies and blasphemy clearly began to raise their voices, it does not follow that the truth has ceased to be the truth, and loyalty to God has lost its value. - No. This is God giving you an opportunity to show your loyalty to Him and testify to the firmness of your conviction in the truth. Stand and, following Michael the Archangel, fight for the order of God, both in yourself and in others. Do not be embarrassed by the success of evil - by the fact that the fight against God is growing and expanding its area. – Grieve over the destruction of those who are carried away and carried away, but do not fear for the truth and healing of God’s institutions. Let us count the faithful to God as hundreds, and the God-fighters as our millions. And then the God-saving will not diminish in the least in strength, fidelity and immutability, - like the God-fighting in destructiveness. At the same time, we will be saved as surely as they will surely perish. Remember Lot, who did not die in Sodom and Gomorrah. - Do not say with grief: - why is this so, - why is the truth covered in disgrace and exposed to public attack? “The Lord loves His goodness more strongly than we do, sees the success of evil,” and yet remains silent. Let us submit to His will. - And another thing is - one wave of Him - and all the clouds will dissipate and the light of the Sun of Truth will shine in all its greatness. – Will it be so? – Only God knows!.. it is not our business to indicate the best to the omniscient Provider. – We can still guess what could have been; but what is the best that could be, how can we understand that?! The armies of heaven are all ready to stand for God and His orders. But if God does not command them to act, the truth itself will be bound before their eyes, put on trial and condemned when necessary. Of course, it’s impossible not to mourn; but to be darkened by sorrow to the point of wavering in the truth is criminal. – Remember the martyrs. They wanted to shake them with more than one bare word, but they didn’t have time. - Take heart and stock up on courage for the future, asking the Archangel of the heavenly armies and the strength and ability to stand wholeheartedly for the God-established order of our salvation, even if for the sake of it we had to lose everything. Amen. 55. In the 25th week of Pentecost Last year, on this Sunday, I began to explain to you what the path leading to salvation consists of, and in several conversations we reached with you, if you remember, to the following definition: “learn and hold in your heart everything that St. Church, and, receiving Divine powers through the sacraments and kindling them through all other sacred rites and prayers of the Church, walk steadily along the path of the commandments prescribed to us by the Lord Jesus Christ, under the guidance of the lawful Shepherds, and you will undoubtedly achieve the Kingdom of Heaven and be saved.” I deliberately repeated this rule several times then, as I repeat now, so that you could more easily establish it in your memory. - But with all this, I did not think of telling you anything new, but only wanted to please you by bringing you to the consciousness that everything we hope to do to please God and save our souls is, indeed, given to us by God, the only path to salvation, and having made you happy, I wanted to arouse the liveliest jealousy to go this way, and not any other way - without hesitation, without lag and without wandering. Now what remains? All that's left to do is walk. Let us go, so that the Savior’s reproach to the Jews does not apply to us differently because they did not want to take advantage of the instructions of John the Baptist: he was not a lamp of burning and shining, - said the Savior, - but you will want to rejoice in the hour of his shining (John 5:35). That is, John the Baptist showed them the path of life in Christ the Savior, but they did not follow his advice. What happened then can happen now and at any time. – You can stand on the path of salvation, hesitating with bewilderment, whether this path is really the only path, and whether there is another more convenient and more convenient. You can, believing in the truth and irrevocability of this path, sleep with it in carelessness or put off the procession itself from day to day. “You can stand and marvel at all the things passing by on your way, without moving from your place, or you can step on it and leave again—enter and leave.” What a pity, having been so certain to receive eternal salvation, on the day of distribution of the fate of all, to be deprived of it! I don’t think any of you belong to any of these classes. Deliver you, Lord!.. But you can still be in this state: - to think that you are going, but at the same time you are not going; you can move without leaning forward, like a mule turning a wheel. I ask you to pay attention to this. And there may be more than one case here. I'll show you the main one. This happens when someone stops at only the external, not paying attention to the inner mood of the heart, while forward movement into the Kingdom takes place only in the heart and with the heart. It looks like a balloon ascending upward. They let the highest lightest element into this ball, and it rises upward by itself. The same is true in the process of marching to salvation. Anyone who receives the heavenly Divine elements with a heart similarly attuned to him, and ascends spiritually to heaven - in spiritual perfections. And the more he accepts those, the higher he rises, walking the straight path to the Kingdom of Heaven. So, everything is in the heart, and another, having nothing in the heart, and only doing external things that are inevitable with this, may think that he is going to the Kingdom, while in reality he is not. So, zealous for salvation, all attention should be paid to the disposition of the heart or to the impression in it of truly Christian feelings and dispositions, although with the help of all that visible dispensation, which is necessarily part of the path of salvation. One should not, for example, limit oneself to knowledge of the symbol and even the entire catechism; but you must accept with your heart and love with your heart every truth expressed there; One should not be content with mere external participation in the prayers of the Church, but one must also ascend intelligently in the heart to God; One should not stop at one good deed performed by the body, but one must cultivate in oneself also good feelings and dispositions, and so on. For what is not in the heart is not in reality. – If there is no faith in the heart, then there is no faith at all, even if someone was written as Orthodox. - If there are no sighs in the heart, there are none at all, even if someone shook the air or beat himself in the chest. – If there is no fear of God in the heart, there is none at all, even if someone appears to be filled with reverence. – If there is no purity and detachment in the heart, there is none at all, even if one were pure in body and had nothing of the blessings of the world. “If a person is not in church with his heart, he is not here at all, even if he stands here in body.” So, everything must be done with the heart. – To love with your heart, to humble yourself with your heart, to draw closer to God with your heart, to forgive with your heart, to mourn with your heart, to pray with your heart, to bless with your heart, etc. and so on... For as someone is in his heart, God sees him as such from the height of His throne, and accepts him accordingly. Cain and Abel sacrificed together; but God looked upon Abel and his gifts; but Cain and his gifts are not heeded (Gen. 4:4-5). The publican and the Pharisee prayed together in church; but the publican is accepted, and the Pharisee is rejected. Where is the reason for such differences? In the mood of the heart. This is why God demands in the words of the Wise One: give Me, son, your heart (Proverbs 23:26). And the prophet David puts this prayer into our mouths: build in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a right spirit in my womb (Ps. 50:12). What should be the mood of the heart, characteristic of a Christian who walks unerringly on the path of salvation, I will explain this to you little by little from time to time, although in the main features. Amen. 56. On the 26th week of Pentecost In the last conversation, I brought you to the idea that the main thing in our life is the mood of the heart, and that whatever one is in the heart, God has such, despite any external differences and advantages. I want to focus your attention now on the same thought in order to teach you to appreciate your internal movements and thus encourage you to look more strictly at your heart and everything that enters and comes from it. I won’t go into arguments about this. I will present only a few cases and examples from the word of God and the lives of the Saints in confirmation of this truth. So in the Gospel read today, a rich man appears who, as usually wealthy, decided to rebuild his granaries on the occasion of a bountiful harvest. There is nothing reproachful here. And the Lord does not reproach him for this. But while he was planning this, the following thought came out of his heart: “Well, now just eat, drink and be merry: there is nothing to worry about and nothing to be afraid of.” It doesn't seem like a big word. But what did it mean?.. It meant that his heart turned away from the Lord, and he clung entirely to wealth, relying on it alone, and in it he hoped to have a faithful guardian and ever-present protector, thus making it a god for himself. No one outside saw such thoughts in him. But God saw him from His holy heaven, and that same hour gave him the due answer: this night your soul will be taken from you (Luke 12:20). He lay down, not foreseeing any danger, and in the morning he was found dead. This is God's judgment not according to the external, but according to the heart. How many cases, brothers, do we know of sudden death!!! But who knows, whether this is not the answer of God’s truth to the ungodly mood of the heart, which makes a person unworthy to live in a God-governed world, a mood about which, perhaps the dead thought, and God does not know, just as no one knows from people! I will also offer you another experience of God’s judgment. – You know that the people of Israel were beloved of God. How many mercies he showed to Him, and how often God saved him in an extraordinary way!.. Israel, for its part, served God according to the law given by God Himself, and boasted before all nations in the name of the Lord of Hosts, Whom it served. Let us now mentally enter their church and see what is there?.. sacrifices of rams and bulls are offered, a censer is lit, psalms are sung; and this is in the new moon, every Saturday and holidays, all according to the law of God. Looking at this, we would say: pious people! How pleasing to God to look at these works of their faith and devotion to God! But then the prophet Isaiah appears, and listen to what he says about them on behalf of God: “You Sodomites, you Gomorrites, an evil seed, a sinful tongue! What is in your sacrifices to Me, your incense is an abomination to Me... My soul hates your holidays... And do not come here to appear before My face...” Hearing this, you are ready to ask in amazement: why, Lord, is there such anger? - And here is your answer: - Because their heart is filled with hypocrisy, wickedness, robbery, hard-heartedness towards widows and orphans, injustice, carnality and depravity (Isaiah 1, etc.). That's what was in their hearts!.. And look from the outside - they all seemed to be in good order. The prophet Ezekiel depicts the same thing even more strikingly. “I was sitting, he says, in my house, and the spirit took me and placed me - in a vision of God - in Jerusalem, in the vestibule of the church... Here I saw one hole in the wall. - The man who appeared at this time said to me: dig it up; and I dug up... He said: come in and see the evil iniquities that they do here! I entered and saw: - on the walls were depicted every likeness of creeping things and cattle and vain abomination, and the men of Israel were burning incense before them, each holding his censer in his hand (Ezek. Chapter 8). -What is this? – Was this really true? No. This depicted what everyone thought in his secret bed, saying: The Lord does not see. – Animals indicated the passions with which their heart was full, and censing indicated slavery to these passions. Such were the Israelites after their hearts!.. But who saw this?.. No one else... God saw, and through the prophet He pronounced His judgment on them according to what they were in their hearts. - Because he says that they have given themselves over to uncleanness, saying: God does not see. – But I am... My eye will not spare them, neither will I have mercy (Ezek.9:9-10). That's how it happened. And from their outward behavior they could seem honest. Remember in the life of Andrew Christ for the sake of the holy fool - how the inner mood of one person was revealed to him. Everyone revered this man for his hard work, friendliness and self-control. But St. Andrew, approaching, saw the serpent of love of money entwined around his neck. Here one was on the outside, and the other on the inside. Another time, someone was walking - a man or a woman - I don’t remember. In appearance, nothing bad was visible, but the eyes of St. Andrei,” and he saw an angel holding his nose. To the question: what does this mean, the angel said: the stench of fornication that this face possesses is unbearable. – But the appearance didn’t represent anything like that. The life of Euthymius the Great tells that there was an old man in their country who was revered by everyone and greatly benefited from his instructions and advice. Everyone considered him holy and God-pleasing. But when he was dying, another elder came and saw that demons were surrounding his bed, and were triumphantly awaiting the outcome of his soul... You see how everyone thought, and how it turned out in reality! They also said that in the Egyptian desert there was an old man who, when someone sent him some kind of alms, immediately guessed what was in the soul of the one who sent it, and always said to his disciples: here is blood or tears, this is due to self-interest, and this is due to carnal impurity, or vanity and pride. There have been many other cases showing that all power lies in the mood of the heart, and that whatever one is according to his heart, such is God, the Angels and all the Saints. But these are enough to convince you that this is so... Let us now turn to ourselves! If only someone’s smart eyes would open, and he would look at us gathered here now; what would be revealed?.. Grant, Lord, to all of us - to be irreproachable before God according to our strength, as we are revered and wish to be revered among ourselves mutually - in our relationships. But, brothers, why is there a word of flattery here? - Do not be deceived by self-confidence - go inside yourself - and analyze the subtle thoughts and aspirations of your heart - each your own - and by this judge yourself and determine, without partiality, what you are - knowing that as such, and not otherwise, you are open to God and the entire spiritual world. - And then correct the bad in yourself, and plant the good. - Someone from St. Fathers depicted the heart as a vessel full of all sorts of reptiles and snakes, which, every time a person plans to do something, come out of it, and if the matter is bad, they feed on it, and if it is good, they try to defile it with their poison. If a person is attentive to himself, then by not allowing bad deeds and by not giving food to snakes, he exhausts them, and, repelling their attempts to desecrate his good deeds, strikes them at the head. Continuing his work tirelessly, all in one kind and spirit, he finally kills these serpents and throws them out dead. – Serpents are evil passions and inclinations. Their death is the cleansing of the heart from passions. This is what we're jealous about. Let’s stop committing sins, and let’s begin to do good deeds in such a way that no bad feelings or dispositions are mixed into them. And if something slips, we will clean it up with repentance. By doing this, we will appear pure not only before people, but also before the face of the all-seeing God... Grant, Lord! Amen. 57. On the Entry into the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary The Blessed Virgin Mary, the future Mother of the Savior and all who believe in Him, is introduced into the church! Now celebrating this action from Her life, as Her children in faith and spirit, let us force ourselves to imitate this action, in its strength and significance. For it was also foreshadowed by the Prophet: virgins will be brought to the King after her, her sincere ones will be brought to you and brought into the church of the Kings (Ps. 44:15). Virgos are the souls of believers; – the Church of the Kings is the inner abiding of God. If we are believers, then in the footsteps of the Mother of God we must ascend to the inner church - before the face of the Tsar and God himself. However, the introduction of the young Mother of God into the church was only a sign of the ascension of all believers to the face of God. The foundation and the beginning have been laid for this - and the very path there has already been paved by the Lord Savior himself - according to His humanity. He entered, as the Apostle writes, into heaven itself, so that he might appear to the face of God concerning us (Heb. 9:24). Humanity in the person of Jesus Christ passed through the heavens and stood before the face of God Himself - not for the sake of the Lord, but for our sake. This revealed the true path of the saints (Heb. 9:8), hidden for the ancients under the symbol of entering the holy of holies of the tabernacle. After this, all believers have the boldness to enter into the interior behind the veil, where Christ, the forerunner of us, appeared (Heb. 6:19-20), - he enters in a new and living way, which the Lord renewed for us with the veil, that is, in His flesh (Heb. 10:20). In fact, believers enter before the face of God in this new and living way, already after leaving the body. But in order to be worthy of this, it is necessary in this life, mentally or heartily, to accomplish what will be accomplished in deed after death, that is, it is also necessary here - with the mind and heart - to ascend into the inner veil, stand before the face of God and establish yourself there for an inexhaustible stay. The Mother of God ascended in degrees. There are degrees of mental ascent to God. There are many of them. I'll tell you the most important ones: The first step is the conversion from sin to virtue. – A sinner does not remember God and does not care about the salvation of his soul, but lives as he lives, satisfying his passions and inclinations without any restrictions, as long as this does not upset his mutual relations with others. It is obvious where such a path will lead a person! But the sinner, in carelessness and negligence, does not see this. “The Lord is watching over him.” And it happens that either a guardian angel in the heart, or the word of God - through hearing - opens to his eyes the abyss into which he goes, with his eyes closed. – When a sinner perceives the danger of his situation and desires to get rid of the destruction that is ready for him, then he puts in his heart the firm intention to lag behind his previous bad deeds and customs and begin life according to the commandments of God. This change in life for the better, or as I said, turning from sin to virtue, is the first step in ascent to God. You see the one who has entered this stage, intensely engaged in this one act of goodness. He is not present either at festivities, or at the theater, or at balls - nowhere where passions are amused, and through them they serve Satan. He is always at work - either in office, or in family work, or in deeds of piety and charity. - He goes to churches for God’s services as soon as possible and observes all the rules of the Church, helps those in need in every possible way, conducts his work conscientiously, endures when it is necessary to endure - both for himself and for others, keeps peace and makes peace, is distinguished by constancy and sedateness, does not chat in vain, does not scold, sleeps little, eats little, etc. This is the first step! The second stage is the conversion from external good deeds to the arousal and observation of good feelings and dispositions. External affairs, as I told you, are valued more by the feelings and dispositions with which they are carried out. These feelings are not always in good order, although they seem to be in good order, and therefore destroy most of our good deeds. For example, to be in church is a work pleasing to God... but vanity can be grafted into this work and make it unpleasing. – You can stand in church with pleasure, but in order to stare at this or that, or scratch your ears, as the Apostle condemns. “And it destroys the goodness of being in church.” The same can happen with any good deed. We can give alms and fast, so that we will be visible; – you can work a lot for others – out of people-pleasing; - you can retire and endure - out of contempt; - you can be intensely active - out of envy, - stay in the service and serve regularly out of self-interest and unjust gains, so that if you trace the entire sum of our good deeds, and strictly discuss the feelings with which they were performed, - it may turn out that they are all - nothing - destroyed by the unkindness of the feelings hidden under them. - But this is a pity! “So we need to strictly watch that no bad feelings or dispositions defile our good deeds.” – At first, when a person first turns from sin to doing good, he, one might say, still has no time to take care of his inner self... All his concern is directed towards getting out of the habit of bad deeds and getting used to good ones. For example, he did not go to church, but spent this time in some kind of pleasure; we need to get out of the habit of this bad custom and get used to the church. He didn’t give alms and spent the money on other things, squandered it, played truant: you need to get out of the habit of partying and get used to alms-giving; I did not observe fasts, but ate a lot, sweetly and sparingly; Here, too, we need to get out of the habit of one thing and get used to the other. - It’s the same in everything! So I say, at first, when someone who has turned from sin is just weaning himself from sinful deeds and customs and getting used to doing good, he has no time to monitor his feelings - although this is not impossible or unusual. Here his struggle with himself gives a high price to all his work, even if an unkind feeling ever sneaks through. But then, when he becomes accustomed to doing good and is established in the order of a virtuous and pious life, he must certainly go inside his heart and strictly watch his feelings. Previously, the enemy tried to distract him from good deeds, when sinful habits were still strong. Now, when he has become unaccustomed to these latter things and has established himself in goodness, the enemy will begin to destroy the goodness of deeds with wrong feelings. So you need to turn inside and look at your feelings. This is the time when a good worker, having come to the realization of the misfortune, danger or futility of work, if good deeds do not result in good feelings, sets a firm intention to go inside himself, strictly look after his heart and not allow in any case unkind feelings and dispositions - or this turn and turn from external good deeds to the fertilization of internal feelings and dispositions - is the second step in the ascent to God. – This is called inward abiding, attention of the mind, sobriety, discernment of thoughts, or purification of the heart. This whole thing is to drive away bad feelings and attract, excite and strengthen good ones... From the very morning, says St. Diodochos, stand at the entrance of the heart and cut off the heads of evil thoughts emanating from there. For no matter what work we have to do, an evil thought immediately creeps out of our hearts to defile it. Our duty is to drive away a bad thought, and to reproduce a good one in its place and with this good thought to complete the deed. For example, you are going to church; and thoughts will come: dress up better so that they will look at you, or go, go, there you will see this or that... or else: - go; If you go, they will say that you are pious and under. All this must be driven away, and in its place, reproduce in the heart the feeling of obligation to be in church for the glory of God, and with this feeling go to church. - As in this, so must be done in other matters. The more vigilantly one watches the heart and the more ruthlessly one cuts off unkind thoughts and feelings arising from it, the sooner these passionate thoughts will weaken, subdue and destroy. They will appear less and less, and finally they will calm down completely and stop bothering you, and good and holy feelings will take root in their place. Then peace and undisturbed calm will settle in the heart. “It’s like putting a glass of muddy water so that it doesn’t shake.” The impurity will continue to settle down; the more it subsides, the purer the water becomes, and finally it will become completely clear. The sky, sun, moon and stars will be visible in it! This is the second stage - purification and purity of the heart through the struggle with thoughts and passions! The third step is turning from oneself to God, which consists of standing with the mind in the heart before the face of God, which in fact is entering into the inner behind the veil - in a new and living way. The first two steps are only preparation for this, but such that it cannot exist without them. How, on the contrary, those two without this latter do not lead to the goal. The beginning of this is to establish yourself in the thought of the presence of God. Wherever you are, whatever you do, realize that the all-seeing eye of God is established over your heart and everything penetrates it. Just as the sun shines in the sky and illuminates the entire universe, and all creatures move and act under its illumination, so let us do all our spiritual affairs, having the intelligent Sun, the all-seeing God, established on our mental firmament. This mood naturally comes within us after the pacification of thoughts at the second degree - and the cleansing of the heart from passions. For this is what the Lord says: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. But the being of this degree is not in sight alone - as if standing before God coldly. This is just the threshold. The point itself is to strive with your heart towards God, forgetting everything - both in yourself and around yourself - to disappear in God, or to admire Him. The Holy Fathers call it ecstasy, that is, a departure from the ordinary order of life and immersion in God, in Greek ekstasis. To make this clearer for you, I’ll tell you one or two examples: they said about one old man that he remembered himself only before the first glory, that is, for three psalms, and then he plunged into God-contemplation and so - intelligently - without words he prayed to the Lord, standing motionless. They said to another elder that in the evening he stood in prayer, turning his face to the east, raised his hands, was admired by God, and so remained invariably until the sun, having risen with the blows of its rays, brought him down from a blissful height. This is the admiration - or the very entry into the interior - before the face of God, of which the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos, which we celebrate, reminded us. This is his highest state. But the usual manifestation of this degree - in the beginnings - is the burning of the heart, or the excitement of feelings during reading, prayer, good deeds, at home and in church, at work and on the way. The fruit of this is prayer. A feeling falls in the heart - a person goes inside with his consciousness - and wants to have nothing in his mind except God. If in this state he prays, then he does not know satiety, bowing and sighing to God. The burning of his heart pleases him, and he would always like to be in this state, as Macarius of Egypt assures, if it were possible. So, whoever began to come to such states entered the third stage, that is, began to ascend from himself to God! This is the limit of ascents, but one that has no end: for God is infinite! Here are three steps of ascent following the Blessed Virgin before the face of God! Where do we stand, brothers? On the first, second or third? “But no matter where anyone stands, everything is fine.” Anyone who wallows in sin and passions, not caring about salvation, is bad! And if someone has turned from sin and entered the path of virtue, he is already on the good side. Just let him not stand in one place, for this is dangerous, but everything moves forward little by little, forgetting what is behind and stretching to what is before, as the Apostle commanded (Phil. 3:13). Amen. 58. To the students of the Tambov Institute, after the memorial service for the Most Pious Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, on the fortieth day Listen, children! I want to say one or two words to you on this occasion, which is so sad for your heart. Your high Patroness and Trustee, your Mother, has gone to the Lord. You did not have the consolation of being at Her deathbed and hearing from Her closing lips the last word, with which those who depart usually express their will and give their covenants to those close to them who remain here. You were close to your departed Mother - the Empress, just as She lived and lives constantly in your hearts: - and it would not be alien to Her to say a word to you, and it would not be undesirable for you to listen to it. It is no longer possible for this to happen. “But let’s try to make up for this damage mentally.” Imagine yourself standing at the deathbed of the departing Empress, and I will take the floor and, as if through Her tongue, I will pronounce to you on Her behalf Her last will. Her Spirit is known to us... Based on it, we will not be mistaken if we put into Her mouth the following speech to you: - Children! I'm leaving. My protective actions will no longer concern you, and the breath of my love will no longer warm and enliven your hearts. “But I won’t leave you orphans.” You will be accepted and warmed by another heart, no less wide and no less rich in love. “What you were like towards me, be like that towards my successor.” Just as you entered into my spirit and intentions, enter into Her spirit and intentions and show yourself unquestioningly submissive to Her mother’s orders regarding you, and to all educational orders in general - old and new. I am leaving and must appear before the terrible throne of the Judge. According to my strength, I tried not to violate the commandments of God; but as a human being, I have sinned a lot, and I recognize myself as guilty in the face of God’s truth. However, I do not despair of my salvation, but, falling in tears of repentance to the Lord the Savior, I hope to be pardoned; for which I pray to His boundless goodness, offering Him the Most Pure Lady Theotokos, my Guardian Angel and all the Saints, as prayer books. I ask for your prayers too. Your childish cry will certainly help a lot in bringing you to the mercy of strict justice. If I also find grace from God, my first prayer will be for you, children! May God help you to be what I always wanted you to be. All my life I carried you in my heart, and I set no limits to my care for you. I cannot say whether my cares were always crowned with success, whether everything was as good with you as I would like; but this was my constant desire. “If anything escaped my attention, if there was an oversight somewhere, forgive me for God’s sake.” “Even though I have not seen you in person, I nevertheless take everything that is yours to myself,” and I humbly ask you to forgive me generously if you consider me wrong in any way before you. And I forgive all of you for everything in which any of you turned out to be faulty in carrying out educational orders: - just console me with the promise that this will not happen again. A few more and I’ll be gone. This is my will and my maternal testament to you: remain forever faithful to the spirit of your people and the requirements of your holy faith. – Establishing and supporting your institutions, I had one thing in mind: to educate you as truly Russian and Orthodox. I don’t tell you: love your fatherland, for who doesn’t love it?.. But I can’t help but say: love it with true and enlightened love. – There is blind love, carried away in good wishes by imprudent haste to impose everything on us indiscriminately... I point out to you the infallible leadership in this regard in Orthodoxy. Love Russia in the spirit of Orthodoxy - be zealous for its improvement in all respects, but without violating the peace of faith, without undermining its foundations and its value everywhere. In this, I will tell you in sorrow, hope lies in you alone. Many of us have already begun to veer towards crossroads. “From alien sources they drink the muddy water of unbelief and become drunk with principles incompatible with our state structure and with the spirit of our people. If you follow in their footsteps, Russia will perish! May the Lord protect you from this misfortune! Give me the assurance that if the Lord wills to allow me to turn my eyes from heaven upon you, I will always find you bearing the same Holy Spirit. faith and devotion to the throne, which you have always distinguished, - and I will depart with great calm. In my concerns about arranging a life-saving course for you, this is what I consider necessary to remind you of! – Here – in the establishment – ​​you only pretend to live. – Once your education period has passed, you will enter the broad field of public life, full of strength and hope. – It’s true that you are often transported there and from here by thoughts and desires. Do not dream too much and do not deceive yourself, preventing God’s determinations with arbitrary constructions of your fate, so that later reality, having dispelled dreams, does not strike your hearts with all the more sensitivity. Surrender yourself completely into the hands of God, who provides for us in a fatherly manner, and be ready to accept graciously that His holy will pleases. – I wish you all complete happiness; but I cannot extend this desire beyond the boundaries of God’s commands about you, much less in defiance of them. For He knows better than we do what is good for us, and He desires to bless us more strongly than we do - and what especially needs to be kept in mind - He does not limit His gaze to the present alone, but extends it to the entire future, redeeming the eternal with the temporal. When you leave the establishment, do not think that society will greet you with an open heart. No; it will meet you with testing suspicion in order to find out who you are and where the aspiration of your heart is directed. Then answer in the same way. Do not entrust yourself to anyone in anything - and do not allow yourself to take any step, even with your heart - without the advice of your parents, educators and trustees, whose sincere love for you has already been so tangibly experienced by you. Here’s what I’ll offer you as a guide! You will encounter two paths - narrow and wide. Look at the end of both, indicated by the Lord himself, and do not hesitate in choosing according to this instruction. – You will be greeted by two spirits – the spirit of Christianity and the spirit of the world. – Since you have not received the spirit of this world, but the spirit that is from God, then you are drawn with all your disposition after the latter and reject the former. Of course, this will not happen without a struggle. Prepare for it from now on, and when the time comes, enter into it trusting in the omnipotent grace of God. “Maybe everyone will leave you and not only the majority will be against you, but even the whole world, or, as they call it now, public opinion, which does not always stand for the truth, but often rebels against the Lord and His Christ. – But take heart: for there is something greater in you than in the world (1 John 4:4); and - He will win... The Lord for whom you will fight will win. Make yourself leaders in this St. virgin martyrs - Catherine, Barbara, Anastasia, Fevronia and others - and look at them as models: for they also fought against public opinion at that time. “They overcame it, and now they are triumphant!” One more word, which at another time I might not have told you... No one can escape the position in which I find myself at this hour. You too will lie down on your deathbed; then your eyes will open, and you will see a lot - not as it seemed to you in life... If you want to have faithful protection from dangerous hobbies and attempts in life, remember your last, as the Wise One advises. - Among all the means that a person has in his hands to strengthen his character, there is nothing more powerful than mortal memory. This is the most influential and comprehensive teacher, suitable for the course of education, as at all times of life. What a pity that many come to know him even when they cannot take advantage of his lessons. I wish that you do not belong to this number. Don't be afraid to remember death. This will not poison your life, but on the contrary, it will distract you from the real, albeit sweetened, poison of life, and teach you to find lasting consolations, such that will serve as a foretaste of endless bliss for you. Believe me it is true! Dying people don't lie. “They are alone and can correctly assess the power of thoughts about the hour of death.” This is what you could hear from the lips of the dying Empress - your Mother! I don’t find anything to add to this on my part, except for one sincere desire - for this lesson to be imprinted in your heart and become the guiding principle of your entire life. With my archpastoral word, I can assure you that here is written for you the most reliable and safe path of life, valuable in the eyes of God and man. Let me just remind you that your relationship with the late Empress does not end with Her death and these memorial services. You are right and you know it yourself. But do as you know. With your morning and evening prayers, always combine a short prayer for the repose of Her soul like this: remember, Lord, the most pious Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. This will be both comforting for Her and edifying for you. Amen. 59. On the 29th week of Pentecost More than once I have already brought to your attention the simple truth that in Christianity the essence of the matter lies in the mood of the heart - in the internal dispositions, or our internal activity: with which, I think, you yourself were and remain in agreement. But until now I have not yet attempted to go inside with you, to examine everything that happens there, so that through this each person can then learn to distinguish between the good and the bad in himself, and treat himself accordingly. Let's do it now. Close your outer senses, turn your attention inwards and see what is there? At first you will not see anything there, not because there is nothing there, but because there is too much of everything - and everything is knocked down and wandering around in disorderly confusion. You will experience the same thing that you experience in thick fog. Just as in this case, fog, like a wall, protects all objects from us and hides them within itself: so whoever turns inside himself for the first time sees that everything inside is covered as if by a dark veil. You can verify this now. But do not stop working on self-deepening. Be patient in this work, and you will soon begin to discern little by little what is happening inside you, just as someone who enters a dimly lit room from the outside, after standing for a while, begins to discern the objects in it one by one. Intensify your attention and look: the object that occupied you has moved away, and another has taken its place; - this one is immediately replaced by a third; Before this one has time to appear, he is pressed by a fourth, driven in turn by a fifth, etc. One thought is hastily replaced by another - and this is so fast that there is always almost no way to give ourselves an account of what has passed through our head. This mobility of thoughts does not leave us not only in between classes, for example, when moving from one place to another, but also during them, no matter how important they are: - and during prayer here in church or at home, - and during reading and even in-depth reflection, etc. This is usually called thinking, but in essence, it is theft of the mind, or absent-mindedness and lack of concentrated attention, which is so necessary in the matter of managing oneself. Let this be the first feature of our inner man. Its similarity is the confusion of snowflakes falling in the wind, or the crushing of insects in the air on summer evenings. The opposite state for the Saints is the attention of the mind, according to which nothing arbitrarily enters the head or leaves it - everything is subordinated to freedom and consciousness, in which usually there is only God and His face contemplating. Between these opposites there are different degrees of souls - sweating in the fight against thoughts and jealous of their pacification. Look even more closely, and you will discern in yourself, under this confusion of thoughts in the mind, in the will, a constant concern for the organization of one’s life, which constantly wears away the soul, like a worm, drives the working person from one task to another, directing him ever forward, out of dissatisfaction with nothing he possesses, and in the production of one, always presenting hundreds of other tasks, as if inevitable. From our first awakening from sleep, care besieges our soul and does not allow us to sit still, or talk with someone as we should, or even eat in peace, until the tired ones fall into the dead of night to rest, in turn outraged by caring dreams. This disease is called over-concern, which eats away at the soul like rusting iron. Make it the second feature of what happens inside us. The opposite property of the Saints is carelessness, which is not carelessness, but humble work - correct - in surrendering oneself and one’s destiny to the providential care of God. The middle between them is a struggle - self-industry with humble surrender of oneself to the providence of God, with one’s own labor and one’s own ability. Look even deeper, and you should see inside a captive, bound hand and foot, dragged here and there against his will, in self-delusion, yet dreaming of himself that he enjoys complete freedom. The bonds of this captive are addictions to various persons and things around him, from which it is painful for us to lag behind and painful to part with when others take them away from us. Like a fish caught in a fishing rod, it still swims, but no further than the thread to which the fishing rod is attached allows; or like a bird in a cage flies and walks, but never goes further than the boundaries of the cage: so passions still leave the soul the freedom to act as it wants, as long as it does not touch their objects. If you touch these objects, the soul will not be able to control itself. And the more addictions, the smaller the circle of freedom. And it also happens that someone is bound by everything, and is unable to make movements in one direction without causing themselves pain in the other. Just as someone walking somewhere in the forest and getting tangled with his hands and feet and clothes in the sticky grass, no matter what member he moves, feels bound: this is exactly how he feels when he is addicted to many created things. Put this as the third feature of our internal state - partiality. The opposite property of the Saints is detachment from everything, freedom of the heart, inner independence. The middle ground between them is working to free the heart from addictions. Theft of the mind, over-concern and partiality are not our whole lot. Although they have quality inside, they still hover, as it were, on the surface of the heart. Let us pay deeper attention to this heart and listen to what is there. Let me preempt your thoughts with a comparison. A traveler in the mountains sees a cave, the entrance to which is covered with overgrown grass, there is darkness inside. Putting his ear to it, he hears the hissing of snakes, the growling and gnashing of teeth of wild animals: this is the image of our heart. Have you ever observed his movements? Try doing this, albeit for a short time, and see what you can see there. If you get into trouble - you get angry, meet failure - you become sad, you are caught by an enemy - you are fired up with revenge, you see someone equal to you who took the highest place - you begin to envy. They thought about their perfections and became sick with pride and contempt. And then there is man-pleasing, vanity, lust, voluptuousness, laziness, hatred, and so on. – one after another strikes the heart. And this sometimes lasts for several minutes. All this comes from the heart and returns to the heart. Rightly, one of the ascetics, attentive to himself, contemplated the human heart full of poisonous serpents, which are passions. When any passion ignites, it is as if a serpent comes out of the heart and, turning towards it, stings it with its sting. And when the serpent emerges, it hurts, and when it stings, it hurts... By stinging, it feeds on the blood of the heart and becomes fat; becoming fatter, he becomes more poisonous and evil, and even more tyrannizes the heart in which he lives. This happens not with just one passion, but with all, and they never live alone, but always all together, overshadowing one another, but not destroying. Such is the heart of a person who works against sin, no matter who he is. The opposite heart of the Saints is free from passions, or adorned with dispassion. In the middle stand those who struggle with passions and lusts under the sign of the Lord, in His full armor. Enough! I won't expand further. - But what? – has the darkness that hides our inner being thinned for you now?.. And if it has thinned, is it for joy or sorrow? - Woe to those who are absent-minded, overly concerned, attached to sensual things and tormented by passions! – Blessed are the souls who are attentive to themselves, who rest in God, who are detached from everything and who have cleansed their hearts of passions! Blessed are the labors of those who, leaving behind the destruction of the first, strive to ascend to the bliss of the second! – Where will your conscience place any of you? I would like you all to be among the blessed ones who enjoy perfection in the Lord. If this is not our destiny, then at least be among those working and fighting to receive this honor of the highest title. – But let no one remain among the careless, stricken by insensibility and blindness, and in this hopelessness tormented by passions, amid the scattering of thoughts, worries and all kinds of addictions. Amen. 60. To the newly elected judges Glory to You, Lord, we will say it too! Your labors and restless thoughts are over, your desires have subsided, order has been established, all that remains is the desire for the fulfillment of what was expected... And you have now gathered in the church - some - to offer gratitude for the end of your work and give up your hopes to the Lord in the elections, others - to ask for God's blessing for the beginning of new works and to sanctify your first steps on the path of service with prayer. May the Lord bless you according to your prayer! As you have now done, do so throughout your ministry and in all your deeds. – Especially when your thoughts are in two minds, or circumstances are such that it is difficult to determine which side you should lean towards with your assistance, always turn to the Lord for admonition, and you will receive what you ask for... For the Lord is near, and He is the one who acts in us, whether we want or do what is truly good. “You yourself will be perplexed how, during the hour of prayer, your thoughts will form and your heart will take the right side.” Because it is not the mind that decides. You know for sure that the Lord rules over everything, and that no one can change His intentions. If He allows something, it is only the touching, and not the main thing, where He then directs what is allowed. There is a path of God's providence or a program for the course of events - both large and small - contemplated by the mind of God and carried out by His power. All the work of rulers, as well as all the dignity of government, consists in getting on this trail of God, on this path outlined by the thought of God. Only those actions are both fruitful and great that fall on this path, even if they do not stand out because of others - and this is true not only regarding wide-ranging actions, but also regarding small ones, relating to one person, family, clan, and not just an entire village or district. Having realized this, ask yourself how to get on this beneficial trail? And you will not find any other answer other than the following: surrender yourself and your ministry entirely into the hands of God, and then prayerfully fall to the Lord for admonition and strengthening every time you get down to business, or even better, constantly contain this prayerful spirit and mood in yourself, and you will never be deprived of proper guidance. None of those who trust in God and live in Him with their hearts has ever been put to shame. Don't get carried away by appearances. – Life is sung in secret: this is how everything life-giving is accomplished. Don’t be seduced by success, don’t be embarrassed by not immediately seeing success. The fruit of your labors may be set aside by the Lord outside of your ministry. - Let him not be attributed to you, do not grieve: it is only here - in the same world this child will find his parent. “But even this is not the end of all cases so that it is impossible to guess where their source is. You only sow according to the instructions that form in your heart, sanctified by the thought of God and standing before God; and leave the fruits to the disposal of the Lord of the whole world and the entire universe. Even if they say: I did it, but I didn’t do anything. Then you will be justified. And even this is true: God justifies, who condemns (Rom. 8:33–34)?.. I think there is no need to say that the main thing you should have is the testimony of your conscience. This you know; but I think it is not superfluous to add - a conscience enlightened by the word of God and strengthened by the grace of God and prayer. Conscience can always be confused by misinterpretation. Its faithful guide is the word of God. Clarify to yourself, according to his instructions, your business and your duty, and then act accordingly, only managing not to distort things in applying the principles to the circumstances, or in the direction of these latter according to the principles accepted and destined. “I think that’s what everyone does.” – But here’s the thing: maybe not everyone does it, or not everyone does it with the proper persistence and effort. You need to build a program for your actions in the spirit of Christianity, and act in this same spirit in all circumstances. – After all, you, like all the characters, are among the organizers of the people’s good. Good should belong to man by nature, but it does not. Why? Because he rebelled against God in the person of his forefathers and fell. - The goodness of God restores him in the Lord Jesus Christ in St. Churches, or through Christianity. He who has accepted the spirit of Christianity receives the right to external good and actually accepts internal good - he is restored spiritually within himself with the right to return what was lost externally, if it is good for him, and at the discretion of the benefactor. This is how this law is expressed: seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you (Matthew 6:33). So, if you want to build the welfare of the people lastingly, kindle the spirit of Christianity in it and do not allow anything that could, at least to some extent, extinguish and weaken it. – Don’t say: it’s none of our business. - No, it's yours. You are Christians, assigned to act in the circle of Christians and for the benefit of them, as Christians. How will you act in such a situation without the spirit of Christianity in mind?! “Aren’t your studies capable of taking such a direction?!” It can't be. – Eating and drinking – which is easier? but even this can be turned into the glory of God. Is a glass of water or an idle word a big deal? but on the day of judgment they will also be taken into account and will serve to justify or condemn us. Why is this so? - From the spirit by which these things are performed. Если теперь эти малозначительные дела способны исполниться духом, из-за которого они обращаются в славу Божию и оправдание нам на суде: тем более дела вашего служения способны преисполняться духом Христовым. They can all be - mercy and judgment - two confidantes of God. – Если же при всем том вы считаете чуждым для вашего служения – блюсти Христианство, помогите мне в этом труде... Бросим этот раздел, в Христианстве неуместный, – светский и духовный, как будто ни от нас к вам, ни от вас к нам – нет перехода. Возьмемся все дружно за одно дело Божие – созидать во всех дух Христов, для споспешествования в сем – обладать истинным благом, доступным человеку на земле. Everything that has been offered to you so far embraces the totality of your service. As for your deeds in particular, I will remember only one thing regarding them: not only do not allow yourself, but also pursue in others deeds that attract the wrath of God and take away God’s blessing. God's blessing is always ready; it embraces and covers us; he is driven away from us by deeds that anger God and attract His oath. Without these things, there will always be a blessing; track. contentment, peace and happy success in everything. Do you wish this? - expel from our diocese the deeds that cry out to heaven and multiply the deeds that attract God’s blessing. – The main thing is this: do not offend and do not give offense; Do not bring them to tears, on the contrary, dry the tears of those who cry. The tears of orphan and bitter widows, caused or not dried up due to negligence, will dry up our fields and bring fire into our dwellings. - Above all, take care of yourself in relation to them. - Be blind to the eye, the lame to the leg, and faithful help and support to everyone in need; do justice, truth and equality to everyone in everything - without partiality and bribery. However, it is unnecessary to expand on this too much. “You have teachers of this within yourself—your conscientiousness and compassion.” But there is also a number of things that attract God’s curse, which are not recognized as such by everyone. This is a way of thinking that is contrary to the rule of faith. With real enlightenment spreading everywhere, it is very important to both contribute to this spread and observe its spirit and character. - All that glitters is not gold. – You know how many bad thoughts go through books that are decorated with good titles. And even without books, ideas, as if by an electric telegraph, scatter everywhere and corrupt the good thoughts of sincere believers... Become the guardians and guardians of our diocese from the invasion of pernicious thoughts, so that no one will deceive us with philosophy and vain flattery according to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ (Col. 2:8). Do not think that it is all the same, no matter what anyone thinks, and that God looks at the productivity of the mind the same way, whether it agrees with His will or not. Let me remind you of the rite that occurs during the week of Orthodoxy, and you yourself will be convinced otherwise. – It first briefly depicts that God laid the foundation for our salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ in paradise, then prepared people to receive Him through the prophets, and finally the Lord Himself came and accomplished this salvation by His death. After the resurrection, he sent the Apostles into the world, who established St. His Church is the pillar and foundation of the truth. Following it, we believe in one God, the Father, Almighty, Creator, etc. - as read in the Creed, - with the addition that - we believe in everything that is faithful to the Church orally and established by the Councils. Then all those who oppose the truth are struck with anathema: anathema to such and such, anathema to such and such. I’ll give you an example of who this is for: – Those who do not captivate their minds into obedience to Divine revelation and resist it and all its truths are anathema. - Those who deny the existence of God and claim that this world and everything in it happens without the providence of God, and by chance, are anathema. - Those who dare to say that the Son of God is not consubstantial and is not equal to the Father, like the Holy Spirit, - that is, they do not confess that God is one in essence and trinity in persons, or that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one God - anathema. – Who blasphemously teach that for our salvation and the cleansing of our sins, the coming into the world of the Son of God is not necessary, and His voluntary suffering, death and resurrection is anathema. - Who sweep away the immortality of the soul, the end of the century, future judgment and eternal reward for virtues in heaven, and condemnation for sins is anathema. -Who reject the councils of St. The Father and their traditions, piously preserved by the Orthodox Church, are anathema. - Who sweep away the sacraments, St. Contained by the Church, they do not venerate the Most Holy Theotokos, the Angels and all the Saints, as well as St. relics and icons are anathema. Do not think that anathema is a simple word. No; this word and deed together, according to the immutable definition of the Lord Himself: if you bind everything on earth, they will be bound in heaven (Matthew 18:18). – The church anathema is sealed and confirmed by the will of God, therefore, the spread of ideas affected by the church anathema is the spread of God’s curse. “If you want to avert this disaster, protect our diocese from the invasion of anti-Christian teachings that corrupt children’s and youth’s minds through perverse upbringing, reading bad books, familiarity with non-Christian customs, etc. I can’t find anything else to tell you anymore. – Do what has been said, and be sure that by doing this you yourself will be saved and you will save many. I think that you are expecting mention of the impending change in our mutual relations. There is nothing to tell you about this from this place, except one thing: let us pray that the Lord will give a peaceful outcome to this great matter, as a reward for the meek and peace-loving spirit that prevails everywhere among us. “We hope that this will happen, by the goodness of God.” “If, beyond expectation, some kind of disorder occurs somewhere, we will pray that the Lord will give local leaders intelligence and strength to quickly resolve this mood and turn everything to the common good. - Most likely, we will deliver both this and everything else into the hands of God’s all-providential care for us! For whoever trusts in the Lord will receive mercy (Ps. 31:10). In these thoughts, I finish my word to you, calling upon you the blessing of God, and praying to His goodness to help you act in the spirit in which you will be pleasing in the face of His unchangeable truth, on the day of final reward for all those who act in the field of the current affairs of the whole world. Amen. 61. To the newly tonsured monk, Father Archpriest of the city of Shatsk Gregory Agishevsky, named Herman in monasticism, and destined to be the Archimandrite of the Cherniev Monastery I greet you, beloved fellow monk in the Lord, with greetings of joy and good wishes! - We are happy to fuck you. We hope that you also rejoice, although not without trepidation. For if you have experienced in your heart what has happened to you in these moments, then you cannot help but experience strong sensations that usually excite conscientious souls who enter into the essence of the important matters they take upon themselves. I am coming to your aid and will try to order the movements of your heart with my simple word, although I will not say anything more than what the saint has already spoken to you with my lips. Church . Truly you have started a good deed. Who is against this? - All that remains is to do it well. “In this regard, I am not telling you: do not think that by putting on monastic attire all the work of seeking monasticism is over. By doing this I would offend your reasoning and heart. You know rightly that just as someone dressed in military armor may not be a warrior, so someone dressed in monastic clothing may not be a monk. – You are now ready for monastic rites and are entering the rank of those undergoing it. But your monastic service itself is still ahead. Draw a brighter image of the perfect monk in your mind and strive to realize it in the rest of your life, without sparing your belly. Have you seen how they release balloons? – The ball is filled with gas - a celestial element, without which it is impossible for it to rise upward. But even when filled, it does not go up while it is tied to the ground with ropes. – And the detached one already rushes upward, according to the density of the air surrounding him and the subtlety that fills his elements. There he finally disappears into the heights, or is covered by clouds, where he remains alone, embraced by the sky on all sides. - Here is the image of a perfect monk! - Having renounced everything with his mind and heart, he rushes to the mountain, and remains there united with the one God. - Note that this is the essence of monasticism - to be one with the one God, not for a minute, not for an hour, not for a day, but incessantly. Nothing created, neither big nor small, should absorb the attention and heart of a monk... He is all in God and in heaven. - What keeps him there?.. The ball is kept at a height by the heavenly element it contains - gas... And the monk keeps his consciousness in heaven because all the desires of his heart are directed there, kindled in him by heavenly grace. - The gas in the ball evaporates, the ball begins to descend, and the more the gas evaporates, the lower the ball descends, until it falls again to the earth from which it had renounced... The desire for heavenly things diminishes in the monk - he falls down with attention and, instead of God, is occupied with the creature. Then he loses his character. Notice this and remind yourself of this more often. I won't continue the comparison any further. I leave it to you to develop it more widely. Let me just remind you of one thing what should be meant by renunciation. Monastic renunciation is not just a renunciation of worldly connections, of sensual pleasures, of self-interest, and of all objects in general that feed passions, but it is also a renunciation of all natural feelings that are not considered vicious, such as the feelings of kinship, friendship, and so on. All this must be absorbed by the spirit and receive its character from it, as the Lord inspires, saying: Who is My mother? and who are my brothers? If anyone does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and My mother (Matthew 12:48–50). Here is the beginning of the eternal heavenly judgment about things and persons, and the corresponding disposition towards them. - Only one who has ascended to this height enjoys complete freedom - and he is only truly a servant of God, to nothing but the Holy One. the will of God, not enslaved. Don’t say: high is difficult. Nobody claims that it is easy. - But don’t be afraid, be afraid. The Lord is near with His grace - near the prayer of St. ascetics, to whom you call, and whose life you designate in your mind to imitate. And then know that it’s not suddenly - to the heights. - How do they go up the stairs? They start from the lowest levels and gradually rise to the very top. - You too will rise. Just don't weaken. Force yourself to do every task and every feat, and you will imperceptibly move forward. For every tension of freedom, God's grace will come to you and secure for you what you were looking for. The grace of God acts in relation to us, like a master who, walking behind a cart that is heavily hauled up a mountain, immediately throws a stone under the wheels, just as a horse stops, and thereby saves what has been traveled. “With this in mind, be jealous, act with intense effort in hope, and you will surely reach the end.” I am not reminding you of honest behavior and good living in external relations. From this side you are very famous, and a change of place will certainly not change your rules. – But do not forget, while maintaining good behavior, to take care of the well-being of the heart, of the harmonious combination in it of all holy feelings and dispositions. Nor do I remind you of external deeds of piety. One who has grown old in a pious life knows from experience both fasting, and standing at night, and long sacred rites, and the exact fulfillment of the rules of prayer and acting against one’s own will - all this is known both with its difficulties and with its consolations. - Now it is up to you only to make all this, from interrupting and alternating, continuous and constant. But do not forget about the inner service of God and the inner feats of struggle against thoughts and all the flattering movements of our not always healthy heart. Nor do I remind you of the leadership that is before you. You have been familiar with management affairs for so many years now. “And in the new circle of affairs before you, everything is arranged by the same prudence and experience that you have been distinguished by until now.” But do not forget that your main goal will be to guide souls into the kingdom not externally, but internally - by reasoning with brotherly thoughts and unraveling the nets with which the enemy is wont to confuse the consciences of the weak and inexperienced. We hope that you will improve the monastery entrusted to you; - but do not think that at the same time we agree that you care about its external splendor and contentment alone, leaving the internal perfection in monastic life in negligence. No. If you see that the first cannot be achieved without damaging the latter, leave the monastery in poverty, if this is necessary, so that it blooms with the inner beauty of spiritual perfections. I'll limit myself to this. “For if we said everything, there would be no end to our speech.” However, the wise man will see much in little things. Yes, and I offered this little thing to you not to teach, but to remind you only of what, of course, you yourself constantly contain in your mind and heart. May the Lord bless you and help you in all good things, for the glory of His all-holy name. Amen. 62. For Christmas Glory to Thee, Lord! – We have waited for the bright days of the Nativity of Christ: now let’s have fun and rejoice! - The Holy Church, deliberately in order to increase our joy in these days, instituted fasting before them - a certain constraint, so that when entering them we felt as if we were going out to freedom. With all this, however, she does not want us to indulge only in the pleasures of the senses and only carnal pleasures. But from time immemorial, having called these days holy days, he demands that our very joy during them be holy, just as the days are holy. So that no one forgets while having fun, she put into our mouths a short song in the glory of Christ who was born, with which he calms the flesh and elevates the spirit, showing him activities worthy of these days: Christ is born - glorify and so on. - Glorify Christ - and glorify so that the larynx, soul and heart are delighted with this glorification, and thereby the urge to any other business and occupation that promises some kind of joy is drowned out. Praise Christ. – It’s not like composing long songs of praise to Christ. No... But if, thinking or listening about the Nativity of Christ the Savior, you involuntarily exclaim from the depths of your soul: glory to Thee, Lord, that Christ was born. That's enough. This will be a quiet song of the heart, which will pass through the heavens and enter the ears of God. Reproduce a little more clearly what the Lord has done for you, and you will see how natural it is for us to make such an appeal today. – To make this easier for you, compare the following cases to this. The Tsar promised freedom to the one imprisoned and shackled... The prisoner waits for a day or two, waits for months and years... does not see the fulfillment, but does not lose hope, believing the Tsar’s word. Finally signs appeared - that soon; his attention is sharpened, he hears the noise of those approaching with cheerful talk; then the door locks fall off - and the Deliverer enters. Glory to Thee, Lord! the prisoner exclaims involuntarily. The end of my imprisonment has come, I will soon see the light of God! - Another case. “The patient, covered with wounds and weakened in all parts, tried all the medicines and changed many doctors. This patience was exhausted, and he was ready to indulge in desperate grief. They tell him: there is also a most skillful doctor who cures everyone, and precisely from diseases such as yours; we asked him, he promised to come. Having believed, the patient arises in hope and waits for what was promised... An hour passes, another, more, - anxiety again begins to sharpen the soul... - In the evening, someone has already arrived... walking... the door opened, - and the desired one enters... Glory to Thee, Lord! the patient screams. Here's another case! “A menacing cloud hung over,” and darkness covered the face of the earth; thunder shakes the foundations of the mountains and lightning cuts through the sky from end to end: this makes everyone afraid, as if the end of the world has come. When the storm then passes and the sky clears, everyone sighs freely and says: Glory to Thee, Lord! Bring these cases closer to yourself and you will see that they contain our history. A terrible cloud of God's wrath was over us... So the Lord the reconciliator came and dispersed this cloud. We were covered with wounds of sins and passions. So the doctor of souls came and healed us... We were in bonds of slavery... Here the liberator came and loosed our bonds... Bring all this closer to your heart and perceive it with your feelings; - and I think you cannot resist exclaiming: glory to Thee, Lord, that Christ was born! – The father of the Forerunner, Zechariah, heard this news and cried out: Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, for you have visited and created deliverance for your people, and raised up the horn of salvation for us, and so on. (Luke 1:68). The Most Pure Virgin heard and sang: My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior (Luke 1:46–47). Elizabeth and the baby in her womb heard... and rejoiced. At the very hour of the birth of the Lord, the sky was all moved to praise, and every creature - rational and unreasonable. The shepherds, the wise men, the righteous Simeon and Anna the prophetess sang the glory of the born God, perceiving in their hearts that by His birth He created deliverance for people. Perceive this feeling too, and your heart will rejoice and this joy will be enough for you not only for these days, but for the rest of your life - such joy that you will not want to look for other joys - and if they come, you will meet them and dwell on them in passing, as if it were an adjunct and accidental matter, if not superfluous. I do not try to instill such joy in you with my word: it is beyond the reach of any word. The work accomplished by the born Lord concerns each of us. Those who enter into communication with Him receive from Him freedom, healing, peace; - possess them, and taste their sweetness. To those who experience them in themselves there is nothing to say: rejoice... for they cannot help but rejoice, but to those who do not experience it, there is no need to say: rejoice; for they cannot rejoice. Tied hand and foot, no matter how much you tell him: rejoice at deliverance, he will not rejoice; covered with the wounds of sins, where will the joy of healing come from? How can one who is terrified by the thunderstorm of God’s wrath breathe freely? To such we can only say: go to the Midwife, lying in the manger, and seek from Him deliverance from all the evils that beset you, for this is the Savior of the world, Christ. I would like to see all of you rejoicing at this very St. joy and not wanting to call other joys. “But not all that are of Israel are Israel.” Empty amusements will begin for you - violent, inciting lusts: ogling, circling, werewolves. To those who love this, no matter how much you say: “Be humble,” they close their ears, “and do not heed,” and the bright holidays will always bring the bright holidays to the point that they will force the merciful Lord to turn His eyes away from us and say: “All these festivals of yours are an abomination to Me.” – And in fact, it is true that many of our public amusements are truly pagan abominations, that is, some are directly transferred from the pagan world, while others, although they occurred later, are imbued with the spirit of paganism. – And as if on purpose, they are invented in large numbers during Christmas and Easter. Being carried away by them, we give the prince of the world - our tormentor, the enemy of God, a reason to say to God: - what have you done to me with your birth and resurrection?!.. everyone is coming to me! But, brethren, more often let the words of the 50th Psalm flash through the depths of your heart, that the Lord will be justified in His words and will conquer, never to judge Him. We are fascinated by enlightened Europe! Yes, there - for the first time - the pagan abominations that had been expelled from the world were restored. And from there they have already crossed over to us and are moving on. Having breathed in this child of hell, we are spinning like crazy, not remembering ourselves. But, brothers, let us remember the year 12. Why did the French come?.. - God sent them to destroy the evil that we had adopted from them until then. “Then Russia repented and God had mercy on her. “But it seems that that lesson has begun to be forgotten.” If we come to our senses, of course, nothing will happen; and if we don’t come to our senses, who knows, maybe the Lord will again send us our teachers to bring us to our senses and put us on the path of correction. This is the law of God’s righteousness: to heal from sin is the one who is attracted to it. These are not empty words, but a deed affirmed by the voice of the Church, as you will now hear in prayer at the molieben. Know that God cannot be mocked, and knowing this, rejoice and rejoice in these days with fear. Sanctify the bright holiday with holy deeds, activities and amusements, so that everyone, looking at us, will say: they have Christmastide, and not some riotous games of those who do not know God - wicked and debauched. Amen. 63. On the 2nd day of the Nativity of Christ, - in the Ascension monastery Of all the sayings with which the Nativity of Christ and our attitude towards the Born are depicted, the following words come closest to you, sisters: Christ from heaven - hide. Christ descends from heaven, come out to the meeting! - I say this, adapting to the parable of the ten virgins: for there, too, at midnight a voice sounded: Behold the bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him (Matthew 25:6). The difference is that there the Judge comes, and here the Savior comes. There, as He found the virgins, He decided them forever - the wise remained wise, and the holy fools remained holy fools, unable to correct their fate. But that’s not the case here; but even if some turn out to be holy fools at the hour of the meeting, there is still time for them to become wise, just as the wise are not without the danger of becoming one of the holy fools. “With all the more caution we must learn and carry out how to worthily meet the born Lord, who came down from heaven for our sake as a man and for our salvation.” When the news spreads in any country that the Tsar is coming, all the inhabitants of that country begin to move and carefully begin to prepare to receive the Tsar in a manner worthy of a Tsar: they fix the streets, decorate the houses, put on display everything that they have best, in order to show both the Tsar and everyone else that they are not in ordinary circumstances. Same with us. From a distance, we began to prepare for the holiday: the cells were cleaned, the work was put away, new clothes were sewn and something extra was prepared for the table, so that both our own and outsiders could see that we were having a holiday. - So everything was done for appearances; but will the born Lord be satisfied with this?! “For us, such visibility may not be superfluous, but for the Lord it is not necessary.” Look how He was born! in the nativity scene the baby is wrapped, lying in a manger. All the glory is within. The inner well-being of the spirit will also be a worthy meeting of Him descending from heaven. – Look at the icon of the Nativity of Christ! Mother of God and Joseph the Righteous on their knees; between them is the eternal Child; There are shepherds or wise men around. The eyes of all are fixed on Him—everyone disappears in Him and rests in Him. So settle down internally too... Meet the Lord together with the shepherds - the desire for salvation, together with Joseph and the Mother of God - reverent tranquility in Him, - together with the wise men - willingly following Him, - together with the angels - grateful praise to Him. Yes - The Savior comes and brings salvation. Kindle the desire for salvation. “You entered the monastery precisely because of this desire; but the length of time, the beginnings of success, and perhaps other things could weaken or completely extinguish it. Take care now to kindle this fire within yourself more powerfully. Bring up the thought of our distress from everywhere: from our sinful deeds, from passions and attachments, from our primordial enemy; - add another thought to it, that besides the born Christ the Lord there is no other name under heaven, and through him we could be saved. And your spirit will run to the Lord like trees to springs. This will mean that you will go out to meet the Lord and meet Him, preferably, as a thirsty earth receives rain. The Savior comes and brings salvation. Accept with all your heart this dispensation of salvation brought to earth by Him - in all its fullness and details, without giving up anything and without applying crooked interpretations to anything. You have already entered into the matter of the strictest fulfillment of everything necessary for salvation. Don't weaken. – The Magi, despite the uncertainty of the heavenly instructions, immediately rose up and went to look for the indicated one and found... Hope will not deceive you, despite the fact that you do not see the obvious success of your search. The time will come - you will see the fruit - salvation itself shining in your heart. Just do not refuse any suggestions of the Gospel. This heartfelt perception of the entire will of Christ the Savior, which determines the path of salvation, will be the same as an embrace at the first meeting of the desired one; how, on the contrary, renunciation of this will make us like those about whom it is written: “We came to our own, but did not receive Him from our own” (John 1:11). The Savior comes and brings salvation - the Savior is all-powerful and all-desirable. Calm down about your salvation in Him - and in Him alone. Don't look for anything else: everything is with Him and everything that He has is yours. And mind, and strength, and joys, and beauty and peace - and everything is ready for you, just lean towards Him with all the aspiration of your spirit... As the Most Pure Virgin Mary composed all the verbs in her heart, so put them in your heart and you - and believe without hesitation that everything will be exactly as it is written. The Savior comes and brings salvation ready for you, proven strong in the countless multitudes of those saved, already glorified in heaven. Glorify now the richness of God’s bounty and condescension. Give thanks to the Lord both for the fact that He did not abandon our family, but created for it a wondrous image of salvation, and for the fact that He brought this salvation closer to us and showed us examples of the saved in excitement for the salvation of our spirit. – The angels glorified God with a loud voice only in the beginnings of the salvation being arranged. – With what lips should we glorify the Lord, seeing so many wondrous deeds accomplished for our salvation by the deed itself!.. Sing without ceasing: glory to God in the highest!.. This is how you build a manger from your heart for the born Lord, and surround them with these sacred dispositions - the desire for salvation, active perception of the entire dispensation of salvation, tranquility in the Lord and grateful praise to Him. - This will provide the highest occupation for your spirit in these days, will sanctify your holidays and together will give you the opportunity to fulfill in the most accurate way what is contained in the song: Christ from heaven - hide. Amen. On the 4th day after two big fires. Residents were carried out of their houses. Week 12 of Pentecost. August 14, 1860 Military guards have been established throughout the city; in addition, each house is required to have its own day and night guard. On the day of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary. At the Assumption Cemetery. It was raining. There was a small fire the day before. August 16. The fears continued as before. Week 13. August 21. Residents began to move into their homes. There were small fires that were suppressed at the very beginning. The officials guarded their own houses and did not show up for work. A commission of people of all classes was appointed to investigate the causes of the fires and to discover ways to help the victims. August 28. Week 14. The residents have already all gone home. – There were minor outbreaks; but they were immediately suppressed. Stephen's Church, where the miraculous icon of the Mother of God was in danger. When the funeral service was held with the blessing of water and the church was walked around, the wind blowing on the church turned again towards the burnt places. This puts an end to the spread of the fire. September 3. In the city of Kirsanov, in the cathedral. There were no fires in the city; but in the Kirsanovsky nunnery the roof of one building burned down, and the entire building was damaged. September 4. In the Kirsanovsky convent. On the Assumption, August 15, there was a fire in it. The roof of one of the best buildings burned down, and the entire building was so damaged that it was impossible to live in it. Kirsanov merchant V.S. Sosulnikov, a very charitable person, took it upon himself to correct him. Work has already begun. September 10th. In Borisoglebsk, in the cathedral. There were 4 big fires and half the city burned out. The first service upon returning from the diocese. – Week 17, September 18. There was a fire that day. The drought worried residents with concerns about their crops. Therefore, a religious procession was appointed to the fields for prayer. In the evening of the same day it started to rain and continued for a long time. The residents calmed down. The church was created by Her Pres. Vera Nikolaevna Voeikova, durable and beautiful in all parts and accessories. He will be among the first in the Tambov diocese. There are churches larger and richer, but none more perfect in art and character.