Слово в Пяток Светлой Седмицы, в который празднуется в честь иконы Богоматери «Живоносный Источник»

This week, brethren, is in itself very rich in streams of grace flowing from the tomb of Christ: therefore the Church daily invites us to new pleasure, exclaiming: come, let us drink new beer! But now, at the end of bright days, when one should expect the diminishing of the flows of grace, a new, life-giving source of mercy and generosity opens on behalf of the Mother of the Risen Lord. Truly, among the great celebrations in honor of the Son, there should have been a celebration in honor of the Mother, whose “weapon” (Luke 2:35), according to Simeon’s vision, passed through her very heart on Golgotha, like the Son. The triumph of the Son is all for our good, and the triumph of the Mother is all for us and our salvation. This is why this celebration is called the Life-Giving Source, because the Most Holy Virgin once imparted to one source, near Constantinople, the power to heal all kinds of ailments, to shed life and consolation for all those who suffer. This source is located in one place, and acted with special power at a certain time; but the grace and power of the One who acted is not limited to any place or time. Where there is living faith in the Son of God, where there is warm love for the Mother of God, there are living streams of grace and a healing source of miracles. Therefore, everywhere and always, what happened especially at a certain time and in a certain place is celebrated. However, how many sources are there in our Fatherland, through which the grace-filled power and help of the Ever-Virgin apparently either opened up or is still opening up? We can say that the diverse element of water was especially adopted by Her to commemorate Her various bounties towards all those who suffer and are burdened. Therefore, our Fatherland now celebrates not an alien holiday, but on the occasion of an alien one (although it is not alien in many respects), remembers and celebrates many of its own joyful events. Especially for this monastery, the present celebration is not alien: for the miraculous face of the Mother of God (the “Brotherly” icon, so named after the monastery in which it is located), decorating this church, showed its miraculous power for the first time, as they say, on river streams, sailing to this city for salvation at a time when the enemies of the name of Christ wanted to use it to cross to the other side to destruction to the Russian Orthodox people. But how to draw from the source of miracles? Ancient Israel once drank from a miraculous spring in the desert, while many of those who drank not only did not receive special grace, but also suffered severe punishment for their foolishness. The same may be true today. How, I say, is it worthwhile to use the grace flowing from the tomb of Christ through the prayers of the Most Blessed One? – The Holy Church very strongly and clearly indicates this when it calls the present celebration either a Life-Giving, or a Life-Receiving Source. For the source of grace to be life-giving, it is necessary for this to be life-receiving; for whom he is not life-giving, for him he is not life-giving. For whom is he alive? – For those who accept the water of grace with living faith, and not with doubts about its reality, not with questions about how, for example, consecrated water can act on the soul? For those who draw from the Life-Giving Source precisely for the purpose of reviving in spirit, correcting their heart and conscience, and quenching the eternal thirst of their being. For those who, having received the grace of God through the prayers of the Ever-Virgin, do not hide it under a bushel, but turn it into life for themselves and others, constantly expressing it in good actions. And whoever draws from a life-giving source without faith and pious feelings - not to quench the thirst of the spirit, not to cleanse the conscience, but for earthly purposes, to achieve some temporary benefits, who drinks the water of grace, but does not show the fruits of grace in his life - for him the life-giving source is not life-receiving, and therefore not life-giving. Do we need immediate and detailed instructions on how to worthily use the grace from the life-giving source of the Mother of God? This instruction will be, one might say, before the eyes of all of us. In this city, healing waters are prepared for bodily ailments: how do they usually start drinking these waters, and how do they behave during and after use? – Firstly, they carefully examine (both themselves and through doctors) their illness; secondly, they require advice on how, how much and when to drink healthy drinks; during consumption, they abstain from various kinds of foods and from all strong movements of the soul: the angry are meek, the proud are humble, the stingy are generous, and, having abandoned healing, they adhere to a special, strict way of life for a long time, so as not to weaken the effect of the waters, to prevent the disease from returning. Let us, brethren, act in the same way when drinking the waters of grace: let us show at least half the attention and diligence to our soul in the midst of its ailments, which we always show to our body in its infirmities. And firstly, let us pay as much attention as possible to the state of our soul: let us delve with all impartiality into our heart and its inclinations; Let us consider, in the light of God’s word, all our behavior and all our relationships, in order to see what is damaged and what is intact in us, what is excess and what is lacking, where is danger and harm, and where is salvation. Let's start with this knowledge of ourselves and our poverty: for this is what we lack most of all. “In the night the land of Moab will perish” (Isaiah 15:1), the prophet once cried, wanting to show the suddenness of the destruction and the extreme carelessness of those who were perishing. The same can be said about us: we perish without thinking at all about danger, not knowing how and from what we perish: and this is because we are careless about the state of our soul, we never look in the mirror of conscience, we do not know and do not want to know whether there is at least some spiritual life in our heart. Therefore, for our salvation, first of all, we need to pay attention to ourselves and our lives. Having done this, we cannot help but see that there is a lot of bad and ungodly things in us, that our soul and conscience are covered with ulcers: and having learned this, we will involuntarily be horrified and will look for means to cleanse and heal ourselves. Secondly, let us not be ashamed, brothers, to come to spiritual doctors for advice and help. We ourselves can and must do a lot for our salvation, but we cannot do much that is necessary ourselves, and therefore we must accept from those whom God himself has appointed to heal our souls. The good instructions from the lips of the pastor of the Church, who has seen and sees many sinners, knows the nature of mental illnesses, and has healed them more than once and in different forms, already means a lot to us. But what is even more significant is the grace that the shepherds of the Church can bestow on repentant sinners, that oil and those obligations that were compiled for spiritual wounds by the hand of the heavenly Physician himself, and their hands are only applied to our ulcers. For we must not deceive ourselves, brethren: our sinful damage, no matter how small it may seem to us, is always such that perfect healing cannot be expected from our own efforts and human means: for this the all-restoring power of God’s grace is necessary; but the streams of this grace, although they flow to the entire human race, flow especially in a certain place - at the throne of grace, in the Church of Christ, and flow, so to speak, through certain pipes - through the sacraments of the church, which are taught only by the ministers of the sacraments. Finally, when using the means of grace, one must be constant and patient. Chronic illnesses require the necessary long-term healing: and what could be older than our mental illness, our inclination to sin? With her we come out of our mother's womb; we spend our childhood summers in it; with it we become youthful and mature: is it surprising if the poison of sin, having penetrated our nature, does not suddenly yield to the most powerful means? If we were creatures deprived of freedom, then our correction could take place quickly and at a certain time: but with our freedom, with its deviations and infidelities, grace itself should act gradually and imperceptibly. Remembering this, let us not lose heart if in our struggle with sin we do not always emerge victorious, if our own heart betrays us and remains at times secretly on the side of vice, then, as the mind and will will be enclosed in the law of God. It is enough for our peace that Almighty God Himself promises us healing; With Him no “verb fails” (Lk. 1:37); His “promises” are “even and... amen” (2 Cor. 1:20). By God,” each of us must say, like David, “By my God I will cross the wall!” (Ps. 17:30). Amen. You might be interested in: