Слово в субботу Светлой Седмицы, пред раздаванием артоса

Having fed us with all abundance throughout this week with the immaterial bread of the word of God and sweet hymns, the Holy Church, out of condescension for our weakness, has now gathered us to break material bread for us. But just as the world is accustomed to degrading the most spiritual things to flesh and blood, so the Church elevates the most sensual things to the spirit. It is not for nothing that images of sacred objects are visible on the crushed bread: this indicates to the most myopic in spiritual understanding its spiritual meaning and importance. Why is it being fragmented now? – The crushing of the holy bread, according to the clear instructions of the Church itself in the prayer read at its consecration, is now performed in memory of the Resurrection of Christ. Why the concept of bread was combined with the memory of the resurrection, when at the resurrection itself there was and could not be any bread - there are many reasons for this. And, firstly, the Old Testament Jewish Passover, established during the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, and which served as a transformation of our Passover, was combined with a seven-day eating of special, sacred bread called unleavened bread. Christians also had to be reminded, during Easter, of this meal, which among the Israelites contained many instructive things. The bread that is most blessed today is in memory of the Resurrection of Christ because in the stories of the evangelists we more than once see the Risen Lord either eating or blessing the eating. So, in the evening of the very day on which He was resurrected, He breaks bread in Emmaus, and is recognized in this breaking by two of His disciples, who did not recognize Him throughout the entire journey with Him. In the evening of this same day, in Jerusalem, among His disciples, the Lord Himself deigns to eat fish and honey as proof that they see before them not a ghost, but their true Teacher, truly risen from the dead. Then in Galilee, by the Sea of ​​Tiberias, the Risen Lord miraculously prepares a whole meal for His disciples, who are weary of the all-night vigil and in vain fishing, and at this meal three times in a friendly manner tortures Peter’s love with the question: “Have you loved Me?” These are so many events that are recalled by the holy bread, now being crushed. There are many secrets in it! Many prayers were made over him! There are many blessings in it! So, Christian, when you eat this bread, bring to mind, firstly, the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, and look where you yourself are, are you not still in Egypt, are you working for Pharaoh, the god of this age? “Only where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is true “freedom” (2 Cor. 3:17). If you do not have this Spirit, then you are a slave of passions. If the Son of God does not free you from the slavery of sin, then you will forever remain a slave. Turn to Him with the desire to do His will. Begin, with the help of God, to defeat the enemies of your salvation, as with ten plagues, by fulfilling the ten commandments. When the last of them: Thou shalt not covet (Ex. 20:16, 17), the very firstborn of Egypt - unclean thoughts and desires - are struck: then the bonds of sin that oppress you will be resolved by themselves, and you will go out into the freedom of the Spirit. But having gone out into the desert of self-sacrifice, do not turn your face to Egypt, suppress, even if it were revealed, the hunger for Egyptian meats - carnal pleasures. Enough for you is the bread of angels, the manna from heaven - those pleasures of the spirit with which the Lord feeds His faithful servants. – Otherwise, even on the borders of heavenly Canaan, “coffins of lust” may be erected - for “krastel” (Exod. 16:13. Number 11:33–34) – earthly and sinful joys. From the Jewish Passover, Christian, when you eat bread now, turn your thoughts to the Christian Passover - think about why and how we eat bread, or bless the bread with the Risen Lord, and learn to eat it yourself in this way. Two of Jesus' disciples do not know their Lord during the entire journey with Him. Doesn't the same thing happen, beloved listener, to us on the path of our lives? “It is impossible that Jesus would not be with each of us on this path; for He promised to abide with those who believe in Him always. But is He known to each of us as He should be? Did we recognize our Savior and Lord in Him? Have you become completely convinced that there is no “other name”, neither on earth nor in heaven, by which one could be saved except the name of Jesus (Acts 4:12)? That without Him every person is an enemy of God, a dead rod, fit only for burning? – And your day of life, beloved brother, has either already bowed down or will bow down: it will be bad to reach the west of life without a heavenly Companion; It’s terrible to go through the shadow of death alone - without a Savior! Hasten to know Him, even in the breaking of bread, by those sensory signs in which He was pleased to reveal His presence in His Church; try to partake more often of the Lord’s Table, which is offered to all believers: the abundance of Christ’s love, revealed in it, will warm your cold heart, and little by little, as you eat, you will begin to know how “good the Lord is” (Ps. 34:9), and how close he is to “all who call on Him in truth” (Ps. 144:18). Before the disciples, in Jerusalem, the Lord eats food to confirm that they see before them not a ghost, but the real body of their Teacher. Look, beloved, and you, whether your whole faith is not a ghost, whether it consists of only idle concepts that have no influence on your life; Are you not limiting yourself to one form of piety, not caring about its power, so as not only to appear honest before people, but also to actually be so before God, in your conscience? The sign and proof of true Christianity is not contemplation and an abundance of knowledge, not much talking and questioning, not the cleansing of external glasses and dishes, but the putting off of the old man with his passions and lusts, rebirth in the spirit, walking in the image of Christ and the internal cross. If you have all this, then Christ has truly risen in you, and you can indulge in all the joy of His Resurrection: otherwise, you still need Peter’s tears and publican’s contrition. There is also something to learn from the supper that took place on the shore of the Sea of ​​Tiberias. The chief of the apostles worked all night without success in catching fish, until the Savior Himself, suddenly appearing, commanded them to leave the sea again. Don’t even think, no matter who you are, to succeed in the matter of spiritual perfection without God’s blessing. You can acquire all the blessings of the world, but without Him you cannot acquire that “pearl” of great price (Matthew 13:46), which is more valuable than the whole world. You can adorn yourself with several virtues, which many of the pagans were adorned with, but you cannot, you cannot in any way change your evil heart, pluck out the root of sin from it. This is beyond your strength, beyond the strength of all the Angels; this is His work, His alone. Turn to Him for this, pray to Him for this. When He closes in you the “springs of the deep” (Gen. 8:2), the abysses of natural evil, then nothing will open them. When He opens in you the source of goodness - love for God and neighbor, then no power of hell will imprison it: it will flow into the eternal belly. But do you hear, beloved brother, what question is proposed at the divinely established supper of Tiberias? - “Do you love Me? Do you love Me? - says the Lord. If Peter, having once cheated, heard this question three times, then how many times should he make our ears heard? Let us not, however, rush to answer it in Petrov’s language; Let us first take hold of Petrovo’s heart: it is not words that are required, but deeds. “If anyone loves Me,” says the Questioner Himself, “he will keep My word” (John 14:23). This is a sign of love! Do you have it? “It is good for you if you have it: for in this case you will be able, even before death, to see the Lord and dine with Him.” “If anyone loves Me,” He says, “he will keep My word: and My Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our abode with him” (John 14:23). Remembering in this way, with the present eating of the holy bread, all these Gospel suppers, is it possible, brethren, to finally forget that blessed supper, which, although it was not instituted by the risen Savior, since it could not have been instituted on earth, was nevertheless promised by Him to all His followers in the Kingdom of Heaven? (Matthew 26:29). And remembering the supper that awaits us in this kingdom, can we not bring to mind the wedding garment that will be required of everyone there? - Terrible is the fate of the slave, cast out, due to the lack of this clothing, into utter darkness! “Let us hasten, brethren, to acquire in advance the precious garment of good deeds, and to cover and adorn it in advance with the merits of Christ, so that, at the first call, we may be ready for the marriage of the Lamb.” Let us hasten: for both on earth and in heaven, the royal doors are not always open: there will be a time when they will be closed forever, and those who interpret them will say: “We do not know you!” (Matthew 25:12). Amen. You might be interested in: