Слово на отдание Пасхи

Moving from celebration to celebration, we have quietly arrived at the foot of the Olivet, and for the last time we proclaim: Christ is risen! Many of us, no doubt, will again be worthy of seeing and singing the day of resurrection; and some, and this is also beyond doubt, will celebrate, if they prove worthy, the next Easter already in the non-evening days of the reign of Christ. Who are the first and who are the last? We don't know. It is only known that each of us can belong to the latter. And this is the reason why many spend the present day with some kind of despondency. I would like to never end the joyful chants, never to part with the bright triumph! But, brothers, is this impossible? Is there no way to prolong in full force – not the day, but the joy of the Resurrection of Christ? Everything in Christianity is directed towards this very thing; This is what true Christianity consists of. For what does it consist of? Is it not in the renewal of the spirit, is it not in the acceptance of a new heart from above, is it not in the resurrection with Christ? But whoever has once truly been resurrected in spirit, for him the whole subsequent life is the triumph of resurrection, for him every day is bright, he incessantly says with all his deeds: “Truly Christ is risen!” Therefore, whoever does not want to part with the triumph of the resurrection, let him know that he should not part with it, that within him there must be an everlasting Sunday! For this purpose, the Holy Church renews, every six days, the memory of the Resurrection of Christ, making it clear to everyone that this triumph, sooner or later, should become continuous for a Christian. “But the means to this,” someone might think, “is so great and complex that its active use can only be the lot of a very few. How many can boast of their spiritual co-resurrection with Christ?” - Truly, brethren, few. But this is our fault, and the greatest fault; for this resurrection must certainly belong to everyone; in it lies, as we said, the very essence of Christianity, without it there is and cannot be true Christianity. This, brethren, is not my thoughts and conclusions. Unfold the writings of the apostles of Christ: there on every page you will see that a Christian is a renewed, resurrected, newly created man. Therefore, when we propose to someone the means of prolonging the joy of resurrection through the renewal of the whole spirit in Christ, it will seem like a means that is not so close and universal; then this is a clear sign that such a person is not only not a true follower of Christ, but also does not know what is absolutely required for this following, and that it is completely impossible without the renewal of the spirit. Therefore, such a person should try not to continue his joy, whatever it may be, but to create in himself a spirit of contrition for the fact that he has hitherto bore the name of a Christian, without caring about actually being one, that is, to acquire a new heart and a new spirit - the heart of God, the spirit of Christ. Let's turn to the holiday. So, we must now perform, as the Church puts it, “giving up the resurrection” of our Lord. What should this giving consist of? - Obviously not in one abbreviated repetition of the festive service and not in one end of joyful chants: this would amount to giving of the lips, but the Lord wants our heart. Either He gave for us, or we should give to Him. Let us surrender our minds to Him; let it be Christ’s, let there not be in it a single “heaven taken against the mind of God” (2 Cor. 10:5), not a single darkness under the guise of light; Let us give Him our heart, so that it may be Christ’s: free from attachment to the world and its blessings, constantly directed to where its eternal “treasure” is (Matthew 6:21); Let us betray the will of Christ, so that it may be that of Christ: enclosed in His Holy Gospel, quick to every good deed, and motionless to evil; let us give up our soul and body and our whole life: that it too may be concluded “with Christ in God” (Col. 3:3); let us live not so much in ourselves as Christ in us. We will betray, for no matter how much we betray ourselves to Christ, our King and our God, we will never be able to betray ourselves to Him the way He gave Himself for us, and still gives Himself to all of us in the Sacrament of the Eucharist. Such a surrender of ourselves to Christ will be the best preparation for us for the celebration of the Ascension of Christ. If our mind and thoughts belong to Christ, then they will not remain on earth, we will look “not at what is seen, but at what is unseen” (2 Cor. 4:18), - “to be wise above” (Col. 3:2). If our heart and will belong to Christ, then we will not wander on earth, but will seek those on high... “where Christ is seated on the right hand of God” (Col. 3:1). Our very flesh, belonging to Christ, will begin to forget its frailty, to rise in the morning to the heavenly Jerusalem, to sigh for a heavenly dwelling. But the most merciful Christ will not leave His people on earth forever, He will come to them, according to His immutable promise Himself, and will take them to where He is now (John 14:3), so that we all may be according to His grace and love for mankind! Amen. You might be interested in: