Слово в Великую Среду

By the grace of God, brothers, we are already standing at the last limit of the Holy Pentecost. As before the ancient Israelites, who wandered for forty years in the desert, we now have spiritual Canaan before us - the suffering, death and resurrection of our Lord. Whatever the Holy Church did in order to prepare us for a worthy entry into this land of promise: and thundered a curse on the sons of the obstinate; and fed the obedient with manna of various prayers and chants, with the very Body and Blood of Christ; and sweetened the bitter waters of repentance with the tree of the Cross for those weakening on the way; and in these last days she opened the book of the New Testament before everyone, showing us all the deeds of our Lord. After such a long and varied fertilization of the land and sowing, there must be a rich harvest. So, where are Jesus and Caleb now, those who fought well in the feat of fasting? May they cease from the fourty-day journey, may they cross the Jordan without water, and may they go straight to the Upper Room of Zion, where the immortal meal is being prepared! There their red feet will be washed from the finest dust of earthly thoughts; there they will hear the last testament of the Lord coming to suffer, they will receive peace and the promise of the Spirit; from there, following Him, without our instructions, they will go to Gethsemane and Golgotha, in order to suffer with Him and be crucified with Him in spirit. But what should those of us do, brethren, who, during our spiritual journey through the wilderness of Lent, did not cease to turn our faces and hearts to Egypt, grumbled at the bitter waters of repentance, and while Moses accepted the law on the mountain, worshiped under the mountain, perhaps, the golden calf? (Isa. 32:1–6). Ah, the Jordan will not open up before such people, the walls of Jericho will not fall, the sun will not “stand straight to Gibeon!” (Joshua 10:12). Such a place is not at the tomb of the Savior, but “at the tombs of lust!” (Num. 11:34). But what do I see? - At the right hand of the crucified Lord hangs a robber. What do I hear? The Lord speaks to him: “Today you will be with Me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). Who can close heaven when the Lord opens it? So, brothers, whoever you are, no matter how great your sins may seem, come all of you to Golgotha: the crucified Lord is calling you. Despite our uncleanness, He does not want to exclude anyone from His blessed covenant; wants us all to participate in the Heavenly Kingdom acquired through His merits. Forsake, brothers, all your dark deeds, and hasten to your Savior, while He is still on earth, before He gave up His spirit to the Father without you. Leave, I say, dark things. - Do you really dare to appear with them before the Lord? Show them at His Cross? - Oh, you have sufficiently outraged His life with your iniquities: is it necessary to outrage His last moments with them? No, brethren, no matter how stubborn your heart is in sin, you will not allow it such insensibility, such neglect of your Savior: through repentance you will lay down the weight of your sins at the foot of Calvary; appear before the face of the Crucified, if not with the myrrh of good deeds, then not with the stench of iniquity; - appear in order to fall in tears at His feet, to confess your sins, to ask for oblivion of your betrayals and blessings for correcting your life, for defeating your evil habits, the fight against which will henceforth become your main occupation in life. Without this, it is better not to appear at the tomb of your Savior, it is better not to kiss His wounds. Hasten, brothers, to cleanse yourself by repentance; hasten to renew through him the union with God and Christ, broken by your sins. There is no more favorable time than this, and there cannot be. Looking steadily at the suffering of the Lord, the soul itself will ask to go to the cross, the heart itself will bow to its foot. Do not suppress, brothers, this holy feeling; follow your Savior with all your thoughts. He will faint under the weight of the Cross; touch him together with Simon of Cyrene, touch him with faith, and go to Calvary, with a firm determination to begin the crucifixion of your flesh with its passions and lusts. The Lord will be stripped of his clothes; and you hasten to clothe yourself with them, to cover your sinful nakedness with His truth and merits. The spear will bring forth water and blood from His side; and you stand under the cross with your lips open, so that even a drop of life may fall into your insides to extinguish the hellish flame that is consuming you. I will also repeat: the coming days are the most favorable for the repentance of sinners, for they are the days of salvation for the whole world; The prudent robber is a witness to this. Amen. You might be interested in: