Слово в неделю 2-ю Великого поста

Do you know, my brothers, that during Great Lent, every day of the week is dedicated by the Church to the remembrance of some great event? So, on Sunday, immediately before Lent, the fall of Adam is remembered in church, so that we, bringing to our memory how the human race was expelled from the paradise of sweets for intemperance, would kiss the holy fast all the more diligently, as if it were the door to a lost paradise. On the first week of Great Lent, the Triumph of Orthodoxy is celebrated, showing what it once cost to preserve the treasure of faith in all its integrity, and thereby teaching us to value it properly. In the middle of the Lenten season, the all-honorable Cross will be offered for veneration, to encourage us to further exploits and to sweeten the bitter waters of repentance with it. The fifth week will be announced with the name of Saint John Climacus, as the greatest of the ascetics of piety, who not only himself, like an eagle, soared above everything below, but, in his creations, also drew a ladder to heaven for others. The last week of Pentecost will begin with the celebration of the memory of the Venerable Mary of Egypt, as a most touching example of repentance, for in the first half of her life, as we know, she surpassed almost all sinners; and in continuation of the latter she surprised the Angels themselves with her purity. On this weekly day, according to the Charter of the Holy Church, the exploits of St. Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessalonica, are glorified. With this order in the Church Charter, in each week of the current Lent, the first source for our spiritual edification is the remembrance, together with the Church, of the person or event to which the week is dedicated. We are all the more willing to use this source now - both for you and for ourselves, because no matter how close it flows from everyone, but, unfortunately, it is used very little, so that for many it is almost completely unknown. Thus, our words and conversations with you, if they have no other effect, will at least bring some awareness of this holy source. So, now, as we said, the laudatory memory of our father Gregory Palamas, like the saints, is being celebrated. What did he do to deserve such great honor? Is it not because he was the shepherd of the famous, especially in ancient times, flock of Thessalonica? But we have a lengthy list of shepherds of this Church, and not one of them shares this honor with Saint Gregory. Or perhaps he is glorified because he was the most enlightened saint of his time and left us many of his instructive creations? But even for this difference, it would be necessary to glorify not only him, but many others, which, however, the Holy Church does not do. One might also think that Saint Gregory is honored in this way because of his special holiness. This is much closer to the point, for without the holiness of life he would in no way become an object of praise for the Church; but this reason does not explain everything, since it was not he alone who was distinguished by the holiness of his life, but many. If the whole week of Holy Lent is decorated with the name of Saint Gregory, then there must be something in his very deeds why he especially comes to mind during Lent, and as a result of which the memory of him serves as a special edification for those who fast. What would it be? It is clear from his life that he, firstly, was one of the greatest ascetics in the monastic and, therefore, fasting and toilful way of life, on Holy Mount Athos. There he spent most of his days in fasting, prayer and silence, and there he grew to that purity of heart and height of spirit that he became a visible and tangible vessel of God’s grace for everyone. Secondly, that Saint Gregory was a most zealous champion of the desert and, therefore, fasting life against those who wanted to denigrate and humiliate him with various slander. This last circumstance requires clarification. Therefore, we will go into some details, which, however, are such that they can serve for edification in our time. The desert dwellers of Mount Athos, leading an ascetic lifestyle, so cleansed themselves of everything carnal and became so refined and elevated in spirit that many of them were likened to revelations and spiritual visions, especially the illumination of heavenly light, similar to that which was seen around the Savior on Tabor. In this event, not only was there nothing contrary to the spirit of the Gospel, but, one might say, it was proof and a guarantee of what is promised to the righteous in it: that is, that they themselves will be enlightened like the sun in the Kingdom of Heaven. For is it surprising that those who were once destined to be like the sun, and now, while still on earth, are illuminated like the moon by the light from the spiritual Sun, who is Christ the Lord? But the enemies of Orthodoxy looked at this spiritual experience differently. Instead of recognizing in him with reverence the success of ascetics in the spiritual life, they looked at him as a figment of the imagination. Not only that: they began to publicize everywhere that the Athonite hermits had fallen not only into self-delusion, but also into heresy; that they, having assimilated Divinity into this heavenly light, supposedly introduce into the Divinity from the beginning - the created and the uncreated - that such a teaching violates even the right faith. You can imagine, brothers, how bitter this slander was for the inhabitants of the Holy Mountain and how difficult it was for the entire Orthodox Church! Among the heretical disturbances of that time, Athos was always like a spiritual Ararat, on which the ark of Orthodoxy found refuge and was saved; and now, on this very Ararat, as the evil-minded claimed, heresy appears, under the guise of the most pious and, therefore, the most dangerous! Such a thought could also lead to confusion among those whose “senses are trained, in the words of the Apostle, by long teaching to distinguish between good and evil” (Heb. 5:14); even more so, simple and inexperienced souls in spiritual life could not remain in peace: the entire Greek Church came into great excitement!.. In this dangerous time for the Church, the Shepherd of Thessalonian appears, like an angel of silence, to tame the storm. Possessing an extensive and deep knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, he shows one and all that the teaching about the Light of Tabor, whose vision the ascetics of Athonite are honored with, is completely in accordance with the spirit of the Gospel, that those who doubt the existence of this light and the illumination of God’s chosen ones by it while still on earth, thereby reveal only the lack of their purity and their spiritual exploits. As a student and pupil of Athos, who knew not only by hearsay, but by experience, the way of life of the local ascetics, Saint Gregory goes into all the details of the controversial subject, pursues every slander of the evil-minded from its first beginning to the last end, and, having thus dispelled the darkness brought upon the Holy Mountain, shows it in all its hitherto not so well-known spiritual greatness. The very captivity of the Saracens does not bind the lips of Saint Gregory: even in prison, he continues to defeat the enemies of Orthodoxy and confirm the wavering children of the Church in the truth. In gratitude for these apostolic deeds, which brought peace to the Orthodox Church and acquired the name “Son of the Divine Light” for Gregory, soon after his holy death, the pastors of the Church unanimously ordained that his memory would adorn the present day of the week. And righteously! since by him the honor of not only the inhabitants of Athos, but of the entire ascetic life is protected and protected; The honor of holy fasting was saved, as the first of the means by which the holy ascetics of Athonite achieved illumination with the Divine light: that remembrance of the exploits of St. Gregory, most of all, therefore befitted not any other time, but namely the days of Great Lent. We, thank the Lord, are free from the heretical disturbances that troubled the Church during the time of Saint Gregory, but the memory of him is very instructive for us too. How? So that we, keeping the ancient example in mind, do not allow ourselves to be carried away by those frivolous judgments about the ascetic life, and in particular about holy fasting, which, unfortunately, can be heard from time to time from the lips of people who are not alien to respect for the Church. Moreover, to shield your ears from the insane mockery of this kind of those who undertake to judge everything and reject everything, not knowing, as they should, anything. It is not surprising if the spiritual experiences of holy ascetics are most often criticized by such false minds; for they are too far removed from their meager and weak concept of spiritual objects, and are completely opposite to their fleshed-out view of everything and the human spirit itself. If you meet such people, if you hear such speeches, then remember Saint Gregory and his feat; remember how he dispelled and cast down slander against the holy life of the ascetics. Such a memory will always serve as a ready shield for you against temptation. This is not the first nor the last time that life in the spirit has been criticized by carnal people. The Apostle said long ago that the carnal “man does not receive even the Spirit of God: for he is foolish, and cannot understand” (1 Cor. 2:14). Note the expression of the apostle: and cannot understand; How can we judge what we do not understand? In order to judge spiritual objects, especially spiritual experiences, the judge himself must be granted the Spirit, which may we all achieve through the grace of the Lord and the prayers of St. Gregory! Amen. You might be interested in: