Слово в среду недели 5-й Великого поста

“In the morning hear my voice: in the morning I will appear to You, and you will see me” (Ps. 5:4). Who wants to get up for prayer so early? Some hermit who has nothing better to do than sing the praises of God in solitude? No, not a hermit. So the altar server, who by his very title calls morning, noon and evening to the church every day? No, not the altar boy. Therefore, although a worldly person, he is free from everyday affairs and social duties, who has all his days and hours in full control, so he does what and when he wants. No, not that kind of person either. Who is this early and never-sleeping prayer book? “This is a man who has a ton of affairs of all kinds, who has so many responsibilities that it is difficult to count them, for whom there is not a single hour completely free, in a word - this is the king of a large people, Saint David! He says: “In the morning, hear my voice, my King and my God! Tomorrow I will appear to You, and you will see me! And do not think that this happened to him just once, on some special occasion, when those who are not accustomed and the laziest compel themselves and appear, not before the face of God, but also before the faces of men, from whom they expect mercy, in the deep morning: no, in the psalms of David there are other places testifying to his holy custom of going to the place of the dwelling of the God of Jacob in the morning. “In the morning,” he says in another psalm to the Lord, “in the morning we learned in Thee” (Ps. 62:7). The night itself did not prevent him from engaging in contemplation and prayer: “I commemorated You,” he says, “on my bed.” And not only did he remember, but what did he do? He got out of bed, threw himself on the ground and prayed: “At midnight I rose to confess to You about the destinies of Your righteousness” (Ps. 119:62). When all nature is silent and when there is silence and peace in the very tabernacle of the meeting: the king of Israel’s spoon is announced - with the confession of the name of God! This is how the high title of prophet was achieved! This is how the grace of God was brought down to the kingdom! This is how the incomparable advantage is deserved, that about the house of David it was said “afar off” (2 Sam. 7:19), and from the fruit of his womb it is promised to raise up the promised Savior not only for Israel, but for the whole world. But perhaps such closeness to heaven was purchased at some detriment to the earth; Perhaps, when the king of Israel went to the holy church in the morning in this way, his other duties suffered from this: the flow of royal affairs stopped or slowed down; the army became weak; truth and impartiality were not observed in the courts; the welfare of towns and villages was lost sight of; no improvements were made, no things were introduced that were required by the new needs of the people and circumstances? No, on the contrary! The Kingdom of Israel has never, neither before nor after, been in such strength, blossomed and risen as under that king who devoted not only his days, but also his nights to glorifying the name of God. David's successor, Solomon, as we know, followed opposite paths: having forgotten his father's covenants, he stopped walking in the justifications of the Lord blamelessly; instead of the holy harp of David, on which the glory of Jehovah rattled morning and evening, he led those singing and playing at his feasts to the pleasure of the flesh; and - what? - at the end of his reign, despite all his former wisdom, wealth and glory, the throne of Israel began to sink to the ground - until, under his successors, who surpassed each other in wickedness, it was level with the earth. What should we conclude from all this for our edification? That, firstly, that “piety,” as St. Paul says, “is profitable for all things, having a promise of life” (1 Tim. 4:8), not only of the future, but also of the present; and that those are mistaken in the most cruel way, who look at the time spent in the thought of God and in deeds of piety as lost for success in worldly affairs. Why are they wrong? Because success in these latter matters, as in all others, most of all depends on the blessing of God: to whom can this blessing most belong, if not to those who themselves bless the Lord with their thoughts and deeds? If earthly rulers especially love and distinguish those in whom they notice special zeal for themselves, then will the Lord of earth and heaven forget his faithful servants? “I love those who love Me,” He says, “and those who glorify Me I will glorify” (Prov. 8:17. 1 Sam. 2:30). In addition, a pious mood of thoughts and the fear of God, making a person sedate, prudent, modest and well-disposed towards everyone, thereby save him from many temptations and misfortunes that befall peace lovers for their pride, arrogance and contempt. In particular, the example of Saint David teaches us to be diligent in prayer and visiting the churches of God, and to use the very nights, especially the morning, for this, when possible. In fact, a day that begins with fervent prayer will always be much happier than a day whose beginning is not sanctified by it. On such a day, what is needed will be done better, and what is needed will be avoided, or rather. Our Orthodox Church, knowing this, provides us with all the conveniences for this. There is no day on which she does not accompany the sunrise with the call to morning prayer, audible to everyone. But how many heed this call?! For the most part it is heard idly in the air; and the cities, the most abundant in inhabitants, are like a cemetery at this time, where, no matter how much you shout and sound, you cannot raise anyone from the womb of the earth. In this case, will we indiscriminately blame everyone for their lack of diligence? No, many, not only in the morning, but throughout the entire day, one might say, are chained to their places. The Holy Church itself prays for such people, as for “those who labor and have passed away through blessed wine.” But how many are there who have absolutely nothing to do at home, who can do whatever they want with their time, and who, however, on the biggest holiday, that is, several times a year, would consider it an unbearable feat for themselves to get up early in the morning and go to church with others for prayer! There is no other obstacle to this on their part, except that in such a time it is necessary to make some force on oneself and leave the bed at the wrong time; and they have long been accustomed to devoting the whole morning to sleep; for most of the night is spent in vigil. But, ask: what are they working on? On important matters that cannot be delayed? No, what is called - in their own language - is to spend and kill time. Truly - to kill, for there is nothing more harmful than these nightly activities: they kill more than just time, and often along with it the conscience and soul. At least, the poor ones, at the same time they regretted their health, which they value so much in all other cases, for it does not perish from anything so much as from this unnatural transformation of night into day, and day into night. For do you think that it was in vain that the sun was commanded to rise and set at a certain hour? No, this is the law of our life and our activities. You can violate it as much as you like, but this violation will never remain without harmful consequences for the violators. Perhaps it seems to others that it is too late to return to the order of nature in this regard (but it seems to me that it is never too late to return to order): do not forcibly turn your children away from it, at least. Don’t be ashamed to admit your shortcomings to them and say directly that you had the misfortune of being carried away by bad examples, that now you see evil, and would be ready to go back, but it’s difficult. Thus, your confession will serve for the benefit of you and your children. Well, someone will say, do you already want everyone to go to Matins every day? No, beloved, we do not demand this; for many, even if they wanted to, cannot do it for various reasons. But there is no person who, firstly, cannot get up early, much less stay awake until noon; there is, further, no person who could not and should not sanctify his morning and begin his day with prayer, albeit short. And this is something that everyone should certainly do; This is what we demand from a Christian. Is it a great demand? Meanwhile, its implementation is extremely useful not only for our salvation and for our soul and conscience, but also for success itself in earthly and everyday affairs. For it is not in vain that it is said that piety is useful for everything, that it builds cities and houses; how, on the contrary, unbelief and freethinking, leading to luxury and debauchery, ruin not only houses, but entire kingdoms. There is so much evidence of all this around us that you would have to be blind not to see it. Why, for example, did such and such a house fall and go bankrupt, which, not so long ago, had no equal in wealth, inner peace and family joys? Because along with the pious parents, through whose labors everything was acquired, their good customs and zeal for the faith and the church, and the fear of God, and love for the poor were buried in the ground. Foreign languages ​​and fashion could not replace these virtues; the so-called ability to live in the world failed not only to acquire something again, but also not to lose what was ready; and those who were magnified on magnificent chariots must now walk, as the ancient sage predicted, on foot and almost stretch out their hands for alms. We say this not as a reproach to anyone (our duty is not so much to reproach the most guilty as to cry for them and with them), but as a warning to everyone. It is difficult to be happy without faith, and if there are, then for a short time, and then more apparently than in reality. And it is impossible not to perish without faith - no matter what, however, protects from destruction: for, just as there is no other God except the Almighty, the Just and the All-Holy; so there is no other way to be blessed than by walking in His holy commandments and being faithful to His most good will. Amen. You might be interested in: