Слово в субботу недели 1-й Великого поста, на вечерне

Finally, the field of holy worship is over for you! For a small feat of polish and prayer, you received remission of sins, and now you have been worthy to partake of the Most Pure Body and the Life-Giving Blood of the Lord!.. Do you now see the difference between serving the world and serving God? Do you feel how good the Lord is to repentant sinners? Many of you wandered for a long time in a foreign land, serving other gods with all your blindness: and He, with your little turn to Him, received you all as children, clothed you with the robe of innocence and led you into His bright palace! The world drained your strength, corroded, one might say, your flesh and blood; and the Lord Savior fed you all with His own Body and His own Blood!.. Give thanks to the Lord with us, fall once again before this throne of His glory and love; vow again to be faithful to Him until death, and hasten to justify your faith with a pure life! Let the world know that it was not in vain that you parted with him, that you did not spend your time here fruitlessly, that you were definitely in the clinic of souls and hearts. And the world, brothers, will immediately know this, as long as you remain faithful to your vows. I am not saying that you will become completely sinless (this is the lot of those who have already been freed from the bonds of flesh and blood); but you will constantly try to be as free from sin as possible. The work of salvation will now begin to be your main work, to which all other works and activities will be subordinated; purity of heart and conscience will become such a treasure that you will value more than all distinctions and acquisitions; the thought of preparing yourself for eternity will occupy you every day, morning and evening. As a result of this, a great change must occur in your entire life and in all relationships: much of what previously touched and occupied you will be left forever; and, on the contrary, many things that you did not think about at all, or thought little about, that you did not do at all, or did rarely, will now be your favorite pastime; where before you were arrogant and proud, they will see you meek and humble; where no moderation has been observed, there will be abstinence; many of the friends, perhaps, will fall into complete oblivion, and some of the enemies or unsociable people will become friends. And looking at all this, everyone who knew you will be forced to say that you are not the same as before; that an extraordinary change has happened to you - for the better, for the holy, for the God-pleasing. Do we, brethren, make too many promises for you when we speak in this way? Is this not what you yourself were looking for at the foot of this holy altar? Didn't they come to us for spiritual health? Forgiveness has been spoken, the covenant with God has been restored, the right to salvation has been accepted: it is now your duty to preserve what has been accepted! The gifts of the Lord are unrepentant - may your repentance also be unrepentant! Without a doubt, this will require a lot of effort on your part: you will need to endure various temptations, make more than one sacrifice, break many unclean bonds, sometimes fight sin until you bleed; for if ever, then now the world will attack you with its temptations, the flesh will rise with its strength and with its impotence; the very spirit of wickedness will become hardened in battle against you. But, the title of holy communicant! Have you yourself ever thought of celebrating victory without fighting the enemies of salvation? Did not the world you served demand from you constant compulsions upon yourself? Didn’t the flesh force itself to make heavy sacrifices? Did the spirit of malice offer “all the kingdoms of the world” for nothing? Так дорого покупая доселе собственную погибель, пожалеете ли вы чего-либо теперь для приобретения собственного спасения? Will your Lord and Savior Himself spare anything for this, when He has already given you His very Body and Blood? No, if His grace pursued you when you wandered along the obstinate paths of sin, when you brazenly betrayed your conscience and His holy law, now that you have turned to Him completely and forever, when you will love Him with all your heart and fight for Him; now this omnipotent grace will pour over you with all blessings, will constantly admonish and instruct you, strengthen, comfort, preserve and revive. So, be inspired by courage, gather all your good thoughts and feelings, concentrate all the powers of your mind and will in the work of your salvation, and begin, immediately begin to accomplish it!.. If this required anything again on our part: admonition, consolation, prayer, or a new confession - come for this whenever you please, boldly demand everything that is necessary for you, do not spare either our time or our peace; we are called for this; your salvation is our duty, our food, our peace, our joy and salvation!.. Most of all, turn as often as possible with heartfelt prayer to the Doctor of souls and hearts Himself, the Lord Jesus. He Himself began the work of salvation in you; He Himself alone can accomplish it - and will do it, will certainly do it, if you do not prevent it with your unfaithfulness!.. You might be interested in: