Слово 39. На святые светы явлений Господних

See also other translations: Word 39. To the Holy Lights Sermon 39. On the Holy Lights of the Apparitions of the Lord (ed. 1912) 1. Again my Jesus and again a sacrament - not a deceptive and unseemly sacrament, not a sacrament of pagan error and drunkenness (as I call the sacraments respected by the pagans and as, I think, every sane person would call them), but a sublime and Divine sacrament, imparting to us the heavenly light! For the holy day of lights, which we have reached and which we are now honored to celebrate, has its beginning with the baptism of my Christ, the true light that enlightens every person coming into the world (John 1:9), but it produces my cleansing and helps that light, which we, having first received from Christ from above, darkened and made merged through sin. 2. So, listen to the Divine voice, which for me, who studies and teaches such sacraments (and it would be good if it were for you too!), cries out very clearly: I am the light of the world (John 8:12). And for this, come to Him, and be enlightened, and your faces, marked by true light, will not be ashamed (Ps. 33:6). Time of revival - let us be reborn from above! Time for re-creation - let us perceive the first Adam! We will not remain as we are now, but we will become what we were created. Light shines in darkness, that is, in this life - carnal life; and although he persecutes Him, darkness does not embrace him (John 1:5), that is, the opposing force that shamelessly approaches the visible Adam, but fights against God and yields victory. Why, having put aside the darkness, we will approach the light and then, as children of perfect Light, we will become perfect light! You see the grace of the day, you see the power of the sacrament: are you not delighted with the earth? Isn’t it obvious that the grief raised by my word and secret teaching has already ascended? And you will be exalted even more when the Word rules the word well. 3. Is this some kind of under-the-law and hidden purification that brings benefits through temporary sprinklings and sprinkles those defiled with ashes? Do the pagans practice anything like this? For me, every ritual and every sacrament is extravagance, a dark invention of demons and the work of a pitiful mind, which time helped and which was hidden by fable, for what they worship as true, they themselves hide as fabulous. If it is true, it should not be called a fable, but it should be shown that it is not shameful. If it is false, then one must not be amazed at this and not so shamelessly hold the most opposite opinions about the same thing, becoming like those who amuse children or husbands in the square who have completely lost their minds, and not those who reason with men who have intelligence and worship the Word, although they despise this multi-artificial and dirty persuasiveness of the word. 4. Here (I will say, although the pagans will not like this) is not the birth and hiding of Dius - the Cretan ruler, not cliques, and military applause, and dances of the Kuretes, drowning out the voice of the weeping god, so that the child-hater father would not hear, because it was dangerous to cry like a baby who was swallowed like a stone. Here are not the distortions of the Phrygians, not the pipes and Corybantes, not those furies that were committed in honor of Rhea, the mother of the gods, by both the dedicators and the initiates (which is befitting the mother of such gods). With us, it is not some maiden who is kidnapped, it is not Demeter who wanders, brings in some Kelei, Triptolemus and dragons, and sometimes acts, sometimes suffers. I am ashamed to expose their nightly rituals to the light and turn their cold affairs into a sacrament. Eleusis and the spectators know this of what is given over to silence and is truly worthy of silence. Here it is not Dionysus, not the thigh that gives birth to a premature fetus, as before the head produced something else; not the androgynous god, not a crowd of drunken people, not a pampered army, not the madness of the Thebans who worship Dionysus, not the worship of Perun Semele; not the prodigal mysteries of Aphrodite, who, as they themselves say, was both born and shamefully honored, not some Phallus and Iphiphallus, vile both in appearance and deeds; not killing foreigners among the Tauri; the blood of the Lacedaemonian youths not staining the altar, cutting themselves with whips and in this one inopportunely showing courage in honor of the goddess, and, moreover, the maiden, because they both honored gentleness and respected fearlessness. 5. Where do you put the preparation of Pelops as food for treating the hungry gods - disgusting and inhumane hospitality? Where do you place the terrible and gloomy ghosts of Hecate, Trophonius’ deceptions and predictions from underground, or the idle talk of the Dodon oak, or the mutual prophecies of the Delphic tripod, or the gift of foreknowledge of the communicating water of the Castalian spring? There was only one thing they did not predict, namely, that they themselves would be brought into silence. This is not the priestly art of magicians and guessing the future from dissected victims, not Chaldean astronomy and the science of predicting fate by birthday - a science that compares our fate with the movement of heavenly bodies, which cannot know about themselves, what they are or what they will be. Here are not the orgies of the Thracians, from which, as they say, the word τὸ θρησκεύειν, that is, worship, originates; not the rituals and sacraments of Orpheus, whose wisdom the Greeks marveled at so much that they even invented a fable about his lyre, as if it captivates everything with its sounds; unjust torture prescribed by Mithra 272 for those who decide to begin such sacraments; not the tearing of Osiris (another disaster revered by the Egyptians); not the unfortunate adventures of Isis; not the most respectable goats of Mendesians; not the manger of Apis, the calf daintyly fattened by the innocence of the inhabitants of Memphis. Here it is not that in their celebrations they insult the Nile, as they themselves praise, fruitful and good-natured, measuring the prosperity of the inhabitants with their elbows 273. 6. I will not talk about honoring reptiles and reptiles, about wastefulness in shameful matters, so that for each reptile there was some special rite and a special sacrament; although we see one thing in common in all - the unfortunate situation of those bowing. And if they were to become complete wicked people, completely fall away from the glory of God, abandoning themselves to idols, works of art and the works of human hands, then a prudent person would wish them nothing other than to have such objects of honor and to honor them in such a way that, as the apostle says, they would receive retribution, befitting their deceit (Rom. 1:27) in the fact that they honor not so much honoring what is revered, as much as they dishonor themselves, becoming vile in their delusion, and even more vile in the insignificance of what they bow down and honor, and in order to become more insensitive than the most revered objects, surpassing them in madness as much as the objects of worship exceed them in insignificance. 7. So, let the Hellenic children and the demons amuse themselves with all this, driving them to madness, appropriating God’s honor for themselves, and dividing them among themselves, instilling in them these or those shameful opinions and concepts. For the demons, from the time when we were removed from the tree of life by the tree of knowledge, from which it was inopportunely and inopportunely used, began to attack us as if we were the weakest, stealing our sovereign mind and opening the door to passions. They, being, or rather, out of their own malice, having become an envious and misanthropic nature, did not tolerate that those below were worthy of the heavenly rank, when they themselves had fallen from above to the earth, and that such a transfer would take place in glory and primary natures. Hence the persecution of God's creation! This is why the image of God is desecrated! And because we did not decide to keep the commandment, we were given over to the self-law of deception. And since they were lost, they dishonored themselves by the very thing to which they paid respect. For it is not only terrible that those who were created for good deeds, in order to glorify and praise the Creator and to imitate God as much as possible, became the receptacle of all kinds of passions, to the harm of feeding and consuming the inner man, but also that the gods were made patrons of passions, so that sin was recognized not only not subject to responsibility, but even divine, having for itself a strong protection - the very objects of worship. 8. Since we have been granted, having avoided superstitious delusion, to come to the truth, to serve the living and true God and to become above creation, leaving behind us everything that is under time and depends on the first movement, then let us learn from this, and philosophize about that which relates to God and the Divine. Let us begin to philosophize, starting with where it is best to begin. It’s best to start with what Solomon commanded us to do. The beginning of wisdom, he says, is to acquire wisdom (Prov. 4:7). What does this mean? He calls fear the beginning of wisdom. For it is necessary, not having begun with speculation, to end with fear (speculation is unbridled and can very well lead into rapids), but, having learned the rudiments from fear, having been purified by it and, so to speak, refined, to ascend to heights. Where there is fear, there is observance of the commandments; where there is observance of the commandments, there is cleansing of the flesh - this cloud that darkens the soul and prevents it from clearly seeing the Divine ray; but where there is purification, there is illumination; illumination is the fulfillment of desire for those striving for the highest objects, or for the Highest Object, or for That which is higher than the highest. 9. Therefore, we must first cleanse ourselves and then converse with the pure: if we do not want to suffer the same thing as Israel, who could not bear the glory of the face of Moses and therefore demanded a veil; We do not want to test and say with Manoah, who was honored with the vision of God: we, wife, perished as we saw God (Judges 13:22); We do not want, like Peter, to send Jesus away from the ship as unworthy of such a visit (and when I name Peter, who do I mean? - the one who walked on the waters); We do not want to lose our sight like Paul, who, before being cleansed from persecution, entered into communication with the Persecuted One, or, better to say, with a small brilliance of the great Light; We do not want, asking for healing, like the centurion, out of laudable fear, not to accept the Doctor into the house. And one of us, until he is purified, but still a centurion, takes precedence over many in evil and serves Caesar, the ruler of the world who is drawn down, let him say: I am not worthy, but come under my roof (Matthew 8:8). When he sees Jesus and, although small in stature spiritually, like Zacchaeus, he ascends the fig tree, killing the fruits of the earth (Col. 3:5), and becoming higher than the body of humility (Phil. 3:21), then let him receive the Word and hear: this day is salvation for this house (Luke 19:2), and he will receive salvation and bring forth the most perfect fruit, beautifully squandering and pouring out what he gathered poorly as a tax collector. 10. For the same Word is both terrible by nature to the unworthy, and acceptable by love to those who are prepared. Such are those who, having expelled the unclean and material spirit from their souls, having marked and adorned their souls with knowledge, did not leave them idle and inactive, lest they (since the most difficult and most desirable) be again occupied with an even greater reserve by the seven spirits of evil (as seven are considered the spirits of virtue), but in addition to removing themselves from evil, they also practice virtue, completely or as much as possible infusing Christ into themselves, so that the evil one the force, having occupied some emptiness, again did not fill the soul with itself, which is why the latter will be more bitter than the former (Matthew 12:43–45), because the attack is swifter, and the security guard is safer and is overcome with great difficulty. When, having guarded our souls with all care (Prov. 4:23), having placed the ascents in the heart (Ps. 84:6), having renovated our fields (Jer. 4:3) and sowed in righteousness, as Solomon, David and Jeremiah teach, we enlighten ourselves with the light of knowledge (Hos. 10:12), then we will proclaim God’s wisdom, hidden in mystery (1 Cor. 2:7), and let us shine for others. Until then, let us be purified and pre-perfected by the Word in order to benefit ourselves as much as possible, becoming God-like and accepting the Word that came, not only accepting it, but also containing it within ourselves and revealing it to others. 11. Since we have purified the assembly with words, we will now begin to philosophize a little about the holiday and form a common holiday with lustful and God-loving souls. And since the main thing in the holiday is the remembrance of God, let us remember God. For the noise of those celebrating (Ps. 41:5) where those who rejoice are all dwelling (Ps. 86:7), in my opinion, is nothing other than God, hymned and glorified by those who are worthy of living there. If the present word contains something that has already been said before, no one should be surprised. For I will begin to say not only the same things, but also about the same things, having a trembling tongue, mind, and heart every time I speak about God, and desiring you the same praiseworthy and blessed fear. When I pronounce the word “God”, you are illuminated by a single and threefold light - threefold in relation to special properties, or to Hypostases (if anyone wants to call it that), or to Persons (we will not quarrel at all about names, as long as the words lead to the same thought), but one in relation to the concept of essence and, consequently, Divinity. God is divided, so to speak, inseparably and combined separately, because the Divinity is One in three, and the Three are one, in which the Divine is, or, more precisely, in which are the Divinity. As for excess and shortcomings, we will do without them, turning neither unity into unity, nor division into alienation. May Sabelli's reduction and Aria's division be equally far from us, for both in the opposite sense are bad and equally wicked. For why is it necessary to either wickedly merge God, or cut him into unequals? 12. For us there is one God the Father, from whom are all things, and one Lord Jesus Christ, in whom are all things (1 Cor. 8:6), and one Holy Spirit, in whom are all things. With words from Him (ἐξ οὗ), By Him (δι’ οὗ) and in Him (ἐν ᾧ) we do not separate natures (otherwise the prepositions would not be rearranged or the order of names would not change), but we distinguish the personal properties of a single and unmerged nature. And this is clear from the fact that those distinguished are again brought together, if not without attention you read the following words from the same apostle: from Him, and by Him, and in Him (εἰς αὐτόν) all things: To Him be glory forever, Amen (Rom. 11:36). The Father is the Father and is beginningless, because he has no beginning from anyone. The Son is the Son and is not without beginning, because he is from the Father. But if you understand the beginning in relation to time, then the Son is without beginning, because the Creator of times is not under time. The Spirit is truly the Holy Spirit, proceeding from the Father, but not as the Son (οὐχ ὑϊκῶς), because it occurs not begotten (γεννητῶς), but originally (ἐκπορευτῶς), if for clarity it is necessary to use a new word. Meanwhile, neither the Father is deprived of unbegottenness, because He begat, nor the Son is deprived of birth, because from the Unbegotten (for how can He be deprived?), nor does the Holy Spirit change either into the Father or into the Son, because He proceeds and because God, although it does not seem so godless. For personal property is immutable; Otherwise, how could it remain personal if it were offered and transferred? Those who recognize unbirth and birth as the natures of the gods of the same name, perhaps Adam and Seth, of whom one is not of the flesh (as God’s creation), and the other from Adam and Eve, will begin to recognize them as alien to each other by nature. So, there is one God in Three and the Three are one, as we said. 13. Since such are the Three, or such is the One, and it was necessary that the worship of God should not be limited to those on high, but that there should also be some worshipers and that everything would be filled with the glory of God (because everything is God), then for this purpose man is created, honored by the handiwork and image of God. And so created, when he, through the envy of the devil, through the bitter taste of sin, miserably withdrew from the God who created him, it was not in God’s nature to despise. What is happening? And what is the great mystery about us? Natures are renewed, and God becomes man. And he who ascended to heaven in the east (Ps. 67:34) of his own glory and lordship is glorified in the west of our baseness and our humility. And the Son of God deigns to become and be called the Son of Man, not changing what he was (for this is unchangeable), but accepting what he was not (for He loves mankind), in order to become contained by the Incontainable, entering into communication with us through the mediating flesh, as through a veil; because it is impossible for a born and corruptible nature to bear His pure Divinity. For this purpose, the incompatible is united: not only God with birth in time, mind with flesh, the pretemporal with time, the indefinable with measure, but also birth with virginity, dishonor with that which is above all honor, the impassive with suffering, the immortal with the corruptible. Since the inventor of sin dreamed of being invincible, having caught us with the hope of deification, he himself is caught in the cover of the flesh, so that, attacking us like Adam, he can meet God. Thus, the new Adam saved the old, and condemnation was removed from the flesh by the mortification of death by the flesh! 14. But Christmas was celebrated as it should be, both I, the founder of the holiday, and you, and everything both in the world and in the world. We flowed with the star, we worshiped with the Magi, we were illuminated with the shepherds, we praised with the Angels, we embraced Simeon, and with Anna, the elderly and chaste, we confessed to the Lord. And thanks be to Him who came to Himself as a stranger to glorify the stranger! And now there is another act of Christ and another sacrament. I can’t contain the pleasure and become inspired. Almost like John I preach the gospel; and although I am not a forerunner, I am nevertheless from the desert. Christ is enlightened - we too will be illuminated with Him! Christ is baptized - let us descend with Him, so that we may ascend with Him! Jesus is baptized: is it one thing or both that must be taken into account? Who is being baptized? From whom and when is he baptized? – Pure, from John and when he begins to perform signs. What do we know from this, what do we learn? – One must purify oneself, practice humility, and preach after one has perfected one’s spiritual and physical age. The first is necessary for those who approach baptism carelessly and without preparation and do not provide redemption through skill in goodness. For although this grace, like grace, gives remission of past sins, then all the more reverence is required from us so as not to return to the same vomit (Proverbs 26:11). The second is necessary for those who exalt themselves against the builders of the sacraments, if they have any advantage over them. The third is needed by those who boldly rely on youth and think that there is always time for teaching or presiding. Jesus is being cleansed and you are neglecting cleansing? Cleansed from John, and you rebel against your preacher? He is purified when he is thirty years old, and you, not yet having a beard, teach the elders or think that you can teach without earning respect either by age or even, perhaps, by way of life? Then Daniel appears to you, both of them are young judges, and all the examples are on the tongue, because everyone who acts unjustly is ready to justify himself. But what is rare is not a law for the Church, since one swallow does not show spring, or one line does not make a geometer, or one short voyage does not make a sailor. 15. But John baptizes. Jesus comes, sanctifying, perhaps, the Baptist himself, undoubtedly the whole of the old Adam, to be buried in water, and before them and for them, sanctifying the Jordan and, as He Himself was spirit and flesh, perfecting with spirit and water. The Baptist does not accept - Jesus insists. I demand to be baptized by You (Matthew 3:14), says the lamp to the Sun, the voice to the Word, the friend to the Bridegroom, the one who is above all among those born of women (Matthew 11:11), the Firstborn of all creation (Col. 1:5), leaping in the womb - to the One Who, while still in the womb, received worship, the Forerunner and having to be the Forerunner - to the One Who appeared and has to appear. I demand to be baptized by You, add: and for you. For the Baptist knew that he would be baptized by martyrdom or that more than just his feet would be cleansed, like Peter’s. And are you coming to me? And this is the prophecy. For the Baptist knew that just as Pilate would rage after Herod, so Christ would follow the departed Forerunner. What about Jesus? Leave it now. This is God's Economy. For Jesus knew that He would soon be the Baptist of the Baptist. What does a shovel mean (Matthew 3:12)? Cleansing. What's fire? Consumption of low-weight foods and burning of the spirit. What about the ax? Visitation of the soul, which remains unhealed and is covered with pus. What's a sword? Dissection by words, through which the worst is separated from the best, the faithful are separated from the unfaithful, the son is incited against the father, the daughter against the mother and the daughter-in-law against the mother-in-law, the new and recent against the ancient and hidden. What does the thong of the boot mean (Mark 1:7), which you do not untie, Baptist of Jesus, inhabitant of the desert, not eating food, new Elijah, deprived of the Prophet (Matthew 11:9), because he saw the Foretold One, mediating between the old and the new? What does he mean? Perhaps the doctrine of the coming and incarnation, in which even the most extreme is intractable not only for carnal people and infants in Christ, but also for those who are similar in spirit to John. 16. But Jesus ascends from the water, for he takes up the whole world with Him, and sees the heavens breaking apart (Mark 1:10) - the heavens that Adam concluded for himself and for his descendants, just like paradise, with a flaming weapon. And the Spirit testifies of the Divinity, because it comes to the equal; and a voice from heaven, because He is from heaven, of whom the testimony is given. And the Spirit is like a dove, because it honors the body (and it is God after deification), because bodily and together with a dove visible from afar, it is customary to herald the end of the flood. If you judge the Divinity by volume and weight, you who think petty about the greatest, and the Spirit is small for you because it appeared in the form of a dove, then it is fitting for you to put the Kingdom of Heaven at nothing, because it is likened to a mustard seed; It is fitting for the greatness of Jesus to prefer the enemy, because he is called a great mountain (Zech. 4:7), and Leviathan (Job 7:8) 274, and king of all who live in the waters (Job 41:25); and Jesus is called a lamb (1 Pet. 1:19), pearls (Matt. 13:46), a drop (Mic. 2:11) and the like. 17. But since this is a real triumph for the sake of Baptism, and we must suffer some misfortune with the One who was imagined for us, baptized and crucified, then let us philosophize a little about the differences of baptisms in order to come out of here purified. Moses baptized, but in water, and before that - in a cloud and in the sea (1 Cor. 10:2), and this had a representative meaning, as Paul understands. Water was represented by the sea, Spirit by the cloud, bread of life by manna, and Divine drink by drink. John also baptized, no longer in the Jewish way, because not only with water, but also for repentance (Matthew 3:11), however, not completely spiritually, because he did not add: and spirit. Jesus also baptizes, but with the Spirit: in this is perfection. How could it not be that God is the One through whom (I dare say) you too will become a god? I also know the fourth baptism - the baptism of martyrdom and blood, with which Christ Himself was baptized, which is much more honorable than others, since it is not defiled by new impurities. I also know the fifth – tearful, but most difficult; with it is baptized the one who washes his bed and bed with tears every night (Ps. 6:7), who is stifled with the wounds of sin (Ps. 37:6), who walks weeping and lamenting (Ps. 34:14), who imitates the conversion of Manasseh, the humility of the pardoned Ninevites, who pronounces the words of the publican in the church and is justified more than the vain Pharisee, who falls down with a Canaanite woman, asks for humanity and crumbs - food for the hungriest dog. 18. I confess that man is a changeable being and by nature fickle, and therefore I readily accept this last baptism, I worship the One who gave it, and I communicate it to others, and with mercy I redeem myself. For I know that I myself am overcome with weakness (Heb. 5:2) and with the measure I use, it will be measured to me. But what are you saying? What law do you give, O new Pharisee, in name, and not by will, pure and instilling in us Novato’s rules, with the same weakness? Don't you accept repentance? Don't you give room for tears? Aren't you crying? May the Judge not treat you like this! Doesn’t the love of Jesus touch you, Who accepted our illnesses and bore illnesses (Matthew 8:17), Who came not to the righteous, but to sinners, to call them to repentance, Who wants mercy, not sacrifice (Matthew 9:13), forgives sins up to seventy times seven (Matthew 18:22)? How blessed would your highness be if it were purity, and not arrogance, which gives laws that are not enforceable for a person, and correction ends in despair! Equally bad are remission of sins that does not correct, and condemnation that knows no mercy; the former completely weakens the reins, and the latter strangles with excessive tension. Prove to me your purity, and I will approve of your cruelty. And now I’m afraid that you are proving your inability to heal because you yourself are covered with wounds. Will you really not accept David the repentant, in whom repentance also preserved the gift of prophecy, or the great Peter, who experienced something human during his saving suffering? But Jesus accepted him and, by asking and confessing three times, healed his three-fold denial. Will you really not accept the one who was baptized in blood (and so far will your arrogance extend!), or the Corinthian lawless one? But Paul also affirmed love (2 Cor. 2:8), when he saw the correction, and presented the reason, so that such a one (2 Cor. 2:7), burdened with excessive punishment, would not be consumed with much sorrow. Do you not allow young widows to get married, despite advancing age? But Paul dared to do this; and you, surely, are his teacher, as one who ascended to the fourth heaven, to another paradise, who heard even more unspeakable verbs, who declared an even greater circle to be the Gospel! 19. “But Paul did not allow this after baptism.” What evidence is there for that? Either prove it or don’t judge. If the matter is doubtful, let philanthropy prevail. But they say that Novat did not accept those who fell during the persecution. What of this? If unrepentant, fair. And I do not accept those who are either adamant or do not soften enough and do not reward a bad deed with correction. When I accept them, I assign them a decent place. And if Novat did not accept the tears that flowed, I will not imitate him. And what kind of law do I have for the misanthropy of Novatus, who did not punish covetousness - the second idolatry, but condemned fornication so strictly as being disembodied and incorporeal? What do you say? Do we convince you with these words? Stand on the same side as us humans. Let us magnify the Lord together. None of you, even if you rely too much on yourself, dare to say: “Touch me not, for I am pure (Isa. 65:5); and who is as pure as I am?” Please inform us as well. But we are not convinced? And we will shed tears for you. So, these, if they want, let them follow our path and Christ’s; if not, then yours. Perhaps they will be baptized there by fire - this last baptism, the most difficult and lasting, which consumes matter like hay and consumes the lightness of all sin. 20. And now we will honor the Baptism of Christ and will honorably celebrate, not satiating our bellies, but having spiritual joy. How can we enjoy it? Wash yourself, you will be clean (Isa. 1:16). If you are scarlet from sin and not completely bloody, you will be white as snow; if men of blood are perfect and scarlet, then at least come to the whiteness of the wave. In any case, be purified and purified. God rejoices in nothing more than in the correction and salvation of man; For this purpose is all the word and every sacrament. May you be like the lights in the world (Phil. 2:15) - a life-giving force for other people, and, having presented yourself with perfect lights to the great Light, may you learn the secrets of the light-giving there, purer and clearer illuminated by the Trinity, from Which you have now received in a small measure one ray from the one Divinity, in Christ Jesus our Lord. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen. At the mouth of the Nile, a size was carved on stones, according to which the rise of water in the Nile during the flood was noted, and from this a conclusion was drawn about the fertility in Egypt and the prosperity of the inhabitants. According to the translation of Symmachus, in the Seventy and in Slavic: the great whale.