Беседа IX

To the following words: “Let us make man in our image” (Gen. 1:26), and against those who say: “why were animals created, and what is the benefit of creating them”; also that from this the honor shown to man and the ineffable love of God for mankind are especially revealed. 1. Hardworking farmers, as soon as they see that the land is fat and fertile, throw abundant seeds into it, apply great and constant effort to it, and watch every day that nothing harmful to the seeds appears and turns the labor they raised into nothing. In the same way, we, seeing your spiritual disposition and great zeal for listening, try every day to sow thoughts from Divine Scripture in your mind, showing you what can harm this spiritual sowing, so that you do not get carried away and the sound teaching of dogmas is not distorted by the harmful teaching of those who dare to introduce their own thoughts into the dogmas of the Church. It will be your job to carefully preserve what has been entrusted to you and keep it firmly in your memory, so that you can easily follow what follows. And if we do not descend to the greatest depth of thoughts (Scripture), and you do not strain your mind now, when it is time for fasting, when our limbs are easy to swim and the eye of the mind is sharper, not darkened by the evil influence of voluptuousness, and the spirit is more able not to lose vigor, then when will we be able to do this? Will it really be then, when the time for amusements comes, and drunkenness, and gluttony, and the vices generated by them? Don’t you see that those who want to find (precious) stones in the sea look for them, not sitting on the shore and counting the waves, but descend into the very depths and descend into the very, so to speak, depths of the abyss, and thus find what they are looking for? Meanwhile, what important benefit does finding such stones bring to our lives? It would be good if it did not cause significant damage and greater harm! After all, from here, from mad love and addiction to money, countless evils are born. And yet, despite such harm from them, those who love them are not tired of anything, but expose themselves to great dangers, undertake hard work, just to find what they are looking for. And as for the Divine Scriptures, these spiritual and precious stones, there is no danger to be suspected, and the work is not great, and the benefits are unspeakable, if only we would do with diligence what is required of us. Grace (of God) is ready and is looking for someone to receive it with zeal. This is our Lord: when he sees a cheerful soul and a fiery desire, then, out of His generosity, He gives His wealth abundantly, beyond asking. 2. Knowing this, beloved, cleanse your mind from worldly affairs and, having expanded the horizons of your mind, with great zeal accept what is taught by the Spirit, so that you, like fat and fruitful land, may multiply what is sown and bear fruit, some a hundred, some sixty, some thirty. Have you heard in the past days about the ineffable wisdom of the Creator of everything visible, and how He brought everything into being with one word and will; said: “let it be” - and “it was”, immediately all the elements appeared; the word was sufficient for the creation of things, not because it was a word in general, but because it was the word of God. Remember that then (the word) was directed against those who say that existing things came from ready-made substances, and who introduce their idle talk into church dogmas. Have you learned why He made the heavens perfect and the earth ugly and formless? We then proved two reasons: one was that, having recognized the power of the Lord in the best element, we would not hesitate with the thought that this was due to a lack of strength; and the other is that the earth is our mother and nourisher, from it we receive food and everything else, to it we return again; She is both a homeland and a grave for us. And so, so that such a necessary benefit does not dispose us to think highly of it, God first reveals it to be ugly, so that from the very deeds they learn to attribute everything previously said not to the nature of the earth, but to the power of the Creator. You also learned how He made the division of the waters, commanding that this visible firmament appear; they saw how animate animals appeared both from the waters and from the earth. I am now forced to remember and repeat this to your love, not in vain, but so that those who heard (previous conversations) have the opportunity to imprint them even more firmly in their minds, and those who were not then received sufficient instruction and did not suffer any damage from the fact that they were not there. And a child-loving father saves the leftovers of the meal for his absent children, so that when they come, they will find consolation for their absence in preserving these leftovers. Therefore, we, caring for everyone who gathers here as our members, and considering your success as praise for ourselves, want all of you to appear perfect for the glory of God, for the praise of the Church, and for our honor. And if it’s not painful for you, here we will briefly remind your love of what was said yesterday. Have you seen the difference between the creation of (other) creatures and the education of man; We heard what honor (God) honored our ancestor, and how, when creating him, he pointed out the dignity of what he was creating with the very words and expressiveness of speech, saying: “Let us create man in our image and likeness.” Have you found out what “in the image” means, i.e. that they do not mean the dignity of nature, but the likeness of dominion, and that God related the word “image” not to the form (of external man), but to dominion; That’s why he added: “and let them have the fish of the sea, and the birds of the air, and the beasts... and the creeping things on the earth.” 3. But here the Greeks rise up against us and say that this word turns out to be untrue, because we do not possess the beasts, as (the word) promises, but they possess you. This however is completely unfair. Wherever a person appears, the animals immediately take flight. And if sometimes, when hunger forces them or we irritate them, we happen to suffer harm from them, this no longer happens because they have power over us, but because of our guilt. So, if even when robbers attack us, we do not remain idle, but arm ourselves, then this does not mean our power over them, but concern for our salvation. But let us listen, in the meantime, to what is said. “Let us create,” says God, “man in our image and likeness.” Just as He called the image of dominion “image,” so “likeness” is that we, as far as humanly possible, become like God through meekness, humility, and virtue in general, according to the word of Christ: “Be like your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:45). Just as on this vast and vast earth some animals are more meek, others more fierce, so in your soul some thoughts are unreasonable and bestial, others are brutal and wild; they must be defeated, overcome and subdued by the power of reason. But how, you say, can one overcome a brutal thought? What are you saying, man? We defeat the lions and pacify their souls, but you doubt whether you can change your brutal thoughts to a meek one? Meanwhile, in a beast, fierceness is by nature, and meekness is against nature; but in you, on the contrary, meekness is by nature, and brutality and cruelty are against nature. So are you, who destroys in the beast what is in it by nature, and imparts to it what is against nature, you yourself are not able to observe what is in you by nature? What condemnation this deserves! But what is even more surprising and strange: in the nature of lions there are also other inconvenient properties. These animals have no intelligence, and yet we often see gentle lions being led through the squares. And many of those sitting in the shops give the owner (the lion) money as a reward for the art and skill with which he tamed the beast. And in your soul there is reason, and the fear of God, and many different benefits: so do not present excuses and excuses. You can, if you want, be meek, quiet and submissive. “Let us create,” it is said, “man in our image and likeness.” 4. But let's return to the subject at hand. From what has been said, it is clear that at first man had complete power over animals, since it is said: “let the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, and the beasts... and the creeping things that creep on the earth have dominion.” And that now we are afraid and frightened of animals and have no power over them, I do not reject this; only this does not make God’s promises false. At first it was not so, but the animals were afraid and trembled, and obeyed their master. When he lost his boldness through disobedience, 51 his power was diminished. That all animals were subordinate to man, listen to what Scripture says: “bring” the beasts and all the dumb “to Adam to see what I will name” (Gen. 2:19). And he, seeing the animals near him, did not run away, but just as another master gives names to the slaves subordinate to him, so he gave names to all the animals. “And everyone who... is called Adam... this is his name”; this is already a sign of power. Therefore, God, wanting to show him the dignity of his power through this, instructed him to give names to the animals. So, this would be enough to prove that animals were not initially scary to humans. But there is also another proof, no less strong and even clearer. Which one? Conversation between the snake and his wife. If animals were scary to man, then when she saw a snake, the wife would not stop, would not accept advice, would not speak to him with such fearlessness, but would immediately be horrified at the sight of him and leave. But she talks - and is not afraid; There was no fear then. When sin entered, honor and power were taken away. And just as among slaves the most efficient ones are afraid of their comrades, and the faulty ones are afraid of their comrades, so it became with man. While he had boldness before God, he was also afraid of beasts; and when he fell, he himself began to fear the last of his fellow servants. If you do not accept our words, then prove to me that animals were terrible to man before the fall. But you can't prove it. And if this fear subsequently appeared, then this also serves as the most important proof of God’s love for mankind. If, even after a person’s transgression of the commandment, the honor bestowed upon him remained inviolable, it would not be easy for him to rise from his fall. When disobedient people enjoy the same honor as obedient ones, then they are more likely to become accustomed to evil and are not easily left behind. If even now, when there is fear, punishment, and torment, people do not preserve wisdom, then what kind of people would they be if they did not suffer any serious consequences for their crimes? This means that God took away power from us due to His care and providence for us. 5. And you, beloved, see in this the ineffable love of God, that Adam completely violated the commandment and transgressed the law, and God, who loves mankind and conquers our sins with goodness, did not take away all honor (from him) and did not completely deprive him of dominion, but only those animals he removed from his power that were not particularly useful to him for life, and those that are necessary and useful and greatly contribute to our well-being, he left in submission and obedience. So He left the herds of oxen so that we could pull the plow, plow the earth and sow seeds; He also left types of the jugular ones, so that they would help us in our labors when carrying heavy loads; left the flocks of sheep so that we would have sufficient means for clothing; He also left other kinds of animals that bring us great benefit. Since He, determining a person’s punishment for disobedience, said: “By the sweat of your brow you shall bear your bread” (Gen. 3:19), so that this labor and sweat would not be unbearable, (God) eased its burden and burden with a multitude of dumb people who help us in labor and work. He acted exactly like a merciful and caring master who, having punished his slave, applies medicine to the wounds. So God, having punished the sinner, wants to ease this punishment in every possible way: he condemned us to constant work and sweat, but to ease the work he gave us many dumb people. This means that the fact that He gave honor, and the fact that He again took it away from us, and the fact that He brought the fear of animals to us, and everything else, if only considered carefully and conscientiously, testifies to the great wisdom, great care, and great love of God. Let us thank Him for all this and be grateful to the One who has blessed us so much. He does not demand from us anything heavy and difficult, but only that we confess such His blessings and offer Him gratitude for them, not, however, because He needs it - He has no need for anything - but so that we learn through this to attract the Giver of blessings to ourselves and are not unappreciative, but show virtue worthy of His blessings and such care for us. By this we will dispose Him to take even greater care of us. I convince you, let us not be careless, but every hour, if possible, let each of you reflect not only on the general blessings, but also on the special ones bestowed on him (by God), not only on those known and obvious to everyone, but also on those known to him alone and not known to others: through this he will be able to offer unceasing thanksgiving to the Lord. This is the greatest sacrifice, this is the perfect offering; this will be for us the basis of boldness before God - I will explain how. Whoever constantly keeps this in his mind, fully aware of his insignificance, and on the other hand, thinking about the ineffable and immeasurable love of God - about how He arranges our affairs, looking not at what our sins deserve, but at His goodness, he moderates his mind, crushes his thoughts, tames all pride and arrogance, learns to behave modestly, to despise glory present life, not to value everything visible, to think about future blessings, about immortal and endless life. Whoever attunes his soul in this way makes a true and pleasant sacrifice to God, as the prophet says: “The sacrifice to God is a broken spirit: God will not despise a contrite and humble heart” (Ps. 50:19). Right-thinking slaves are corrected not so much by punishment and torment, but by good deeds and the consciousness that they suffered less punishment than what they deserved for their sins. 6. So, I pray, let us crush our spirit, humble our minds, and especially now, when the time of fasting gives us great help in this. If we put ourselves in such a disposition, then we will be able to perform prayers with great cheerfulness and win for ourselves great grace from above by confessing our sins. And in order to be sure that such souls are pleasing to the Master, listen to how He Himself says: “On whom will I look, but to him who is meek and silent, and who trembles at my words” (Is. 66:2). Therefore, Christ, talking (with his disciples), said: “Learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29). He who truly humbles himself will never allow himself to become irritated or become angry with his neighbor, because his soul has humbled himself and is occupied with what concerns itself. What could be more blessed than a soul thus disposed! Such (a person) always sits in the pier, safe from any storm and enjoying the silence of thoughts. That is why Christ said: “And you will find rest for your souls.” But just as the one who has tamed these passions enjoys great calm, so, on the contrary, the lazy and careless person, who does not know how to properly curb the passions that are born in him, is in constant agitation, fights at home, and, although there is no one, is indignant and suffers a great storm; when the waves rise and a storm of evil spirits comes, he often plunges into the abyss, because his ship is sinking due to the inexperience of the helmsman. Therefore, you need to stay awake, be sober, and have constant and vigilant care for the salvation of the soul. A Christian should always fight the passions of the flesh, vividly remember the commandments given to us by the common Master of all, be protected by them and properly use His great long-suffering towards us, not expect what will happen in the very fact, and then humble ourselves, so that it is not said about us: “Whenever I kill, then I will seek Him” (Ps. 77:34). So, beloved, having an assistant for ourselves in the present time of fasting, let us all hasten to confession of sins, turn away from all evil and practice all virtue. This is what the blessed prophet David teaches, saying: “Turn away from evil and do good” (Ps. 36:27). If we arrange ourselves in this way and combine abstinence from food with abstinence from evil, then we will receive greater boldness and be worthy of abundant mercies from God, both in this life and on that terrible day, through the prayers and intercession of those who have pleased Him, by the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father, with the Holy Spirit, be glory, power, honor, now and ever, and to the ages. centuries. Amen. You might be interested in: