На псалом 95. «Воспойте Господеви песнь нову, воспойте Господеви вся земля» (Пс. 95:1)

“Sing a new song to the Lord, sing to the Lord, all the earth (Ps. 95:1).” 1. The hymnist David sang to us a truly beautiful and wonderful song on his spiritual lyre, prefacing the word of the Gospel with prophetic language and describing new deeds with old words. What did he exclaim? As we have just heard: sing to the Lord a new song, sing to the Lord, all the earth. Look, beloved, and reverently think how he, combining prophecy with the words of the gospel, affirms the agreement of dogmas. Sing, he says, a new song to the Lord. We know, brothers, that the new song is opposed to the old. This means that we need to determine what the old song contains and what the new song contains, and then by the difference in the content items we can understand the true meaning. Of course, the first and most ancient song was sung at the Red Sea, when the wondrous Moses, by divine power, petrified the sea and turned the bottom of the sea into dry land and, having sung the song, said: Let us drink to the Lord, for gloriously we have been glorified: the horse and the horsemen have been thrown into the sea (Ex. 15:1). Another ancient song was sung by the blessed Devorra, when, after the defeat of her enemies, she commemorated the victory with the greatest triumph she could - a victory song (Judges 5). You will also find another ancient song, sung like the first one in the wilderness, when the children of Israel found a well and enjoyed the new blessing of God (Num. 21:17-20). And in general, many traces of the ancient song will be revealed to those who delve closely into the Holy Scriptures with pure intention. And we must now determine what meaning and what purpose this recent and new song has. Be very attentive to my words. The ancient song was intended for one people and limited within the boundaries of one country, i.e. Palestine, and outside this country the people were not allowed to use the ancient song, but since there was one people and one language, then in ancient times both the worship of God and the song were confined to one place and one country. Blessed David also testifies to this, putting the following words into the mouths of the Jews captive in Babylon: how shall we sing the song of the Lord in a foreign land (Ps. 136:4)? Do you see that the ancient song was not allowed to spread throughout the whole of heaven, but its singing was assigned to one people? And then let us remember what the same Babylonian captives said: then those who captivated us asked about the words of the songs and led us about the singing: sing to us from the songs of Zion (Ps. 136:3). To this, in view of the requirements of the law and the prohibition of singing divine songs on a foreign land, they answer: how can we sing the song of the Lord on a foreign land? So, the ancient song was decisively limited, as I have already said, to one people and country, and the new song spreads throughout the whole of heaven and is sung by the whole universe. Therefore, the prophet, having said: sing a new song to the Lord, immediately added: sing to the Lord, all the earth. See how much wider the gift is here, how widespread the theology appears, see how it points to the introduction of a new song instead of the previous limited one. And so that no human considerations would obscure what he contemplated, the psalmist did not remain silent about the action of gospel grace, but having said: sing to the Lord, all the earth, he further added: proclaim His salvation day by day (Ps. 96:2). What salvation? Obviously, he understands the much-praised economy of the Savior, he understands the time when God, for the sake of love for mankind, became a man, when a doctor came to the suffering, when the light shone for those sitting in darkness, and the Way was opened to those who were lost, the Way that today cried out in the Gospel: I am the way and the truth and the life (John 14:6). It is necessary, brothers, to examine why God in ancient times limited His people to a place and a country, and why He did not allow them to sing divine songs throughout the whole earth. First of all, we must firmly remember that God does not hesitate and does not change and does not move from one thought to another, so that today he wants one thing and tomorrow another - but, being Himself unchanging and constant, He adapts to human weakness. Often God speaks and gives laws not as He could give Himself, but as we are able to accept. He could have lit a lamp for the nations with an ancient song, but the carriers of the lamps were not capable of preaching piety. If they themselves did not observe the teaching of piety entrusted to them, then how could they pass on the law of piety to others? Since they were an unfaithful and fickle people, easily infected with pagan abominations, they were tied to one place so that they could practice the law of piety on their own. This is what everyone around us often does: if he has suspicions against his wife, he keeps her in a certain place, shuts her up in a chamber, surrounds her with eunuchs and all kinds of guards, and takes all precautions regarding chastity, since he does not rely on the sincerity of love and the protection inherent in a chaste woman, which consists in chastity of the heart. And he who has a chaste and modest wife does not restrict her freedom in any way, since he is quite confident in her disposition. She goes out into the square - and there is no reason for jealousy, she meets with many men - and the disease of jealousy has no food - because her mentor and guardian - her character - is inseparable from her. And so, as it happens with us people, God does the same. 2. But let no one consider the above comparison indecent: between God and the people there is the same relationship as between husband and wife, not in the sense, of course, of bodily communication, but in the sense of mutual affection and love. God Himself, addressing the ancient synagogue through the prophet, directly said: and I have betrothed you to myself in righteousness and in judgment and in mercy and in the knowledge of the Lord (Hos. 2:19, 20). This is how marriage with God is explained here. What is this union? In knowledge. In human marriage there is communion of bodies, and in marriage with God the soul is united with God. And as it is said about this: and he will cleave to his wife and become two into one flesh (Eph. 5:31), so the soul, which is in unity with God the Word, cries out: my soul cleaves to you, but your right hand accepts me (Ps. 62:9). So, the ancient synagogue had a husband in the person of the law, as Isaiah testifies today through the mouth of the apostle, because Paul took advantage of the words of the prophet, say this: for it is written, that many are more empty children than those who have a husband (Gal. 4:27, - Is. 54:1). So, the law was a husband for her (and I return to my comparison), but she was in suspicion, since she constantly stained her love for God with her attraction to idols, which is what God accuses her of, saying: “And you have committed fornication with stone and with wood and have forgotten Me, says the Lord (Jer. 3:9, 10). And since the synagogue attracted suspicion, then in justice He ties it to a certain place and imprisons it, as if in a mansion, in a temple, not allowing even an altar to be erected in another place, but for the entire population of Judea and Palestine one place was indicated that had an altar. Therefore, Moses, not having confidence in his wife (the Scripture still calls the synagogue a wife), i.e., knowing the fickleness of the synagogue, warns her, saying: take heed to yourself, Israel, so that you do not offer your burnt offerings and sacrifices in every place if you find them, only in the place if the Lord chooses your Bon (Deut. 12:13, 14). Do you see how limited it is? And in justice, brothers, - because if, having (according to the law) an altar in only one place, she filled every place with idolatry, as Jeremiah loudly testifies: according to the number of your cities you were your gods, O Judah, and according to the number of the roads of Jerusalem you offered sacrifices to Baal (Jer. 2:13), - if, having received one place, she filled the whole earth with fornication, then think to what extent Would she have reached extreme uncontrollability if she had received complete freedom? Therefore, brothers, the singing, the sacrifices, and this people were all tied to one place. But the chaste, immaculate Church, bearing Christ within itself everywhere and having countless witnesses to its devotion to the bridegroom, is not constrained by place, but in every place it has altars, in every place there is teaching. This is predicted by God through the prophet; comparing the prosperity of the Church and the ingratitude of the people, the prophet says to the latter: my will is not in you, says the Lord Almighty, and I will not accept sacrifice at your hands. From the east of the sun to the west, my name was glorified among the nations, and in every place incense was offered to my name, and the sacrifice was pure (Mal. 1:10, 11). Do you see how clearly and openly he indicated the mysterious meal - the bloodless sacrifice? And he calls pure incense the holy prayer offered up during a sacrifice, because such incense is pleasing to God, that is, not extracted from earthly roots, but incense ascending to God from a pure heart. May my prayer be corrected like a censer before You (Ps. 140:2). Do you see how the brilliance of the divine liturgy is allowed everywhere? How is it that neither the altar nor the singing is limited by place? In every place incense is offered to My name. So, the pure sacrifice is, firstly, the mystical meal, the heavenly, premium sacrifice. After all, we also have many different victims. In the Old Testament, the law distinguished between many types of sacrifices: the sin sacrifice, the so-called burnt offering, the sacrifice of praise, the sacrifice of salvation, the sacrifice for the cleansing of leprosy and many other various sacrifices for those who are cleansed from all kinds of uncleanness; and in general the number of victims under the law was great and immeasurable. And the new grace, having appeared, combines everything in one and establishes the one true sacrifice. 3. However, we also have various sacrifices, only they originate not in the law, but in the spirit of gospel grace. Do you want to know the sacrifices that the church has? (Do you want to know) how the gospel gift, a pure and undefiled sacrifice, is offered to God without blood, without an altar and everything else? Turn to the Holy Scriptures, and it will clearly present to you the difference (between our sacrifices) and their variety. So, the first sacrifice is the one about which I spoke above - that spiritual and mysterious gift about which Paul speaks: be imitators of Bel, as beloved children, and walk in love, as Christ also loved to eat us, and gave Himself an offering and sacrifice for us to God for the aroma of aroma (Eph. 5:1, 2). The second victim is the victim of martyrs. Listen to Paul - he testifies to this: I pray you, your body is a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God (Rom. 12:1). So, the first sacrifice is the sacrifice of salvation, the second is the sacrifice of martyrs, the third is the sacrifice of prayer: may my prayer be corrected, like incense before You. The lifting of my hand is the evening sacrifice (Ps. 140:2). The fourth is a sacrifice of praise, consisting of songs of praise: devour the sacrifice of praise to God (Ps. 49:14). The fifth is the sacrifice of righteousness: then favor the sacrifice of righteousness (Ps. 50:21). The sixth is the sacrifice of alms: the sacrifice is pure and undefiled, to visit the orphans and widows in their sorrows (James 1:27). The seventh is the victim of the resurrection. Exclamation (ἀλαλαγμός) is a military victory cry. An exclamation is not the same as a cry (ὀλολυγμός). When warriors shout in war after a victory, this is an exclamation, a joyful cry and a sign of victory. Therefore, the prophet pleases future witnesses of Christ’s victory, singing the victorious hymn; he says: blessed are the people who shout (Ps. 89:16). So, an exclamation is a victorious noise and cry in war. After the Savior has won victory over all His enemies - be bold, for I have conquered the world (John 16:33), - we, singing a hymn in honor of the Victor, make that victorious noise that the prophet pleases in the words: waste and devouring in his village, sacrifice of praise and exclamation (Ps. 26:6). The eighth sacrifice to God is a broken spirit: the sacrifice to God is a broken spirit: God will not despise a broken and humble heart (Ps. 50:19). Do you see what sacrifices we have? There is also a special sacrifice made in the gospel sermon - a teaching word, about which the Apostle Paul says: the gospel of God is sacred, so that the offering of God may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 15:16). Do you see how he showed that preaching also rises before God as a sacrifice? So, you have the first sacrifice - the gift of salvation, the second - the sacrifice of martyrs, the third - prayers, the fourth - exclamations, the fifth - truth, the sixth - alms, the seventh - praise, the eighth - contrition and humility, the ninth - sermons. Did I leave something out? And indeed: I counted nine, but I meant to say about ten. So, what victim is missing? Yes, there is also a tenth type of sacrifice - the fruiting sacrifice, which Paul speaks of: I received from Epaphroditus, sent from you, a fragrant aroma, a pleasant sacrifice (Phil. 4:18). Do you see that Paul also calls doing good to the saints a sacrifice? That's how diverse our victims are. Devour the sacrifice of praise to God. And I praised, brothers, all of you, or better to say, we all praised, and first of all God, the sacrifice that you made: I mean specifically the charity to the poor. You showed mercy to those who walk around the square: they cried out to God and were heard by you. You imitated God's love for mankind, you banished the shame of poverty from the square. Your alms appeared and extinguished shame, because the cries of the poor were shame for the rich. You have gathered up the treasure of life, you have gathered up the treasure of the riches of righteousness. It is precisely this wealth that we must strive for—the wealth of truth, the wealth of truth, the wealth of love for the poor. There are, brothers, two treasures: one is collected from the wicked, and the other is saved for the good. The treasure of the wicked is disobedience, resistance, lawlessness, what is Paul talking about: you don’t know how the goodness of God leads you to repentance? Because of your cruelty and unrepentant heart, you stored up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God (Rom. 2:4, 5). Do you see the treasure of sins accumulated among the workers of iniquity? Look also at the treasure that love for the poor lays up for those who do righteousness. Listen to what Paul writes to Timothy: forbid the rich in this present age not to be arrogant, to put no hope in perishing riches, but to do good, to be rich in good works, to be gracious, to be sociable, laying up for themselves the foundation of good things for the future, so that they may receive eternal life (1 Tim. 6:17-19). Do you see the treasure of the good? Do you see the treasure of the wicked? Who keeps the treasure? Of course, with God: He keeps the treasure of the wicked with Himself for reward, and He punishes some and corrects others. 4. Do you want to see how well He remembers these treasures and keeps them? This is what He says about those given over to evil through the mouth of Moses: Their grapes are from the grapes of Sodom, and their rods are from Gomorrah: their clusters are clusters of gall, their grapes of sorrow. The wrath of serpents is their wine, and the wrath of asps is incurable (Deut. 32:32, 33). And when he listed these deeds of iniquity, he then added: Is not this all gathered together with Me and sealed in My treasures? On the day of vengeance I will repay, in the time when their foot stumbles (Deut. 32:34, 35). Thus He lays up for Himself treasures of iniquity for those who do iniquity. And for workers of righteousness He keeps with Himself the treasures of the kingdom (heavenly), about which Isaiah speaks: there will come wisdom and cunning and piety from the Lord (Is. 33:6). These are the treasures of truth, about which the Savior spoke to His holy disciples: hide for yourself an infinite treasure forever in heaven (Matthew 6:20; Luke 12:33). In a conversation with the rich man, He said: go, follow Me, and have treasure in heaven (Matthew 19:21). Let us avoid the treasures of sin, and let us accumulate for ourselves treasures of alms, good deeds that can extinguish all sin and resolve all lawlessness. And in order to know for sure what power alms has, consider carefully what has been said. Of the sins, some are against people, others are against God. For example, to be wicked, to blaspheme, to desecrate the church of God or to persecute the church of God or to dishonor the priests: all this is rebellion against God. And fornication, theft, insults - all this is turned against slaves like us. There is a big difference between someone who sins against God and someone who sins against people. There is nothing worse than wickedness, there is nothing more miserable than lawlessness against God, there is nothing more wicked than blasphemy against God. But even such lawlessness can be atone for by alms, if the sinner does not continue his blasphemy, but corrects his sin by repentance. But let no one blame me by listening poorly to my words: I am not addressing the folly of the foolish, but to you, the faithful, brought up in the truth. There is nothing more terrible than wickedness, nothing more painful than blasphemy. However, even such evil can be atoned for by almsgiving, if only someone sincerely converts to the truth. Let's take the ancient story of Daniel as an example. Belshazzar, the son of Nebuchadnezzar, who had once trampled upon the divine decrees and desecrated the shrine, dared during a general feast, amid drunkenness, wickedness and blasphemy, to bring there those sacred vessels that he took from Jerusalem and used them for drunkenness. And he brought, he says, holy vessels from Jerusalem, and he (the king) drank with them, and his wives, and his concubines, and she who reclined around him (Dan. 5:3). Sacred things were insulted not only by their use at an ordinary feast, but also by the intemperance of those feasting. This is evil - and God is long-suffering, this depth of kindness, the wealth of mercy, inexhaustible love for mankind, awaiting our repentance and postponing punishment. God tolerates the desecrator of the shrine and gives him a warning. While this was happening, it happened that on the plaster of the wall, that is, on the plaster, a kind of arm bone appeared from the hand to the fingers, the skeleton of an arm, and wrote on the wall: mani fekel fares (Dan. 5:5, 25). These were Hebrew words. The unexpectedness of the miracle confused the king and his guests. They began to look for a solution to the riddle and could not find it. The king called many interpreters, but they were all powerless to explain the phenomenon. Then Daniel is called. It was necessary that first the lie should reveal its powerlessness, and then the truth should shine forth. And just as in Egypt the soothsayers and wise men turned out to be powerless, and then Joseph discovered and explained the truth, so in Babylon, when the powerlessness of all human wisdom was exposed, then the wisdom of God shone through his faithful servant. Daniel was called, the herald of holy words, the spiritual book of the Scriptures, the interpreter of the great King appeared. And so that you know the difference between an ordinary man and a man of God, ordinary by nature, but immortal by soul, the prophet, having entered this wicked feast, is invited by the head of the feasters, I mean the king; say to him this last: I know about you, that the Spirit of God is holy in you (Dan. 5:14); explain to us what this inscription means. Do you honor the servant and insult the Master? Do you honor man and dishonor God? Do you recognize the Spirit as holy, but desecrate what is holy? I know that the Holy Spirit of God is in you. And even during the time of my father the Spirit of God was in you in abundance. And so, if you solve this riddle, he says, you will be clothed in purple and put a gold chain around your neck. But this blessed and great prophet, counting human gifts into nothing and honoring the truth above all else, says: To the king! Give your gifts to another man, and give your gifts to others, and I will proclaim the scripture (Dan. 5:17). But what will be your reward for interpreting? Reward from God, or better yet, this is the true reward for me - to interpret the truth and avenge piety that is being violated. 5. The act of a righteous man is worthy of surprise. It does not immediately explain the letter (on the wall), but first of all, it exposes the king’s thoughts. And what does he say? To the king, God the Most High gave kingdom and majesty, and honor and glory to your father Nebuchadnezzar. The same goes for you (I say briefly). And God gave you a kingdom and a fortress, and you forgot God and brought His vessels of gold and silver, and you and your wives and your concubines and those who reclined around you drank. But God, whose breath is in His hand, you have not glorified. For this reason, a hand was sent on His behalf and wrote its verdict on the plaster. These are the words. Mani: God measure Your kingdom and end it (this is the meaning of the word in both the Syrian and Hebrew languages). Fekel: establish your kingdom in Merilech and find yourself deprived. Perez: Your kingdom was divided, and it was given to the Medes and Persians (until now there was only a kingdom of the Babylonians) (Dan. 5:22–28). Notice here something worthy of surprise: as the prophet showed, God does everything by number and measure. He weighed it, he says, and measured it. With Him nothing happens without measure or without weight or without order, but He also imposes judgment with a fair measure, and when punishing, He imposes punishment corresponding to sin, not exceeding sin, but proportionate. Therefore, once, after the destruction and extermination of Samaria, God, threatening Judea with the same, says: and I will put on Jerusalem the measure of Samaria, and the scales of the house of Ahaavl (2 Kings 21:13), instead of saying: I will execute on you the same judgment that I executed on those - because the divine judgment is not carried out without measure, but is determined by measure, number and weight, as the Savior said in the Gospels: in the measure of the Merisha will be measured (Matthew 7:2). So God measured and weighed and divided, and the number of your kingdom was fulfilled, says the prophet to the king. What followed this verdict? The sentence immediately entailed execution. And now, king, may my advice be pleasing to you, and atone for your sins with alms, and for your unrighteousness with the bounties of the poor: God will not be patient with your sin (Dan. 4:24). Do you see what is the power of alms, how strong is philanthropy, how mercy towards the poor contributes to justification? The Prophet promised that if the sinner only listens, pardon will follow the promise. But pardon approached, but the correction of the soul did not follow. Humanity towards the poor has such power. Alms cleared the area of ​​captives, and will also loosen the bonds of captivity throughout the entire earth. You saw a square filled with prisoners, and this sight saddened you. But God will send the judgment of vengeance that the crimes (the perpetrators of this spectacle) deserve, because God is not unjust to consign to oblivion the souls unjustly destroyed, or the blood unjustly shed. True, saints died, but they died for piety. Do not point out to me the appearance of captivity and war, but pay attention to the fact that many, having dared to fight for chastity, suffered death, many virgins in peacetime were crowned as if during persecution, and many souls were exposed to danger. And do not think that those whose blood was shed were unworthy of God. Similar examples of history are known from antiquity. God constantly allows the saints to be exposed to danger, in order to thereby demonstrate the power of piety. Let no one tell me: why did they perish if they were holy? How did they suffer such a disaster if God cared about them? Listen to how David, under the cover of antiquity, sings of recent events: O God, the Gentiles are your inheritance, having desecrated the temple, and not just: the temple, but: your holy one. You have laid Jerusalem as a vegetable storehouse, you have laid the corpses of your servants for meat to the birds of the air, the flesh of your saints for the beasts of the earth (Ps. 78:1, 2). If these were betrayed as unworthy of piety, how were they betrayed? If some now tolerate such things as unworthy, why did the saints who lived before endure the same thing? If He Himself allows this, arranging everything for good, and through the saints restrains the pressure of sin, then there is nothing unjust in anything allowed by the power of God. God allows this in order to cultivate our patience. Often also the righteous suffer death for the unrighteous; You know the explanation for this from ancient stories. God condemns Adam, saying: You are earth, and you will go back to earth (Gen. 3:19). But the one who deserves this sentence remains alive, and the innocent Abel is killed: the condemned enjoys life, and the righteous is subjected to death. However, this is not without benefit. 6. Although God warned Adam that if he endured the same day, he would die (Gen. 2:17), but he did not immediately betray the sinner into the power of death, so that death would not acquire complete and unlimited power over the human race. If she had immediately captured those who had sinned, then the punishment would not have been accompanied by correction and repentance. But just as untruth opened the way for her to people, so through truth she must be driven out. The righteous were killed, but they did not perish: the righteous will be an eternal memory (Ps. 112:6). The blood of the righteous is shed, but God accepts them, who suffered as a result of their weakness, as His sons and avenges them as His sons. That those so easily destroyed by enemies are called sons of God and how sons will be avenged, this idea is suggested to me by blessed Moses. What does he say in his song? Rejoice, the Gentiles, with His people, and let all the angels of God worship Him, as the blood avenges His sons (Deut. 32:43). If they are sons of God, then how were they killed by their enemies? Do you see how God allows the righteous to perish for the glory of piety and does not hinder the work in order to establish faith? Rejoice, O heavens, for the blood of his sons is avenged. They are betrayed like strangers, but take revenge like sons. That the struggle for piety is martyrdom is obvious and generally accepted. And how - listen and figure it out, penetrating deeper with your thoughts into what you heard. At the trial, what else is offered to each martyr if not renunciation of God? And arming himself against this very proposal, he accepts the undoubted and indisputable crown of martyrdom. There was no trial over the now lost saints, and there was no judge, but conscience took the place of the judge. Many people sometimes (I say this, of course, not as a condemnation, but to clarify human thoughts) have a thought that someone can express during grief: where is God, Whom I served? Where is the God I confessed? There were waves and a storm here, and the ship was in danger. If anyone, amid these trials, came to his senses and said to himself: am I limited by the boundaries of this life? Did I really want earthly blessings? Was I not looking for the kingdom of heaven? Did I not expect the resurrection of the dead and angelic, eternal life? What harm will death cause to me, who has eternal blessings? I am not embarrassed by anything temporary, I expect the eternal. For someone who has experienced such thoughts in his soul, God will be the judge, piety will be the protector, fear will be the judgment seat, conscience will be the witness, weaving for him a crown of truth, and before conscience, God will be the one who rewards the ascetics of piety from above, because he who sees the secret crowns openly. Pray, it says, to your Father in secret, and your Father will reward you in secret (Matthew 6:1, 6). So, the one who prayed in secret will be crowned, but the one who makes a secret confession in his soul will not be crowned? In martyrdom, brothers, it is not only the end that is valued, but also the intention. It is not after a martyr has suffered beheading that he becomes a martyr, but from the very time he has shown his readiness to (die for) the confession, he is already a martyr, even if he has not suffered martyrdom. Who testifies to this? Blessed Paul: having tasted death only once, he imagines himself dying every day. Really, what does he say? I am dying all the days, such is your praise, I am an imam in Christ (1 Cor. 15:31). I'm dying all day. How do you die alive? I died by intention, but was saved by grace. As far as is humanly possible and in my power, since I have betrayed myself, I die every day; and that I, as a teacher, have been preserved for the church is already a matter of divine grace. God works everything out for good, and He betrays some in order to test the thoughts of the faithful, while He preserves others in order to preserve the leaven for the churches. The virgins were not defiled because their intentions were pure and their thoughts untainted. And note this, brother: virginity receives the crown of confession. What kind of virginity: did it arise from free will or was it forced? Don't you know that thousands of virgins leave this life with their bodies intact? Have not many daughters of the pagans, the lawless and the wicked, been kidnapped when preparing for marriage? Weren't there a few young men, pure in body, who were put to death before marriage? I mean young men - the sons of pagans, Jews, wicked heretics: after all, countless numbers of them passed on to another life, maintaining bodily virginity. According to the judgment of Christ, is such virginity rewarded with crowns, and does this multitude receive the crown of virginity? No, he doesn't. Indeed, if it receives, then necessity is merit; and if the matter of necessity does not constitute merit, but the reward relates entirely to will, then those virgins and youths who had virginity, but did not have the will of virginity, remain not crowned. 7. God does not accept what is done by necessity, but only what is done by free will. So, if for those thousands virginity is not charged as virginity, then for those who were defiled against their will (deprivation of virginity is not charged). The body is defiled, but the church of the soul is not defiled; the body is desecrated, but the intention is not eradicated. So, let no one reproach that many saints were subjected to violence and captivity. It is common for saints to suffer for the wicked. The Savior, not involved in any sin, is given over to death for sinners. Isaiah cries: man has gone astray from his way, and the Lord has given up His sin for our sakes (Isaiah 53:6). And again he: whoever did not commit iniquity, flattery was found in His mouth, and the Lord betrayed His sin for our sakes, for the sake of the iniquities of people, I was led to death (Isa. 53:9, 6, 8). Do you see? The imitators of Christ are those who suffer for the unrighteous. It happens, brothers, and differently (I now take this event in a broad sense), it happens that some of the victims are not free from sin, and the Lord, through this temporary misfortune, corrects the sin, heals spiritual wounds with bodily blows. Death is also charged as punishment. Sickness is also charged as punishment to those who sin among the pious. But who testifies to this? Paul. Of course, there is no need to say anything without confirmation, based on reason alone. If anything is said that is not from Scripture, the minds of the listeners falter, now agreeing, now doubting, now rejecting what was said as untenable, now accepting it as convincing; when the written evidence of the divine voice is given, then both the speech of the speaker and the attention of the listener have a solid foundation. So, what word testifies to us that the misfortunes and punishments that befall people are counted as satisfaction for sins? Listen to what blessed Paul says about those who approach the mystical meal unworthily: don’t you know that those who go to their own judgment eat and drink unworthily (1 Cor. 11:29). And after that, what did he add? For this reason, there are many infirmities in you - for this reason, that is, because you begin the meal unworthily; For this reason, there are many infirmities in you, many are sickly, and sleep contentedly (1 Cor. 11:30), instead of saying: they are dying, since death also befalls for sin. And then he continues: even if they reasoned for themselves, they were not condemned by the Lord (1 Cor. 11:31). Isn't God's judgment sickness and death? But what good does this judgment benefit me if I die? What is the benefit if punishment is accompanied by death? Even though we reasoned with ourselves, we were not condemned: we are judged by the Lord and punished, lest we be condemned with the world (1 Cor. 11:31, 32). God recognized it as truthful not to destroy the righteous along with the wicked, not to condemn the saints along with the wicked, and very justly, because there is no reason for a worshiper of Christ to be punished along with a blasphemer, just as the pious and glorifying person should be subjected to the same punishment with those who blaspheme and dishonor the truth. Therefore, God, in hidden and invisible ways, punishes those who sin among the pious in various ways, so that they may appear clean at the great judgment, so that, having punished them here, He will receive a reward there. Remember once again the apostolic words: even if we reasoned without ourselves, we were not condemned: we are punished by the Lord if we are judged, lest we be condemned with the world. Blessed David also speaks in accordance with this: blessed, he says, is the man who, O Lord, punish him, and teach him from your law, to tame him from the days of cruelty (Ps. 93:12, 13). Punished here, he will be at peace there and subject to the more merciful judgment of God. And do not be surprised that the pious, who has suffered punishment here, is freed (from punishment) by God in the future life. In the divine Scripture you will find a solid basis for this. There was no one more vicious than the Sodomites and more wicked than the inhabitants of Gomorrah; however, since they have already suffered punishment here, the Savior promises them a relatively easy fate: Capernaum, who ascended to heaven, will descend to hell: before the powers that were in you were in Sodomech, they remained until this day. Both the land of Sodom and the land of Gomorrah will be more tolerable on the day of judgment than it is for you (Matthew 11:23, 24). So, if the punishment suffered by the Sodomites here is mitigated by the future judgment, think how much the pious who are punished here will avoid the future judgment? May God grant that all of us, having escaped that judgment, will boldly present ourselves to the throne of Christ, to whom be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Source: On Ps. 95:1, and about alms. Attributed to St. John, but is now assigned to Spuria. B. Marx attributes the conversation to Severian Gavalski, Altendorf admits this judgment. Creations attributed to St. John Chrysostom and in the Patrology of Min, classified as Spuria The paragraphs in the text were arranged by us. – Editorial staff of “ABC of Faith” You might be interested in: