Слово в неделю четвертую Великого поста, сказанное в Предтеченской церкви архиерейского дома, 2-го марта 1858 года.

“This generation can come forth in no way except by prayer and fasting” (Mark 9:29). Last week, the so-called Middle of the Cross, St. The Church, to encourage and strengthen us in the exploits of Lent, offered us St. the cross of our Savior and pointed to the highest example of His deeds on the cross, raised for our salvation. Now, for the same purpose, she proclaims to us the Savior’s saying about the need for us to fast and pray and presents a closer, more accessible example for us to follow in St. John Climacus. The Savior’s saying about the spirit of malice: “this generation can come out only through prayer and fasting,” apparently does not apply to us. Thank the Lord, we do not feel physically possessed by an evil spirit. But, alas, my brothers, we are all more or less morally possessed by him due to our sins; He, as it were, dwells in all of us and controls us: because when we sin, we fulfill his will, we do his lusts (John 8:44). And if during the days of Pentecost, according to the intention of St. Church, we must repent, cleanse ourselves of sins, correct our lives: this means that we must expel the spirit of malice from ourselves, renounce it, put aside its dark deeds. That is why St. commanded us. The Church, throughout the Pentecostal period, fasts and prays, as the most important and necessary means for our goal. We now need prayer and intensified prayer: the more we care in the days of repentance to expel the tempting spirit from ourselves, to free ourselves from its influence, the more stubbornly it resists us, the more fiercely it attacks us - and it is more powerful than us by its very nature and much more skillful. We can overcome it only with the help of God. “Otherwise, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his strength,” said St. The Apostle Paul, beginning his instructions to Christians about spiritual weapons against the spirits of wickedness in high places, and, having finished these instructions, repeated again: “Praying with all prayer and supplication at all times in the Spirit” (Eph. 6:10.18). For “the weapons of our army are not carnal, but mighty through God” (2 Cor. 10:4). We now need fasting and intensified fasting: we can fight the unclean spirit only with our soul, and fasting, weakening our flesh, elevates and strengthens the soul and thereby makes it more capable of fighting. In order to act more successfully against the devil, we must constantly stay awake and watch out for all his tricks, and fasting, by taming in us sensual desires and attractions that usually disturb our soul, removes the main obstacles to spiritual wakefulness and enlightens the eye of our soul. Our flesh, with its passions and bad habits, is the first ally of our primordial enemy and together with it it fights against our spirit: we must curb it with fasting, weaken its passions with abstinence and make it completely submissive to the spirit. Another ally of our enemy is the world, which lies in evil and entices us with its temptations. These temptations are primarily sensual temptations, seductive for our flesh: fasting and abstinence, exhausting the body, make it less susceptible to the temptations of the world and thus dull the weapon and another ally of the devil. Let us not cease, brethren, with all zeal to continue the fast we have begun and to intensify our prayers both in the churches of God and in our dwellings in order to achieve the desired end - to drive away the devil from ourselves, to put aside his works, to cleanse ourselves of sins, constantly remembering the words of the Savior: “this generation can come forth only through prayer and fasting.” Venerable John Climacus, to whom St. now points us. The Church, as an example to follow, is one of the greatest warriors who defeated the devil through fasting and prayer. At the age of sixteen he left the world and retired to Mount Sinai. He spent nineteen years here under the guidance of an experienced hermit elder. For forty years he labored alone in the desert, without earthly leaders. For four years he himself was the leader or abbot of others in the famous monastery of Sinai. Finally, he again went into his beloved desert and, at about eighty years old, gave up his spirit to God. The entire life of the saint of God, starting from the age of sixteen, was a continuous war with the enemies of salvation, especially the devil, and represents one, never-ending feat of fasting and prayer. As the fruit of his spiritual experience, his observations of the course of spiritual life in himself, St. John left a work known as the Ladder, from which he himself received the name Climacus. In this work, which also offers us St. Church for reading during the days of Pentecost, he described in detail the entire path of the ascent of the human soul to God, drew a spiritual ladder consisting of thirty degrees and leading from earth to heaven. The first degrees show, so to speak, the preliminary, initial feats of a Christian who wants to be saved, draw closer to God and unite with Him. Then there are labors, through which a Christian little by little puts off “the old man, which is corrupting in the lusts of deceitful desires” (Eph. 4:22), cleanses himself “from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit” (2 Cor. 7:1), and eradicates everything sinful in himself. Finally, at the highest levels, deeds are depicted, through which a Christian puts on a new man, created according to God “in righteousness and in the honor of truth” (Eph. 4:24). and reaches “a perfect man, according to the age of the fulfillment of Christ” (Eph. 4:13). All these feats, signifying the ascent of the human soul to God, are performed only in the midst of incessant warfare with the devil and his minions, and therefore constantly require fasting and prayer from the Christian as necessary weapons. Should I explain, brethren, how instructive the life and work of St. John the Climacus are for us in these days? Here before us is not the Son of God himself, made man, with his extraordinary sufferings on the cross, but a man completely servile to us! And this man spent entire decades in the feats of unceasing fasting and prayer! Can we really not and will refuse to spend at least four decades in such feats? Don’t say that he was a monk: shouldn’t we all be strict ascetics, especially during the time of repentance? Shouldn’t everyone renounce the sinful world and the pleasures of the flesh in order to fully serve the Lord, from whom we expect mercy for ourselves? Do not say that the Ladder of St. John was written specifically for monks: it was written for monks, but it also contains excellent instructions for the laity seeking salvation; for monks it can always serve as a guide, and for the laity, at the direction of St. Church, let it be read with reverence, at least during St. Pentecost. Reverend and God-bearing Father John! Pray to Christ God that He will send us strength and zeal to follow you along the degrees of the spiritual ladder that leads to heaven, to walk especially on these days of fasting and repentance. Amen. You might be interested in: