Речь в неделю св. отец пред Рождеством Христовым, сказанная в Предтеченской церкви архиерейского дома 22 декабря 1857 года.

“By faith these all died..., having confessed that they are strangers and strangers on the earth” (Heb. 11:13). So says St. the apostle about the Old Testament righteous who were deemed worthy to be fathers or ancestors in the flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ. All of them lived before the Nativity of Christ, some for tens, others for hundreds, others even for thousands of years, and all of them did not have the same means of salvation that we have, living after the Nativity of Christ. Meanwhile, how did they live? They shone with such faith and piety as is rarely found among us Christians. Why did this happen? Mainly because they had a correct outlook on life, they realized and confessed that people are only strangers and strangers on earth and that their true fatherland is in heaven (Heb. 11:14-16). Oh, how our life would change for the better, brothers, if we firmly remembered this simple, well-known truth in Christianity - remembered and were guided by it in our activities! We are wanderers and strangers on earth, our fatherland is in heaven: it is clear why we need faith! The country into which we enter from birth, like strangers, is a country unknown to us. The paths along which we must make our journey to heaven here are also unknown. Finally, the country to which we must strive, the country of eternity, is even less known to man. It is necessary for someone to tell us the correct information about this and that country and indicate the paths leading directly to the heavenly homeland. We need a knowledgeable and trustworthy guide, to whom we can completely trust and surrender. And so the Lord God himself told us all this information we needed in his supernatural revelation; The Lord God himself gave us such a reliable guide in the person of St. The Orthodox Church, so that she, under His invisible guidance, explains to us the truths of revelation, teaches grace-filled powers to strengthen us on the path and protects us from all deviations and errors. What remains for us, strangers and strangers on earth, if nothing else - to believe with all our hearts and souls in the truths of Divine revelation and to surrender ourselves with all the childlike trust to St. Church, our spiritual Mother and guide to eternal life? We are strangers and strangers on earth; our fatherland is in heaven: it is clear why we need piety. Wanderers should not slow down on their way and especially should not become attached to any place; on the contrary, they should go forward and forward to achieve their desired goal. But we stop on our way to heaven, we become attached to the earth, when our thoughts, desires, and feelings revolve in the whirlwind of earthly vanity, when we indulge in worldly pleasures, attach our hearts to earthly goods and treasures, and are carried away by vain glory and honors. in a word - when we live viciously. We can stretch forward on the path to heaven only when our mind “spirits on things above, not on earth” (Col. 3:2), our heart strives for spiritual, eternal goods, our soul rises above the flesh and ascends from one degree of moral perfection to another along the ladder of virtues leading to God. After this, which of us, if he really wants to reach the heavenly fatherland, is not fully aware of the obligation to “crucify his flesh with its passions and lusts” (Gal. 5:24), “put to death his evils” “that are on earth” (Col. 3:5) and strive in piety (1 Cor. 4:7)? Brothers in Christ! In honor of St. fathers according to the flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ, whom St. Church, let us deeply imprint this lesson bequeathed to us by their lives, that we are strangers on earth and wanderers to the heavenly homeland, and that therefore we need faith and piety. In this way, we will prepare to meet the Lord himself, who is born in the flesh in order to give us full opportunity to reach the heavenly Kingdom and teach us true faith and piety. Amen. You might be interested in: