For the Gospel reading, and about virginity, and an exhortation to fallen virgins.

The Word of God does not say anything aimlessly, it does not communicate anything mysterious that would not be related to the work of our salvation. And here, where I directed my attention, the conciseness of thought prompted me to explore and see what exactly the Master said in the Gospel means. Although He offered a lot to the people in parables, explaining difficult things to some, revealing to others what we know, but, communicating the teaching about salvation, He, as a good and humane one, gave a clear and undoubted experience of riddles: on the one hand, how to find confirmation of this thought in our ordinary affairs, on the other, how to grasp the very meaning of what was said. The Lord said that “narrow and narrow is the way that leads to life, and few find it, but broad and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many follow it” (Matthew 7:14, 13) 1. This expression confuses and causes bewilderment - why does He say: “Broad is the way that leads to destruction?” Christ does not know this path, because it is not from Him. This means that this is said in relation to us, this is a riddle that contains a medicine for us. What mercy, what philanthropy, what thoughtfulness on the part of the Lord! He offers both victory and defeat, regret and condemnation. “I know,” He says, “how prone to temptation the human race is, how committed it is to earthly things, I know how short-sighted it is, how susceptible to temptation, how unstable, how weak, how easily caught by the enemy if it is not confirmed by faith: it hears about the broad path, and runs like a bird into a trap; hears about narrow things, and runs away from salvation, without learning about the benefits of both.” And after all, he wants victory, but runs away from work; and especially having heard that “many are the sorrows of the righteous, and the Lord will deliver him from all of them” (Ps. 33:20), he does not rush to such an intercessor, but runs away, not knowing that he is moving away from good and exposing himself to destruction. Oh madness! Hearing that the righteous have many sorrows, you were confused, man, but when you heard: “many are the sorrows of the wicked” (“many are the wounds of the sinner”) (Ps. 31:10), you were not afraid? Or better yet, you were afraid early, but did not extinguish the passion of sin. Why is the path of destruction wide and spacious? Here He calls life a path, because worldly pleasures seem to be a broad path for those who are mistaken. But what could be more pity for sensible people than this? After all, the path that is considered narrow leads to heaven, and the one that seems wide carries those who follow it to hell. Do not think, beloved, that that path is actually wide and good, since the Lord used such an expression. Solomon, for example, says that honey drips from the lips of a harlot’s wife, but this does not correspond to reality (how, in fact, can honey ever drip from a woman’s lips?), but the appearance of deception is pleasant, and it is this deceptiveness of vain pleasure that he called honey. It’s exactly the same here: the Savior calls the breadth of the path various types of pleasures and all the pleasures of this life. Listen to me, you who have bowed your neck and taken upon yourself the good, easy and blessed yoke, monastics and virgins; listen to me, all of you who have dedicated yourselves and given your bodies to the Lord; listen to me, you adornment of the Heavenly Bridegroom; listen to me, you who surpass the sun in your brilliance; listen to me, you who enter the heavenly kingdom; listen to me, you dear to God; listen to me, you members of David's choir; listen to me, you descendants of Elizabeth; listen to me, followers of John; listen to me, heirs of God; listen to me, and feat; bearing both victory and the hero himself in his feat; listen to me, sister Mary; listen to me, mother and bride and handmaid of Christ; but listen not to me, however, I ask you, but to the apostle, who says: “I beseech you, brethren, ... present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God” (Rom. 12:1). This petitioner deserves faith, and he would not ask for alms. Look who is asking you, and let this request make you feel awe. He who ascended to the third heaven, who was worthy to hear the voice of God, who heard ineffable verbs, begs: “Present your bodies to God in purity.” What are you asking, Pavel? Why do you care so much about girls? Was it not you who said: “Concerning virginity I have no commandment from the Lord” (1 Cor. 7:25)? Didn’t you say: “marriage is honorable for everyone” (“honorable marriage”) (Heb. 13:4)? Didn't you say: “Do not turn away from one another” (“do not deprive yourself of one another”) (1 Cor. 7:5)? Why are you preaching innocence now? And why else do you care about virgins? You snatched Thekla from carnal marriage and death and saved her; Why should you worry about other virgins now? “Yes,” he says, “I am very concerned about a pure and passion-free marriage. If I have established the order of marriage for people, then with much greater diligence I must work in this regard for Christ: after all, I am the bridegroom of Christ. My Lord is not content with one virgin, He does not want to limit himself to one marriage; He has many wedding gifts, His inheritance is great. And so He instructed me to bring Him many brides. That is why the apostle said: “I have betrothed you to one husband, in order to present you to Christ as a pure virgin” (2 Cor. 11:2). You see how accurately the apostle expresses himself, so that you do not think that this is a carnal marriage. Oh, blindness! Oh, foolishness! It seems that who would not wish for this incorruptible and immaculate marriage, a clean bed, an unsullied chamber, a happy union, immortal communication, passionless procreation, inviolable marital fidelity, an unfailing dowry, eternal pleasure, a carefree life, union with Christ, being with angels, consolation with godly chants, the fragrance of all virtues, a lamp all-brightness, all-embracing freedom, ascension to God, rejoicing with the angels, strengthening of the body, purity of soul? Of course, a woman who has entered into marriage with her husband is concerned about how to please her corruptible flesh; has not yet given birth and is already mourning her grief; She often cries because of her husband, cries about infertility and childlessness, and cries when she has many children, when children die; cries when children indulge in chaotic lives. And the virgin of the Lord is concerned about how to please the Lord. Listen carefully to the apostle who proclaims: “I have betrothed you to one husband, to present you to Christ as a pure virgin.” He did not say; “you”, but “you”, so that you don’t think that he is talking about physical marriage. “I beg you...,” he says, “present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God” (Rom. 12:1). This admonition applies to everyone, but it especially applies to those who strive in holiness. Those who wish to sacredly approach the holy, if they succeed in this, achieve great and glorious crowns; and those who fail to complete their intention experience a terrible fall. And of course, falling from a height, as is understandable and self-evident, is more dangerous than falling on the ground. A poor man, if he lives in poverty for the rest of his life, endures his hardships more easily, but for a rich man who falls into poverty, this test is worse than death. In the same way, in my opinion, the tears and sadness of the fall of a virgin are much more bitter than those who, like a pig, roll around in the mud every day and sin, because for such people the habit of sinning becomes easy and unnoticeable. And for those who corrupted the church of God, I think we need to grieve and grieve, lament and tear out our hair, since such and such a great treasure has been lost. But what's the matter with you, maiden? When and what enemy species misled you? What swords? What spears? What shields? What war cry forced you to give up your inaccessibility so quickly? You were the city, and the church of Christ, and the wall of the city, and the guardians of both the city and the gates. But, oh, what a pity! How did you allow the enemy to open these gates without having to open them? How in a short time were you tempted to betray the seal of virginity, which Christ did not break when he passed through it? Oh, wicked abuse! You destroyed the wall, desecrated your holy church, violated the vows of marriage, dissolved the marriage contract, lost your dowry, disdained the bed of Christ! But, of course, you also lost your deposit. You don’t know the local laws, what punishment awaits an adulterer? What will happen to you, who have desecrated the bed of not an equal slave, but of our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives forever, by betraying Him for the corruptible and fetid dust? I don't know how to mourn you. You are wounded when no one fought you, you are beheaded without a sword. I don’t know what to judge you for: cowardice or lack of conscience, murder or suicide? Such is the appearance of this madness that you don’t even know what to mourn here. Have you forgotten your vows to Christ? Didn’t you remember the innocence with which every day you invisibly drew Christ to your breast and mysteriously rejoiced with Him? And why? After all, you were also Mary until you observed your virginity? What kind of wax of vice has covered your eyes? What darkness has darkened you so that you have made the members of Christ the members of a harlot? Oh, woe! You preferred the stench of a harlot to the fragrance of virginity. You exchanged myrrh for the dirt of pleasure. Didn’t you remember that touching hour when angels and people, rejoicing with you, with lamps in their hands, led you into the bridal chamber of Christ, while singing the psalms of David, and everyone began to call you, poor and needy, the bride of Christ and the queen? Oh, who would not mourn the one who left the king, uniting with a heap of worms, who neglected the king when she should have cohabited and reigned with him, and preferred him to the one who was threatened by the king to be thrown into fiery hell? Why did she dig such a hole for herself? Yes, she was seduced by the breadth of the path. What latitude, I ask? What did your mentor promise you on this disastrous path, the representative of Gehenna? What pleasure in life did the murderer offer you? Have you not heard, O virgin, the Lord proclaiming in the Gospels: “If... you gain the whole world,... but lose your soul, what good is it to you?” (Matthew 16:26; Mark 8:36)? But, oh, blindness! Oh, foolishness! O darkness! Think, maiden, about your death. Think about who you prefer and who you reject. What will you get from your seducer? A moment of pleasure mixed with dirt and a drop of uncleanness in the virgin’s womb, the fruit of sinful mixture, and then follows fiery hell and the undying worm. Be horrified by this disgrace! Is it really possible to say that living like this means enjoying life? Is this really pleasure? Is this really the breadth of life? What kind of submission to madness is this? But be vigilant in everything and say: “we are not ignorant of his plans” (“for we are not unaware of his plans”) (2 Cor. 2:11). Rejoice always, as it is written: “Let your meekness be known to all men” (Phil. 4:5). Let the fear of God shine in your heart. Do not be like a warrior who threw away his shield, nor a cowardly and lazy worker, do not run away from the crown. Life is short, but condemnation lasts a long time. Looking at him, brother, tune your heart in agreement with the holy prophet and repeat to yourself: “Take courage, and let your heart be strengthened, and trust in the Lord” (“Take courage, and let your heart be strong, and be patient with the Lord”) (Ps. 26:14). Imitate David and defeat the enemy with one throw of a stone. Angels are spectators of your life, “because we...,” says the apostle, “have become a disgrace to the world, both to angels and to men” (1 Cor. 4:9). If they see that you are winning, they will rejoice at your success; If they see your failure, they retreat saddened, but the demons laugh at you. Therefore, instead of a sword, arm yourself with the fear of God, because the fear of God is a two-edged sword, striking at every evil lust. So, always have the fear of God, constantly remembering that last day, when the heavens, engulfed in fire, will disintegrate, when the stars, like leaves in autumn, will fall from the sky, and the sun and moon will darken and will not give their light; when the Son of Man appears and descends from heaven to earth, and the powers of heaven are shaken; when there are the rapid movements of angels, and the sounds of attacking trumpets, and in His face there is a scorching fire that threatens to devour the universe, and around Him there is a great storm, terrible earthquakes and thunders, which have never happened and will not happen until that day, so that the very powers of heaven will be enveloped in great trembling. What will happen to us then, my brothers? What horror, what trembling will we experience? Remember how the people of Israel in the desert could not endure the darkness and gloom, could not bear the voice of God speaking to them from the midst of the fire, but begged Him to stop speaking to them. Truly, they could not bear what He said to them, although He did not come with rage and did not speak to them with anger, but comforted them and assured them that He was with them. Listen, my brother, if we were unable to bear it when He came to comfort us, when neither the heavens were destroyed by fire, nor the sounds of trumpets were heard as loudly as that trumpet will sound to awaken those who have been resting for centuries in their tombs, when there was no fire consuming the universe, nor any of the other horrors awaiting us, what will we do when He comes with anger and uncontrollable rage? and He will sit on the throne of His glory, and the angels will gather before Him the earth from the east of the sun to the west and from all the ends of the earth, to judge His people and reward each one according to his deeds? Oh, woe! What should we be like when we appear there, naked and exposed, to appear before this terrible judgment seat? Woe, woe! Where will our exaltation be then? Where will the physical strength be then? Where will beauty be then, deceptive and useless? Where will human sweetness be then? Where will there be then freedom of circulation, reaching the point of shamelessness and insolence? Where will the luxurious clothes be then? Where will then be the sinful pleasures, unclean and truly vile? Where will then be those who revere male uncleanliness as pleasure? Where will those who drink wine to the sounds of tympanums and music then be? Where will then be the arrogance of people who know no fear? Where will the bliss and lust be then? Everything passed and, like air exhaled from the mouth, dissipated. Where then will be the love of money and covetousness and the hardness of heart that arises from them? Where will then be the inhuman pride that disdains everything and considers only itself to be something special? Where will then be empty and vain success and human glory? Where will the power and authority be? Where will the king be then, where is the boss, where is the ruler? Where will they be who hold power, who are puffed up with abundance of wealth and who despise God? Then “they will see and be amazed, they will be confused and run away; fear will overtake them: there will be torment, like that of women in childbirth; with the east wind you will crush them” (“having seen this, I was amazed: ... I received trembling: there the diseases, like those who give birth, will be crushed by a stormy spirit”) (Ps. 47:6-8). Where will then be the wisdom of the wise? Where are their vain inventions? Alas, they “whirl and stagger like drunken people, and all their wisdom disappears” (“shaking, moving like a drunken man, and all their wisdom was quickly swallowed up”) (Ps. 107:27). "Where is the sage then? Where is the scribe? Where is the questioner of this age?" (1 Cor. 1:20)? My brother, think about what we should be like when we give an answer to everything we have done, whether great or small - after all, even for an idle word we must give an answer to the righteous Judge? What should we be like at that hour if we find ourselves worthy of His mercy? How much joy will we experience when united with those standing on the right side of the King? What should we be like when all the saints begin to greet us? After all, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Noah, Job, David, and the holy prophets, and apostles, and martyrs, and all the righteous who pleased God in this carnal life will meet us there. And about whomever you have heard of such men, marveling at their lives and wanting to immediately see them themselves, they will all come to you and greet you, rejoicing over your salvation. So what should we be then? What truly unspeakable joy we should feel when the King says so kindly to those on the right side: “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:34). Then, my brother, you will receive royal dignity and a beautiful crown from the hand of the Lord and then you will reign with Christ; then you will inherit the blessings that “God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Cor. 2:9); then you will be carefree, no longer knowing any fear. Think, brother, what it is like to reign in heaven. After all, you will receive, as I already said, a crown from the hand of the Lord and you will henceforth reign with Christ. Think, my brother, what it is like to always see the face of God, what it is like to have him as a lamp. Then, as Isaiah says, “the sun will no longer serve you as daylight, nor will the brightness of the moon shine for you; but the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God your glory” (Isa. 60:19). Behold, my brother, what joy awaits those who fear the Lord and keep His commandments. Imagine after this the death of sinners when they are drawn to the terrible judgment seat: what shame overcomes them in the face of the righteous Judge, and they have no word to justify themselves, what shame they will feel when they find themselves among those standing on the left side, what darkness will hang over them when “he speaks to them in his anger and brings them into confusion with his wrath” (Ps. 2:5), saying: “Depart from Me, you cursed, into eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41)? Alas, alas! What sorrow and despondency will their souls be filled with the common cry of all who say: “Let the wicked turn to hell, all the nations that forget God” (Ps. 9:18)? Oh, woe! How terrible is that place where “there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 25:30), this so-called underworld, which Satan himself trembles at? Alas! How terrible is Gehenna of unquenchable fire? Alas! How terrible is this ever-eating and corroding worm? Alas! How terrible are angels - the perpetrators of punishment, ruthless and unmerciful? They revile and strike terribly. Then the condemned will cry to the Lord, but He will not hear them; then they will understand that everything that they valued in this life remained vain for them, and what they considered pleasant here turned out to be more bitter than bile and poison there. Where then will the false pleasure of sin be? After all, there can be no other pleasure than to fear God. This is true pleasure, it truly fills the soul with fat and ointment. Then sinners will begin to reproach themselves for the things they have done; then they confess that God’s judgment is righteous. “We heard this,” they will say, “but we did not want to give up our evil deeds.” And then they will cry: “Woe to me, conceived in innumerable sins! The number of my sins has exceeded the number of the sand of the sea, and I am crushed by them as if with many iron fetters. I don’t dare raise my eyes to look at the vault of heaven. To whom will I resort if not to You, Lover of Mankind, if not to You, Unmemorable and Malicious One? “Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your great mercy, and according to the multitude of Your compassions blot out my iniquities. Wash me from my iniquity many times, and cleanse me from my sin, for I am aware of my iniquities, and my sin is always before me. You, You alone, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight” (Ps. 50:3-6). I resort to You, trusting in Your great mercy and compassion; I have angered You, but I also resort to You, trusting in Your kindness; I disobeyed You, but I run to You, knowing Your great goodness and love for mankind, and, begging, I cry: “Turn Your face away from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me” - solely for the sake of Your name (Ps. 50:11, 12). I cannot bring anything to You: neither a good deed, nor a pure heart, but, trusting in Your generosity, I prostrate myself before You, so that You would send me contrition of heart, so that I would not fall again into sinful attraction, but from now on serve You in holiness and truth all the days of my life, because Your kingdom and Your power are forever and ever. Amen". So, I beg you, my brothers, in anticipation of all this, strive to be pure and blameless before Him in peace. As soon as an evil thought comes to you, draw this sword, that is, imagine the fear of God, and you will cut off every enemy force with it, and use the Holy Scripture instead of a trumpet. In fact, just as a trumpet, with its sounds, gathers soldiers into formation, so the divine Scriptures, turning to us, call our thoughts to the fear of God. And besides, our thoughts, like warriors, also fight with the enemies of the king. And again, just as a trumpet, sounding during a war, inspires the young and brave against the enemy, so the Divine Scriptures arouse your zeal for good and strengthen you in the fight against passions. Therefore, my brother, as much as you can, force yourself to read the Scriptures more often in order to keep your thoughts in order, otherwise your enemy will scatter them with his cunning, or instilling in you bad wishes, or often causing sorrow, or even directing your affairs to prosperity and good fortune. And he arranges this thanks to his cunning and deceit in order to create alienation between God and man. And if he fails to captivate and destroy a person with the help of bad wishes, then he inflicts grief on him in order to darken his mind and, taking advantage of this, sow what he needs. And, indeed, he then begins to guide the person to reflections appropriate to the circumstances and affirms with an oath that “from the very time that I have been zealous for good, I began to experience bad days - let us do evil so that good will return to us.” Here, if anyone is not awake enough, he, like hell, swallows him alive. And if even in these circumstances he cannot harm a person, then he opens a wide path before him and instills in him arrogance and surrounds him with flattery, which is more destructive and dangerous than all passions. It makes a person proud and fearless, it draws the mind into the abyss of pleasures, it causes a person not to recognize God, not to remember his weakness and not to remember the day of death and judgment; she is an open path for all evil. Anyone who is inclined to walk along this path, wide and unrestrained, soon comes into the arms of death. This path is the one that the Lord indicated in the words: “broad... and simple is the way that leads to destruction” (Matthew 7:13). In Slav. Bible (Matthew 7:14) “narrow gate and strait way”; (Matthew 7:13) “wide is the gate and broad is the way.” Creations attributed to St. John Chrysostom, and classified in the Minya edition as Spuria. The paragraphs in the text were arranged by us. – Editorial staff of “ABC of Faith” You might be interested in: