ЦЕРКОВЬ

Don't tell me, man, that the spectacle gives pleasure; But better yet, enlighten me, whether it does not bring harm along with pleasure. And what am I saying about the harm? It does not even give pleasure, as you can clearly see from the following. Returning from the circus, meet with those leaving the church and find out in detail who received more pleasure: the one who listened to the prophets, accepted the blessing, enjoyed the teaching, prayed to God for his sins, eased his conscience and is not aware of anything criminal - or you, who left his mother [that is, the Church of God], despised the prophets, offended God, rejoiced with the devil, listened to blasphemers and scolders, wasted time in vain and did not bring home any benefit from there - neither physical nor spiritual? Therefore, it is better to come here for pleasure. After all, after the theater there immediately appears condemnation, denunciation of conscience, repentance for what has been done, such shame and disgrace that you do not dare even raise your eyes. But in the Church everything is the opposite: courage, freedom of speech and fearless conversation with everyone about everything that was heard here. So, when you go out into the square and see that everyone is running to see that spectacle, you run immediately to the church and, after spending a little time in it, enjoy the word of God for a long time. On the contrary, if you follow the crowd into the circus, then, having had a little fun, you will mourn all that day, and the next one, and many others, condemning yourself (for your wrongdoing); and if you abstain a little, you will be cheerful all day long. This usually happens not only in this matter, but in all others (1). At first, all the kings, and peoples, and cities, and hordes of demons, and all the power of the devil, and other countless opponents attacked the Church; but all this scattered and perished, and she, multiplying, reached such a height that she became higher than the heavens themselves. Just as at first God said: “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth” (Gen. 9:1), and this word spread throughout the whole earth, so later He said: “Go and teach all nations” (Matthew 28:19), and: “This gospel will be preached throughout the whole world” (Matthew 26:13), and this command in a short time reached the very limits of the universe. That’s why He said: “If a grain of wheat falls into the ground and does not die, then only one will remain; and if he dies, he will bear much fruit” (John 12:24); and again: “When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to Me” (John 12:32). At the beginning of the world, many came from one person, multiplying according to the law of nature, and therefore things went more slowly; and under the apostles, society multiplied not according to the law of nature, but according to grace, and therefore suddenly in one day three thousand, then five thousand, then an innumerable multitude, and finally the whole universe was born in a glorious rebirth, the Church grew, multiplied and itself proved the blessing that it received, because it was not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, but of the grace of God that they were born (John 1:13). “He establishes peace within your borders” (Ps. 147:3). This can primarily and in the proper sense be said about the Church; and what is especially surprising is that she enjoyed peace while she was fighting her enemies, and enjoyed security when everyone was plotting against her. That is why the Lord said: “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you” (John 14:27). And he satisfies you with the best wheat (Ps. 147:3). And this can be figuratively attributed to the Church and meant about spiritual food, about the bread of life that He gave us (3). Some say that the turtle dove is attached to her husband and is chaste, so that if it happens that her male is torn to pieces by an eagle or caught by a hunter, then she does not marry another, but remains faithful to him, waits for him and preserves the memory of him until death. Listen, women, what chastity, it turns out, birds have! So, having before your eyes the image of a turtledove, imitate her chastity. This property also distinguishes the most honest Church. When her husband, Christ, was crucified on the Cross and ascended into heaven, she was not married to another husband; but she loves Him, remains faithful to Him and, remembering Him, dies with Him (3). The church is established greater than heaven. A pagan may perhaps accuse me of arrogance; but let him wait for proof and learn the power of the truth that it is easier for the sun to go out than for the Church to be destroyed. Who do you say proclaims this? The One who founded it. “Heaven and earth will pass away,” He says, “but My words will not pass away” (Matthew 24:35). He not only said this, but also fulfilled it. Why did He found a Church harder than heaven? Because the Church is more precious than heaven. What is heaven for? For the Church, not the Church for heaven. Heaven is for man, not man for heaven. This is also evident from what He himself did. Christ did not take on a heavenly body (4). The Church is a sea of ​​piety, not abounding in waves, but full of faith. With us, the boat of teaching is not shipwrecked, is not broken, is not disturbed, is not overwhelmed, but, like a quiet harbor, strives into the souls of those who love the Lord (5). Depending on the location of the recipients, the world can come to them and move away again; this depends not only on the power of the teachers, but also on the dignity of those receiving. Let us not consider it an unimportant loss for ourselves if we do not enjoy this peace, which the prophet proclaimed from ancient times, saying: “How beautiful... are the feet of the one who brings good news, who proclaims peace” (Is. 52:7), and, explaining the dignity of the world, he added: the joy of him who brings good news. And Christ himself showed the importance of this peace, saying: “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you” (John 14:27). Therefore, every effort should be made to enjoy it both at home and in church. And in the church the primate gives peace, and this serves as an image of the peace given by Christ; and therefore the primate must be received with all diligence, providing him not so much with food as with his location. If it is bad not to partake of the meal, then is it not much worse to reject the one who blesses? The presbyter sits for you, the teacher stands for you, toils and is exhausted. What kind of apology will you have when you don’t even accept his words? The Church is a common house for everyone, where we enter behind you, following the example of the apostles, which is why, upon entering, we immediately, according to the commandment of Christ, greet everyone with peace. So, no one be careless, no one be distracted when the priests come in and teach the lesson: for this there is a threat of considerable punishment. It is better for me to be subjected to contempt a thousand times when entering one of you into the house, than not to be listened to when they greet you with peace (6). Nowadays everything is perverted and corrupted: the church is no different from a stable of oxen, donkeys and camels; and I walk everywhere, looking for sheep, but I cannot see them. So everyone is stamping and kicking, as if they were horses or wild donkeys; they fill this place only with heaps of manure - this is exactly their talk. If you could see what men and wives talk about at every sacred meeting, then you would see that their words are worse than any dung. Therefore, I beg you, leave this bad custom so that the Church can smell like peace. We now fill it only with sensual incense, and do not worry about expelling and destroying spiritual impurity. What's the use of that? Truly, we do not so much dishonor the Church when we bring manure into it, as we desecrate it when we talk in it with each other about profits, about trade, about groveling, about things that are not at all becoming for us, whereas it would be necessary for the faces of Angels to be present here, to make the church heaven, and to know nothing else except heartfelt prayers, silence and attention (7). The Church is clothed in royal clothing; she is adorned with heavenly and varied attire, as the psalmist depicts: The daughters of kings are held in esteem by You; the Queen appeared at Your right hand, in clothes embroidered with gold, adorned (Ps. 44:10). How is it decorated? The gift of the Holy Spirit, according to Paul: “with God bearing witness with signs and wonders, and with divers powers, and with the dispensing of the Holy Spirit according to His will” (Heb. 2:4). What should I call the Church of Christ? A bride in finery, a queen in jewelry, a cultivated garden, a fruitful meadow? But no matter what these or other names I use, none of them can adequately express its merits. On behalf of the Church, as if through her mouth, the prophet Isaiah spoke: “My soul will rejoice in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation” (Isaiah 61:10). But, feeling that this image does not provide sufficient knowledge of the beauty of the Church, the prophet immediately complements it with other similar images, adding: like a bride he adorned me with beauty, and like a bridegroom he laid a crown on me, and like an earth growing its fruit, and like a vineyard vegetating its seeds (see Isa. 61:11). Indeed, the Church of the living God can be called a sealed vineyard (see Song 4:12) and a garden, but not a garden in the sense of that ancient paradise; no, she is much taller than him. There the serpent reigned, but here Christ reigns (9). The Church is the greatest school for us: here the rich are admonished and corrected, and the poor find peace and consolation (9). “One must eat it in one house; do not take the meat out of the house” (Ex. 12:46). One is the congregation and one is the house; this is the Church in which the sacred body of Christ is eaten; therefore, the body is not taken out of the single house of the Church. Anyone who eats in another place as a wicked person and a thief will be punished. “Let there be one law both for the natural inhabitant and for the stranger” (Ex. 12:49). Where Christ is, there is freedom for all, equality, one law: all are purchased with precious blood. Therefore you are no longer a slave, no longer a Jew, but free: we are all free in Christ (9). The church is a dyehouse; if you always leave without getting any coloring, then what is the benefit of coming here often (10)? Silence and orderliness are most appropriate for the Church. Noise is appropriate at spectacles, in baths, at celebrations and squares; and where such dogmas are taught, there should be calm, silence, wisdom and perfect haven (10). Communion with the Church can do a lot, and whoever cannot do something on his own will do it together with others. That is why here especially necessary prayers are performed for the universe, for the Church throughout its borders, for the world, for those in danger. And Paul expresses this when he says: “so that for what has been given to us, through the intercession of many, many may give thanks for us” (2 Cor. 1:11), i.e. that thanks may be given to many (10). Now the Church is like a woman who has lost her former wealth, retaining in many places only signs of initial prosperity and showing chests and chests of gold [treasures], but not having the wealth itself; The Church has now become like such a woman. I say this not referring to talents - it would not be too regrettable if it were only this - but also life and virtue. Then the host of widows and the face of virgins constituted the great decoration of the Churches; and now it has been withdrawn and abolished; only the signs remain. There are now widows, there are also virgins, but they do not constitute the adornment that those who have dedicated themselves to such feats should be. A distinctive sign of a virgin is concern for only the works of God and unceasing fervent prayer; and the sign of a widow is not so much in not entering into a second marriage, but in something else - in deeds of love of hobbies, love of poverty, diligence in prayer, and in everything that Paul prescribes with great accuracy in the Epistle to Timothy (see 1 Timothy 5) (12). The Church is not a barber shop, not a shop with incense, not a workshop like those in the marketplace, but a place of Angels, a place of Archangels, the Kingdom of God, heaven itself. If someone opened the sky and led you into it, you would not dare to talk, even if you saw your father, even your brother; so exactly here we should not talk about anything other than spiritual objects, because here too is heaven. If you don’t believe, then look at this meal, remember for whom and why it was set, think about who comes here, and fear even before its time. Whoever sees only the throne of the king is excited in his soul, awaiting the appearance of the king; so, too, even before the terrible time, fear and stay awake, and even before you see the raised curtains and the preceding host of Angels, ascend to heaven itself. But the uninitiated does not know this, therefore it is necessary for him to say something else. We will not find it difficult to tell him what can excite and elevate him. So you, who do not know this, when you hear the words of the prophet: this says the Lord, renounce the earth, ascend to heaven itself, think about who is speaking to you through him. Meanwhile, now, when some jester laughs and a harlot goes wild, the whole theater sits, observing complete silence for their speeches, and this is when no one forces silence, there is no conversation, no shouting, not the slightest noise; and when God speaks from heaven about such terrible secrets, then we are more shameless than dogs, not even showing God the same attention that we give to dissolute women (12). One voice must always be heard in the church, since it is one body. That is why the reader reads alone; and he who has the bishopric waits, sitting in silence; and the singer sings alone; and when everyone shouts, their voice is pronounced as if from one mouth; and the speaker talks alone. When many people talk about many different things, then why are we bothering you in vain? If you did not think that we are bothering you in vain, then you would not, while we are talking about such subjects, talk about completely obscene subjects. Because of this, not only in your life, but also in your very judgment about things, there is extreme disorder; You worry about unnecessary things, abandon the truth, and chase after shadows and dreams (12). You might be interested in: