НЕДЕЛЯ ВСЕХ СВЯТЫХ

Many people sometimes say: “How can we be saved? We are worldly people, sinners, we have been fussing and sinning all our lives: our worries have overcome us.” It is sad, brothers, to hear such speech from an Orthodox Christian. Pagans who lived before the coming of Jesus Christ into the world, who did not know His teachings, who were not baptized into the Orthodox faith, who did not partake of the Holy Mysteries, could speak such speeches. But we, the beloved children of Christ, should not think and speak like that, for the path to salvation has been shown to us. For example, it is spoken of in the Gospel, which you heard today during the Liturgy. Let's read it again and think about what we read. Everyone who has confessed Me before men, let us also confess him before My Father who is in heaven; and whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven (Matthew 10:32–33). Hear, the Lord demands from those seeking salvation that he be His confessor before people. What does this mean? To understand this, listen to how the holy Apostle Paul speaks about the same thing: If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved (Rom. 10:9). So this is what, first of all, it means to be a confessor of Christ: it means not only to believe in Him in your soul, but also to openly declare with your lips that you believe in Him, not to hide your faith from others, not to be ashamed of it, but to boldly and openly reveal yourself as a Christian. We say directly and fearlessly that our earthly fatherland is Orthodox Rus'... Just as directly and fearlessly confess that you believe in another Fatherland – the Heavenly Fatherland and walk under the protection of the Lord who is in heaven. But this is not enough to be a true confessor of Jesus Christ. He Himself said in another place: Not everyone who says to Me: “Lord! God!" He who does the will of My Father in heaven will enter the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 7:21). This means that verbal confession is not enough for the Lord - He expects from us confession in practice, so that all our actions are in agreement with His will, so that we just as openly and boldly in practice show ourselves to be Christians everywhere and always. Judge for yourself: if one of you had a son who pleased his father in words but insulted him in deeds, his father would not have said to him: “My son! Your affectionate speeches are not enough for me, prove by your deeds that you love me!” So we say: “We are an Orthodox people, we are not Jews or Tatars,” but we need to show in practice that we are an Orthodox people, enlightened by the light of Christ’s Gospel. A living example for us in this case are the holy confessors of Christ. They lived a long time ago, in those centuries when the Church of Christ was still persecuted by pagan emperors. These pagan emperors sought out Christians everywhere and brought them to their courts. “Who are you,” they asked the Christian, “what is your name?” “I am a Christian,” the holy champion of the faith of Christ courageously answered and fearlessly went to the most cruel tortures and death for his Orthodox faith. This is what it means to be a confessor of Christ. I too will confess him before My Heavenly Father. This is the reward the Lord promises His confessors. He Himself will testify before His Heavenly Father about the love of the confessors for Him. For love He promises love, for our earthly confession - His heavenly confession. If in earthly life you sometimes say: “You can ask anyone about me, everyone will say that I am an honest person”; If another servant proudly displays the written approval given to him by his master, then shouldn’t we all the more seek and desire the heavenly testimony about us, the testimony of Jesus Christ about our virtues before His Father in heaven? And if we believe the promises of men, can we doubt the promise of the Lord? Where I am, He said, there my servant will also be (see: John 14:3): I am going to prepare mansions for you (cf.: John 14:2). That is why we should never lose heart if we are repaid with evil for good, for truth with untruth, for love with malice. Just always remember that in heaven we have a true Witness to our goodness, Who sees everything, hears everything, that He has prepared blessed abodes for those who love Him. The holy martyrs, who shed their blood in His name, trusted in Him, and He miraculously helped them during their suffering. Remember the suffering of the Holy Great Martyr Panteleimon. He was thrown to be devoured by wild beasts, but they fell at his feet; They threw him into the sea - he walked on it as if on dry land. The torturers poured molten tin into the throat of the holy martyr Boniface, but the saint remained unharmed; He was thrown into a cauldron of boiling tar, but he also came out of it healthy. Thus, even on earth, the Lord glorifies His confessors: what joy awaits them in the Kingdom of Heaven? But just as one can confess the Lord in word and deed, so one can reject Him in word and deed. If someone does not live according to the commandments, someone who does not leave their lips with swear words, who gets drunk on wine without measure, brings discord into the family, drives the beggar away from their windows, oppresses the orphans, then all these people reject Christ, and He will reject them before His Heavenly Father. But think, what could be more regrettable than this? If it is bitter for a person, even a criminal, when all people reject him and expel him in chains to Siberia and even further, then won’t it be a thousand times more bitter for us when the Lord Jesus Christ denies us? How will we feel when we hear His menacing voice: Depart from Me, O curse, into everlasting fire (Matthew 25:41)? And we will stand before the Judge Lord, tormented by our conscience, having before our eyes all the evil we have done, every last detail. If there is a fire caused by arson, then it will be revealed who the arsonist is; If there is something missing in the church, then the thief will be discovered; for money, to woe to the innocent, a man took a false oath, then this too will be revealed; and all evil will be revealed before the whole world to our shame. And then the doors of heaven will close for us, and the torments of hell will accept us. Let us try to correct our lives before the verdict is pronounced and the eternal gates close behind us. Whoever loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and whoever loves a son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me (Matthew 10:37). Here is another commandment the Lord gives. For us, He should be dearer than what is dearest to our hearts: children, wives, parents. Love Him more than you love your family, think about Him more than about your family, submit to His laws more than you submit to the feeling of parental and family love. Listen to how the holy people fulfilled this commandment. You probably know that the relics of St. Theodosius, abbot, rest in the Kyiv Lavra. When this saint was still a youth, he already loved God more than anything else in the world. His mother loved him dearly, sewed beautiful clothes for him, and tried to feed him the best foods. But he, to his mother’s chagrin, distributed clothes to the poor, fasted and wore chains. In vain she tried to persuade him to hang out and play with his peers - he only knew the way to church. Several times, to his mother’s horror, he disappeared from home, going with wanderers to monasteries. But his mother found him and returned him. Finally, he took monastic vows at the Kiev Pechersk Monastery. His mother found him here too and begged him for a long time to return home, but the saint refused even to see her, loving Christ more than her. You will think: this saint could have conquered himself like that, where should we stand like that? But the saints were the same people as we are: they had the same weak body, endured the temptations of Satan more than we do, and even sometimes fell into sins, just as we, sinners, fall into. For example, the Monk Erasmus, also a saint of God from Kyiv, was formerly a merchant, then he entered a monastery and gave all his treasures to decorate the monastery church. But the devil began to suggest to him that he had spent his wealth uselessly; it would have been better to give it to the poor. Erasmus fell into depression and even became very ill. But the Lord had mercy on him: in a dream the Monks Anthony and Theodosius and the Most Holy Theotokos appeared to him and assured him that his wealth was not used for nothing, but for the benefit of his soul. So, you see that the saints fell, just like us, but only they cried over their sins and did not remain indifferent, like us; and God, seeing their sorrow and repentance, showed His power on them. Therefore, one should not say this: “Those were holy people, where do we care about them.” This is the despondency that the devil instills in us. No, and with God’s help we can accomplish a lot. Do not let your heart grow cold, fight the temptations of the devil, call on the Lord for help, cleanse yourself of sins more often by confession and feed your soul with the Body and Blood of Christ - and then you will be an imitator of the saints. The Monk Theodosius put love for Christ above love for his mother. And there are often times in our lives when we must be guided by his example. First of all, I will point out to you an ordinary case, which seems to be nothing to think about. Your children, playing in the street, quarreled with your neighbor’s children. Has it ever happened to you, the father, or you, the mother, without sorting out the matter, directly attack the neighbor’s children, rashly curse them, and perhaps their parents: these are the kind of brats they raise, etc. What can come of this? A quarrel between you parents. But if you want to act like a Christian, then calmly reconcile the children, sort out their quarrel and, if your children are guilty, teach them, tell them to ask for forgiveness from the offended, and exact it from them. This will not be humiliation for you or for them, but will only be justice, the fulfillment of God’s law, and you, according to the commandment of Christ, will prefer love for Him to love for children. You may think that this is a trifle not worth attention, but think also that to always indulge children in everything means to corrupt them; secondly, in such cases, quarrels often arise between parents; thirdly, our whole life is formed from such little things. I think you have seen how beads are strung on threads: small beads, one after another, are strung on a thread, and you get a large necklace. Thus, in countless small cases, our life passes day after day, and blessed is the one who watches over his soul in all the little things. But there are also often larger cases when love for God should be placed above family love. Your father, brother or other close relative has fallen, due to human weakness, into a crime and asks you to be a witness that he is innocent, or if he sells some thing to an inexperienced person and asks you to praise it; You never know how many such cases exist in life! Do not be accomplices of sin and deception. Remember that the Son of God loved us so much that He did not spare Himself for our salvation, but He also demands from us total love - with all our soul and all our thoughts. And whoever does not take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me (Matthew 10:38). To be a confessor of Christ means to show oneself in word and deed everywhere as an executor of His law, it means to love Him more than anything in the world, but this is often difficult and regrettable. It is these sorrows, always inseparable from a virtuous life, that the Lord compares with the cross that a person bears. During the life of Jesus Christ, evildoers were crucified on crosses. Christ Himself was crucified with the villains. The cross was then a shameful weapon, and carrying it was both shameful and difficult, since crosses became very heavy. For a follower of Jesus Christ, it is necessary to overcome love for oneself, sometimes – love for family, parents, children; It is not uncommon for a Christian to earn the enmity of neighbors, of the whole society; or omit obvious benefits, even sometimes whole wealth, which could so easily be acquired by illegal means; ridicule, reproach, persecution - everything must be endured, this sorrowful cross must be held on one’s shoulders in order to remain a confessor of Christ. But as the Teacher is, so must the students be. Jesus Christ, not guilty of a single sin, endured spitting, beating, strangulation, and crucifixion for our sake. And we, His followers, must also courageously endure temporary tribulations for His name. Through many tribulations we must enter into the Kingdom of God (Acts 14:22). But is there enough strength to endure these sorrows? – you ask. Brothers, the Lord sends every temptation according to our strength, for He is long-suffering and abundantly merciful (cf. Ps. 144:8). He does not want the sorrow sent by Him to crush a person’s strength, like a hammer crushes glass, but for a person, enduring sorrow, to become stronger in love for God, just as iron becomes stronger when it is forged. And, defeating temptations, courageously enduring sorrows, we will find them lighter more and more and we will justify the words of the Lord: My yoke is easy, and My burden is light (Matthew 11:30). Remember the story of righteous Job. Initially, the Lord struck him by taking away one part of his property: robbers stole his oxen and donkeys. Job bravely endured this deprivation. Then other hardships followed: sheep and camels died; Job endured this too. Then his children died, and Job did not grumble against God even now. Finally, a cruel illness struck his body, and immediately the friend of his life, his wife, lost heart, leaving him alone in this struggle with grief. Job even now remained unshakable in his love for God. The same thing happens in our lives; you see, trouble will come to a person: either a fire, or a crop failure, or thieves will offend. But do not lose heart: this is the hand of God. God, therefore, sees that you can endure all this: otherwise the righteous Lord would not have tested you, but sent temptation according to your strength. Then Peter answered and said to Him: Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what will happen to us? Jesus said to them: “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you also will sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel (Matthew 19:27–28). Until now we have all talked about what the Lord requires of us; now He indicates the reward that we will receive if we are His confessors. The Apostle Peter asked Him about this reward, which is why the Lord speaks first about the reward for them, the apostles. He promises them great glory and honor when He comes to judge the world, then they, together with Him, will be judges of the universe. A great reward, but also great labors the holy apostles endured! When the Lord called them, he did not promise them any earthly joy: neither wealth, nor human honor, nor peace, but labor, sorrow, persecution, torment and death. You will be sorrowful in the world (John 16:33), He told them, if they persecuted Me, they will persecute you too (John 15:20). The time is coming when everyone who kills you will think that he is serving God (John 16:2). But the apostles were not afraid of the world, they left everything, for they loved Christ more than their wives and children, followed Him and courageously endured all sorrows and persecutions in His name. Both they and we will have a great reward in heaven if we follow in their footsteps. Listen to what the Lord says next. And everyone who leaves houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for My name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life (Matthew 19:29). You will probably think that, judging by these words of the Lord, you can only be saved in a monastery, by renouncing everything: family, property, even acquaintances, etc. But you should not think like that. There is only one path to the Kingdom of Heaven, but everyone follows it in their own way. You can fulfill these words of the Lord by living in the world, in a family, by owning property. Each of us undertakes only the work that he is able to perform. So it is in spiritual life: take upon yourself only those labors and vows that are within your power, and so the Lord teaches: not everyone can bear this word; he who is able to bear it, let him bear it (Matthew 19:12), that is, whoever recognizes himself as strong enough in spirit to endure all the labors of a single life, then take upon himself this vow, but from him who is unable it will not be exacted. Live in peace, in a family, acquire property, but just don’t imitate those people who forget God in all this. There are people who know neither fasts nor holidays; There are those who, when they ring the bell for the Liturgy, go and go to work. But you put the law of God above all: do not worry about unnecessary acquisitions, the Lord feeds even the birds; love God, as they previously said, more than your wife and children; visit the church of God more often, read the Holy Gospel more often, do not spare alms to the poor, cleansing your soul with repentance, feed it with the Body and Blood of Christ, and you will fulfill the words of the Lord by choosing love for Him over love for the world. Everywhere you can be saved and everywhere you can die. David was saved on the royal throne, Judas was an apostle and died. Great Martyr George the Victorious, Martyr John the Warrior were warriors, Saints Vladimir, Boris and Gleb were princes, Righteous Philaret the Merciful was a farmer - they were all laymen and were saved. The holy venerable Macarius of Egypt was a great hermit and saint of God, but one day the Lord told him that two women living in the world were superior to him in virtue. Macarius went to them to learn from them. Having found them, he asked what good deeds they were doing that pleased God so much? They answered him that they, two daughters-in-law, would like to go to the monastery, but their husbands would not let them in, and they decided to serve them until their death, and that they would never quarrel or talk idle talk. So, living in the world, you can be a great ascetic. But many who are first will be last, and those who are last will be first (Matthew 19:30). We will receive a hundredfold in heaven for our patience on earth, and this reward will be given to all those who do the law of Christ without distinction. On earth there are rich and poor, nobles and commoners, scientists and non-scientists. But beyond the grave there are only the righteous and the sinful. There the rich man, who was flattered by everyone on earth, goes to hell; the beggar despised on earth rejoices in the Kingdom of Heaven. Truly, we will bring nothing there except the good and evil we have committed. This is the path that leads to the Kingdom of Heaven. Be a Christian everywhere and always, not only in name, but also in deed - and you will be saved. A true Christian loves God more than anything else in the world and joyfully bears the cross of Christ; the title does not save, only a virtuous life saves, which in heaven will be rewarded a hundredfold to all the righteous without distinction. May God grant that the doors of His glorious Kingdom are not closed for us. The love of parents for their children through the love of God Whoever loves a son or daughter more than Me is worthy of Me (Matthew 10:37). Parental love for children, often without desire on the part of the father and mother and unnoticed by them, loses its Christian properties. Taking advantage of the rights of legal love for children, it at the same time becomes hostility to God and His holy law, and makes Christian parents with such feelings for children unworthy and evil servants of our Lord Jesus Christ. To love a son and, out of natural affection for him, not to pay attention to who grows and strengthens under the cover of fatherly love - an honest or depraved person, a faithful servant of the fatherland or a violent seditious and enemy of any order, a true Christian or a person without faith and good convictions, a champion of the Gospel and truth or a traitor to the faith and a traitor to the truth - is this really love worthy of a Christian father? the love that the duty of a Christian father and the direct law of the Gospel inspires in him? No, this means loving only flesh and blood in your son, and not loving his soul and rational life; This is animal love, not human, much less Christian, which acts according to the spirit of the love of Christ and according to the Gospel law; this love is contrary to love for the Lord and the requirements of His holy law; this love is enmity against God. Among the manifestations of such paternal love, for its reproof and admonition, it is gratifying to meet in the history of ancient Christians with examples of true love for the children of their parents, who selflessly sacrificed all love for children for the sake of love for the Lord and His holy faith, as soon as the former became criminal before the duties of the latter. Here is one such example. The apostasy of the Roman Emperor Julian had many followers from Christians who were not firm in the faith and were cowardly. One of these followers of the apostate was a young man, the son of a noble citizen of the city of Beria, a high-ranking state dignitary, a pious and devoted Christian. When his son revealed to him his unbelief and his fall, the pious father, for the sake of Jesus Christ, spared neither the honor, nor the name of his son, nor his love for him: he deprived him of all rights to the inheritance and publicly renounced him. The enterprising young man went to the apostate ruler to seek his protection, protection before his father, reward and honor for his renunciation of Christianity to please the king, the enemy and persecutor of the name of Christ. Julian, who dreamed of turning the whole world to the ancient, then defeated pagan idolatry, was very pleased with all sorts of examples of apostasy and did not spare rewards and favors to increase the number of wicked people like himself; he treated the young man kindly, calmed him down and promised through his mediation to return to him his father’s favor and the right to inheritance. Arriving in Beria, Julian invited to his table, among many famous citizens of the city, a pious father and an apostate son. At the table, Julian addressed the father of his rejected son with the following words: “It seems to me that it would be unfair to show violence to people with a different mood of thought and, against a person’s will, to incline him to his thoughts. So, do not force your son to follow your teaching when he does not want to. After all, I don’t force you to follow mine, although I could very easily force you to do so!” “Are you, king, talking about this wicked man who preferred lies to the truth?” - answered the pious father in indignation at his apostate son. In the response of the Christ-loving father there was so much invincible zeal in defense of the holy faith of Christ and at the same time so much undaunted indignation at the apostasy of his son, who was under the protection of the same king, that this traitor to faith and conscience did not find in himself the usual audacity to defend a lie against the truth. Feeling powerless against the holy zeal of the defender of Christianity, Julian assumed an air of feigned meekness and, turning the matter into a joke, said to the young man: “I myself will take care of you, when I could not persuade your father to do this.” Indeed, the father of the young apostate did not change his righteous anger towards his lawless son; Neither the caresses nor the threats of the wicked king affected him; for him there was nothing more terrible than the sentence of the Lord Jesus: whoever loves a son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. You can please God in every rank Many, and especially ordinary people, complain that in their activities it is impossible to please God. Such a complaint is unfair! The Lord God, by His infinite mercy, calls everyone to salvation, if only there is a desire for it on our part. And many examples of this kind are contained in the lives of saints. Probably, many people know the holy unmercenary martyrs Florus and Laurus, who lived in the 4th century. They were simple masons, but this title did not prevent them from leading a pious life and benefiting people. And the Lord rewarded the brother workers with the gift of miracles. In the region neighboring them, they decided to build a majestic pagan temple, and the head of the region sent Saints Florus and Laurus there to work, because they were both known to everyone as the best masters of their craft. And so, when they were busy cutting stones, the son of the main pagan priest approached them - suddenly a flying fragment of stone hit him in the eye. The bruise was so severe that the boy threatened to lose his eye. To the angry cry and reproaches of this boy’s parent, the saints calmly replied that they would heal the eye of the innocent child if the father agreed to let him go with them for a while. With the consent of the parent, the saints took the boy into their wretched hut, prayed to the Lord for him all night and instructed him in the faith of Christ, and by morning they marked him with the sign of the cross. After this, the child’s eye immediately opened and began to see as before. This miracle had such an effect on the priest that he and his entire household believed in the One True God and joined the Orthodox Church. For their miracles and virtuous life, the unmercenary saints Florus and Laurus were awarded martyrdom - they were thrown into a waterless well and covered with earth. Many years later, the bodies of the holy martyrs were found incorrupt and transferred to Constantinople. The Lord gave their relics healing power. And here is another wonderful person - St. Mark of Pechersk! The most amazing thing about him is the simplicity of his feat. He did not lead a high contemplative life. His occupation was very ordinary: he was digging the earth. Living in a cave, Mark dug many caves with his own hands and carried the earth on his shoulders, working day and night for the Lord. He dug many graves for the burial of the brethren and did not take bribes for it, unless someone himself gave something, and even this he distributed to the poor. Working in this way, Mark achieved a high spiritual perfection that few achieve. This is the most convincing example of how, with any bodily labor, the soul can improve spiritually, if the spirit works for the Lord, drives away everything unclean from the soul, fills it with thoughts and sighs of saints, strictly preserving it with humility and meekness. One saint, for the surest receipt of the Kingdom of Heaven, became a mason. This is what we know about him from the life of St. Ephraim, ruler of the city of Antioch. He was tasked with rebuilding the city after the earthquake. A lot of people were invited - the work went on amicably, but of all the day laborers, one attracted attention: his clothes were the most worn, his face was emaciated, he worked harder than anyone else. One day the Monk Ephraim had a vision of a pillar of fire rising above this day laborer during his sleep. Surprised by this vision, blessed Ephraim turned to the wonderful worker with the question of who he was, what city he was from, and what his name was. He answered: “I am a poor resident of Antioch and live by daily work.” Not believing his words, Saint Ephraim urged him to reveal himself. “Trust me,” said the ruler, “I will not let you go until you tell me the whole truth.” The imaginary worker, unable to hide himself any longer, said: “I was a bishop, but for the sake of the Lord I left my bishopric and came here, to an unfamiliar country, where I work and from my labor earn my daily living.” These examples clearly show that no title - as long as it is honest - does not interfere with pleasing God. Therefore, the excuse that hard work cannot please God is in vain. On the contrary, with such labor it is easier to be saved than to perish. Labor is a great and good thing; work is happiness, and idleness is misfortune for a person. “There is nothing,” says St. John Chrysostom, “truly there is nothing in human affairs that idleness does not destroy, for even water, if it stands, is damaged, but if it flows, it retains its properties; and iron, if left unused, becomes covered with rust, but when something is forged from it, it is useful and shines like silver.” It’s not for nothing that they say: “God loves work.” The question is, why does God love work? And because, of course, work leads to goodness and happiness, and idleness - the mother of all vices - destroys a person and makes him unhappy. The Apostle Paul says that if anyone does not want to work, he should not eat (2 Thess. 3:10). But as you work, ask Him for success in your undertaking, and when it is completed, again thank the Creator and Benefactor God, because from Him comes every perfect gift and every good gift. When you are freed from work - for example, a Sunday or a holiday has arrived - go to the church of God: here you will receive both sanctification and enlightenment of your soul. And, when you come home, do not indulge in revelry, drunkenness, do not start quarrels, much less fights. And so that you don’t get bored, read some soulful book. After spending time like this, you will get up the next day with renewed strength and easily get back to your previous work. Is it impossible to please God with such a lifestyle? Of course, it is possible: our righteous saints are living proof of this. Therefore, no title, no matter how insignificant, will prevent us from pleasing God if there is a desire in our soul to do so. Follow the commandment of the Apostle of Christ: each do as God has determined for him, and each as the Lord has called (1 Cor. 7:17). All Christians are called to holiness If a citizen or villager were told: do this and that, be close to the king, who gives you the right to this advantage and calls you to it, with what willingness, with what ardor would he take on the tasks required of him, even if the feat was not easy and the work was not short. But here the herald of the will of the Heavenly King says to us, and to the least degree unworthy of citizenship in this Kingdom: be holy - be morally holy, and then you will be blessed; live piously and virtuously, and you will be close to the King of Heaven, who allows you not only to approach Him, but also to abide in Him, and He Himself wants not only to approach you, but also to live in you. What then? How is this calling accepted? Do everyone, at least how many, follow it willingly, with ardent zeal, unflagging zeal, complete dedication? Don’t we think and say more often: “Where should we be saints? We are sinful people; It’s enough if we can somehow be saved by repentance.” “Where should we be holy?” But have we thought about what we will be and what will happen to us if we do not strive to become saints? There are higher degrees of holiness at which especially chosen and blessed souls shine, but holiness in general is not just a private distinction among Christians, which is commendable for some to have and which others can easily do without. According to the apostolic teaching, everyone who is called by a holy God to the Kingdom of God, in other words, every Christian, in this calling itself and in the thought of God who called him, must find for himself a law, a duty and an incentive so that he will certainly be or become a saint. According to him who called you to the Holy One, you yourself will be holy in all your life; it is written before: You will be holy, for I am Holy (1 Pet. 1:15–16). If you live without effort and without hope of being holy, then you do not live according to the saint who called you, you do not correspond to the dignity of those called by God and the sons of the Covenant of God - you are Christians in name only. What such a life leads to can be seen from another apostolic saying: have peace and holiness with everyone, and no one else will see the Lord (Heb. 12:14). It is clearer: have peace with everyone, have holiness, and without peace and without holiness no one will see the Lord, that is, no one will achieve eternal bliss. So, if we carelessly and carelessly think that we should not be saints, then we are writing a sentence for ourselves not to see the Lord, to be alien to eternal bliss. “We are sinful people,” they say. This truth seems to be undeniable. For, on the contrary, if we say that there is no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us (1 John 1:8). But if we call ourselves sinners without contrition of heart, without turning away from sin, with carelessness, slyly implying that everyone else should admit the same thing, and, therefore, we are not ashamed to admit it, and it is not dangerous for us to remain the same after confession as we were before confession - such recognition of sinfulness, of course, will not lead to holiness. And in this case, even if we tell the truth that we are sinners, we deceive ourselves, since there is no truth in our hearts and in our lives, although with our lips we admit our sinfulness. The word is true and worthy of all acceptance, for Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners (1 Tim. 1:15). But we are deceived if we think that we will be saved while remaining such sinners. Christ saves sinners by giving them the means to become saints. “We will somehow be saved by repentance,” they say. Yes, repentance is one of the means of salvation that Christ teaches to sinners when he preaches: repent and believe in the Gospel (Mark 1:15). But if we think of somehow repenting, somehow being saved, then we judge too easily a matter of great importance. Will a slave please his master if he does his job somehow, and not as best as possible? Of course it won't please. Moreover, a person will not please God if he somehow does the work of God, which is the work of our salvation. Moreover, the perfect teacher of repentance, John the Baptist, says that true repentance requires something else after itself. Create, he says, fruit worthy of repentance (Matthew 3:8). Repentance clears the soil of the heart from thorns, cultivates it, softens it; faith sows the seed of heaven into it; the growth of this new plant is keeping the commandments and doing good; its color is spiritual inner enlightenment, and its mature, perfect fruit is holiness. The wheat must reach maturity so that it can be brought into the granary. It is necessary for a person to achieve holiness in order for him to be brought into the Kingdom of Heaven. Truly, if we were to achieve holiness only through human, natural forces, then it would be fair to say that this is beyond our ability. But when for this we have God’s grace that precedes, enlightens, strengthens, promotes, protects, no one should lose hope of achieving that for which God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ... chose us in Him before the foundation of the world. And He chose us to be holy and blameless before Him in love (Eph. 1:3–4). Examples of the intercession of saints How many of you, Orthodox Christians, doubt that the saints of God can ask God for this or that gift to us sinners?! Here is the definition of the Eastern Church: “We call upon the saints to mediate between God and us, so that they pray to Him for us. We call them not as any gods, but as another of Him, who serve Him, glorify Him and worship Him. We demand their help not because they can help us with their own strength, but because through their intercession they ask us for grace from God... Although the saints themselves do not know and do not understand our prayers, they know and hear through the revelation of God... So, we rightly honor them and ask God for help through them... We do not give them divine honor, but we pray to them, as our brothers and other things, to ask for us, the brothers their own, help from God and interceded for us before God.” And sometimes our prayers to the saints of God are not in vain. Here are examples of this. In the life of the holy Apostle Bartholomew, it is mentioned that the Monk Joseph the Songwriter especially honored the memory of the Apostle Bartholomew: he acquired part of his relics, built a church in his monastery in the name of this apostle and placed the relics in the newly created church. He was often privileged to see the apostle in his dreams. The Monk Joseph wanted to decorate the apostle’s celebration with special songs, but he did not know whether this would please Saint Bartholomew; and so he began to earnestly pray to God and the Apostle, so that news of this would be given to him. Forty days of the monk's fervent and tearful prayer passed, and on the eve of the feast of St. Bartholomew, the Monk Joseph saw him at the altar, dressed in white vestments; The Apostle pulled back the altar curtain and called the Monk Joseph. When he approached, Saint Bartholomew took the Gospel from the throne, placed it on Joseph’s chest and said: “May the right hand of Almighty God bless you, and may the waters of Heavenly Wisdom flow onto your tongue, may your heart be the seat of the Holy Spirit, and may your singing delight the universe!” Having said this, the Apostle became invisible; The Monk Joseph, filled with indescribable joy, began to compose church songs and canons. He not only compiled canons in honor of the holy Apostle Bartholomew, but also in honor of the Mother of God, St. Nicholas and other saints, for which he received the title of “Songwriter.” Here is an example from the life of St. Theodore Sikeot. One day this saint had to fall into a serious illness, so that he despaired of life: he already saw the holy Angels coming for his soul; so he cried and sobbed, considering himself unprepared for death. Above the head of the saint hung an icon of the unmercenary saints Cosmas and Damian. They appeared to him in a dream and, feeling his pulse, talked among themselves for a long time, as if not vouching for the favorable outcome of the saint’s illness. Then the unmercenaries asked the patient: “What are you crying and grieving about, brother?” “And about that,” answered the monk, “that I did not repent to God and did not completely organize my flock.” Then the holy doctors asked him: “Do you want us to pray to God for you, that He may extend your life?” The patient answered: “If you do this, then you will be the culprit of many blessings and will receive a reward for my repentance.” The holy unmercenaries, turning to the Angels, asked them to wait a little while they went to the Tsar and God and begged Him for Theodora. The angels promised to wait, and Saints Cosmas and Damian went to the Almighty King Christ God and begged Him to add years to the life of the Monk Theodore, and soon returned, having in their midst a young man similar to the Angels, but much brighter than them. This young man said to the Angels: “Leave Theodore alive: the common Lord and King of Glory has prayed for him.” And immediately the holy Angels with that bright young man departed to heaven, and the holy unmercenaries Cosmas and Damian said to Theodore: “Rise, brother, and pay attention to yourself and your flock, for our Good and Merciful Master has accepted our prayers for you.” The monk rose from his bed, and the holy unmercenaries became invisible. Finally, who among us does not know and honor St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, our zealous prayer book and great intercessor in troubles? How many times did he appear to those asking for his help, either in a dream vision or in reality. For example, there was such a case. One Greek commander, named Peter, was once captured by the Saracens and imprisoned. Here he grumbled not so much at his bitter fate as at himself. “A similar incident happened to me,” he said, “and I asked St. Nicholas to deliver me from my enemies, promising to accept monasticism in Rome. He fulfilled my request: he delivered me from captivity, but I, ungrateful, forgot my promise, and for this I suffer here. But, servant of Christ! Save me, and I will certainly fulfill my promise!” Saint Nicholas appeared to him in a dream and said: “I have heard your prayer, but God is still delaying your deliverance. However, do not lose heart and do not stop praying: press, it is said, and it will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7). After some time, the saint of God appears to him again and says: “I prayed to God for you, but I don’t know how He favors you. However, I will show you a most worthy prayer book, this is Simeon the God-Receiver. Ask him constantly: he is strong before God and, together with the Most Holy Theotokos and Saint John the Baptist, stands closest to the Throne of God.” Finally, Saint Nicholas appears to him in reality, and not alone, but with the righteous Simeon, and both say: “Take courage, Peter, and call on the Lord in sorrow.” Then they took an oath from him that he would fulfill his promise; then righteous Simeon touched his shackles with his staff, and they fell apart, led him out of prison, and Peter received complete freedom. At the same time, Saint Nicholas appeared to the Roman high priest, holding Peter by the hand, told his story, ordered him to be tonsured a monk, and became invisible. When Peter came to the Roman high priest, the latter immediately recognized him and told him that he had heard about him from the saint himself. Having accepted the monastic title, Peter spent the rest of his life on Athos in great exploits. And here is what is told about the Monk Vassian. In the city of Ravenna, where the saint of God lived, a command came from the king to execute one official, named Bithymnius, who had been innocently slandered; he was immediately taken, put in chains and brought to the place of execution. Without realizing any guilt, Vithymnius remembered the saint of God Vassian and, bowing his head under the executioner’s ax, prayed: “Pleasant of God! By the grace given to you from God, be my helper now.” So what? As soon as the executioner raised the ax, it tore out of his hands and fell to the ground. Having secured the deadly weapon in his hands, the executioner again wanted to strike, but the ax fell out of his hands a second time, and the same thing happened a third time. The mayor, suspecting this was a deliberate betrayal of his duty on the part of the executioner, called another to carry out the execution, but this ax was also torn out of his hands three times. The people, who witnessed such an extraordinary incident, recognized this as the invisible Divine protection of the condemned man and demanded his release. When the king was informed of what had happened, he ordered a strict investigation into the guilt of Bithymnius; it turned out that he had become a victim of slander. The king ordered him to be released and all his ranks and dignity returned to him. Vithymnius publicly glorified the saint of God Vassian, through whose prayers he was delivered from a vain death. So, listening with living, heartfelt faith to all these church legends about the heavenly intercession of the saints of God for us, always ready to help us and console us in the sorrowful circumstances of our lives, let us thank the All-Merciful God, who gives us, earthly beings, through these mediations of the saints, to rise in the boldness and power of our prayer. "God! Even if Thy saints had not had prayer books and Thy goodness that is merciful to us, how dare they, O Savior, sing to You, and the Angels praise Him incessantly!” From many sins the body becomes weak, and our soul also becomes weak. As serious criminals, we would not dare to raise our eyes to the Throne of the Judge of God, if we were not encouraged by faith in the intercession of the saints for us, who, being close to God as His friends and the secret places of His grace, have great power before the Heavenly King. At the same time, they can fully sympathize with our weaknesses, being people servile to us and who have experienced all the hardships of life in the struggle with sin. Let us not grow cold in our prayers before the saints of God, especially before those whose names we bear and to whom churches are dedicated in our places of residence. Much more can the prayer of a righteous person be hastened (James 5:16). You might be interested in: