Благодарность (Благодарение)

“The man from whom the demons had gone out asked Him to be with Him” (Luke 8:38). The desire to continually be with Christ is a clear sign of gratitude. The man from whom the Lord cast out the demonic legion was grateful. Sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and rational, he thought to himself, saying: What will I render to my Lord, my free Physician? How will I repay my Benefactor? How will I thank you and what will I bring? I will offer myself to Him, I will give myself to Him in eternal slavery, I will remain with Him, diligently and faithfully serving Him as long as I live, until my death, without retreating from Him anywhere and without moving away from Him even for a short time. Lord, accept me so that I can be with You, so that I can follow You wherever You go: I asked Him to be with Him. Gratitude is the guardian of all other virtues, and just as the fruits of a garden or vineyard, at which a watchful guard stands, are not robbed or plundered, so the virtues protected by gratitude remain intact from the spiritual or invisible thief and predator. The holy apostle, having gathered the virtues in one place, like ears of corn in a sheaf, and having bound them with love, set gratitude as the guardian, saying this: “Put on, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering, bearing with one another and forgiving each other” - these will be the ears of corn gathered in a sheaf. “Above all, put on love, which is the sum of perfection,” is the guard assigned to guard the sheaf so that no thief may steal it. Where this guard is not present, spiritual wealth is plundered (Col. 3:12–14). To confirm this truth, we must again recall Judas. He had, as it is said, great spiritual wealth, for the Lord, even before His free suffering, did not deprive him of anything in comparison with the other apostles, when he sent His twelve disciples in twos to preach (see Mark 6:7). All those gifts that He gave to Peter, Andrew, James, John and the other apostles - all these gifts He gave to Judas. He gave everyone the power to cast out unclean spirits and heal every disease and every disease. To everyone in general He said: “heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons” (Matthew 10:8). In the same number was Judas, according to the Gospel: “The names of the Twelve Apostles are these: the first Simon, called Peter, and Andrew his brother,” and others by their names, finally, “and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him” (Matthew 10:2–4). Jesus sent these twelve, commanding them, saying: “Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons”; therefore, Judas also had the same gifts from Christ and, by the grace of Christ, performed the same miracles that the other apostles did: he healed the sick, cleansed lepers, raised the dead and cast out demons. What else was he missing? He lacked a watchful guard, he lacked gratitude that would have kept intact that spiritual treasure of Judas. Since he turned out to be ungrateful for all those God's gifts, he lost them all in one hour, and invisible thieves plundered them. Saint Chrysostom, looking at the Last Supper, analyzing Judas’ intentions and keeping in mind the words of the Gospel: “He (Judas), having accepted the piece, immediately went out” (John 3:30), reflects on this, saying that “when Judas took communion of the last supper on that last night along with all those reclining, he himself, getting up, left. This is imitated by those who leave before the last thanksgiving, that is, before the last church dismissal. After all, if Judas had not come out, he would not have become a traitor.” We heed the following words: “Judas would not have become a traitor if he had not gone out before thanksgiving,” if he had waited with the other apostles for the last thanksgiving. So, here this universal teacher, Saint Chrysostom, believes that the whole blame for the destruction of the spiritual treasures of Judas is that Judas the traitor, being ungrateful for so many of Christ’s benefits shown to him, did not want to wait for thanksgiving at the last supper, but went out before everyone else. If he had waited, then this very gratitude, like some kind of wakeful guard, would have protected him from betrayal and would have kept his spiritual wealth intact. If he had not gone out before Thanksgiving, he would not have become a traitor. As for how gratitude is a guardian of spiritual and material treasures, we will see this in the example of the beautiful Joseph. This chaste young man was gifted and enriched with many blessings by two great benefactors: God and man. God enriched him with spiritual gifts, purity, chastity and other virtues befitting the soul. The man, the Egyptian military leader Pentephry, enriched him with external gifts, giving him his entire house and all his property. The spiritual enemy and thief, being envious, wanted to steal all this from him, steal it, and for this purpose he taught his mistress, Pentefriev’s wife, to seduce Joseph into sin, with which he would anger both God and insult his master, would lose the mercy and grace of God and man, would destroy spiritual wealth and lose material wealth. Let's see how the good young man responds to women's temptations. “Behold, my master, having put everything into my hands, knows nothing in his house, and there is nothing that is not in my power or that he has not entrusted to me, except you, because you are his wife: how can I do this evil?” (see Gen. 39:8–9). Saint Gregory, reflecting on these words of his, says: “He immediately brought to mind the benefits that he received and thereby defeated the evil that oppressed him. He remembered the covenants of gratitude and broke the power of the sin that came upon him.” During the most sinful struggle, when the chaste Joseph, on the one hand, was carried away by a nasty wife, and on the other hand, was encouraged to sin by natural lust, when he was already standing in the middle of the nets of the captive, then he thought in his mind how he could repay good for evil, and said with his lips: “How can I do this evil?” With this, he immediately destroyed the charms of the captor and natural need, drove away the spiritual thief and predator, and preserved the virtuous wealth intact. He did not anger God and did not offend his master. Look what the guardian of all virtues is - gratitude. The present evangelical man was also grateful for the good deeds of the Lord, from whom demons came out, driven out by the power of Christ, for he asked the Lord to be with Him. Although the Lord did not deign to have him among those who followed Him, for he let him go, however, that man did not forget the benefits of his Benefactor: he went throughout the city, preaching about what Jesus had done for him. Truly, there is no doubt that this man was enriched with spiritual and inexplicable treasures: for his gratitude he was awarded the gift of preaching. We will pay attention to the sign of his gratitude that, as a sign of gratitude, he wanted to always be with Christ: he asked Him in order to be with Him, and let us say to ourselves this: nothing else can be done to thank the Lord God, our Creator and Redeemer, Who always shows us innumerable benefits, except by being diligent and, according to our strength, trying relentlessly and always to be with Him, our Lord, for obvious, known and perfect gratitude consists in always clinging to your benefactor (1). The apostle Paul, caught up to the third heaven, says: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man” (1 Cor. 2:9). Such heaven, such joy, has God prepared for those who love Him! Christ the Lord Himself commands those who have received this to rejoice, as if saying: “Do not rejoice because demons obey you! Don't be happy that you have everything! Why? Rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20). O great joy indeed! O ineffable bliss! O priceless acquisition! I know that everyone wants it, everyone wants to receive it, but not everyone gets it. Not all, for some will be expelled and cast into utter darkness. Who gets it? These are those to whom the Judge Himself says: “I was naked, and you clothed Me” (Matthew 25:36). For this virtue, Christ rewards with heaven and grants eternal life. Great, I say, is the virtue of clothing the naked beggars. How great and ineffable is the virtue of clothing Christ the Lord Himself! But perhaps someone will ask: how can one dress the one who dresses the sky with clouds, the earth with grass, and who adorns all creation? This is possible if we, seeing the naked churches being built in His name, in which Christ Himself rests under the guise of bread and wine, fill and cover them. For such a deed, more than for all others, the Lord will reward an eternal settlement in heaven... Out of His inscrutable mercy, God is so merciful to us, His children, beloved listeners, that He gives us everything we need, without depriving us of anything. “He has in His right hand the length of days, and in the left riches and glory” (see Proverbs 3:16), and He has prepared all this for us, He preserves it for our sake, even though we have sinned before Him, for “the Lord is abundantly merciful and generous” (see Ps. 102:8, 144:8). We wander like lost sheep, but He stretched out His most pure hands on the Cross, drawing everyone to Himself (see John 12:32). We touched the tree of life, He gave His hands to be nailed for this. Moreover, revealing His inexpressible kindness and showing that He does not hide anything from us, He showed us the entrance to His most humane heart and the path through His pierced sides, so that through these doors everyone would enter, and go out, and find pasture (see John 10:9). What love can be greater, what kindness can be greater than these? In addition to all the ineffable graces, He also grants this: “And all Mine are Yours” (John 17:10)! Having received all this, having been worthy of all this, are we grateful? Not always grateful. For when He bowed the heavens (see Ps. 143:5), He who came down for our salvation wanted to be born, He and His Most Blessed Mother, first of all, did not find a place: the time of Christmas had come, and “there was no place for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7). Then, when He began to preach the way of salvation, He Himself spoke of our gratitude and praised it in the following words: “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head. He came to his own, and his own did not receive Him” (Luke 9:58; John 1:11). He came to the land of the Gadarenes and healed a demoniac who did not allow anyone to pass along the path where he lived in the tombs, and how did they thank Him for this? They ask Him to go away: “And all the people of the Gadarene region asked Him to depart from them” (Luke 8:37). O great ingratitude, unworthy of retribution not only to such a Benefactor, but also to our enemies! However, the Lamb of God endured all this. Will He not do the same with us? Will we endure the same merciless inhumanity when we, seeing Him naked, do not have mercy? When, receiving wealth and glory from His left hand, we do not at all participate in covering Him, seeing that the church of God, out of poverty, stands naked and uncovered, do we not think about it at all? Truly, it will not endure! For if unfaithful and godless people suffered death and eternal punishment for dishonoring the Lord, for neglecting Christ the Lord, then what will happen to us Christians? The word of the Lord will be fulfilled: “But that servant who knew the will of his master, and was not ready, and did not do according to his will, will be beaten many times” (Luke 12:47) (2). Every good deed requires thanksgiving, and we, who have received ineffable blessings from the Mother of God, must not be ungrateful. Be grateful, for whoever is ungrateful for anything is unworthy of it. But what shall we bring or what shall we repay the Virgin Mary for all that she has done good for us? Gold, or silver, or precious stones?.. She, our Lady, does not require this, these blessings of ours, for nothing on earth is worthy of Her. Let us give ourselves to Her, and she will be satisfied, for She demands us, not ours, saying together with God in Scripture: “My son! give your heart to me” (Prov. 23:26). How can we give ourselves to Her? Nothing less than “cleansing yourself from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit” (2 Cor. 7:1). For if even earthly masters do not accept a foul gift, what kind of pure gift does the Most Heavenly Lady deserve? And how will the unclean be pleasing to Her, the Most Pure One? This is how we will be pleasing to Her, our Lady: having cleansed ourselves from our defilements, let us give Her soul and body, mind and heart, to serve Her in honor and truth all the days of our life (3). Let all earthly minds come, let all those who philosophize become wise and be amazed at God’s miracles: how wonderful is the Lord, how strong, how merciful and righteous in His intentions, more than all the sons of men! For, without demanding anything, He created man, having created, He does not demand anything from him, only right reason and true repentance, so that, recognizing His benefits, man would lovingly cleave to Him and, seeing that he has nothing of himself, would always remain in humility, always bringing Him thanks and praise for everything (3). This is the virtue characteristic of Christians, as Blessed Jerome says, to thank the Creator for everything that seems unpleasant, to always give thanks to God in all harms and troubles, saying: “Blessed is God! I know that I endure less than I deserve to endure, that all this is not enough for my sins, that I am not at all rewarded as I deserve.” This is the Christian mind. Only he, bearing the cross, inherits the Savior, who is not weakened by any misfortune or deprivation (3). What is it appropriate to thank God for? For this: 1) that from non-existence he brought us to existence; 2) that he honored us with a human, and not an animal soul; 3) that He redeemed us with His Honest Blood; 4) that he granted us the right to be heirs of the kingdom of heaven; 5) that many times those who are angry and irritated by us are not completely angry with us; 6) that, despite our grave sins, He did not destroy us in our very sin, but kept us alive; 7) what acts in our sins, keeping us whole and not allowing the devil to immediately devour us; 8) that our repentance still awaits, and we are still alive and not dead; 9) that the worms have not yet eaten our bodies in the tomb; 10) that our souls are not yet in hell and 11) that there is still time for our repentance. Oh, how we must thank God for this! (3) You might be interested in: