Слово 19

Spoken by St. Gregory the Theologian about his words to Julian, who was taking a census of the people and equalizing taxes What a violent power that constantly torments me out of love! What wisdom and experience I have when every holiday calls me to fight! I don’t find any wisdom or experience in myself, no matter how I analyze and test myself. True, I recognize one thing in myself that may be important, although some call it feeble-mindedness - I would like to mortify the life within myself every minute, and live a life hidden in Christ, to become not a petty merchant, but with everything I have, to buy a pearl of great price, exchanging everything that is transitory and perishable for the permanent and heavenly. Such an acquisition, of course, is most important and reliable for someone who has intelligence. But if this is impossible for me, then I would like to stand, at least in another way, and give up the throne to those who wish, and to be a child and a student all my life, until I wash away all the bitterness with the sweet waters of teaching. Let this be the first and foremost task of my wisdom or feeble-mindedness; and the second and most important is the following: since I am not able to hold back with my word the word of many and the desire and desire that has now taken hold of everyone to teach and talk about spiritual things, not having the Spirit in me, then to go another way, as far as I am sure, and better and less difficult, becoming an example of silence, to teach everyone silence; and whoever thinks highly of me will be shamed with superiority, and whoever is low and less than proper will be reduced to modesty by equality of merit. This is the reason for my silence, this is the secret of our abstinence! But what is happening to me? I am dragged and torn here and there; they enter into litigation about my labors, without mercy, demanding my word as a kind of debt; they love me more than I love myself; and everyone has become wiser than me, because they know better than I when to speak and when to remain silent. They say that they will not stop hitting me, like iron with flint, with reproaches, until the fire of the word ignites from a small spark. And some of them are already promising benefits from my words, giving me seemingly great rewards; firstly, the fact that they will do good to themselves by committing themselves to God and me as a fruit-bearing word; then the fact that on the occasion of the census there will be good for everyone present here, that is, for my clergy, if my father’s clergy is also mine, and for my flock, with whom I would have acted very unfairly if I had not had the zeal to benefit them in every way. And the best reward is that for my word they themselves offer something that through the word would have to be sought with great effort. It's a wonderful competition that they're trying to beat me with! Commendable reward! You see what the effect of my silence is; it made my very words more desirable to you. You see what the fruit of our dishonor is. Oh, if such was the benefit of speech, what is the benefit of silence! So, since it pleases you, you have defeated the invincible, you have triumphed over my wisdom, I will tell you something better than silence. And consequently, I will not say something tender, pleasant and delightful for many with its euphony (with such a conversation I would do evil to those who love me), but I will say something very courageous and strong, from which you could become better, as those raised from the flesh to the spirit and sufficiently elevated in mind. “Sons of men,” I will begin with the words of the great-voiced David, “How long will my glory be in reproach, how long will you love vanity and seek lies” (Ps. 4:3), considering as something great the life here, amusements, petty fame, insignificant power and false prosperity, which belong to those who have them no more than to those who hope to have them, and to those who hope no more than to those who have no hope at all? All this, like dust in a whirlwind, is admired and transported from one to another, or, like smoke, spreads out like a dream, mocking us like an uncontrollable shadow; when it leaves, it is not hopeless for those who have not acquired it; and when it comes, it is not true for those who have it. How can we not turn our gaze to him, O grief? Let's not get sober? We won’t clear the pus from our eyes! We do not know what is true wealth, what is true celebrity, where is unlosable dignity, what is endless bliss, where is the unshakable, unchangeable good that does not expose us to slander? Wouldn’t we begin to acquire them, if this happened, with much effort and labor? Shall we not enjoy our hopes like this, if we must enjoy anything here? Shall we not think about the holy martyrs and other saints who, like some kind of common bond, have embraced the entire Universe, and in whose honor this celebration is celebrated? Why did they endure wounds, and bonds, and torture, and prohibition by fire, and the edge of swords, and the cruelty of animals, and darkness, and hunger, and abysses, and the theft of property, and the rejection of members, and, finally, death itself, willingly, as if laboring in someone else’s body? What did they want to be, what to inherit? Doesn’t everyone know this, even if I didn’t say it? Why don’t we, with the same hope, before the same Distributor of rewards and Hero of Deeds, take up arms against the same tormentor, just as now as at that time, a cruel persecutor of souls, an invisible enemy and adversary? Why not strive with the same courage in the general disgrace, that is, in the disgrace of the world (if not in extreme danger, when liberation is soon, then in daily labors and struggles), in order to be rewarded with the same crowns, or something very close to that? And to every husband and wife, old man and young man, city dweller and villager, commoner and boss, rich and poor, since everyone is called upon by one feat, I give one piece of advice - prepare for this feat willingly, do not relax, do not hesitate, do not waste time that is no longer possible to return. For the present is the time of doing, and the future is the time of reward. Hear what the Savior says: “Get up, let us go from here” (John 14:31), he speaks not only to the disciples of that time, whom he is leading from Judea, but also to all those who follow, in order to remove everyone from here and draw him to Himself, exalted, according to the vow (John 12:32). Let us follow the good Master, let us flee from worldly lusts, let us flee from the deceptive world and the ruler of the world; let us devote ourselves entirely to the Creator; Let's honor the image of God, respect the title, change lives. Why do we humiliate ourselves when we are tall? Why do we dwell on the visible? Let everyone, at every time, under every lifestyle and circumstance, according to his own strength and according to the grace given to him, bring to God the fruit that he can, so that with virtues of every measure we can fill all the heavenly abodes, reaping as much as we sowed, or, better said, investing as much in God’s granaries as we cultivated. Let them bring gifts, some riches, some poverty; some are zeal for one's neighbor, and some are willing to accept what is offered through zeal; some are commendable deeds, and some are profound observations; some are a timely word, and some are a prudent silence; who has a teaching that does not cause offense and a life that does not contradict it, but who has an obedient and submissive ear; some are pure virginity, completely separating from the world, and some are honest marriage, not completely separating from God; some abstinence without arrogance, and some consumption without lust; one is an unentertaining exercise in prayers and spiritual songs, the other is a careful defense of those in need of help. Yet let them bring tears, cleansing from sins, ascension and the effort to stretch forward. Simplicity, and chaste laughter, and curbed anger, and an eye restrained from disorder, and a mind that is not allowed to become absent-minded, will bear fruit beautifully. No matter how unimportant what is offered to God may be, and no matter how far it may be from perfection, it is not so small that God does not find it pleasing and does not accept it at all, although he weighs mercy with a righteous judgment. And He accepts Paul’s planting as Paul’s; accepts the drink of Apollos, and the widow’s two mites, and the publican’s humility, and the confession of Manasseh. When Moses set up the tabernacle on earth as an image of the heavenly, then everyone brought what was commanded to them. And willing givers (husbands and wives) - some gold, others silver and expensive stones for the outer robe, others “woven linen” and “scarlet wool”; some are “purple, red skins of rams”, others are the worst, “goat’s hair” (Ex. 25:35); each and every one that they had at that time, they all brought to the work of the tabernacle, and none of the poorest was left without an offering. So we too, into God’s honorable tabernacle of this church, “which the Lord erected, and not man” (Heb. 8:2), into a tabernacle built from various ornaments of virtue, although one is less and another is more, we will all contribute equally, in the building of the Spirit, put together and combined into a perfect work, into the dwelling of Christ, into the holy church. Without a doubt, we will not contribute as much as we received, although we will contribute everything. For it is also from God that we exist, know God, and have something to contribute. But what is most beautiful and most humane is that God measures alms not by the merit of what is given, but by the strength and disposition of the fruit-bearer. So, do not hesitate to become generous, but be one now, and for lack of something worthy, do not refuse everything. On the contrary, bring in one thing, wish to bring in another, and pray for another, so that God will grant forgiveness of weakness. He says: “Let them not come before Me empty-handed” (Ex. 23:15). Let no one be lean and barren; not a single soul will be deprived of fertility and childbearing. Let everyone bear fruit to God that which he has and is his property: he who sins - correction, who strives in a good deed - steadfastness; young – abstinence; gray hair - prudence; rich - generosity; poor - gratitude; boss - lack of pride; judge - meekness. “Priests, put on” (or, more correctly, let us be clothed with) “righteousness” (Ps. 132:9). Let us not waste the sheep of our pasture, let us not destroy those for whom the “Good Shepherd” laid down his soul, who knows His own and by His own we know, “calls by name” (John 10:3), leads the sheep and leads them from unbelief to faith, from present life to future rest. Let us be afraid that, in fulfillment of the threat, “judgment begins with us” (1 Pet. 4:17), we do not receive “from the hand of the Lord double for sins” (Is. 40:2), because we ourselves do not enter and hinder those who may come up. Sheep, do not feed the shepherds and do not go beyond your borders; it is enough for you if you are in good pasture. Do not judge judges, do not prescribe laws to legislators. “God is not a God of confusion” and disorder, “but of peace” and order (1 Cor. 14:33). Therefore, let no one who can hardly serve as an arm or a leg, or another even less important member of the body, plot to become a head; on the contrary, brothers, “let each one remain in the rank in which he was called” (1 Cor. 7:20), even if he were worthy of the highest. To be content with the present is much more commendable than to strive for a title that you have not received. He who can follow another without danger, do not want to lead with danger to himself. Let the law of subordination, which holds both earthly and heavenly things, not be violated, so that through multiplicity of authorities one does not reach the point of anarchy. Those who have developed the gift of speech, do not rely too much on this gift, do not philosophize to the point of excess and beyond reason, do not want to gain the upper hand in everything, even with harm, but in some cases, if only it would be useful, yield victory over yourself. Bring the word as a gift to the Word, turn learning into a weapon of justification, not death. Warriors, “be content with your wages” (Luke 3:14) and do not demand more than is due. This is what John, the great preacher of truth, the voice who foreshadowed the Word, commands you and me. What does he mean by salary? Obviously - royal allowance and gifts, which are given according to the law for distinction. And from whom is the “extra”? I am careful not to utter a hostile word, but you will understand, although I will refrain. City rulers, “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21). “To whom is tribute, and to whom is fear” (Rom. 13:7). And when I say fear, I forbid covetousness. What benefit will we get for ourselves, you may say? The great one, the greatest of all, and if you like, through my medium, good hopes and primacy in the mountain city, and not in this small and least of the cities, in which (out of respect for the place of my upbringing I will say more modestly) there is no great honor and glory to be in charge. Let us wish to be the first there, we will gain glory there; In exchange for compassion, which we do not see towards ourselves here, let us rest in the bosom of Abraham. Let us “judge with righteous judgment” (John 7:24), “we will deliver the needy and the needy” (Ps. 82:4), we will have mercy on the widow and the orphan, “we will save those doomed to be killed” (Prov. 24:11), or (to put it much more simply) we will not kill ourselves; Let us not despise anyone who asks us for even crumbs from the table; Let us not pass by the one covered with scabs and lying at our gates. Let us not indulge in amusements when others suffer; We do not disdain a slave like ourselves, so that we, friends and brothers, do not share the same fate with the rich man, do not “torment in the flames,” do not be separated by an “abyss” from the righteous, do not ask the beggar Lazarus to “cool with the end of his finger” our scorched “tongue” (Luke 16:24–26), and ask in vain. Let us be good-natured, merciful, compassionate, let us imitate the Lord, who commands the sun to rise for the good and the evil, and nourishes everyone equally with rain. We will not allow ourselves to be enriched by the poverty of others, we will not stray so far from God’s truthfulness, we will not mix our wealth with other people’s tears, from which it will disappear, like rust and moth, or (I will say in the word of Scripture) “become vomited” (Job 20:15). But if we are more greedy than we should be, then there is also good covetousness. Let's give something small here to enrich ourselves there. These rules are common to everyone, and not just to civil leaders, because for a common illness and the path to healing is common. And you, who compile our census, rewrite us truthfully; conduct not a careful census of my words, from which there is no or little benefit, and only pleasantness and pleasure for the ear, but a holy and humane census of my people, respecting, if nothing else, then time itself, because the Savior is born during the census. It is said: “a command came from Caesar Augustus to make a census of the whole earth.” The census has begun. “Joseph also went to Bethlehem to be married to Mary as his betrothed wife, because he was from the house and lineage of David” (Luke 2:1–5). And at this time the Savior is born, lo and behold! The Creator and Lord of everything is born in a poor and small monastery. Let us fear the mystery, honor the economy, and ourselves bring something as a gift to time. Now the angels rejoice; now the shepherds are embraced by radiance; now the star flows from the east to the great and unapproachable Light, now the Magi worship, bring gifts, recognize the King of all and perfectly guess the Heavenly One from the star. Now Herod is on a rampage, beating children and, for the Liberator, exterminating those who should have received freedom. But we will stand with those who worship and bring Him to the poor for us to the body 121 not incense, as to God, not gold, as to the King, not myrrh, as to him who tasted death for us, but mysterious gifts, exceeding what is visible, that is, we will not take anything, we will not give preference to wealth to poverty in anything, we will not offend creation for creature. You take a census with Christ, you weigh with Christ, you set a price with the Head, you calculate with the Word. Now especially for you Christ is born, who is God, and is made man, and “turns among men” (Bar.3:8). What does this word show? It, in my opinion, teaches those to whom such matters are entrusted that God is always included in the most important orders of Governments. And on the one hand, in order to shame those who carry out the census, during the census he enters into communication with the flesh and with people, and on the other hand, in order to console us in slavery and teach us sincerity (which should also not be overlooked), He Himself pays the “didrachm” for Himself and for Peter, the most honorable of the disciples (Matthew 17:24-27). For He became man for us and took on the form of a servant, and was led to death for our iniquities. This is what the Savior did, who, as God, could save by one will. But He did what is more important to us and most shames us, He became servile and equal to us. Shall we, the disciples of the meek, philanthropic Christ who served so much for us, not imitate the mercy of the Master? Shall we not be merciful to slaves like us, so that we ourselves may earn the mercy of the Lord, Who measures how we measure ourselves? Do we really not want to win our souls through meekness? Slavery is enough for the free, and this distinction is enough, that beings created from the same dust, who rules and who is under power; who imposes taxes, and who is included in the number of tax givers; who can do injustice and evil, and who prays and makes every effort not to suffer evil. Enough is the difference between those created in the same image, in the same dignity, between heirs of the same life, between those for whom Christ equally died! Enough of this for the free! Let us not aggravate this yoke and punishment for our first sin. May evil and the first foundation of evil perish - the evil one, “who sowed tares to those who sleep” (Matthew 13:25) (which means that the beginning of evil is negligence about good, just as the beginning of darkness is the removal of light)! This is what was produced by the tree and bitter eating, and the envious serpent and disobedience, for which we are condemned to spend our lives in the sweat of our brow. Because of this, I became naked and ugly, I knew nakedness, put on a leather robe, fell from paradise, turned to the ground from which I was taken, and instead of pleasure I have only this, that I recognized my own misfortune, instead of short-term pleasure, I was condemned to constant sorrow and hostility towards the one who was much loved to harm and attracted me to himself through eating. This is my reward for sin! As a result of this, I must be born to work, live and be destroyed. Sin is the mother of need, and need is the mother of covetousness, and covetousness is the mother of battles, and battles bring into existence taxes—the most painful thing in our condemnation. But at least we, who are subject to the same condemnation, will not increase the punishment and will not be evil towards others. God demands from us mutual love for humanity, although He Himself punishes us. There will be another census, another census compiler, if you have heard about the “book of the living” (Ps. 68:29) and about the book of the unsaved. There we will all be inscribed, or, better said, already inscribed, each one according to the dignity of the life he led. There, wealth has no more, and poverty no less, and also mercy, and enmity, and everything else with which justice is hidden here. We are all inscribed by the finger of God, and on the day of revelation a book will be opened to us. “The small and the great are equal there” (Job 3:19), and “the slave together with the master,” in the words of Solomon (Wis. 8:11), and the King with the subject, and the nobility next to those entered into the census. I’ll keep silent about what is terrible to say; However, I will say that as we ourselves write, so we will be written. Make this writing as merciful as possible for yourself, showing us mercy and philanthropy. What do you say to this? What will you write, best friend and peer, who listened to the same teachers and the same lessons with me, although God has now ranked me among the best (it’s time to say: the most difficult) lot - to teach you, invested with power? What do you say, the fruit of a pious fatherland and family, the sacred branch of sacred parents and the root of even more sacred children? How will you accept my words? Are they convincing? Or will you demand that I pleasure you longer? True, you shouldn’t guess about it, but you can know for sure that my words have long had power over you. And if nothing else, I can rely on the words themselves, that they always conveniently lead you to the beautiful, and you either precede them or follow them. For this is precisely what distinguishes the wise from ordinary people. However, I will add something to what has been said. You have already given the reward to my words, whatever it may be. But my words also reward you and bring to you the poor, the whole face of the priests, the face of the wise, not tied by any bonds to the earthly, possessing only their own bodies, and bodies imperfectly, having nothing for Caesar, but devoting everything to God - hymns, prayers, vigils, tears, acquisitions, not easily acquired, that is, to die for the world, to live for Christ, to exhaust the flesh, to distract soul from body. They are the servants and witnesses of the mysteries of God, the seers into heaven, the founders of our family, the support and crowns of the Faith, precious pearls, the stones of the church, for which the foundation and cornerstone is Christ, that is, the beautiful fullness of the Church, by sparing them or giving them entirely to God, you will accomplish the most excellent work for them, and for yourself, and for all of us. And I wish that this wealth would come to you from us, and not the great treasures of gold and silver that now exist, but will soon not exist. Such is the fruitfulness of my word for you! It is lower than your hope, but commensurate with my strength. Give me something more than my offering - humility, so that, above all else, you have less need for my words, “be considerate of one another, encouraging one another to love and good works” (Heb. 10:24), so that, having been worthy of the merciful and humane writing in heaven and rejoicing before the King of all, which is the whole purpose of those written there, you may praise God, contemplating and extolling the one glory and the lordship of the Divine - Father and Son and Holy Spirit. For to Him be glory and honor and worship forever and ever. Amen. Either before taking on the body as some kind of rags, or before laying aside the body itself in death on the cross. You might be interested in: