Беседа 33

Spoken to the people in the Church of St. Clement on the 24th day of September. Reading the Holy Gospel: Luke 7.36–50. Luke 7.36–50. One of the Pharisees asked Him to eat food with him; and He entered the house of the Pharisee and lay down. And so, a woman of that city, who was a sinner, having learned that He was reclining in the house of a Pharisee, brought an alabaster flask of ointment and, standing behind His feet and weeping, she began to wet His feet with tears and wipe them with the hair of her head, and kissed His feet and anointed them with myrrh. Seeing this, the Pharisee who invited Him said to himself: if He were a prophet, He would know who and what kind of woman was touching Him, for she was a sinner. Turning to him, Jesus said: Simon! I have something to tell you. He says: tell me, Teacher. Jesus said: A certain creditor had two debtors: one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty, but since they had nothing to pay, he forgave them both. Tell me, which of them will love him more? Simon answered: I think the one to whom he forgave more. He said to him: you judged correctly. And turning to the woman, he said to Simon: Do you see this woman? I came to your house, and you did not give me water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head; You did not give Me a kiss, but she, since I came, has not stopped kissing My feet; You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you: her many sins are forgiven because she loved much, but he who is forgiven little loves little. He said to her: Your sins are forgiven. And those reclining with Him began to say to themselves: Who is this that even forgives sins? He said to the woman: Your faith has saved you; go in peace. 1. Reflecting on Mary's repentance, I consider it more decent to cry than to say anything. For whose heart, even if it were stony, would not be softened by these tears of this sinner to the point of imitating repentance? For she discussed what she had done, and did not want to dwell on what she was doing. She entered the midst of the guests, entered without permission, and shed tears in the midst of the feast. Learn by what sorrow she is tormented who cries and does not blush in the midst of a feast. This, we think, was the same Mary whom Luke calls a sinner, John - Mary, from whom, according to Mark, seven demons were cast out. And what is meant by seven demons, if not all vices? Since all time is limited to seven days, universality is rightly represented by the number seven. So, Mary, who was filled with all vices, had seven demons. But then she, seeing the stains of her vileness, ran to the Source of Mercy to wash herself, not ashamed of the guests who were there. Since she was extremely ashamed of herself inside, she did not even think that she could be ashamed of anything on the outside. So, brothers, why are we surprised at Mary who came to the accepting Lord? I say: to the one who accepts, but not to the one who attracts? I’ll say better: attracting and accepting, precisely because she was internally attracted by the One who accepted her from the outside with meekness. But following the reading of the Holy Gospel, let us consider the very order in which the woman seeking healing began. 2. “And behold, a woman of that city, who was a sinner, having learned that He was reclining in the house of a Pharisee, brought an alabaster flask of ointment and, standing behind His feet and weeping, began to wet His feet with tears and wipe them with the hair of her head, and kissed His feet and anointed them with ointment.” It is known, brethren, that a woman, hitherto engaged in impermissible acts, used myrrh for herself, to fragrant her flesh. So, what she used vilely for herself, she brought to God with glory. With her eyes she desired earthly things, but she had already wet them with tears, lamenting from repentance. She used her hair to make her face look better, but with the same hair she was already wiping away her tears. She uttered proud words with her lips, but kissing the feet of the Lord, she stuck them to the feet of her Redeemer. So, as much pleasure as she had in herself, she found so many offerings for herself. She turned the number of crimes into the number of virtues so that in repentance everything would serve God, which in crime despised God. 3. But despite this, the Pharisee despises and reproaches not only the sinful woman who came, but also the Lord who receives her, thinking to himself: “if He were a prophet, he would know who and what kind of woman touches Him, for she is a sinner.” Here is a Pharisee, truly proud in himself and falsely truthful, reproaching the sick woman for her illness, and the Doctor for his benefits, being himself sick with the wound of pride, and without realizing it. But the Doctor was among two patients: but one patient, in illness, retained common sense, and the other, in physical illness, even lost common sense. Because that (woman) cried about what she had done, and the Pharisee, inflated by imaginary righteousness, increased the severity of his illness. So, in illness, even the meaning has been lost by those who did not realize that they were sick. But meanwhile, we are ready to cry, looking at some men of our rank, who, having a priestly duty, if something outwardly or simply, perhaps, does something just, immediately despises their subordinates and neglects all sinners among the people; they do not want to sympathize with them, who confess their sinfulness, and, as if, according to the custom of the Pharisee, they despise the touch of a sinful wife. Truly, if this woman had approached the Pharisee’s feet, she would have retreated from him, kicked by her feet. For he thought that he was being defiled by the sin of others. But since he did not have true righteousness, he became sick from someone else's wound. Therefore, it is always necessary for us, looking at every sinner in his misfortune, to first regret ourselves, because perhaps we either fell into similar (sins), or we can fall if we did not fall. And although the court of the magisterium must always pursue vices, it must be carefully distinguished that we must be strict towards vices and compassionate towards nature. For if the sinner must be rejected, then the neighbor must be nourished. But when he himself already crushes what he has done, then this neighbor of ours is no longer a sinner, because, directing God’s Justice against himself, he punishes in himself what is condemned by God’s Justice. 4. But let us hear by what thought this proud and arrogant (Pharisee) is overcome. He is offered a parable by Fr. two debtors, one of whom owes less and the other more; and when the debts of one and the other debtor are forgiven, the question is, which of them will love the creditor more? - He immediately answers this question: “I think the one to whom he forgave more.” In this event, it should be noted that the Pharisee, amazed by his own thought, looks like a madman carrying a rope with which he must be tied. The good deeds of the sinner are enumerated to him, and the bad deeds of his false righteous are also enumerated, when it is said: “I came to your house, and you did not give me water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head; You did not give Me a kiss, but she, since I came, has not stopped kissing My feet; You didn’t anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with ointment.” And after the list, the judgment is pronounced: “therefore I tell you: her many sins are forgiven because she loved much.” What, my brothers, should we mean by the name of love, if not fire? And what is guilt if not rust? That is why it is now said: “Her many sins are forgiven because she loved much.” It is clear, as if it were said: “She has decisively destroyed the rust of sin, because she burns strongly with the fire of love.” For the more the rust of sin is destroyed, the more the heart of the sinner is burned with the strongest fire. Here is the one who came to the Doctor sick and was healed, but others are sick about her healing. For those who reclined with Him began to say to themselves: “Who is this that even forgives sins”? But the Heavenly Physician does not despise those sick people about whom he foresees that the healing will make them worse. But he encourages the one whom He healed with the thought of his love, saying: “Your faith has saved you: go in peace.” For faith saved her, because she did not doubt that she could receive what she asked for. But she also received the very certainty of hope from the One from Whom she hopefully asked for salvation. She is commanded to “go in peace” so that she will no longer be led astray from the path of truth to the path of temptation. Therefore, through Zechariah it is said: “to direct our feet into the path of peace.” (Lk 1.79). For we direct our feet “on the path of peace” when we follow that path of action in which we do not disagree with the grace of our Author. 5. We, beloved brethren, have examined this from the historical account; and now, if you wish, let us discuss what has been said in a mysterious sense. For who does the Pharisee, arrogant with false righteousness, mean, if not the Jewish people? Who is a woman who is a sinner, but falls at the feet of the Lord and weeps, if not converted paganism? “She came with alabaster, poured out myrrh, stood at the feet of the Lord from behind, doused his feet with tears, wiped them with her hair, without ceasing to kiss these very feet that she was dousing and wiping. So, this woman prefigured us when, after sins, we turn to the Lord with all our hearts, when we imitate her tears of repentance. For what is expressed by anointing if not the fragrance of goodwill? That is why Paul says: “For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing” (2 Cor 2.14, 15). So, if we do good deeds, by which we shed the fragrance of good disposition on the Church, what are we pouring on the body of the Lord if not alabaster of myrrh? “But the woman stood behind the Lord’s feet. For we stood against the feet of the Lord when, being in sins, we walked contrary to His ways. But if, after sins, we turn to true repentance, then we stand behind His feet, because we follow the footsteps of Him whom we met on the opposite path. – The woman washes His feet with her tears, which is what we really do if we sympathize with each of the last members of the Lord, if in misfortune we sympathize with His Saints; if we consider their grief our grief? – The woman wiped with her hair the feet that she had wet. Because hair constitutes excess on the body. And what is the excess of earthly matter, if not the appearance of hair? It, having a surplus versus being used for what is necessary, does not even feel the cutting. So, we wipe the Lord’s feet with our hair when we give to His Saints, with whom we sympathize with love, from what is superfluous for us; because the soul is so sick from compassion that a generous hand reveals the quality of its condolences. For he wets the feet of the Redeemer with tears, but does not wipe them with his hair, who, although he sympathizes with the sorrow of his neighbors, nevertheless does not give them anything from his excesses. The one who sheds tears rather than wipes them away is the one who, although he expresses compassion in words, nevertheless, without giving them what they lack, does not in the least diminish the strength of their grief. The woman kisses the feet that she wipes. “We also do this completely if we sincerely love those whom we support at our own expense, so that the need of our neighbor is not burdensome for us, nor is his very poverty, supported by us, burdensome for us; and when the hand gives what is necessary, then the heart delights in love. 6. However, by the name of feet one can understand the very mystery of His (the Redeemer’s) incarnation, in which the Divinity touched the earth because it took on flesh. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1.14). So, we kiss the feet of the Redeemer when with all our hearts we love the mystery of His incarnation. Let us anoint our feet with myrrh when, with the true understanding of Holy Scripture, we preach about the very power of His incarnation. “But the Pharisee sees this and hates it, because when the Jewish people see that paganism preaches about God, then they are consumed by their own anger. But our Redeemer lists the deeds of the same woman as good deeds of paganism, so that the Jewish people would understand in what misfortune they would become ossified. For the Pharisee is exposed in such a way that through him, as we said, this treacherous people can be clearly seen. “I came to your house, and you did not give me water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head.” Since the water is outside us, and the moisture of tears is inside us, it was precisely this unbelieving people who never gave away even their external blessings for the Lord, and the converted paganism not only squandered their property for His sake, but also shed blood. “You did not give Me a kiss, but she, since I came, has not stopped kissing My feet.” Because kissing is an expression of love. And this unfaithful people did not give a kiss to God, because they did not want to heartily love Him Whom they served out of fear. And called paganism does not cease to kiss the feet of its Redeemer, because it does not cease to breathe love for Him. Therefore, in the voice of the bride, it is said about the same Redeemer: “Let him kiss me with the kiss of his lips!” (Song 1.1). She rightly desires kisses from her Creator, preparing to follow Him with love. “You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with ointment.” If we take the feet of the Lord as the sacrament of His incarnation, then, according to this, His head signifies the Divinity Himself. Why is it said through Paul: “The head of Christ is God” (1 Cor 11.3). Because the Israeli people confessed that they believed in God, and not in Him as a Man. But the Pharisee is told: “You did not anoint My head with oil,” because the people of Israel did not want to preach with worthy praise about the very power of His Divinity, in which they promised to believe. “And she anointed My feet with myrrh”; because paganism, having believed in the mystery of His incarnation, even preached His humiliation with the greatest praise. But our Redeemer concludes the listed good deeds by adding judgment: “therefore I tell you: her many sins are forgiven because she loved.” He clearly says, as it were: “Even though what is being cooked is very hard, the fire of love is sufficient to soften even the hard.” 7. Meanwhile, you can also look at the assessment of such great love. With what assessment does Truth observe the deeds of love of a sinful but repentant woman, listing them to her adversary under such division! – The Lord reclined at the Pharisee’s table, but enjoyed a mental feast at the repentant woman’s. For the Pharisee, Truth was nourished externally; the sinful woman, however, who was converted, was nourished by an inner image. Therefore, the Holy Church in the Song of Songs, looking for Him under the guise of the Shepherd of the Deer, says to Him: “Tell me, you whom my soul loves: where do you graze? where do you rest at noon” (Song 1.6)? Because the Lord, the Son of the ancient fathers according to the accepted flesh, is called the shepherd of the fallow deer. But at noon the heat burns more intensely, and the shepherd looks for a shady place where the heat would not penetrate the fire. So, the Lord rests in those hearts that are not scorched by the love of the present age, that are not inflamed by the desires of the flesh, that do not burn from the desires of this world, but are flaming from their own strong desire. Therefore, it is said to Mary: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you” (Luke 1.35). So, the shepherd looks for shady places for pasture at noon, because the Lord shepherds such souls that, being tempered by the actions of grace, do not burn from bodily desires. Consequently, the repentant woman internally nourished the Lord more than the Pharisee externally, because from the heat of carnal (people) our Redeemer, like a shepherd, fled to her heart, which, after the fire of vices, was tempered by the shadow of repentance. 8. Let us think that it is characteristic of colic love not only to allow a sinful woman to come to Himself, but also to provide her with feet to touch. Let us consider the grace of God's mercy and blame the multitude of our guilt. Here He sees sinners and supports, tolerates those who resist and, despite this, daily through the Gospel He mercifully calls, desires our sincere confession, and is ready to forgive all our iniquities. He dissolved the severity of the law for us with the mercy of the Redeemer. Because it is written in it: if anyone does this or that, let him die. If anyone does this or that, he will be stoned (Exodus 19.12; Lev. 20.2ff.). Our Creator and Redeemer appeared in the flesh and does not threaten confession of sins with execution (threatens), but promises life; a woman who opens her wounds is accepted and released healthy. So, He inclined the severity of the Law to mercy; because those whom he strictly condemns, He mercifully releases. Therefore, it is well written even in the Law that “but Moses’ hands grew heavy, and then they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, and Aaron and Hur supported his hands” (Exodus 17.12). Because Moses sat on the rock while the Law was in force in the Church. But this very Law had heavy hands, because it did not mercifully tolerate all sinners, but struck them with strict condemnation. But Aaron means “mountain of fortress,” and Hor means “fire.” So, who does this mountain of strength represent, if not our Redeemer, about whom through the Prophet it is said: “And it will come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the house of the Lord will be set at the top of the mountains and will be exalted above the hills, and all nations will flow to it” (Isaiah 2.2)? Or who is represented by fire, if not the Holy Spirit, about whom the same Redeemer says: “I have come to bring down fire on the earth” (Luke 12.49)? So, Aaron and Hur support Moses’ heavy hands and with their support they lighten their burden, because the Mediator of God and men, coming with the fire of the Holy Spirit, showed us the difficult commandments of the Law, difficult to fulfill according to their carnal understanding, as easy to fulfill according to their spiritual understanding. For He, as it were, lightened the hands of Moses by shifting the burden of the commandments of the Law onto the power of confession. He instills this promise of mercy in us, His followers, when through the Prophet He says: “I do not want the death of the sinner, but that the sinner should turn from his way and live” (Eze 33.11). Therefore, again, under the guise of Judea, every sinful soul is told: “If a husband lets his wife go, and she leaves him and becomes the wife of another husband, can she return to him? Wouldn't that country be defiled by this? But you have committed fornication with many lovers, and yet return to Me, says the Lord” (Jer 3.1). Here He presented an example of an indecent woman. He showed that she could not be accepted after obscenity. But He dissolves this same example presented with an excess of mercy, saying that a prodigal woman cannot at all be accepted and, nevertheless, He Himself waits to accept a fornicating soul. Discuss, brothers, the greatness of such love. He says that this cannot be, and at the same time shows that He Himself can do this despite the impossibility. So He calls even those whom He declares wicked, He still wants to embrace them, although He complains that He has been abandoned by them. So, no one should waste the time of such great mercy, no one should reject the proposed cures of Divine love. Here the Supreme Goodness again calls us to itself, having moved away from it, and is ready to accept us returning into the bosom of its mercy. Therefore, everyone should consider what duty is assigned to him when God is waiting for him, so that the neglect may not be too gross. So, whoever did not want to stay in his place, let him return; whoever has neglected to stand, let him at least stand up after falling. With what love our Creator awaits us, He speaks about this through the Prophet: “I watched and listened: they do not tell the truth, no one repents of their wickedness, no one says: what have I done?; each one turns to his own path, like a horse rushing into battle” (Jeremiah 8.6)? It is known that we should never think about evil. But since we did not want to think correctly, He supports us so that we can think again. Behold the expression of such love, meditate on the bosom of mercy open to you; those whom He lost as evil-minded He finds as good-minded again. So, most beloved brethren, turn your mind to yourself, and have a repentant sinful woman before your eyes as an example to follow; mourn the sins that you remember committed in your youth, and those that occurred in adolescence; Wash away stains of morals and deeds with tears. It is time for us to once again love the footprints of our Redeemer, which were neglected when we sinned. Behold, as we have said, the bosom of supreme love is open to receive us, and the stained life in us is not subject to contempt. By the fact that we are horrified by our wickedness, we already agree to inner purity. The Lord graciously accepts us returning, because for Him that sinful life that is washed with tears in Christ Jesus, our Lord, who lives and reigns with the Father, God, in unity with the Holy Spirit, through all the ages of ages, can no longer be unworthy. Amen. You might be interested in: