Вторая заповедь блаженства. Блажени плачущии, яко тии утешатся

Lesson 1-e. Explanation of the Second Beatitude 1. Starting with where it was primarily necessary to begin, i.e. From the commandment of humility, the Savior moves on to another commandment, which seems to contradict the opinion of the entire universe. For, while everyone considers those who rejoice blessed, and those who weep unhappy, He instead of the former calls the latter blessed, saying: “Blessed are those who weep.” 2. But which mourners does the Lord please? And what is their consolation? a) Crying and lamentation among people occur for various reasons. A rich man cries when he loses his treasures. An ambitious man complains when he is treated with honor. A devotee of the pleasures and pleasures of the world laments when they are taken away from him. An envious person grieves when he sees the happiness of his neighbor. The evil one sighs when he cannot take revenge on his enemy. But it is not such mourners that the Savior pleases. No, those who cry and sigh over earthly things not only do not deserve to be blessed, but are also worthy of condemnation. For the cry of people about earthly things clearly shows that these people are chained to the earth with their whole being, they do not know other blessings than earthly goods, other needs than the needs of the flesh - they are far from the life of God, from the holy, truly Christian life. Moreover, those who cry about earthly things, if they do not find consolation for themselves, inevitably give in to despondency, cowardice, even despair; and in such a state of mind, people are incapable of anything good, and as long as they remain in this state, they are as if dead in soul. aa) It is not our body, created from the earth and destined to return to the earth, but mainly the immortal soul, created for eternal bliss, that should be the subject of our care and concern. Beautiful was the human soul in the beginning! Created in the image of God, she bore within herself the imprint of Divine perfections. True, peace and joy lived in her. But, alas! Sin distorted our God-like soul so that only some features of the image of God were barely preserved in it; he deprived us of grace-filled communication with God. It is about this loss of the lofty perfections of our souls and our blissful unity with God - we must cry day and night about our sins. It is these mourners who are blessed by the Savior in the words: “blessed are those who mourn.” “Sorrow for God,” says the holy apostle, “works in us repentance for salvation” (2 Cor. 7:10). Indeed, sadness about sins is very saving for us, for, coming from the consciousness of our sinfulness before God, it disposes us to true repentance; tears of tenderness wash our hearts from the filth of sin; the cry of a contrite heart penetrates into heaven and brings down upon us the grace of the Holy Spirit, returning to our souls that purity and innocence with which we came out of the baptismal font, and with the return of innocence, our bliss returns to us: “blessed are the weeping.” bb) According to the commandment of the Lord, we must love our neighbors as ourselves. And whoever truly loves his neighbors, seeing how they, falling into sins, darken their souls and clearly rush to eternal destruction, cannot help but grieve for them. Here is another type of crying, pleased by the Savior. This is how Moses grieved when the Israelites in the desert retreated from their God and worshiped the golden calf (Ex. 32:31). This is how the prophet Jeremiah cried about the wickedness and captivity of Jerusalem (Lamentations 1:28). This is how the holy Apostle Paul grieved over the unbelief of the Jews (Rom. 9:2-3). This is how Jesus Christ Himself wept during His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, foreseeing the destruction of this lawless city: “As He drew near, seeing the city, weeping for it” (Luke 19:41). cc) But there is also a type of holy crying, characteristic of people who are flaming with love for God and, from its excess, want to quickly unite with him forever. These people lament the continuation of their wanderings on earth and sigh for their heavenly fatherland. “For this we sigh,” says the holy Apostle Paul, “since we desire to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, we are pleased rather to depart from the body and come to the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:2-8). And one more thing: “the desire of the imam to be separated from the body and to be with Christ” (Phil. 1:23). These are the mourners whom Jesus Christ calls blessed!” (See “Spiritual Conversations,” 1871) b) What reward is given to those who cry? “How will they be comforted?” Where will they be comforted? And here - on earth, and there - in heaven. Washing their sins with tears, they are reconciled with both their conscience and God: their conscience ceases to reproach them and disturb their peace of mind; and the Heavenly Father comforts His children, pouring out His love into their hearts by His Spirit (Rom. 5:5) and giving them undoubted hope for eternal joy, when Jesus Christ “will take away every tear from their eyes” (Rev. 21:4), when all sorrow and sighing will flee from them, when joy and eternal joy will rest over their heads (Is. 35:10 ). When God Himself consoles people, then even a thousand sorrows cannot take away their joy. Such a high reward is promised to those who mourn, not because the crying itself deserves it, but because of God’s love for mankind, i.e. the reward is promised from God not according to the importance of the action, but according to His love for people. For those who mourn mourn their sins, and for such people it is enough only to receive forgiveness. But since Jesus Christ is immensely philanthropic, He does not limit the reward to the abolition of punishment, but also gives such people bliss - great consolation on earth and even greater in heaven. 3. This, my brethren, is the deep and consoling teaching for all true Christians who mourn their sins, which is contained in the second beatitude. (Compiled according to the source of the priest Gr. Dyachenko). Lesson 2. What should a true Christian cry about? “Which mourners are on the path to bliss?” – asks Saint Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow. “Christ the Savior,” he says, “does not just please the “poor,” but the poor “in spirit” (Luke 6:21). He does not please those who hunger for bread, because being satisfied with bread is not bliss, but, as Saint Matthew says more fully and clearly, “blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness” (Matthew 5:6). In accordance with this, we must reason about those who cry. Blessed are those who weep in the spirit and, out of spiritual motivation, weep for truth and virtue, which they do not have, who mourn the untruths and sins with which they are burdened, who weep from the sorrow of the spirit, which has angered and angered God, and then from the love of the spirit, who, with all their desire, see themselves as not being sufficiently in line with God’s love and mercy.” (See Prop. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow.) From this we can see what a Christian should cry about. a) First, weep for what you have desecrated and are constantly desecrating the image of God within yourself with your sins. Think, man: God has depicted Himself in you, as the sun is depicted in a drop of water, you have been made, as it were, some kind of god on earth, as it is said: “Az reh: you are gods and you are the sons of the Most High” (Ps. 81:6), and you daily throw into the dirt, stain this image with worldly passions, addiction to the world, unbelief, pride, hatred, envy, intemperance and drunkenness and other passions, and through this you extremely anger your Creator and irritate His patience. It is worthy and righteous to cry about this day and night. Cry! b) Secondly, cry because you only bear the name of a Christian, but do not fulfill the vows and obligations of a Christian given at baptism and live like a pagan, clinging to the earth and do not think about heaven and about life there, which has no end, that, having been a Christian for such a long time, you still do not have the spirit of Christ, you are not conformed to Him in the least, you do not imitate His life; that Christ has not yet dwelt in you by faith and was not imagined in you, that now you have become a new creation, have not put on Christ, according to the scripture: “If you were baptized into Christ, you put on Christ” (Gal. 3:27). c) Thirdly, cry because your heart is constantly trying to do everything contrary to the Lord; weep for his evil inclination, unrepentance, and lack of correction. We pray so much, repent, read, sing, so much we partake of the holy life-giving Mysteries, which can transform a heart of stone and make it soft as wax, and we do not change for the better due to negligence. O damnation! O malice! O corruption of the heart! O pride! O earthly passions! O flattery of voluptuousness and love of money! So, cry because although you repent and pray, you do not bring to God fruits worthy of repentance, the fruits of faith and love, the fruit of meekness and gentleness, the fruit of abstinence, purity and chastity, the fruit of alms, etc. d) Cry with inner cry when you feel a rush of unclean thoughts to your heart; cry when you are carried away by pride, anger, envy, greed, stinginess; cry and pray when you feel enmity and not love towards your enemy, for it is said: “love your enemies and do good to those who hate you” (Matthew 5:44); cry before God with the inner cry of your heart, when you are carried away by the passion of drunkenness, love of money and covetousness, when resistance and disobedience to your parents or to your superiors and elders will confuse and carry you away; cry at the feeling of poverty and wretchedness of our nature, at the thought of the countless benefits of the Creator to us and about our ingratitude towards Him. May your tears be a weapon against all sin: and the Lord, seeing your humility, recognition of your weakness, your strong desire to keep yourself clean from all sin, will extend a helping hand, send you the Comforter Spirit, who will stop the violence of sin, extinguish the fire of passions and bring down the dew of grace into your heart. e) Cry for your sins, cry for people’s too; cry over the fact that many peoples have not yet come to know the true God and the Lord Jesus Christ and are in the darkness of paganism, worshiping creatures instead of the Creator; weep for the unrighteousness that prevails on earth, from which all “who want to live godly in Christ Jesus” suffer (2 Tim. 3:12); cry about the violence and oppression of the rich and powerful of this world, about the poverty and helplessness of the poor; cry that Christian love has dried up for many and in its place pride, lust and carnality in all forms have reigned; that many Christians fall from the heights of redemption and respect neither the church, nor the sacraments, nor its teachings. You say: “What good are my tears?” By this you will fulfill the commandment of the apostle - “weep with those who weep” (Rom. 12:15); In general, you will fulfill the commandment to love your neighbor, and the whole law is in love. And the benefit is that as a reward for your tears you will receive consolation from God and forgiveness of sins. f) What else should we cry about? We must also cry about our unpreparedness for the terrible and righteous test at the world court. Many holy saints of God cried all their lives, day and night, at the thought of the Last Judgment and the subsequent eternal torment of the wicked; and we, like some righteous people, are indifferent to this final terrible decision of our fate, while others still dare to reject the truth of the future judgment and Gehenna. (See “Complete collected works.” Archpriest John Sergiev, vol. I, pp. 166–169.) 3. Brothers are Christians! There are many reasons, the most holy ones, for your Christian crying. Let us sigh and cry according to the commandment of the Lord: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” Appendix to catechetical teaching Examples of repentant crying and heartfelt contrition for sins. 1. The disciple of the Holy Apostle Peter, Saint Clement, says that every night Saint Peter, hearing the rooster crow, immediately remembered his rejection of Christ, got up from his bed and threw himself to the ground, shedding many tears in bitter weeping, and so he did throughout his entire life. And the church historian Nicephorus adds that the eyes of the holy apostle were always red and, as it were, bloody from everyday crying. This is what Peter’s repentance was like! “And you, who hope to mourn all your sins in one hour, can you cry as bitterly as Peter cried?” - asks Saint Demetrius of Rostov. “Can you cry every night like he cried? Are you able to endure such labors and exploits as St. Peter endured for the sake of his Lord for his rejection, even to the point of being crucified head down on the cross? So, do not rely on your little contrition of heart, do not rely on your weak work, on a short-term feat: show repentance before the Lord, corresponding to your great sins, and even more than them, with many tears, and then, O sinner, expect mercy from Him! 2. One holy man walked with his disciples into the city and, passing by a cemetery, he saw a widow shedding bitter tears over her grave... and, no matter how much her relatives who surrounded her consoled her, she did not want to listen to anyone. She seemed to have forgotten everything, saw and heard nothing: only grief consumed her heart and soul. Having passed it, the elder, turning to his disciples, said to them: “As this widow is killed at this grave, so we need to kill ourselves by crying for our soul, which we have killed with our sins and buried in a land that is foreign to it, the world and the lusts of the flesh.” Having said this, the elder burst into tears and sobbed all the way until they came to the place where they had to hide their tears. 3. They say about the Monk Arseny the Great that throughout his asceticism, sitting at work, he had a scarf on his chest, because tears were constantly flowing from his eyes. Abba Pimen, when he heard that he had died, said, tearing up: “Blessed are you, Abba Arseny, who mourned yourself in this world! For whoever does not weep for himself here will weep there forever.” (“Honored legends about the ancient saint and blessed father,” 1846) 4. They say about the ascetic Dioscorus that he constantly cried for himself. His disciple, who lived in another cell, came to the elder and found him crying, asked him: “What are you crying about, father?” He answered: “I cry for my sins.” “But you don’t know any sins,” the student objected. "Oh! “My son,” said the elder, “if I, unfortunately, had reached the point where I could see my sins, then three or four helpers would not be enough for me to mourn them worthily.” (Ibid., p. 83.) 5. There lived in the monastery of the Monk Pachomius one monk, who was a buffoon in the world, accepted and tonsured by the great Pachomius himself. At first he abandoned his occupation, and then, after a while, he again began to return to his old habits and again began to create his buffoonery to tempt the new brothers. Several times the monk admonished and exhorted him to correct himself and leave his old habits, but not seeing such correction, he finally decided to expel him from the monastery. Then the monk repented, abandoned his buffoonery and, through the prayer of the monk, acquired such contrite repentance that for all hours tears flowed from his eyes like streams, and then he achieved such tenderness of heart that he cried constantly and could not refrain from tears. Even during the meal, when the brethren asked him to refrain from crying, he could not overcome his tears and answered: “Hey, I want to restrain myself, but I just can’t.” “What are you crying about? - the brothers asked him once. We are ashamed to eat, looking at you crying!” To this the monk answered them: “How do you want, my brethren, so that I do not cry when I see holy men here serving me, a sinner, of whom I am not worthy even of the dust of their feet! Shouldn't I cry that such honest and godly men serve me, a sinful buffoon! I cry all the days, so that I will not be consumed by fire, because of the multitude of my sins.” The Monk Pachomius himself marveled at his humble repentance and tenderness and said that since the very construction of the monastery he had never seen such humility and tenderness as he sees in this brother. 6. The Monk Pachomius the Great once, for a certain word of reproach, became angry with brother John. And although, out of his meekness and out of respect for his elder brother, he did not object, he nevertheless harbored indignation in his heart. But the next night Pachomius felt so much ugliness in this act that he locked himself in his cell and began to cry, confessing to God in prayer: “Woe to me, that contrary to Your commandments, Lord, I committed sin against my brother, who told me the truth! There is still in my heart the false wisdom of the flesh; Having spent so much time learning to live spiritually, I am still tormented by frustration; have mercy on me, Lord, so that I may not perish completely; If Your grace does not confirm me, the enemy will find in my heart some part of his favorite deeds and will enslave me, a transgressor of Your laws, to his will. Woe is me! I want to teach those whom You, my Lord and God, promised to call through me into monastic life; but I myself cannot learn to conquer my passions.” Thus, blessed Pachomius, crying out to God, remained in prayer until another day; with tears and then he wet the ground on which he stood. You might be interested in: