Восьмая заповедь блаженства. Блажени изгнании правды ради, яко тех есть Царствие Небесное

Lesson 1. Explanation of the Eighth Beatitude 1. This path of bliss is incomprehensible to the world. Such a path to the kingdom is terrible for our flesh. But, brothers, this path has already been paved by the feet of countless sufferers. A great many righteous people passed through it. Review the path of the cross and reconsider those persecuted for the sake of truth. Since unrighteousness was established on earth, the persecution of the truth and the righteous began. Righteous Abel fell under the hand of his evil brother; God-seer Moses fled from the oppressor Pharaoh; meek David hid from the cruel Saul and from his son Absalom; the holy prophet Elijah is persecuted by the wicked Jezebel. The prophets suffered under wicked kings; John the Baptist was beheaded by the lawless Herod; Our Savior Jesus Christ was crucified by stiff-necked Jews; the apostles of Christ, as the closest participants in Christ’s suffering, were mostly hanged on crosses by wicked persecutors; the martyrs of the Lord, at the command of pagan emperors and princes, either fell under the ax, or burned at the stake, or were drowned in lakes and rivers; the pastors of the church were overthrown from their holy thrones and died in captivity; the desert dwellers voluntarily left “the world unworthy of them” (Heb. 11:38) in order to leave worthy of their high calling. 2. a) What now? True, now the persecution of Christianity has stopped. But is sin completely defeated? Is untruth decisively banished? Or has the devil been reconciled with Christ? Has he stopped being hostile to God and destroying man’s salvation? No, brothers! The blessed abode of the persecuted and suffering, together with other blessed abodes, will be open until the end of the world. The holy Apostle Paul clearly testifies to this when he proclaims persecution to all the pious, to all Christians. “Everyone who wants to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim. 3:12), he says. It is true that not all the godly are subject to equal persecution, but all are subject to persecution. Who groans because of the lust for power of the strong, who weeps because of the greed of the rich, who is oppressed by pride, who is persecuted by malice, who is blamed by envy, who is caught by flattery, who is hurt by slander; who is tormented by passions, who is tormented by the flesh, who is attacked by the devil. Persecution is a necessary consequence of piety, and only the pious will cease to be persecuted when they cease to be pious. For can darkness unite with light? Can untruth become friends with truth, lawlessness with virtue? If the righteous and pious do not belong “to the world which lies in evil” (1 John 5:19): will the world love the righteous and pious? “If we were quicker from the world,” Christ said to the disciples, “the world would love its own; as you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, for this reason the world hates you” (John 15:19). Indeed, will the wicked love the pious, the vicious the virtuous, the proud the humble, the tall the low, the rich the beggar, the covetous the generous, the absent-minded the solitary, the voluptuous the chaste? No. The first will certainly say about each of the last: “We will catch the righteous, because it is indecent for us to eat, and he opposes our deeds; quick for us to expose our thoughts; It is hard for us to see, because his life is unlike others, and his paths are base” (Wis. 2:12, 14, 15). Yes, brothers! Persecution and suffering are inseparable from Christian truth and piety. And if we are in persecution, then we are on the path to bliss. “You will be blessed when men hate you, and when they separate you and revile you, and carry your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man. For this reason I made their fathers a prophet,” said Jesus Christ (Luke 6:22–23). But, on the contrary, if we are in prosperity and peace with the world; then this is a sad sign that there is no true piety in us. “Woe if men speak good things to you; for this cause their fathers have made them false prophets,” Christ also said (Luke 6:26). b) What is the bliss of the persecuted and suffering? aa) The righteous and pious are comforted in the midst of suffering. Who can doubt that the persecuted pious rejoice in the midst of persecution, and the suffering righteous rejoice in the midst of suffering? Look into the soul of the pious sufferer and the wicked prosperous! Where will you see light, purity, peace? Isn’t there a righteous person in the soul of the patient! His conscience is bright, his soul is pure, his heart is calm even when he looks at his sorrows. Well, what if he lifts his gaze to the One for Whom he suffers? Is it possible to describe the consolation that will then pour into his soul? Not without reason, the holy Apostle Paul said about himself that he “rejoiced in his sufferings” (Col. 1:24). It is not without reason that the holy Apostle James urges all believers to rejoice when temptations and disasters befall them. “Have all joy, my brethren, whenever you fall into various temptations” (James 1:2). bb) The righteous and pious sufferers are glorified by God on earth. Look at the miracles that accompanied the patience of the righteous, and at the glory with which God glorified persecuted piety. The apostles were persecuted and killed for preaching the Gospel, but the preaching of the Gospel spread throughout the entire universe. The martyrs ended their lives in terrible suffering, but with miracles they amazed everyone and with patience they converted their persecutors. All the righteous were hated and persecuted during their lifetime, but after death they are honored and blessed. Thus the persecuted truth is glorified by God and on earth! Thus persecuted piety reveals its dignity in real life! “I will glorify those who glorify Me,” says God. cv) The righteous and pious sufferers reign forever with Christ in heaven. “For these are the kingdom of heaven,” said the Savior. If there were no eternal life after temporary life; if Christ, for whom the pious are persecuted and suffer, were not the King of glory: then, of course, the patience of the righteous would only testify to their extreme misfortune. But for the pious there is a glorious future life, eternal bliss in the Divine Kingdom, before which both present life and temporary suffering are nothing. “I am unable to understand,” says the holy Apostle Paul, “for the passions of this present time are unworthy of the glory that desires to be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:18). “Even if they suffer torment in the presence of men,” says the wise one about the righteous, “their hope of immortality is fulfilled. And even though the punishment was small, the blessings will be great: for God has tempted them, and found them worthy of Himself. Like gold in the furnace, tempt them, and like the fruitfulness of the sacrifice I have received; and when they visit them they will shine” (Wis.3:4-7). The righteous and pious are like gold and precious stones. Just as gold is purified in a crucible, and precious stones are dressed by the art of an artist, so the righteous are purified in the crucible of suffering and perfected in the hands of tormentors! But just as gold and precious stones shine with their full brilliance when the rays of the sun touch them, so the righteous will shine with the light of their glory when the sun of righteousness, Christ, illuminates them. At this glorious time of visitation they will shine. “Whenever,” says the holy Apostle Paul, “Christ appears your life, then you also will appear with Him in glory” (Col. 3:4). 3. This, fellow Christians, is the deep meaning of the eighth commandment of beatitudes. “Blessed are you to banish righteousness for the sake of them, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.” And may the Lord help us with His omnipotent grace - for we do not trust in our own strength, but in God’s help, to joyfully bear the cross of persecution for the sake of righteousness, if it pleases the Lord to lay it on our shoulders: a great reward in heaven awaits such a crusader. Amen. Appendix to catechetical teaching Church historical examples of persecution for truth I. Saint John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople, was a great zealot for truth. Without fear of persecution, according to his sacred duty, he could not look indifferently at the vices of people and exposed them. Of course, vicious people, for their part, could not indifferently tolerate the denunciations of the preacher of truth. His enemies multiplied, but he was ready to endure any persecution for the sake of truth. His evil enemies soon triumphed, and the saint was condemned to imprisonment. When his friends complained and grieved for him, he was completely calm and even cheerful. “Pray, my brothers,” he said, “remember me in your prayers.” When the tears of those around were the answer to this: “Do not cry, my brothers,” he continued, “remember what I have always told you. Our real life is a journey, during which we must endure both good and bad.” Looking at the people who surrounded the holy house and filled the church, the archpastor’s heart was filled with sadness. He once again appeared in the church, which was so often resounding with his preaching, and, consoling the sad flock, said: “The waves are strong, the storm is cruel; but I am not afraid of being drowned: for I stand on a rock. Let the sea be fierce; it will not crush the stone. Let the waves rise; they will not swallow up the ship of Jesus. Tell me, what should I be afraid of? death? - But “for I have to live, O Christ, and yet to die, it is gain” (Phil. 1:21). Links? - But “the earth is the Lord’s, and its fulfillment” (Ps. 23:1). Taking away property? - “For we brought nothing into this world... for we bring out what we can” (1 Tim. 6:7). I despise the fear of this world and laugh at its blessings, I am not afraid of poverty and do not desire wealth, I am not afraid of death and am not partial to life. Let the whole earth be in turmoil. I have sacred words, I read them, here they are: “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). Christ is with me - whom should I fear? Let the waves rise, let the sea become fierce, let the strong rise up - all this is weaker than a web. Christ is my fortress, Christ is my immovable stone.” The saint was exiled to a remote place in Armenia. But he not only did not lose heart, but even consoled others from the place of exile. He wrote: “He who does not harm himself cannot be harmed by anyone.” The famous archpastor had to walk on foot to his place of exile for three months: sometimes in unbearable heat, sometimes in pouring rain, without rest and without changing clothes. This punishment completely depleted his already weak health. He received the Holy Mysteries and left this world, which was not worthy of him. The great saint was persecuted for the sake of righteousness, but he is now in heaven, in the Kingdom of Heaven, and the word of the Savior was fulfilled in him: Blessed are they who have been driven out for the sake of righteousness: for for these is the Kingdom of Heaven (“Cheti Menaion”), II. The Monk John of Damascus (who lived at the end of the 8th century), a zealous defender of the veneration of holy icons, suffered a lot from the iconoclasts. His right hand was cut off, which, after his prayer before the image of the Mother of God and after the sleep that followed the flow of blood, miraculously grew back. Admired by the mercy of the Lady, he sang the song: “Every creature rejoices in you, O Gracious One...”. And that miraculous image, before which this miracle took place, received the name Three-Handed (“Chetii Menaia”), III. But two brothers, Theodore and Theophanes, nicknamed the Inscribed Ones, suffered especially and unusually from the iconoclasts. The Patriarch of Jerusalem sent them to Constantinople to maintain Orthodoxy, and they courageously fulfilled this assignment, enduring many torments for their piety: they were sent into captivity three times, having previously been subjected to torture, and three times they were returned for new tortures. Emperor Theophilus the Iconoclast ordered that a shameful inscription be drawn with needles on the faces of the confessors and sent to Jerusalem. For a whole day, the sufferers were tormented by those who drew their faces, blood flowed in streams; Finally, the inscription was finished. As they departed, the holy sufferers said to their tormentors: “Know, all who hear, that the Cherubim, who guards paradise, when he sees this mark on our faces, will retreat before us, giving us free entry into paradise. For since ages there has not been such a new torment. And these inscriptions will be found on our faces even on the Day of Judgment, and you will be commanded to read them, according to what was said: “Before you have created one of these least of my brothers, you have created for Me” (Matthew 25:40) - (“Cheti Menaion”). IV. Venerable Martyr Stephen the New. The Greek emperor Leo the Isaurian issued a decree which ordered that holy icons be removed from churches with dishonor, and it was forbidden to have them in homes; In that decree, holy icons were called idols, and those who worshiped them were called idolaters. There was great confusion among the people: some obeyed the royal command and trampled on honest icons, while others, true children of the apostolic traditions, strongly resisted the royal command and suffered various torments for worshiping holy icons. Many were kept in bonds, many were imprisoned, others were tortured and killed. Most of the Orthodox Christians left their estates and homes and fled into the desert, hiding from the hands of their tormentors and not wanting to see the desecration inflicted on holy images. Under the son of Leo the Isaurian, Constantine Copronymus, who ascended the throne after his death, the holy icons were subjected to even greater dishonor. The sacred vessels in which the Divine service is performed were trampled underfoot because saints were depicted on them; The holy icons were either thrown into the swamps, into the sea, then set on fire, or cut and crushed. The wall images in the churches were either scraped off or smeared over, and instead of holy images, trees, animals and birds were painted on the walls in the churches... The Venerable Martyr Stephen the New rose up in defense of the holy icons. Emperor Constantine heard a lot about this pious monk, that he was a great man of virtues, wise in the word of God, his glory goes everywhere, and everyone honors him as one of the ancient great holy fathers, (for) he zealously stands for the holy icons and admonishes everyone to worship them. The king decided to win him over to his side and for this purpose sent one of his close dignitaries to the Monk Stephen with rich gifts. After much debate and persuasion, Saint Stephen remained adamant: “For the holy icons,” he said, “I am ready to die and am not afraid of the terrible royal repression.” Then he stretched out his hands and, bending a handful, added: “If I had only this handful of blood in me, I would not regret shedding that for the icon of Christ. Take the gifts that you brought from the king back to him, for without demanding his benefits, I will add the words of Divine Scripture: “Let not the oil of the sinner anoint my head” (Ps. 141:5), and let not heretical food delight my larynx.” The holy Venerable Martyr Stephen endured much evil, sorrow, torment and humiliation for the honor of the holy icons, but he remained adamant in his pious zeal, and the Lord did not forsake him with His grace: he gave him the strength and wisdom to shame the heretics. When the Monk Stephen appeared before the king, having been brought to trial on his orders, he had the following conversation with him: “What fatherly traditions,” asked the king, “do we not obey, and do you call us heretics?” The monk answered: “You have wickedly cast out the writings of holy icons, dedicated and commanded since ancient times by the God-bearing fathers. When we worship the image, we give honor not to the substance, for the honor of the image ascends to the prototype, as St. Basil the Great said. When we depict Christ on an icon, we do not write the nature of His Divinity, but we outline His Theanthropic image, revealed in our likeness and touched by the apostolic hands, as St. John the Theologian said: we heard “what we saw with our eyes... and what our hands touched” (1 John 1:1). If you offer me the words spoken to Moses by God: “Thou shalt not make for yourself an idol,” then I will point you to Moses himself, who made images of two Cherubim, as the divine apostle tells about (Heb. 9:5). But the altar itself, and the tabernacle, and the Holy of Holies “serve the image and shadow of the heavenly things” (Heb. 8:5). Are we acting lawlessly if we paint a humanoid image of Christ on an icon and worship him? Does it really seem to you that even in a cross made of some metal, we are bowing to the substance? The sacred vessels that we honor do not create a single gap for our conscience, for we know that they are sanctified by invoking the name of Christ. You were not afraid to call holy icons idols, to trample them under your feet and destroy them with fire.” - “By trampling on images, are we really trampling on Christ?” - the king objected. Then the Monk Stephen, as a glorious warrior of Christ, defeats the enemy with his own words. He picked up a coin with the image of the king and, showing it to him, asked in the words of Christ: “Whose image and writing is this?” The king was surprised at his lack of understanding and replied: “Whose monk, if not the king’s?” The saint asked again: “What would happen if someone dishonestly threw the royal image to the ground and began to trample it underfoot? Wouldn't he have been executed? Those present answered: “Yes, such a person would have suffered great executions for having dishonored the royal image.” Then the Monk Stephen, sighing heavily and with heart trouble, cried out: “Oh, great blindness and madness! If for the dishonored image of the earthly king, mortal and perishable, everyone will be subject to torment, you say, then what kind of punishment are you subject to, having trampled upon the image of the Son of God and His Immaculate Mother, and having not been afraid to commit them to fire?” Having said this, he spat on the coin, threw it on the ground and began to trample it with his feet. Those present here furiously rushed at the monk and wanted to throw him into the sea, on the shore of which stood the chamber in which the real debate was taking place. The king, concealing his anger, ordered the Monk Stephen to be taken to prison (see: “The Life and Sufferings of the Holy Martyr Stephen the New,” November 28). V. Holy Confessor Theodore the Studite. He was the abbot of the Studite Monastery of Constantinople. Gathering around him up to a thousand brethren, whom he ruled with great wisdom, he took care of the spread of enlightenment, started a school for children at the monastery, gave the brethren the Charter (known as the Studite Charter, which, by the way, prohibited monks from all property and prescribed compulsory labor for everyone); but his pious labors were soon interrupted by persecution from the Emperor Leo the Armenian, who made every effort to restore iconoclasm. Having convened a council of like-minded people, in 814 he abolished the definitions of the Seventh Ecumenical Council and again began to cruelly persecute the admirers of holy icons. Theodore boldly told him: “Sovereign, do not disturb the peace of the Church! The Apostle said that God appointed in the Church some apostles, others prophets, some shepherds and teachers to create the Church; but did not mention kings. Leave the Church to the pastors and teachers! When this is not so, then believe that if the Angel himself from heaven began to demand something contrary to our faith, we would not listen to him either.” Theodore's exhortations remained in vain; the persecution intensified, all the Orthodox were in sorrow and despondency. One day on a holiday, Theodore made a solemn procession of the cross with icons around the monastery, chanting the church hymn composed by John of Damascus: “We worship Your Most Pure Image, O Good One!” When the emperor found out about this, he ordered the saint to be tortured and then exiled to a distant city, where he was imprisoned in a damp and gloomy dungeon. But Theodore, even from prison, acted in favor of Orthodoxy, communicated in writing with bishops faithful to the truth, taught, encouraged, and consoled suffering Christians; with the strength of his spirit he supported the patriarch, who was despondent amidst the turmoil. They repeatedly tortured him with torture and hunger; from one dungeon they were transferred to another, more distant, darker one. The holy confessor endured everything patiently; His spiritual strength did not fail him, although his physical strength weakened. “I don’t care where they send me,” he said. “God is everywhere, “The earth is the Lord’s, and its fulfillment” (Ps. 23:1), but wherever I am, I will not be silent when I should stand for the truth.” The exile of Saint Theodore ended only with the death of Leo. He was then returned to Constantinople; but, unable to bear the capital, he retired to a deserted place, where he died in the sixty-eighth year of his birth (826) with a prayer of gratitude on his lips. VI. The Monk Maxim the Greek was born at the end of the 15th century in Arta, the main city of Albania. After initial education in his homeland, he went to Italy, where he received the best education for that time. After this, he returned to his homeland and devoted himself to monastic life, for which, around 1507, he entered the Vatopedi monastery on Mount Athos, famous for its rich library. From this solitude, Grand Duke Vasily Ioannovich summoned him to Moscow, instructing him to sort out his library and translate the Explanatory Psalter, which contains the interpretations of many holy fathers and teachers of the Church. Since Maxim did not yet know the Slavic language, he was given two translators who knew Latin to help him. Maxim translated from Greek into Latin, and from there his assistants translated him into Slavic. A year and five months later, Maxim completed the translation and asked the sovereign to let him go to Athos. But the sovereign, on the advice of Metropolitan Varlaam, left Maxim in Moscow and instructed him to start revising and correcting church books. Maxim found in them many gross errors introduced by ignorant copyists, purely heretical. So, for example, in the Books of Hours Christ was called “one and only man”, in the Explanatory Gospels - “He who died an endless death”, in the Triodion - “Created and Created”; God the Father in the Books of Hours is called “Co-motherless with the Son,” and there were many other absurdities and gross errors in these books. “Fueled by divine jealousy, Maxim,” as he himself testified, “cleared the tares with both hands.” The foolish zealots of antiquity raised a murmur, saying that Maxim was annoyed by the miracle workers who had shone on our land, who “had pleased God with the calico sacred books.” The simpletons forgot that the saints did not consider it a sin to correct errors in church books made by inexperienced scribes, that, for example, St. Alexis, Metropolitan of Moscow, himself corrected the Gospel according to the Greek text and rewrote it in his own hand. But this murmur was still secret while Varlaam was Metropolitan: he sympathized with Maxim and supported him in a difficult situation. But at the end of 1521, Varlaam retired from church affairs, and Maxim was left alone without defenders. Added to this was the fact that the Monk Maxim did not know the Russian language perfectly, and he himself made involuntary mistakes, and he was condemned to heavy imprisonment in the Joseph Monastery. He spent three years in chains in a smoky cell, enduring hunger and cold, excommunicated even from Holy Communion. At this time, he wrote a canon to the Holy Spirit with charcoal on the wall and was rewarded with the appearance of an Angel and the comforting words: “Be patient, old man! With these torments you will be freed from eternal torment.” In 1531 he was again summoned to the council. The Monk Maxim made excuses for his poor knowledge of the Russian language, bowed to the ground three times in front of the cathedral, asked to forgive his infirmities and release him to Athos. The council eased his fate only by transferring the monastery to Tverskaya Otroch; here the good-natured Bishop of Tver Akaki received him graciously and often invited him to his meal; Here the Monk Maxim received permission to go to church and receive Holy Communion. A special consolation for the innocent sufferer for the truth was that he could freely read books and write essays. At this time, most of his works were written: justification for book corrections, confession of faith, reviews on various contemporary issues. In 1551, the Monk Maxim was transferred to the monastery of St. Sergius, where he calmly spent the last years of his life and died in 1556. He was buried in the vestibule of the Lavra Spiritual Church. Metropolitan Plato built a shrine over the tomb of St. Maxim (from “Sunday Day,” 1891, no. 3, pp. 44–45). VII. Saint Philip, Metropolitan of Moscow, is glorified as a champion of truth and confessor, who laid down his life for his flock. He came from an eminent family of boyars, the Kolychevs, and after finishing his home education, he entered the service of the royal court, where he earned the favor of the king. With strong “piety, which, according to the word of Scripture, benefits everything” (1 Tim. 4:8), Philip, in the world Basil, would have been a useful figure in the field of public service set before him. But the Providence of God called him to another higher ministry. One day, reverently listening to the reading of the Gospel in the church of God, he was struck by the words: “No one can work for two masters” (Matthew 6:24). In these words, he understood the calling voice of the Savior, as if addressed to him, and secretly from his parents hid from Moscow to reach the Solovetsky Monastery, where he decided to devote himself to monastic deeds. In 1566, when the see of the Moscow Metropolitanate became idle, Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible summoned Saint Philip from seclusion, where he had lived for almost thirty years, reaching the rank of abbot, and convinced him to accept the rank of Metropolitan of Moscow. This change in life soon led him to the crown of martyrdom. The new metropolitan appeared before the formidable tsar with an equally formidable word of truth in defense of his flock, who suffered from the willfulness of the guardsmen, who surrounded the tsar as bodyguards and aroused in him suspicion of honest and loyal citizens. Another time, Saint Philip was not afraid to solemnly denounce the Tsar when, during a divine service, he, dressed in clothes indecent to the royal majesty, entered the Assumption Cathedral, where the Metropolitan was celebrating the Liturgy, with a noisy crowd of guardsmen in the same attire and with pointed shlykas on their heads. There was another case when Saint Philip was not afraid to raise his voice for the truth: when the saint noticed that during the reading of the Gospel during the religious procession around the Novodevichy Convent, one of the tsar’s close associates was standing in a hat, he, with pastoral jealousy, pointed out to the tsar such lack of reverence during the service. Rejecting the admonition of the good shepherd, the angry king subjected the saint to reproach and, depriving him of his metropolis, sent him into prison, where he died a martyr. But the Lord miraculously glorified the confessor of truth by the incorruption of his holy relics, which to this day rest in the fragrance of the shrine in the Assumption Cathedral, as evidence of the triumph of God’s truth over human untruth (“Chetii Menaion”, January 9). You might be interested in: