Поучение на день памяти святого Алексия, Митрополита Московского и всея России, месяца февраля, в 12 день («Я есмь Пастырь добрый. Овцы Мои слушаются голоса Моего» (Ин. 10:11, 27))

The Chief Shepherd Christ, our Savior, while He was on earth with His verbal sheep, alone called Himself a Shepherd, saying: “I am the good Shepherd” (John 19:11, 14). When, having completed the work of shepherding, He wanted to go to heaven to His Father, He left behind His followers - His holy apostles and then the bishops to shepherd His flock, as if telling each of them what he once said to Saint Peter: “Feed My sheep; feed my lambs” (John 21:15–16). Now we celebrate the all-honorable memory of our father Alexy, the metropolitan of Moscow and all Russia, the wonderworker of Moscow and all Russia, the imitator of apostolic morals and heir to the apostolic throne in Russia, that is, we celebrate the memory of our all-Russian shepherd, whom the Holy Spirit appointed to shepherd the Church of God. We confess that he was “a good shepherd, laying down his life for the sheep,” as is clear from the history of his holy life. We have no doubt about his sheep, that they were good sheep, just as he was a good shepherd, for they obeyed their shepherd, as he says: “My sheep obey my voice.” So, there is no doubt that Saint Alexy of Christ, although after his departure, is nevertheless a good shepherd for us, for he, standing before the throne of God and looking at us from there, and seeing all our needs and misfortunes, prays for us to Christ God, that he may have mercy on His people. But it is questionable whether we, his sheep, listen to his voice? Do we belong to his sheep? Have we become goats or other wild animals that do not listen to the shepherd’s voice? In our present spiritual conversation, let us consider within ourselves whether we are sheep of our shepherd, now celebrated, or not sheep, but goats and wild animals? And this is not to condemn anyone, but to correct yourself. You, Saint of Christ, show us yourself who are your sheep, those who listen to your voice, so that we can imitate them, and who are from the flocks of strangers, so that we can protect ourselves from them. Starting to make a distinction between sheep and goats, I will bring to mind something from the elders. A certain desert elder, convinced by the pleas of one Christ-lover to cast out a demon from his daughter, made a prayer to God and said to the demon: “Get out of God’s creation.” The demon, objecting to him, asked the question: “If you want me to go out, then first tell me who are the sheep and who are the goats?” The elder answered: “God knows the sheep, but I myself am the goat.” And the demon, unable to tolerate the elder’s humility, fled. That elder, out of humility, called himself a goat, leaving the sheep to the discretion of God. But I, a sinner, will truly say these words: God knows the sheep, but I myself am the goat. It is difficult to distinguish sheep and goats in this life, as in the darkness of the night to distinguish precious beads from simple stones. It happens that someone is considered by everyone to be a goat, but in fact he is a sheep of Christ, holy and righteous. It is not without reason that it is said somewhere: the apparent purity of many on the Day of Judgment will turn out to be uncleanness and will be condemned forever, and, conversely, the visible uncleanness of many will turn out to be purity and will be glorified. Truly, I don’t know who to call a sheep, for no one knows what kind of person is in the eyes of God: a saint or a sinner. They say that no one is a sheep until death, but I’m afraid to call someone a goat, so as not to fall into the sin of condemnation. About myself, I only know who I am: I am a goat. However, for our benefit, it is necessary to consider who we are, from what part: are we from the part of the sheep, or of the goats? We can examine and know by the sign indicated to us in the Gospel about the good shepherd: “The sheep obey His voice” (John 10:27). He who listens to his good shepherd is a sheep, and those who do not listen to the shepherd’s voice are not sheep, but goats or wild animals. Saint Chrysostom, the good shepherd, once wanted to sort out in his flock who were the sheep and who were the goats, and, having examined human morals, he found more animals than sheep, and said to one of them: “By what can I recognize a person in you? You please the belly like a bear, make your body fat like a mule, neigh at your wives like a horse, bear a grudge like a camel, kidnap like a wolf, get angry like a serpent, bite like a scorpion, cunning like a fox, carry the poison of malice like a viper.” These are clear signs not of sheep, but of goats, or, better said, animals. He who pleases his own belly is a bear; fattening his body - a mule; vindictive - camel; whoever harms his neighbor is a scorpio; he who deceives is a fox; whoever is evil is a viper. In another place, the same Saint Chrysostom calls an insidious and malignant person a demon and even worse than a demon. Why? Because you can drive away a demon with a cross, but you can’t drive away an evil person with anything: you can’t renounce him, you can’t pray for him. What turned these people into animals, into cattle and into demons themselves? Namely, that they did not listen to the voice of their shepherd and drove him away from them with dishonor. Saint Chrysostom saw such morals in his flock. And you, Saint Alexy of Christ, standing before the Throne of God and looking at your flock, looking at the Russian people of Moscow, what do you see in your flock? Do you see many sheep? Or, instead of sheep, you see more bears that please their bellies, mules that fatten the flesh, horses that neigh at wives, camels that bear a grudge, wolves that steal other people’s property, serpents that are fiercely angry, scorpions that bite their neighbors, vipers that carry the poison of malice, and the demons themselves in the flesh, “who fear not God, They are not ashamed of people” (Luke 18:2), nor do they venerate shrines, do not long for salvation and do not tremble at torment? O our accursed times, or, better said, our accursed morals! How far are we from the sheep of Christ, from those sheep that came before us, which were shepherded by the All-Russian shepherds Peter, Alexy and Jonah! And already they, looking at us, hardly recognize us as Christians, unless they see our Christian name. What is the reason for our corruption? The reason is that we do not listen to the pastoral voice, we do not heed soul-helping teachings, we do not listen to God speaking to us through His servants and holy books, as they say: “The Lord told people in books.” Disobedience to the pastoral voice, that is, the word of God, is the cause of all evil. On the contrary, listening to the word of God makes a person a blessed sheep, for it transforms animal morals into sheep meekness. David became a beast, kidnapping someone else's sheep, Uri's wife, and ate Uri himself and destroyed the living from the land. When he heard the words of God spoken to him through the mouth of the prophet Nathan: “Why have you done evil before the Lord?” (2 Sam. 12:9), - David immediately turned from a beast into a humble sheep: I have sinned before my Lord (2 Sam. 12:13). The beast was Ahab, the king of Israel, when he devoured the innocent Naboth of Israel because of a vineyard that he wanted to take away from him. But when I heard the word of God from the lips of Saint Elijah the prophet: “Behold, I will bring evil upon you” (1 Kings 21:21), - he immediately turned into a sheep, humbled himself and, bowing before the face of the Lord, walked weeping, throwing off his clothes, putting on sackcloth. The beast was the publican Zacchaeus, a predatory beast, a collector of Pilates, who forcibly plundered the property of others in Jericho. When I heard the word of the Good Shepherd, Christ: “Zacchaeus! I need to be in your house” (Luke 19:5), - immediately this beast changed and, oh, how much it became a sheep! “I will give half of my property to the poor, and if I have offended anyone in any way, I will repay him fourfold.” And who will not be transformed by the word of God into a sheep from a beast and a goat! Saint Alexy of Christ, now celebrated after Christ the Savior, is our good shepherd. In the days of his godly life, he taught the sheep of Christ who were then reverent and filled with the Holy Spirit with his lips. Now, having these lips closed by death, in silence he teaches us the image of his virtuous life, about which we read in books. The sheep of that time listened to the voice of their shepherd. What about us now? Do we listen to him, do we look at his godly life, do we imitate his faith and good deeds? I don’t know how we can be called his sheep if we don’t follow him? How can we be called his children if we do not imitate him, our father? How can we call ourselves his disciples if we do not listen to his voice? But let me not annoy anyone and end my conversation with prayer. O Saint of Christ, our good shepherd! Let us be goats and beasts towards each other, let us anger God and disobey you, however, do not leave us, especially in these fierce times, in which we are overwhelmed by the waves, like a ship in the sea, in which we are close to drowning. Do not leave us, Father, your children, until by your intercession for us to God you make us from goats to sheep, from children of wrath to children of God. Your job was to proclaim peace to everyone in the Church, so say now: “Peace to all!” Through your prayers, peace to the Christian world, peace to the Church of Christ, peace to your people, may we live in peace and silence, glorifying God and pleasing your intercession. Amen.