Поучение на день пречестной памяти иже во святых отца нашего Тихона Чудотворца, епископа Амафунтского, месяца июня, в 16 день

Celebrating now the most honorable memory of the great saint of God, in the hierarchs of the preeminent and in the glorious miracle workers, our reverend father Tikhon, the bishop of the Amafunt Church, the shepherd of Christ’s verbal sheep, let us remember the Divine words of the Great Bishop and Chief Shepherd Himself, our Lord Jesus Christ, spoken in the Holy Gospel: “I am the good Shepherd” ( John 10:11). And from these words of the Lord we will compose praise for the servant of the Lord, Saint Tikhon, who is now celebrated, and we will say that this saint of Christ was a good shepherd of the verbal sheep, who could say about himself with Christ: “I am the good shepherd.” For our Lord Jesus Christ, while he was apparently with people on earth, only one was called the Shepherd of the sheep, saying: “I am the good Shepherd.” When, having completed the work of shepherding, he wanted to go to His Father, he left behind Him the heirs of the shepherd, His holy apostles and after them the bishops, to shepherd His flock, commanding each of them what he once said to Saint Peter: “Feed My sheep” (John 21:16). Therefore, every bishop is a shepherd of Christ’s flock, and as a shepherd, he must be good, so that in him, as in the image of Christ, the words of Christ are fulfilled: “I am the good shepherd.” Saint Tikhon of Christ was a good shepherd, for he became an imitator of the Archpastor Christ Himself and His holy apostles and well shepherded his flock, leading it into the heavenly fence. Why was this saint of God a good shepherd? Let us consider this for our benefit from his holy, godly life. No one can be a good shepherd unless he himself first becomes a good sheep of Christ. And the Son of God, coming to earth to fall and save His people, first became the Lamb who took away the sins of the world. For He, like a lamb, was born in a den for cattle in Bethlehem, and was laid in a manger, and then after some time, being more than thirty years old in age, He revealed Himself as a Shepherd: from lambhood He came to shepherd. In the same way, His imitator Saint Tikhon, before becoming the shepherd of Christ’s sheep, was first himself a sheep of Christ, as can be seen from his life, where it is said: “From his youth he was devoted to God and, having been sufficiently taught the holy books, was counted among the church clergy.” It is clear that, being devoted to God from his youth and brought into the church fence, he was a good sheep of his Shepherd, Christ the Savior. Not everyone becomes a sheep in their youth; many become goats. For what age in human life is as close to evil as youth? She turns away from what is useful and seeks what is harmful to the soul. She listens with difficulty to good teachings, but strives for evil ones; avoids instructions and deviates towards self-will; does not like correction, but accepts corruption with love. The teaching of wisdom is disgusting to a young man, but madness is pleasant to him. He mocks a godly life and is jealous of lawlessness; blasphemes the good and praises the evil; rejects reasonable advice, but the evil one gladly carries it out; constantly inflamed by voluptuous lusts and, moving away from his Shepherd, Christ God, and from among His sheep, he is numbered among the goats. It is great and honorable, and worthy of all praise, if someone in his youth, having overcome youthful desires and despising goat-like behavior, becomes a sheep of Christ’s flock. The prophet of God Jeremiah speaks well about this: “It is good for a man when he takes the Lord with the yoke in his youth” and bears it (Lamentations 3:27), and not in old age, and from a goat he turns into the sheep of Christ. For after his natural powers have weakened, he becomes powerless to fall into sin. Then it is not he who abandons sinful passions, but the sinful passions themselves who abandon him in old age. A man who throughout his previous life was a goat, exhausting himself by serving sinful voluptuousness, and in his old age wants to be a sheep, deserves a little praise, since he did not do a glorious thing. He who begins to serve the Lord in his youth and does not weaken in virtuous deeds until old age is blessed, and his work is glorious. He is dear to God and the Angels, and marvelous to people, and is praised by Holy Scripture. The saint of God, Saint Tikhon, from his youth took upon himself the yoke of the Lord and began to serve Him in reverence and truth; from his youth he gave himself up to God, entered the clergy of the church and was a good sheep of Christ’s flock. A sheep - because he did not touch the malice of this world, did not know friendship with goats, did not enslave sinful voluptuousness, he was like a gentle lamb, undefiled, preserving immaculate, virgin purity. It is a great and glorious thing to cleave to God in your youth, for this is the solid foundation of all virtuous life. Many in old age want to build for themselves, as it were, a kind of home, a godly life and acquire salvation for their soul, but they cannot, because they did not lay a solid foundation in their youth, that is, they did not cleave to God, were not accustomed to serving Him with all zeal, and spent their entire lives serving the passions and lusts of this world. Therefore, even in their old age they cannot organize their creation without laying a strong foundation in their youth. If, in the days approaching old age, they set as a foundation a good intention to improve their life, then such a foundation is rarely strong. Rarely does their creation reach completion, for they sway, as if from the wind, from the usual sinful sensuality that has grown old in them over a long time. And how can anyone touch those feats to which he has not been accustomed since his youth? He who has established his life in God from his youth, in old age ascends to the very top of virtuous perfection and is awarded by God with great gifts. The prophet Moses was a great miracle worker in the Old Testament, but Saint Ambrose considers Joshua to be the greatest in miracles. For although Moses led the people of Israel out of Egypt, he did not lead them into the promised land and did not enter it himself, but Joshua led them into it, creating a dry path through the Jordan River, like Moses in the sea. And even more wonderful: he stopped the movement of the sun, commanding it to stop, and the sun rose, and with it all the other heavenly circles, eternally moving along their paths, according to the dispensation of the Creator, stood motionless (see Joshua 10:13). Moses was a miracle worker only on earth, but Joshua was a great miracle worker in heaven. But why was Joshua given greater grace of working miracles than Moses? Is it not because he began to serve God from his youth? That's why indeed. Let's look at the youth of both miracle workers: where did Moses spend the days of his youth? In the royal chambers. He is called the son of a princess, as the Scripture says: “When the child grew up, the nurse brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her instead of a son” (Ex. 2:10). So, Moses’ youth was spent in the nobility, in sweet food and worldly pleasures. Where did Joshua spend his youth? The following is written about him in the book of Exodus: “But the servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, did not leave the church of the Lord” (Exodus 33:11). From here it is clear where he spent his youth: in the church of the Lord, serving God from his youth. Moses in his youth was with the king of the earth, and Joshua stood before the King of Heaven. This one served Pharaoh, and this one served God. That one held on to the royal chambers, but this one did not leave the church of the Lord, and therefore received from God a higher gift of miracles than that one. Reasoning about this, Saint Ambrose says: “The young man (Joshua) did not leave the church, while the elders of Israel stood at a distance from him, trembling at God’s miracles, and grew into such a man who could change the course of the Jordan stream, commanded the sun to stand still, and the sun rose, and what was forbidden to Moses was granted to him, that is, the introduction of the people of God into the Promised Land.” Yes! It is a great and glorious thing to begin to serve God from a very young age. From his youth, the miracle worker Saint Tikhon, who is now celebrated, harnessed himself to the yoke of the Lord’s work. He placed this youthful service to the Lord as the foundation of his entire life, on which, strengthening himself, he created such great holiness that he received from God the great gift of working miracles and even in his adolescence began to work miracles, filling the empty granary with the poor, as it is written about in his life. Therefore, he grew into such a man that he could cross the sea of ​​this world, troubled by sinful passions, as if on dry land, undamaged by the waves, and become an heir of the heavenly promise. And the immaterial Sun - Christ, our Savior, who created the circles of heavenly bodies, held him as many times as he worthily touched Him with his hands in the sacred rite of the Divine Mysteries, in which the True Son of God is present under the guise of bread and wine, and begged Him in all His petitions to consider the prayers of His servants, for the Lord fulfills the desires of those who fear Him and listens to their prayers. The saint of God achieved such holiness through service to the Lord, which began in his youth. Like Joshua, the young man did not leave the church of the Lord, serving his Master day and night, according to the rite of his sanctification, which he was honored for the purity of his life, like a lamb, immaculate from his mother’s womb, who offered himself to God as a living sacrifice. And since he was a true sheep of the flock of Christ, Archpastor Christ elevated him, as worthy, to the highest level of shepherding, entrusting him with His verbal sheep, so that, like Moses, who led Israel out of Egypt, he would free the people of Christ from the slavery of sin - and, like Joshua, who led the people of God to the Promised Land, he would lead them to the perception of heavenly blessings prepared for those who love God. Having accepted the rank of shepherd, the saint of God Tikhon truly showed himself to be a good shepherd. Just as in his youth he was a good sheep of Christ, so, having reached perfect manhood, he revealed himself to be a good shepherd of Christ’s Church, and on him, as bearing the image of Christ, the words of Christ came true: “I am the good shepherd” (John 10:11). Let's see now why he was a good shepherd? A true good shepherd is recognized by three signs indicated in the Holy Gospel, namely: firstly, the good shepherd enters the sheepfold by the door, and does not penetrate there in any other way: “Whoever does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs from the outside, is a thief and a robber; and he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep” (John 10:1–2). There are also shepherds who do not enter the fold of the verbal sheep through the door. But what are the doors of the sheepfold? Christ Himself, Who says about Himself: “I am the door: whoever enters through Me will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture” (John 10:9). But who enters through these doors into the sheepfold for the honor of shepherding? One who is elected and elevated to the rank of hierarchy by the good pleasure of Christ Himself. Who “does not enter by the door, but climbs in from without”? One who accepts the rank of priesthood not by the will of Christ, but for a bribe, with the help of worldly authorities, attracted by gifts, and through some kind of intrigue. This is not a shepherd, but a thief and robber. A thief, because he steals the rank of hierarch by secret purchase, and a robber, because he robs his sheep in order to get rich. He is not a shepherd, for he does not tend sheep, but feeds himself in order to become fat and fat. But we will not discuss such things in this discourse, for at first we set out to talk about the good shepherd. The second sign of a good shepherd is that he walks in front of the sheep, and not behind the sheep, as Christ says in the Gospel: “And when he has brought out his sheep, he walks before them” (John 10:4). What does it mean that the shepherd must walk before the sheep? It means that he must be the first in all virtues, and not lag behind everyone, that he must serve as an example for the sheep, and not the sheep for him. The apostle bequeaths to each of the shepherds: “Be an example for the faithful in word, in life, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity” (1 Tim. 4:12). You yourself, he says, be an example for others, and not others for you, for just as it is a shame for a mentor to learn from a mentor and a teacher to learn from a student, so a shepherd should be ashamed if the sheep are ahead of him in exploits and pleasing God, if one of the sheep is cheerful and the shepherd is lazy, if the sheep pleases God, and the shepherd pleases vain people or his own womb, if the sheep follows the path narrow and deplorable, but the shepherd walks on a broad path. Then it is not the shepherd who walks before the sheep, but the sheep go ahead of him and precede him in reaching the kingdom of heaven, and he lags far behind them and does not keep up with them. If now such a shepherd is ashamed, walking not in front of the sheep, but behind the sheep and not achieving their virtuous life, then he will be all the more ashamed when he sees his sheep placed on the right side of the Righteous Judge, and himself mercilessly drawn to the left side, those called to the kingdom, while himself condemned to torment. Therefore, the Holy Gospel commands the good shepherd to walk ahead of the sheep, that is, to be foremost in all virtues, so that the sheep, looking at him as an image of true God-pleasing, follow him as their leader along the path to salvation. The third sign of a good shepherd is that he lays down his life for the sheep entrusted to him, according to the word of the Lord: “The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11). And if the shepherd is commanded not to spare his soul for the sheep, then it is all the more fitting for him not to spare his property, but to use it in alms for the sheep - the poor and needy, orphans and widows, the sick and strangers. But it’s time to turn your mental eyes again to the now celebrated saint of God. According to all these gospel signs, Saint Tikhon of Christ showed himself to be a good shepherd. First of all, he was a good shepherd because he entered the sheepfold by the door, and did not get there in some other way, as evidenced in his life. When Saint Memnon departed to the Lord, we read there, then by the general election of everyone after him, Saint Tikhon was elevated to the throne. He did not take upon himself this rank, but was elected by the consent of all; he did not seek this honor himself, but honor sought him; he did not ascend the throne arbitrarily, but was elevated by the will of God. The door to the sheepfold was for him the Lord Himself, whom he loved from his youth and whom he served with all zeal. Our Lord opens the door of His mercy to those who love Him and loves them: “I,” He says, “love those who love Me” (see John 14:21). He raises them to the level of shepherdhood, as is clear from the Holy Gospel. The Lord asked Saint Peter: “Do you love Me?” - and when Peter answered: “Yes, Lord! You know that I love You,” the Lord immediately entrusted him with tending the sheep: “Feed My sheep” (John 21:15–16). Saint Tikhon also loved Christ the Lord with all his soul and with all his heart, and therefore he was given a flock from the Lord: “Feed My sheep.” This saint of Christ was a good shepherd and according to the second shepherd attribute, that is, he walked before the sheep. For he was the leader of his sheep on the path to salvation, showing them an image of virtue, so that, looking at his holy life, they would imitate his godly deeds. He was not lazy in his exploits, was neither a people-pleaser nor a glutton, did not walk the broad path, but, in the apostolic way, remained “in labor and in exhaustion, often in vigils, in hunger and thirst, often in fasting, in cold and nakedness” (2 Cor. 11:27). For this he received the gift of miracles, as it is said about him in the kontakion: “Being in fasting, holy, God-loving, you lifted up the Comforter’s power from on high.” Walking before the sheep, as an example of virtue, this good shepherd not only guided Christ’s sheep—people enlightened by faith—on the path of salvation, but also brought the goats of demons, the wicked, I say, idolaters, to Christ, turning them from goats into sheep. Let's listen to what is written about him. At that time there were still many infidel people on the island of Cyprus who adhered to ancient idolatrous errors. The saint of Christ took on considerable work, turning away from idolatry and bringing to Christ these people who were perishing in Hellenic wickedness. And the Lord assisted him in his labors, for he plucked out the great verbal flock from the ravenous teeth of the demonic wolves, brought them into the fence of the Catholic Church and made them from goats the sheep of Christ. Let us see how the saint of Christ could have accomplished this? Truly, in no other way than by setting an example of one’s virtue, walking before them along the path leading to the kingdom of God. For if they had not seen him walking before them in the way of the Lord, how could they have followed him? If they had not seen him living according to God, how could they imitate him? If we had not contemplated with our eyes his equal-angelic life, filled with good deeds, how could we have listened to His teaching words and how would we have turned from our delusion to God? The example of his virtuous life was for them a leader, a mentor, the cause and beginning of salvation. Saint Tikhon of Christ was a good shepherd and according to the third sign of pastoralism, that is, he laid down his soul for the sheep. For he, without sparing himself, worked for their salvation, devoted himself entirely to day-night exploits in order to win human souls for God, and was ready to die for them if time and chance required it. It is mentioned in the canon that he stood at the painful trial, confessing Christ with boldness, not fearing either wounds or death. It is known that this zealot of Christ God, for preaching and confessing the name of Jesus Christ, for the destruction of idols and the enlightenment of the infidels, was more than once captured by the wicked, brought to trial and threateningly interrogated. Then he, being ready to die for the sake of Christ, was ready to lay down his soul for the newly enlightened sheep of Christ. But God’s discretion determined that he should remain alive for the greatest benefit for people and so that he would attract many to Christ. From all this it is clear that the great saint, the bishop of God, Saint Tikhon, was the good shepherd of the verbal sheep of Christ, in the words of Christ: “I am the good shepherd.” And just as then for the Amafunt city, so for us now he is a good shepherd. For, having this most venerable church here, he looks at us from the height of his place, which belongs to him among the hierarchs who stand before the Throne of God. And he not only looks at us, but also invisibly visits us, and we believe that even now, on the day of his honorable memory, he is present among us, commemorating him with love, and sees our zeal, and accepts the praises we bring, and lifts up our prayers to God, and, standing before Christ, intercedes for us, and with his warm prayers for us to God, delivers us from all troubles and evils, from enemies visible and invisible, and all that is good and he asks us for what is useful, temporary and eternal, from God. So, for us too, he is a good shepherd, a helper and intercessor, and a patron in Christ our Lord. So far we have talked about the good shepherd; now it is appropriate to remember about the good sheep, so that the subject of our word is the good shepherd with the good sheep. We would like to talk about good, and not about evil sheep, but it is impossible to know the good sheep without mentioning the evil ones, for there are good sheep, and there are also evil ones. And not every sheep in the flock of Christ, calling itself a sheep of Christ, will stand at the right hand of the Righteous Judge and inherit the kingdom of God, but some of them will be numbered among the goats, and will be placed on the left side, and will be cast into hell. Don’t we know the words of David, who says that sheep are also found in hell: “Like sheep they are laid in hell; death will feed them” (Ps. 48:15). And who will not be horrified to hear that the sheep are also condemned to hell! It is not surprising that there are goats in hell, but what is surprising is that there are also sheep there, for whom a place on the right is prepared, for whom paradise has been opened, for whom the kingdom of heaven awaits. What kind of sheep are in hell? Those who only bear the name of sheep, but their deeds are goats, are called Christians only by name, but their deeds are pagan. These are those who are only considered to be the sheep of Christ, and because of their corrupted lives are slaves of demons, only “they honor Christ with their lips, but are far from Him in their hearts” (Isa. 29:13; Matt. 15:8; Mark 7:6). And other sheep, although in appearance they do good deeds, and seem in outward appearance worthy of standing at the right hand with the blessed sheep and the kingdom of heaven, but since they perform their virtue with pride and vanity, condemning the weak and considering themselves better than others, then such sheep will be rejected from their glory and will be sent to hell, according to the words of the Psalmist: “The sheep are laid in hell” ( Ps. 48:15). How can one discern who is the good sheep of Christ, worthy of the kingdom of heaven, and who is the evil one, destined to be cast into hell by the Righteous Judge? Truly, it is impossible for us to recognize this without knowing anything about ourselves or our salvation, for this is known only to God, as the Scripture says: “The Lord knows those who are His” (2 Tim. 2:19). However, it is possible to know about this, but not about others, but to everyone about themselves. Just as a good shepherd is recognized by three signs indicated in the Holy Gospel, so good sheep are recognized by three signs. These signs were announced by the Lord Himself with His most pure lips when He said: “I am the good shepherd; and I know Mine, and Mine know Me” (John 10:14). Let us focus our attention on these words of the Lord: “My own know Me.” This is the first sign of the good and true sheep of Christ: they know their Shepherd Christ the Savior. Let us think about ourselves: do we know our Shepherd Christ the Lord well and, in accordance with that knowledge, are we His true sheep? I know that each of us will say: “I know Christ my Lord and I believe in Him.” I will boldly say that we do not all know Him, even if we all believed in Him, for we know by faith, but not by love. By faith even the demons know Him, as the apostle says: “And the demons believe and tremble” (James 2:19), but since they do not have love for Him, therefore they are demons and cannot truly know Him, and are strangers to His love. He truly knows his Shepherd Christ, who truly loves Him, for whom the love of God brings sweetness to the heart, for whom all desire and care are directed only to having within himself his beloved Lord. Perhaps someone will say, “I love my Lord Jesus Christ.” To such I will answer: if you love Him, then why do you grieve Him so grievously? If you love Christ, then why do you crucify Him a second time with your vile deeds? If you love Christ, then why do you dishonor Him within yourself, desecrating Him with cold uncleanness and “making the members of Christ members of a harlot” (1 Cor. 6:15)? If you love your Shepherd, then why don’t you follow Him? If you love God, then why do you hate and insult your neighbor with robbery, theft and all sorts of untruths? You lie when you say you love Christ! Oh that you truly loved Him! Then you would never want to anger Him with your sins, and if you ever sinned in anything through weakness and forgetfulness, you would immediately correct yourself, for love quickly raises those who fall. And since you constantly and without fear commit grave sins, without thinking about repentance and even more saddening Christ your God, then you do not love Him. And without loving, how can you know Him and enjoy this coveted sweetness? Listen to what Saint John the Theologian says: “Whoever sins has not seen God or known Him” (1 John 3:6). Without knowing Him and not enjoying Him, how can you be called His sheep? The good and true sheep of Christ is the one who knows Him not only by faith, but also by love and, out of love for Him, turns away from all evil, carefully guards himself so as not to anger his beloved Shepherd and Master with anything, and keeps all His commandments, as the Lord Himself says in the Gospel: “Whoever has My commandments and keeps them, he who loves Me” (Jn. 14:21). The second sign of good sheep is indicated in the following words spoken by the mouth of the Lord: “My sheep obey my voice, and they follow me” (John 10:27). Consequently, he is the sheep of Christ who listens to Christ, his Shepherd, and follows Him. How can one who does not listen to Him and does not follow Him be called and be His sheep? The shepherd says: “Don’t kill, don’t steal, don’t bear false witness, don’t offend,” but today’s people only care about that, only that is life, only that is wealth, to commit robberies, steal, lie and take by force what their neighbor has. Do they listen to the voice of the Shepherd, do they follow Him and do they belong to His sheep? The shepherd says: “Do not commit adultery,” but among people there are also those who, due to their bad life, are likened to Sodom and Gomorrah. Do such voices listen to the Shepherd and follow Him? No. Therefore, they are not His sheep, although they are called sheep, but goats whose place is in hell, and eternal “death will feed them” (Ps. 49:15). Our good shepherd, Christ the Lord, calls us, saying: “Follow Me,” that is, walk the path of My commandments, so that you may enter the kingdom of heaven. But which way do we go and how do we walk? Let everyone examine his conscience and ask himself: what path are you on now, O man! Is it on the path of salvation, or on the path of destruction? Are you going to the kingdom, or to torment? Are you following the Shepherd Christ, or the wolf-devil? Are you listening to the voice of Christ, calling for salvation, or the voice of Belial, seducing you to destruction with sinful deception? Truly, there are more such sheep among us, for we do not listen to the voice of the Shepherd, we do not follow Him, and we only bear the name of sheep, that is, Christian, but our deeds are goats, and therefore our lot will be with goats, if we do not repent. The third sign of good sheep is indicated in the words spoken by the Lord: “No one will snatch them out of My hand” (John 10:28–29). Here we mean the powerful hand of our Shepherd Christ God: the hand of omnipotence and the hand of His grace. By the hand of omnipotence He contains everyone, good and evil, righteous and sinners, faithful and unfaithful, for everything in the universe is in His power. With the hand of His grace He holds only those who themselves adhere inseparably to Him, for just as He loves those who love Him, so He preserves with His grace those who hold on to His right hand. Therefore, no one will snatch those who are His true sheep from His hand, that is, no sinful deception can tear them away from His grace, just as the Egyptian harlot could not tear away the beautiful Joseph, just as the righteous Lot was not corrupted by the temptations of Sodom, and just as the chaste Susanna was not persuaded to anger God by the lawless judges of Israel. If one of the sheep holding on to the hand of the Lord accidentally staggers and falls due to human weakness, as happened with David, then he immediately gets up from his fall, and runs even more warmly to God with repentance, and is made worthy of the former grace. And then the words of the psalms come true on him: “Even if he falls, he will not be broken, for the Lord strengthens his hand” (Ps. 36:24). Untrue, goat-loving sheep are snatched from the hands of the Shepherd Christ by all sinful charms, removed from His grace and numbered among the goats. Even violence cannot tear true sheep from the hand of the Shepherd, as the Apostle says: “Who will separate us from the love of God: tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or the sword?” (Rom. 8:35). Untrue sheep are separated from God by every slightest sinful lust. It is not any sorrow, but carnality, not crowding, but space, not persecution, but peace, not hunger, but indulgence and drunkenness, not nakedness, but the adornment of vestments, not misfortune, but well-being, not the sword, but carnal lust that cuts off and removes the sinner from the right hand of the grace of the Lord. So, it is possible for everyone, by examining his conscience, to easily know himself whether he belongs to the number of true sheep or not. If you, a man, are quick to anger God, but not quick to repent, know that you are among the goats. If you are not quick to anger God, but quick and warm to repentance, then trust in the mercy of God, and you will be counted among the sheep. Having examined both the good shepherd and the sheep of Christ according to the indicated signs, let us again turn our mental eyes and our word to St. Tikhon of Christ, ending with the recognition that this great saint of God was both a good sheep and a good shepherd. He was a good sheep, because he knew the Archpastor Christ not only by faith, but also by zealous love, obeyed His Divine voice, followed Him and constantly held His hand. He was also a good shepherd of the verbal flock of Christ, for he entered through the doors, walked ahead of the sheep and laid down his life for the sheep. For us, who now flock to him and lovingly honor his holy memory, he is also a good shepherd, shepherding us with his help, opening for us, as if with a key, with his prayers the doors of the heavenly kingdom and guiding us to salvation, interceding for us before God. Through His holy and auspicious prayers, may we be worthy of the fate of the blessed sheep - standing on the right hand on the day of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, to Him be glory forever. Amen.