About the fast service

Contents A. About fasting in general Conversation No. 1. About the need for fasting Conversation No. 2. About fasting unfavorable to the Lord and true fasting Appendix to conversations No. 1–2. “While we fast physically, we also fast spiritually” Conversation No. 3. About the fasts established by the Church Appendix to Conversation No. 3. Historical information about the fasts of the Holy Orthodox Church B. Preparation for the Holy Lent Conversation No. 1. About the weeks of preparation for Lent Appendix to Conversation No. 1 A. Cheese Week, or Maslenitsa B. What is Maslenitsa according to teaching St. Tikhon of Zadonsky? B. Features of church services of some Lenten Weeks Conversation No. 1 Appendix to Conversation No. 1 A. Bell ringing in Lent B. General outline of the service in St. Pentecost First week of Great Lent. Conversation No. 2. About why in the first week of St. Pentecost is celebrated in honor of Theodore Tiron and why this celebration is accompanied by the blessing of the koliva Conversation No. 3. About the rite of Orthodoxy Appendix to Conversation No. 3. Church historical information about the origin of the holiday of the Triumph of Orthodoxy. The second week of Lent. Conversation No. 4. About the merits of Gregory Palamas Appendix to conversation No. 4. Stories from the lives of saints, showing that in a prayerful mood their souls were enlightened and their bodies were transformed. Third week of Lent. Conversation No. 5. About the ritual of veneration of the Holy Cross during the Week of the Cross. The fourth week of Lent. Conversation No. 6. About the life of St. John Climacus, commemorated in the fourth week of Great Lent. Fifth week of Great Lent. Conversation No. 7. About the life and deeds of repentance of St. Mary of Egypt Appendix to conversation No. 7. About the Great Canon Conversations 8. About the service on Saturday of the 5th week of Great Lent Sixth week of Great Lent. Conversation No. 9. About the resurrection of Lazarus G. Some Lenten prayers and hymns Conversation No. 1. On the words “Remember me, Lord, when You come in Your kingdom” Conversation No. 2. On the words “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” Conversation No. 3. In response to the words “On the rivers of Babylon, there, weeping and mourning, Zion will never be remembered for us” (Ps. 136) Conversation No. 4. To the words “My soul, my soul! Get up, write what? The end is approaching, and you will be troubled: arise, then, may Christ God, who is everywhere and fulfill all things, have mercy on you." Conversation No. 5. To the words "May my prayer be corrected as incense before You, the lifting of my hand, the evening sacrifice." Conversation No. 6. To the words "Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me!.." Conversation No. 7. On prayer to St. Ephraim the Syrian Conversation No. 8. On the words “In the morning hear my voice, in the morning I will appear and see me” (Ps. 5:4) Conversation No. 9. On the words “Lord, Who sent down Thy Most Holy Spirit at the third hour by Thy Apostle, Do not take Him away from us, the Good One, but renew us who pray” Conversation No. 10. To the words “And on the sixth day and hour on the cross the daring sin of Adam was nailed to paradise, and tear up the handwriting of our sins, O Christ God, and save us!” Conversation No. 11. To the words “Who at the ninth hour tasted death for our flesh, put to death our wisdom in the flesh, O Christ our God, and save us!” D. About the Presanctified Liturgy Conversation No. 1. About the Presanctified Liturgy Appendix to conversation No. 1 A. Historical and archaeological sketch of the Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts B. Explanation of the words of Psalm 140, sung at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts B. Explanation of the song “Now the powers of heaven invisibly serve with us...” E. Holy Week Conversation No. 1. About the memories of Great Monday Appendix to conversation No. 1 A. Explanation of the song “I see Your chamber, my Savior” (sung on Holy Week) B. Explanation of the song “Behold the bridegroom comes at midnight” (sung on Holy Week) Conversation No. 2. About the memories of Maundy Tuesday Conversation No. 3. About the memories of Great Wednesday Appendix to conversations No. 1–3 From church hymns in the first three days of Holy Week Conversation No. 4. About memories of the service of Maundy Thursday Appendix to conversation No. 4 A. From church hymns in Great Thursday B. Consecration of the world Conversation No. 5. About memories on Great Friday Appendix to conversation No. 5 A. From church hymns on Great Friday B. Garden of Gethsemane Conversation No. 6. About the Matins of Great Friday Appendix to conversation No. 6. Always keep in mind the crucified Jesus Christ Conversation No. 7. About vespers on Holy and Great Friday Appendix to conversation No. 7 A. History of the sacred Orthodox Shroud B. Where did Mount Calvary get its name? B. The Church of the Resurrection of the Lord with Golgotha and the Holy Sepulcher D. About the miraculous signs that accompanied the death of the Savior E. About the passionate candle Conversation No. 8. About the memories of Holy Saturday Conversation No. 9. About the divine service of Holy Saturday Appendix to Conversation No. 9. From church hymns on Holy Saturday Conversation No. 1. About the need for fasting I. The first Christians had a deep respect for Lent. Throughout its entire continuation, they consumed only fast food and only in such small quantities, without which it was impossible to maintain bodily life and bodily strength necessary for the deeds of the saints. Why did the first Christians respect St. so much? fasting, and the Holy Church legalized it with a special decree? (Rule 56 of the VI Ecumenical Council). Because the Holy Church, like the Lord Himself, strongly desires to bring salvation to all of us, and holy fasting for everyone who really and truly wants and tries to save their soul is, on the one hand, a great teacher, and on the other, a great helper. II. a) Holy Lent is a great teacher. Whoever truly desires and tries to save his soul, St. fasting, firstly, very quickly and clearly shows that very little is needed to preserve bodily health, that all artificial drinks, all sweets and delicacies, all dishes prepared with special art and taste, noisy entertainment and smart clothes are not only unnecessary for health, but are often very harmful to health, and that health does not depend at all on dainty and tasty, but on simple and moderate food, on unsophisticated drinking and on clothing not expensive, but rather warm, solid and pure... Holy fasting for every person who truly desires his salvation very soon shows, secondly, all his most important sins, everything to which his heart is especially firmly attached, everything that forces him to various crimes and removes him from true life and true bliss. b) Holy fasting greatly contributes to success in salvation for anyone who wants to save his soul. aa) Holy fasting, by not allowing the body excess food and artificial drink, but by providing it with the most moderate food and the simplest drink, greatly helps a person to conquer all the sinful lusts of the flesh. For by taking away from the flesh all excess food and excess drink, St. fasting takes away from her everything that gives her strength for a violent and ungodly life, and even the strongest cities, the most impregnable fortresses surrender when they are deprived of their vital food supply. bb) Holy fasting makes us capable of prayer and reflection about God and the divine. “Whoever fasts, as St. says. Chrysostom prays with cheerful spirit. Fasting makes the soul cheerful, lightens its wings, lifts it above earthly things, and leads to thoughts of heavenly things.” cv) In general, fasting is a very powerful means of preparation for all great and saving deeds. This was deeply felt by all prudent and God-loving people always and everywhere. All the saints fasted very strictly themselves, and all unanimously advised others to fast. All especially great men, used by God for correction at different times of the human race, were prepared for their service by fasting. This is what the story of the prophet Moses, the prophet Elijah, and John the Baptist testifies to. Even Jesus Christ Himself, entering into service to the human race, fasted for forty days and nights (Matthew 4:2). III. So, brothers, let us be zealous executors of the maternal institution of the Holy Church! Let us all fast according to her rules! There is nothing in its institutions except that which greatly promotes our salvation. Whoever does not want to obey his mother’s orders, let him be convinced of the need to keep the Holy Spirit. fasting, at least in what experience has been saying for so long, namely: the less any Christians adhere to the statutes of the Holy Church introduced for our salvation, the worse they become. They go to God’s services less and lose their disposition towards them, they lose correct information about God. With the loss of correct information about God, they lose the fear of God, and with the fear of God, they lose all concern for their salvation. May the Lord God save us all from imitating such people, may He put us on the true path of salvation and strengthen us on it! Amen. (Compiled from “Conversations” by Bishop Gregory, Metropolitan of Novgorod). Conversation No. 2. About fasting unfavorable to the Lord and true fasting “Let us fast with a pleasant fast, pleasing to the Lord: true fasting is alienation of evil, abstinence of the tongue, putting aside rage, excommunication from lusts, speaking, lying and perjury.” (Verse, Monday of Lent). I. This church verse can rightly be called church teaching for all holy fasts. Our words and sermons, due to their very weakness, are often lengthy, but the teaching of the Church is as brief as it is strong and valid. It is all the more necessary, therefore, to pay all attention to it and reflect on what the Holy Church teaches in relation to fasting. II. Let us fast a pleasant fast, pleasing to the Lord! This means that fasting is unpleasant and displeasing to the Lord! a) What kind of fast is unfavorable to the Lord? aa) The one when you do not eat ordinary food, or perhaps even any food, but with your anger and obstinacy you eat away the soul and body of your henchmen, servants or household. bb) That fast, when you fall to the ground in the church and ask for absolution of your sins, you say that they should be forgiven in the same way as you forgive all sins against you, and when you leave the church, you will go to court to persecute your poor debtor, collect from him every last mite, put him in prison, otherwise, ruin his entire house and family. cc) That fast is not favorable to the Lord when, outwardly, you seem to humble yourself and say that you are the chief of sinners, but internally you do not know the extent of your imaginary merits, you place yourself in your thoughts above everyone else, and make yourself a judge of the universal, ready to judge and re-examine everyone and everything. d) That fast is unpleasant and displeasing to God when you want and expect that for small bows and a few sighs of yours the treasures of God’s grace will be opened for you, all the ulcers of your conscience will be healed, so that you will be taken to the Royal Supper itself and nourished with the Body and Blood of Christ, but you yourself, with all the groans and cries of your poor brethren, are not inclined to give them and a small part of your surplus, you coldly leave the sick and suffering without any help, you hesitate to bring strangers under your roof, you are stingy to share with the hungry - not your body and blood (let them remain with you), but those mountains and hills of food, from which your barns are almost falling apart. dd) That fast is unpleasant and displeasing to the Lord when you are afraid to bring a cup of hot water to your lips, and are not afraid that from these lips continue to come out as before, like smoke from a furnace, idle and rotten words, bitter and wounding ridicule, hints full of temptation and spiritual infection. Let all such and similar fasters not dare to hope for mercy from the Lord. Their fast is not only not acceptable, but, according to the prophet, it is an abomination before the face of God. It would be better if you ate anything, but at the same time fed those who almost die of hunger even without fasting. It would be better if you continued to adorn yourself with your clothes as before, but at this time, with your superfluous, idle and moth-eaten clothes, you covered the nakedness of the poor brethren, who are groaning from the cold. It would be even better if you did not interrupt your usual fun and amusements, but, while chilling yourself, would bring comfort and joy to those who have long forgotten whether there is any joy on earth. b) What kind of fast is pleasing to the Lord? True fasting is alienation of evil, abstinence of the tongue, putting aside rage, excommunication of lusts, speaking, lying and perjury. Removal from all these vices should not be fasting, not compulsion and labor for us, but the most natural thing, peace and joy, but permeated in our ancestors with sin and self-will, accustomed by us to violating the laws of abstinence, our nature has become so close to passions and lusts that following passions and evil will has become almost as natural for it as the body to take daily food. Therefore, whoever wants to be free from sins must constantly restrain himself from evil and force himself to good, just as those who fast abstain from food and force themselves to think about God. This abstinence from passions and vices, according to the teaching of the Church, constitutes a true and favorable fast to the Lord. External posts are not always necessary. This inner fasting is necessary at all times. External fasts pass and end, but this spiritual fast is continuous and should end only with our life, when we, having put off our mortal and sin-loving flesh, put on incorruptibility and dispassion. aa) So, do you want to fast truly? First of all, refrain your tongue from every idle word, especially rotten and inappropriate. Begin your spiritual fast with this small bodily member, which, however, is a great enemy and stubborn adversary. Having overcome his stubbornness, you will be strong to bridle your whole body (James 3:2). Otherwise, your tongue, like a wild and fierce horse, will drag you, along with your fasting, through the jungle of lies, malice and deceit. bb) Do you want to fast truly? Leave all hatred, annoyance, grumbling and bickering along with your food, and become quiet, meek, humble, gracious and loving in everything and towards everyone. This is what decency itself requires during Lent. cv) Do you want to fast truly? Remove from yourself, along with food, all other carnal desires, for your old and sinful man blinds and destroys you not only by satiety of the body. Excess in food harms only you alone, while other types of carnivore and voluptuousness harm many others besides you. d) Do you want to fast truly? Tear apart, if you have, any unrighteous scripture for taking possession of other people's property. Stop the case opened in court on this occasion. Concede as much as you can, even from your own rights, so as not to drag yourself through the courts, like a Jew and a Mohammedan. dd) Do you want to fast truly? Consider what you can do in the name of the Lord to serve your lesser brethren in Christ and immediately begin the work of doing good: allow entry into your barns for those who, without any fault of their own, are almost dying from hunger, clothe the naked, receive the orphan, look after the sick, visit the prisoner. III. Such a fast will be favorable to the Lord! He who thus combines mental and physical abstinence will not lose his reward. Or better yet, he already accepts her here and now. (Compiled from “Sermon”, Innocent, Archbishop of Kherson). Appendix to conversations No. 1–2. “When we fast physically, we also fast spiritually” (From the writings of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk) There is physical fasting, as we see, and there is also mental fasting. There is bodily fasting when the belly fasts from food and drink; mental fasting is when the soul abstains from evil thoughts, deeds and words. There is a fair faster who abstains from fornication, adultery and all uncleanness. A fair faster is someone who abstains from anger, rage, malice and revenge. A good faster is someone who has set his tongue abstinence and keeps it from idle talk, foul language, bullshit, slander, condemnation, flattery, lies and all slander. There is a fair faster who keeps his hands from stealing, plundering, and robbery, and his heart from desiring other people's things. In a word, a good faster is one who shuns all evil. You see, Christian, spiritual fasting. Physical fasting is useful for us, as it serves us to mortify passions; but mental fasting is absolutely necessary, so that physical fasting is nothing without it. Many fast with their bodies, but do not fast with their souls; many fast from food and drink, but do not fast from evil thoughts, deeds and words, and what good does it do them? Many fast every other day or two or more, but out of anger, resentment and revenge they do not want to fast. Many abstain from wine, meat, fish, but with their tongues they bite people like themselves, and what good does it do them? The essence is those who often do not touch food with their hands, but extend them to bribery, theft and plunder of other people's property, and what benefit does it do them? True and direct fasting is abstinence from all evil. If, as a Christian, you want fasting to be useful to you, then, while fasting physically, fast also mentally, and fast always. Just as you put a fast on your belly, impose a fast on your evil thoughts and desires. Let your mind fast from vain thoughts; let the memory fast from resentment; let your will fast from evil desire; let thine eyes fast from evil vision: turn away thine eyes from seeing vanity; Let your ears be kept from vile songs and slanderous whispers; let your tongue fast from slander, condemnation, blasphemy, lies, flattery, foul language and every idle and rotten word; let your hands fast from beating and stealing other people's goods; May your feet fast from walking in evil deeds. “Turn away from evil and do good” (Ps. 33:15). This is Christian fasting, which our God requires of us. Repent therefore and, abstaining from every evil word, deed and thought, learn every virtue, and you will always fast before God. “Behold, you fast for quarrels and strife, and in order to strike others with a bold hand; you do not fast at this time so that your voice will be heard on high. Is this the fast that I have chosen, the day on which a man languishes his soul, when he bends his head like a reed and spreads rags and ashes under him? Can you call this a fast and a day pleasing to the Lord? This is the fast that I have chosen: loose the chains of unrighteousness, untie the bonds of the yoke, and set the oppressed free, and break every yoke; divide your bread with the hungry, and bring the wandering poor into your home; When you see a naked person, clothe him, and do not hide from your half-blood. Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly increase, and your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will follow you. Then you will call, and the Lord will hear; You will cry out, and He will say: “Here I am!” When you remove the yoke from among you, stop raising your finger and speaking offensively, and give your soul to the hungry and feed the soul of the sufferer: then your light will rise in darkness, and your darkness will be like noon,” and so on. (Isa.58:4-10). Conversation No. 3. About the fasts established by the Church Remember the Sabbath day, keep it holy I. Christian brothers! With these words, the Lord teaches us to sanctify not only Sundays and holidays, but also holy fasts. II. Fasting was observed even in the Old Testament. Thus, the Jews fasted for three days before the Sinai legislation, and for three days before crossing the Jordan. In the Christian Church, fasting began a very long time ago, from the time of the Apostles, and leading Christians, in order to make themselves more capable of the feat of prayer, and especially the feat of martyrdom, fasted very often and a lot. That is why in the first centuries every Christian fasted for the most part not at the appointed time, but as much as he wanted and when he wanted. The Ecumenical Councils made a special resolution on fasting, and from that time on the following fasts began to be observed in the Orthodox Church: a) Great Lent, or Holy Pentecost. It was established in memory and in imitation of the forty-day fast of the Lord Jesus Christ in the desert, and was established so that at this time, as during national repentance, Christians would purify themselves in their bodies and souls and worthily celebrate the feast of the Resurrection of Christ. Just as Jesus Christ, after His baptism, withdrew into the desert and spent forty days in fasting and prayer, so Orthodox Christians, after the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, enter into a forty-day field of fasting and prayer, preparing to celebrate their salvation accomplished by the death and Resurrection of Christ. This fast is called Lent because, in addition to Holy Week, which is also honored by fasting, in memory of the last days of the Lord’s earthly life, His suffering and death, it lasts forty days. It is completely forbidden to eat meat on these days, fish is allowed only twice during the entire Pentecost period - on the Annunciation and on Palm Sunday, and on Saturdays and Sundays it is allowed to consume oil and wine. The usual food these days is dry eating, eating once a day and not enough, but old and young and mothers of infants can eat twice a day 1 . b) Petrov's fast, otherwise apostolic, always begins a week after Pentecost, or Trinity Day, and continues until June 29, that is, until the day of the supreme apostles Peter and Paul. It was established both in remembrance of the fact that the holy apostles fasted in preparation for the work of evangelical preaching, and in respect for the apostles Peter and Paul, who at that time languished in prison and in chains, and died as martyrdom on June 29th. The continuation of Peter's Lent is not the same, depending on how sooner or later Easter occurs. The longest fast of Peter is six weeks, and the shortest is a week and a day. As for food, Peter's Fast is less strict than Great Fast. c) The Assumption, or Mother of God, fast always begins on August 1 and lasts two weeks, that is, until August 15. This fast was established for worthy preparation for the feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God, Who, before Her relocation to heaven, incessantly remained in fasting and prayer. In terms of the strictness of the fasting rules, the Assumption Fast is superior to the Petrov and Nativity fasts, but less strict than the Great Fast. d) The Nativity Fast, which is otherwise called Filippov, because it begins on November 14, that is, from the day on which the memory of the Holy Apostle Philip is celebrated, and lasts until December 25, that is, until the Nativity of Christ. This fast was established so that Christians prepare for a worthy meeting of the Lord who is about to be born. The rules of fasting prescribed by the Church during the Nativity Fast are as strict as in Petrov. All these four fasts that we talked about are called multi-day fasts, because they last not one, but many days, but there are also one-day fasts. e) So, for example, the last day of the Nativity Fast, which is usually called sochevnik or Christmas Eve - from sochiv, which the charter is supposed to eat at a meal on this day. Literally sochivo means a dish made from dried wheat grains, which are eaten after soaking in water, or with honey, or simply without anything. On this Christmas Eve, Orthodox Christians maintain the pious custom of not eating anything until the evening star, which resembles the star that appeared in the east and announced the birth of Christ the Savior. There are also one-day posts, such as: f) On the day of the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord, which is established from the grateful memory of the death on the cross of Christ the Savior, by which He accomplished our salvation. g) The day of the beheading of St. John the Baptist is also considered a one-day fast. This fast was established out of reverence for this great faster and out of participation in his suffering and death. And truly, brethren, how can we otherwise honor the honorable beheading of John the Baptist, if not by fasting and prayer? Will we really begin to eat meat or drink wine on this day - on the day of the beheading of his venerable head? So, brothers, let us honor this day with prayer and fasting. h) Fasting on the eve of the Epiphany, that is, on the eve of the Epiphany. This fast is simply called Epiphany Christmas Eve, which is established for worthy preparation for this holiday. On Epiphany Eve, on which one must fast before holy water, a meal is prescribed, just as on Christmas Eve, once, after the Divine Liturgy. We dare not eat cheese and fish. i) Fasting on Wednesday and Friday, except, however, for the weeks of the tax collector and the Pharisee, cheese, light, Trinity and two weeks of Christmastide, since there is no fasting on these days. On Wednesday we are supposed to fast in remembrance of the Savior’s tradition of suffering and death, and on Friday - in remembrance of the very suffering and death on the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. III. The ancient Christians strictly observed all these fasts. We must observe them just as strictly. And how can we not observe these fasts? Fasting is the most favorable time for both the salvation of the soul and the health of the body. Just as a person cannot walk without legs, or a bird cannot fly without wings, so it is impossible for a soul to be saved without fasting: fasting mortifies passions, keeps the tongue from idle talk, drives away sinful thoughts, disposes the soul to prayer and opens the way to salvation and reconciliation with God. That's how much good post 2 brings us! Appendix to conversation No. 3. Historical information about the fasts of the Holy Orthodox Church Every Christian should strive for moral self-improvement to the point of becoming like God. The Lawgiver of the New Testament Himself, our Lord Jesus Christ, necessarily demanded this from His followers and, in feats of self-sacrifice, showed them the necessary means to achieve this goal. These feats undoubtedly include fasting as one of the means to moral improvement. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself sanctified fasting by His own example, when for 40 days and nights, spending the only time in prayer, without food or drink, He prepared Himself for public service to the human race. And during His ministry, He repeatedly pointed out to His followers the need for fasting: “The days will come,” says the Lord, “when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast” (Matthew 9:15). In His speech about those suffering from demons, He proclaims: “This generation is driven out only by prayer and fasting” (Matthew 17:21). Following the example and instructions of the Lord Jesus Christ and His disciples - St. The apostles considered fasting a necessary feat of self-sacrifice. Yes, St. The Apostle Paul, counting the feats of his selflessness, also mentions fasting: “In everything,” he says about himself, “we show ourselves as servants of God, in great patience, in adversity, in need, in difficult circumstances, under blows, in prisons, in exiles, in labors, in vigils, in fasting” (2 Cor. 6:4-5). Thus, fasting is necessary and obligatory for everyone Christian: it tames the flesh, enlightens the soul and directs the whole person to God. St. Athanasius the Great in his word “On Virginity” depicts the beneficial effect of fasting on a person: “Fasting heals illnesses, drives away the devil, removes evil thoughts, enlightens the mind, cleanses the body, lifts a person to the Throne of God.” Gregory of Nyssa also attaches the same importance to fasting: “When we fast,” he says, “our eyes look purely, clearly, our legs walk firmly, our hands act with proper strength; the speech of the fasting person is clear and distinct, the mind is bright, and the person then truly becomes like God” 3 . And the Holy Church, in order to motivate her children to the necessary deeds for moral improvement, defines and legitimizes fasting. Church statutes and divine services even indicate the rules of true God-pleasing fasting: not only restrictions on food and drink should be observed during fasting days, but it is also necessary to exercise thought in God, in prayer, in abstinence from passions and in performing works of Christian charity. Thus, through fasting, the Holy Church leads Christians to cleansing from sins, moral improvement and likeness to God. Fasts, like holidays, were annual, i.e. those that were observed by the Church at a certain time annually, others - weekly. Fasts of the first kind include: Great Lent, or St. Lent, Peter's Fast, Assumption Fast and Nativity Fast. “These four church fasts,” says Leo, Pope of Rome, in the 8th discourse on fasting, “are so arranged in the whole year that for each season of the year its own special law of abstinence is prescribed: for spring - the spring fast at Pentecost, for summer - the summer fast after Pentecost, for autumn - the autumn fast - the Assumption fast, and for winter - the winter, Nativity fast.” It should be noted, firstly, that the most important fasts of the Orthodox Church are performed before the great Christian holidays, with the obvious intention of the Church so that after ascetic and fasting labors, the joy of the holidays would be more pure and solemn and so that Christians would worthily celebrate the bright days of the Lord's holidays. Secondly, in the yearly circle in the Christian Church there are feasts of the Lord (in honor of the Lord Himself), and the Mother of God, and in honor of the saints, so there are also fasts dedicated to some to the memory of the Lord (Lent of the Great and Nativity), others to the memory of the Most Holy Theotokos (Assumption) and to the memory of saints (Peter's fast). The most important of all the fasts established by the Holy Orthodox Church is the fast of St. Lent, which she commands to observe more strictly than all other fasts. This fast was established by the Church in remembrance of that great fast, in which our Lord Jesus Christ, after receiving baptism with water from John, prepared Himself for 40 days and nights to serve the human race. And the Holy Church established that this fast should be maintained for 40 days, starting on Monday of the first week and continuing until Lazarus Resurrection, i.e. Saturday of the 6th week. It was a time of strict abstinence, and the Holy Church directed and directs everything to arouse in the souls of believers repentance and heartfelt contrition for sins, so that, having been completely cleansed, they could be worthy of receiving the Body and Blood of Christ. To arouse greater piety in Christians and for a greater disposition to visit St. churches during St. During Pentecost, the rules of the Church prohibited all kinds of spectacles and public games. In her divine services, performed in a different way from other times of the year, the Holy Church instills in Christians the duties of feats of prayer and repentance, and in all, even the smallest details of the Lenten liturgical rite, the most attentive participation of the Holy Church in the Christian improvement of its members through fasting is visible. And indeed, in ancient times, Christians spent this fast in the strictest abstinence and contemplation of God. On all days, pious meetings were held to offer prayers here too, as can be seen from the conversations of St. Chrysostom on the book of Genesis, there were teachings to the people. The Holy Church strictly followed its rules in relation to those persons who did not observe fasting in St. Pentecost. This is the condemnation pronounced on them in the 69th Apostle. rule: “If any of the clergy does not fast in St. The Pentecostal, except for the obstacle due to bodily weakness, then let him be deposed, but if he is a layman, let him be excommunicated.” Thus, fasting in St. Pentecost should be revered as an apostolic institution, which is confirmed by the testimonies of the Church Fathers Blessed Jerome, Cyril of Alexandria, Gregory of Nazianzus and Leo the Great. But it should be noted that at first there was no specific length of time for this fast: some shortened the 40-day fast to 40 hours, and others even to one day. St. Irenaeus, in a letter to Victor, Bishop of Rome, describing the difference between the Eastern and Western Churches in the celebration of Easter, says: “The dispute took place not only about the day of Easter, but also about the method of fasting, for some think that they should fast only one day, others two, others several, and others 40 hours. And this difference in the observance of fasting did not initially occur in our time, but long before us - among our ancestors - it began.” From this it is clear that in St. From the very first times of Christianity, Lent was constantly observed by the Holy Church in memory of the suffering on the cross and death of Jesus Christ. Changes in time in the duration of St. The Pentecostals did not occur as a result of the arbitrariness of Christians, but rather out of necessity. The terrible persecution of Christians that arose in the first times of Christianity forced them to hide their exploits from the pagans, which is why, indeed, some shortened the 40-day fast to 40 hours and even to one day. Seeing this need, the Holy Church looked condescendingly at such deviations from its statutes. Subsequently, when the Roman Empire became a Christian state, the Fathers of the Church established for the post of St. The Pentecostal period is defined - a 40-day period, during which, according to Balsamon's remark, the consumption of meat was strictly prohibited, even in case of illness 4 . Together with St. Lent consists of one indivisible fast and the following Holy Week, which leads believers along the entire path of the Savior’s ascetic life, especially along His thorny final path to Golgotha. Revealing the entire story of Christ's passion this week, the Holy Church encourages Christians to intensify their deeds. And indeed, the ancient Christians spent Great or Holy Week with a more solemn strictness of fasting: in honor of the greatest feats - the suffering and death of the Savior on the cross, fasting during this week was intensified, so that some zealous for piety, according to the testimony of St. Epiphany, spent the entire week without food. For St. The Lent of Lent followed in order of time the summer fast of Peter the Great, preceding the feast of St. the apostles Peter and Paul and which also had its beginning in deep Christian antiquity. We said earlier that in the annual circle there are both holidays and fasts, dedicated some to the memory of the Lord, others to the memory of the Most Holy Theotokos, and, finally, to the memory of the saints. The post called Petrov also belongs to the latter type. The purpose and intention of the Holy Church in establishing this fast is quite obvious. We celebrate the days of the saints and through this we participate in some way in their heavenly joy. We must also participate in those exploits of theirs, by which they paved the way for themselves to heavenly joys, and among which fasting has always occupied an important place. The Fathers of the Church felt this obligation most in relation to the universal teachers - the divine apostles, and therefore established a fast in their honor, calling Christians to exploits following the example of the holy apostles. One of these examples was the immediate reason for the establishment of Peter’s fast. Here we mean the fast by which the apostles, after the descent of the Holy Spirit on them, prepared for universal preaching. When they themselves sent someone to the work of preaching, they also sent them with prayer and fasting. Thus, on the occasion of the departure of Paul and Barnabas for worldwide preaching in the book of Acts (Acts 13:2-3) it is said that “while they were serving the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said: Set apart Barnabas and Saul for me for the work to which I have called them. Then they, having fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, released them." So, the beginning of Peter's Fast goes back to the very first times of Christianity. But in its present form, the Fast of Peter is an establishment of a relatively late time: it is a combination of two ancient Christian fasts, observed by the Church almost simultaneously. The first fast began a week after Pentecost, otherwise - after the week of All Saints, and was continued by the Church for 7 days. The second, also a 7-day fast, was observed before the feast of St. apostles Peter and Paul. The first fast is mentioned in the Apostolic Constitutions in book 5, chapter 19. Pope Leo directly attributes the establishment of this fast to the apostles themselves. Sometimes these two fasts were combined into one, namely, when between the Sunday of All Saints and the Feast of the Chief Apostles, due to the different timings of the moving holidays, the time was reduced to two weeks - then the fast after Pentecost was directly followed by a fast in honor of the apostles. Later, not earlier than the 4th century, these two fasts were forever united into one and formed the Petrovsky fast. It begins after the week of all saints and continues until the day of remembrance of the supreme apostles, i.e. until June 29. The duration of this fast varies. Depending on the movement of the Easter holiday, the continuation of this post may be longer or shorter. The longest Petrov fast consists of 6 weeks, the shortest – a week and a day. During this fast, although meat-eating is prohibited by the Holy Church, it does not prescribe such strictness in observance as it defines for the Holy Church. Lent, from which some kind of difference can be seen between these two fasts. The third annual fast, observed by the Holy Church since the earliest times of Christianity, was the autumn fast, known under the name of the Assumption. Although history does not indicate exactly when and by whom the fast was established, it must be assumed with probability that its origin is ancient, that it was also established by St. the apostles or their immediate successors. At the very least, it cannot be allowed that among ancient Christians the day of the Dormition of the Mother of God was not distinguished by a special memory. This is confirmed by the fact that in the ancient Christian Church believers prepared in a special way for the celebration of great events, and mainly through fasting and prayer. There is no doubt that before the feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God they were prepared in the same way. Christians were encouraged to do this by the example of the Mother of God Herself, who remained in fasting and prayer throughout Her entire life, and especially after she was informed of the time of Her departure to Her Son and God. Thus, the Dormition Fast was established in honor of the Dormition of the Mother of God and in remembrance of the fasting and incessant prayer of Her before her departure from this life. Leo, the Pope, testifies to the existence of the Dormition Fast and its relationship to other fasts and seasons. Church fasts, according to his words, which we have already cited above, are so distributed throughout the year that the law of abstinence is learned at all times, namely: we perform the spring fast in St. Pentecost, summer after Pentecost, autumn in the 7th month and winter - Christmas. The autumn fast of the 7th month was the Assumption fast. Initially, this fast was observed in September, but then, due to its coincidence with the Jewish fasts, it was moved to the month of August, as evidenced by some fathers, for example, Nicholas the Grammar. In the month of August, the Church observed another fast - before the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord. From these two posts, like Petrovsky, one post was formed - Uspensky. Such a transfer of the Dormition Fast from one time to another caused confusion in the 11th century: should we continue to fast before the Dormition? Even the monks of Mount Athos addressed this question to Patriarch Nicholas (in 1085), and the patriarch gave an affirmative answer. Then this question arose again in the 12th century. – disagreements began again regarding the continuation of the Assumption Fast. The reason for this disagreement was the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord. Many not only laymen, but also monastics demanded that fasting be postponed during this holiday, as a result of which they began to postpone it, some completely allowing meat food on the day of the Transfiguration, others allowing the consumption of fish for the sake of the holiday. But Emperor Leo the Philosopher by decree prohibited eating meat on the day of the Transfiguration, while others continued to allow fasting for 4, others for 8 days: thus, according to the Studite Charter, in honor of the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, fasting was allowed for 4 days, according to the Jerusalem Charter - for 8 days, and according to the Charter of the great Antiochian Church it was allowed only for one day on the very Feast of the Transfiguration: on this day eating was allowed fish (“Sunday Reading”, part 1, p. 136). Thus, the Assumption Fast was preserved differently in different Churches. This is explained by the circumstances in which the Greek Church was then: it was pressed by the Mohammedans and the Crusaders, and it is not surprising if the Church Tradition about the continuation of the Dormition Fast was gradually obscured. But at the Council of Constantinople, which took place in 1166, under the chairmanship of Patriarch Luke Chrysovergus of Constantinople, a general resolution was made for all Orthodox Churches. Some at this council, under the pretext that the Assumption Fast was moved from September to August, again proposed the question: is it possible to cancel the Assumption Fast? Some asked about the number of days of this fast. Then, the patriarch said that “although the days of this fast are not found in any scripture, we are nevertheless forced to follow the unwritten Church Tradition and must fast from the 1st day of the month of August and continue this fast until August 15, as until the day of remembrance of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos.” Thus, the Dormition Fast was approved by the force of church law, as a result of the long-existing custom of fasting before the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord and the Dormition of the Theotokos. Finally, the last time of the year was sanctified by the Nativity Fast. This fast is also ancient, and the reason for its establishment by the Holy Church is obvious. We have already said earlier that the ancient Christians always prepared themselves for the worthy celebration of great holidays by purification and renewal through fasting. This is how they prepared for the celebration of the Nativity of Christ - this bright and all-joyful holiday, with which Christians associated the memory of the revelation of the highest and saving mystery of God - the reconciliation of man with God. Simeon of Thessalonica reveals the meaning of fasting before the Feast of the Nativity of Christ: “This fourty-day fast is similar to the fast of Moses, who fasted for 40 days and nights and received the tablets with the words of God written on them. We also fast for 40 days and accept the living word of God, incarnate from the Virgin, and partake of His divine flesh” 5 . Following the example of St. The prophets Moses and Elijah, who fasted for 40 days, the Church established a 40-day fast before the Feast of the Nativity of Christ. The second reason for the establishment of this fast was the intention of the Church to cultivate in Christians that spirit of asceticism that distinguished the Old Testament righteous, and the time of the Nativity Fast was, in her opinion, the most convenient time for remembering and imitating the exploits of St. Old Testament prophets, which is why the Holy Church before the Feast of the Nativity of Christ honors the memory of many prophets: Obadiah (November 19), Nahum (Dec. 1), Habakkuk (Dec. 2), Zephaniah (Dec. 3), Haggai (Dec. 16) and Daniel (Dec. 17). And finally, the last two weeks of Lent before Christmas are dedicated to the memory of all the holy Old Testament forefathers and fathers. From all this one can see that the Nativity Fast is the establishment of the very first apostolic times of Christianity. This can be asserted all the more so since neither the council nor the father of the Church who established this fast is known, and this very thing, despite the general popularity and use of fasting, proves that its beginning is hidden in the first times of Christianity. Blessed Augustine says that the general and eternal statutes of the Church, if they are not drawn up by councils, should be considered an apostolic institution. We find evidence of the ancient observance of the Nativity Fast in church statutes: St. Jerusalem. Savva the Sanctified, Studian, etc., as well as some Eastern and Western Church Fathers: Athanasius the Great, Ambrose of Milan, Blessed. Augustine and Leo, Pope. From the church statutes it is also clear that the Nativity Fast in the East has long begun on November 14th. But just like the Assumption fast, and due to the same circumstances, it did not last the same amount of time everywhere. Anastasius Sinait (11th century) notes that in his time some shortened the Nativity Fast to 2 weeks, others to 12 days, and some even to one week. To eliminate such diversity, the Church, at the Council of Constantinople in 1166, under the chairmanship of Luke Chrysovergus - at the same council at which the boundaries of the Dormition Fast were determined - determined: “In the absence of written laws, on the basis of the unwritten Church Tradition, to begin the fast on November 14,” when the memory of St. Apostle Philip. And this was done, perhaps, for the purpose that in memory of St. Apostle Philip reminded Christians of the establishment of apostolic fasting. Therefore, this post is also called Filippov, or simply Filippovka. In addition to these 4 annual fasts, the Church has observed, from the very first times, weekly fasts - on Wednesdays and Fridays. This fast is as ancient in the Christian Church as the fast of St. Pentecostals. It originates directly from the apostles themselves. We have a lot of evidence for this: firstly, in the very apostolic canons that guided the ancient Fathers of the Church and councils. Thus, the 69th Apostolic Canon, for non-observance of fasting on Wednesdays and Fridays, threatens a cleric with defrocking, and a layman with excommunication. Further, the apostolic decrees repeatedly mention the fast of Wednesday and Friday. So, in the 7th book, chapter 24, it says: “Fast on Wednesday and Friday, because on Wednesday the judgment was pronounced on the Lord, on Friday because then the Lord suffered death on the cross under Pontius Pilate.” Finally, we have evidence of this from the Church Fathers: Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian (in the 2nd century), Origen, who mentions fasting on the 4th and 6th days of the week, Peter of Alexandria (3rd century), who directly attributes the establishment of this fast to the apostles, Basil the Great and, finally, Epiphanius of Cyprus, who says that on Wednesday and Friday the fast continued until the 9th hour, because that on Wednesday the Lord was taken, and on Friday he was crucified. The apostles ordered fasting on these days in fulfillment of what is said: “When the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they fast” (Matthew 9:15). Although the apostolic rules threaten punishment for those persons who did not observe fasting in St. Lent and Wednesday and Friday, however, the severity of the last fast was not equal to the severity of the Great Fast. During the days of St. The ancient women of forty did not eat anything until the evening, but fasting on Wednesday and Friday continued only until 3 o’clock in the afternoon, according to our calculation. With these two days of the week, Christians connected the memory of great sacred events, in memory of which fasting was established, namely: on Wednesday our Lord Jesus Christ was condemned to death at the wicked council of the Jews, and on Friday His death on the cross was remembered. Therefore, in addition to fasting, ancient Christians spent these days in prayer in church and partook of the Holy Mysteries, and these days were called days of standing, and the fasts on these days - fasting of standing 6. But the ancient Christian Church, for the sake of some great holidays, softened its severity in observing fasting on Wednesdays and Fridays. Thus, fasting was canceled throughout Bright Week, all the days of which, according to the solemnity of the divine service, were similar to the first day, on all the days of Pentecost and from the day of the Nativity of Christ on all days, ending with the day of Epiphany, excluding only the day preceding it. The permission to fast on these days was in contrast to the ancient Armenians - heretics, who fasted for 12 days before the feast of Epiphany. Following this example of antiquity, the Church allows fasting on Wednesday and Friday in other cases. Thus, fasting is permitted on the week of the tax collector and the Pharisee, also in contrast to the Armenians, who fasted on these days 7; on Cheese Week - in contrast to the fast of the Jacobites, who fasted in remembrance of the repentance of the Ninevites (Jon. 3:5) for three days of this week - Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and the fast of the Tetradites, who throughout the year did not fast on the 4th day of the week (which is why they got the name), and fasted on Cheese Week. Around the 8th century, some Churches began to allow fasting on Wednesdays and Fridays not only for the Lord's and Theotokos' feasts, but also for famous saints, which, of course, came out of special reverence for their memory. The permission to fast on the feasts of great saints was even included in the statutes of St. Savva, Jerusalem and Holy Mountains. But in order to stop all disagreements, the Church determined to allow fasting on Wednesday and Friday only for the Lord's great feasts. Patriarch Nicholas the Grammar, in his letter to the Athonite monks, says that “the apostles did not allow fasting on the days of remembrance of saints, although, however, during these times fasting is significantly weakened.” Finally, the Holy Church connects fasts with the holidays of the Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord and the Beheading of John the Baptist, no matter what day they happen, as well as with the eve of Epiphany. With the celebration of the Honorable and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord, the Church has always connected the remembrance (September 14) of the suffering and death on the cross of the Savior, which is why it established, like on Wednesday and the heel of each week, to spend this day in fasting. This establishment spread even more in the Christian world after the tree of the Cross of the Lord was returned from Persian captivity (in 631), together with Patriarch Zechariah, and when Emperor Heraclius, the hero of this celebration, putting aside his royal greatness, took the tree of the cross for his ramen and with signs of humility carried it to Golgotha. The fast for August 29 was established by the Holy Church in remembrance of the desert-fasting life that St. lived. John the Baptist. An example of such a strict life, in the person of the greatest of those born of women, involuntarily encourages every pious Christian to honor his memory with the feats of fasting. This fast was established by the Church on August 29 - the day of the Beheading of John the Baptist, when the Church remembers such a sorrowful event - his suffering death during the wicked triumph of Herod. On the same day, we celebrate a memorial service for soldiers killed in battle (Borodinsky in 1812) for their faith and fatherland, and the duty of an Orthodox Christian is to spend this day in fasting and prayer with the Church. The antiquity of the establishment of this holiday and fast is evidenced by church statutes drawn up based on the tradition of St. fathers. Epiphany fast, i.e. on the eve of the feast of the Epiphany, also belongs to the most ancient fasts. It is known that on this day the catechumens were baptized. They were preparing to receive Holy Communion and therefore had to observe the strictest fast on this day. Since, according to legend 8, the baptism of the Lord took place at night, then on this day, in the evening, water was sanctified from ancient times with the great consecration of the Holy Epiphany. Preparing themselves for communion of the water blessed on this day and a worthy celebration of the holiday, ancient Christians spent the time of this day in fasting and prayer. On this day, the Liturgy of Basil the Great was celebrated, together with Vespers, after which, having partaken of blessed water, Christians ate food. If the eve of Epiphany happened on Saturday or Sunday, then the liturgy of St. was celebrated at the usual time. Chrysostom, and the blessing of water took place immediately after Vespers at the usual time, and the severity of fasting on these days was weakened. So, fasting in our Church constitutes an ancient institution and is obligatory on all Christians who must spend these days in prayer. Differing from ordinary days in the change of fasting food to lean food, the limitation of its quantity and quality, the fasts also differ from each other: the church charter prescribes at different times different degrees of fasting - complete non-eating or dry eating, i.e. bread, water and dry fruits. Sometimes boiled Lenten food is allowed, but without oil, sometimes there is permission for wine and oil, and on some days for fish. The strictest fast was observed by the Church in St. Lent, especially in the first and passionate weeks. Next in severity of abstinence is the Uspensky fast. During the Rozhdestvensky and Petrov fasts, the severity of abstinence is softened. As for the divine services performed during fasting days, then only in St. On Lent, it is celebrated in a different way from other times of the year. Here everything is aimed at arousing in the soul of the believer a feeling of heartfelt contrition for sins. On other fasts, worship does not differ from ordinary days 9. B. Preparation for the Holy Pentecost Conversation No. 1. About the weeks of preparation for Lent I. For proper preparation in the liturgical attitude of Christians towards St. For Lent and the following Holy Week, in order to prepare them for the time of fasting and repentance, the Holy Church assigns a special, rather long period of time, which covers three weeks, i.e. week, and there are four Sunday days, but all the days in this period are twenty-two. It does not fall on the same dates of any months every year, but depending on when Easter should be in which year. The very weeks of this time and their Sundays, depending on the church readings and chants performed during the service, have their own special names. Just as the entire designated period of time has its own common liturgical features, so each week has its own differences, which is indicated in the very names of these weeks. II. a) The first Sunday preparation day in church liturgical language is called the week of the publican and the Pharisee. It received its name from the fact that at the Liturgy on this day the Savior’s parable about the publican and the Pharisee is read in the Gospel. As much as this parable has an instructive character, it also has a morally intelligible purpose: it represents an example of humility and true prayer on the one hand and warns against Pharisee arrogance and lofty speech, proud self-righteousness and conceit on the other. On the very first day of preparation for Great Lent and contrition for sins, this Gospel parable calls to repentance, first of all, a proud and vain person who often deceives himself with imaginary righteousness and exalts himself with this righteousness before others, because such a person is least inclined to see moral shortcomings in himself and therefore is most difficult to bring to repentance. Further, this parable of the Savior serves as the main subject and, so to speak, theme for the entire Church service on this day. In the evening and morning stichera, in the troparia of the morning canon and in the entire service, the self-righteous Pharisee pride, condemned by the Lord in the Gospel parable, is condemned and condemned, but on the contrary, the self-abasement and self-condemnation of the sinful publican is pleased and glorified, who, as the parable says, left the church to his house justified much more than the self-deluded Pharisee, who In his prayer to God, he thanked Him for being a righteous man - and far from being like the publican and other people. And so that people like the Evangelical Pharisee, who boasted of his double fasting during each week and strict observance of the rules of external ritual piety, with their moral inner-heart emptiness and ugliness, do not calm themselves and do not limit themselves in moral and religious life to external piety alone, but strive for true, heartfelt piety, the Church, in denunciation of such piety, allowed meat-eating for this entire week, not excluding Wednesday and Friday (which is why this week is colloquially called continuous or omnivorous). For external fasting alone—physical fasting—without internal fasting, without heartfelt contrition and repentance means nothing. b) The Sunday following it is called the week of the prodigal son. This name was given to him because in the Gospel during the Liturgy the Savior’s parable about the prodigal son is read. This parable forms the content of the church service scheduled for this day. In the divine services of this week, especially in the hymns at Vespers and Matins, the Church, so to speak, mourns and laments the error of the fallen human spirit, mourns poverty, inner hunger and the mortal life of the spirit outside of God and tries to arouse in him true repentance and desire for the Heavenly Father. “I have destroyed my pristine goodness and splendor, and now I lie naked and ashamed... Good Father, who has departed from You, do not forsake me... the all-evil enemy has exposed me and taken my wealth” (stichera at Matins). In such and similar expressions, the soul of the penitent laments the loss of its perfection. In general, the service on the Week of the Prodigal Son vividly and clearly represents the inner history of the human heart, depicting how easily our corruption begins and develops, then repentance and, finally, the ineffable mercy of God towards a truly repentant sinner. The teaching offered by the Church in this sacred narrative is very moving and at the same time comforting. Here the Holy Church gives her strong and impressive lesson to everyone who indulges in sensual revelry and various criminal sensual pleasures: how dangerous such a human condition is, how slippery this path is, and to what a pitiful position it can bring anyone walking along it. But, at the same time, every person, no matter how disastrous, sinful a state he may be in, no matter how deep his moral fall, should not despair of his salvation, but with heartfelt faith should turn from the path of error to the merciful Lord, Who with joy always accepts those who turn to Him, just as his father accepted the prodigal son. The abyss of God's mercy is deeper than any abyss of human moral degradation. c) The Sunday following the week of the Prodigal Son is called the week of meat-eating, since from this day meat-eating stops, or the week of the Last Judgment, since on this day in the Gospel at the Liturgy it is supposed to read the parable of the Savior about the Last Judgment of God. The parable of the Savior, read in the Gospel at the Liturgy on this day, is, in turn, the subject of his special church service. For those who were not touched by the image of the publican’s humility or the calamity of the prodigal son, the Church considered it necessary to present to them a strong incentive to repentance and contrition - a menacing picture of the Last Judgment. The service of Meat Week contains everything that is majestic and touching - everything that can awaken a person from carelessness and instill in a sinner the fear of God. The main thoughts of the church hymns set for this day are the following: a) terrible phenomena and the revolution of physical nature on the last day of the world; b) the appearance of the spiritual world in the darkness of the angels; c) the Judge’s anger towards sinners; d) the awe of these latter; e) mercy towards the righteous and their joy; f) pictures of heaven and hell; g) virtues leading to the kingdom of God, etc. This means that the divine service of Meat Week also contains, among other things, a formidable sermon against careless Christians, warning them against excessive and criminal hope in God’s mercy and reminding them of His infinite justice. Before the remembrance of the Last Judgment week, the Holy Church also considered it necessary, according to the decency of the times, to pray for her departed children, who have no time to stand before the Last Judgment of God, and therefore she decided to perform a funeral service on Saturday before the week of the Last Judgment. Here the Church prays for all those who have died from time immemorial, so that not a single soul will appear skinny at judgment; she especially prays for those who died in vain. In the church songs of this day, all types and cases of accidental death are counted, and for all the unfortunate people who have suffered any of them, the Church earnestly prays, and with a reminder of the sudden death that can befall each of us, again encourages repentance. It should be noted that, starting from the week of the tax collector and the Pharisee until Saturday and the week of the meat-eating week, on other simple days, except for Sundays, there are no liturgical features in the indicated character. But from Meat Week, the entire cheese week, not to mention the week of cheese week, as the week closest to Lent, also takes on a Lenten character in its church services. This week is called cheese week because the church charter prohibits the consumption of meat foods at this time, and allows only cheese and dairy foods, thus gradually preparing for Lent so that it does not seem difficult for our weak flesh. In church hymns on Cheese Monday, this week is directly called preparation for fasting and repentance. And in general, on all the days of this week (in the stichera and canons), fasting is praised and its saving fruits are depicted. Like Lenten services, on Wednesdays and Fridays, there is no Liturgy, but Lenten hours are celebrated with bows and prayer to St. Ephraim the Syrian “Lord and Master of my life...” and so on. On Cheese Saturday, holy ascetics, reverend fathers and mothers, who have shone in the world through the exploits of fasting, prayer vigil and all virtues, are glorified. In the stichera and morning canon, about two hundred saints of God are sung and counted with various names of their deeds. These great ascetics are, of course, presented as an example to those who wish to undertake the feat of fasting and repentance, and, in any case, their song glorification is also a sermon calling for repentance. d) The last preparatory to St. The service of Pentecost is the service of the cheese fast week. This service is the most touching both in subject, and in content, and in tone. The Church mourns in it the fall of its ancestors, and together with the fall of all humanity. The memory of this fall is presented not only as an incentive, but also as the beginning, or the main reason, of repentance and contrition at the thought of the loss of primitive innocence, the deprivation of bliss through the incontinence of the human will. Church hymns on this day are imbued with the thought of the poverty of the fallen human spirit, filled with the deepest sadness, one might say, filled with tears. "Oh the falls!" - the song exclaims, and this sorrowful exclamation is the main idea of ​​the whole service, in which the exile from paradise appears naked, sitting alone in front of paradise, and, at the sight of his nakedness, crying and sobbing inconsolably. What is left of his lost bliss? Nothing but a lamentable prayer: “Merciful, have mercy on me who have fallen”... In the Gospel and the Apostle, read at the Liturgy on the week of raw food, the following teaching is contained: when approaching repentance and asking God for forgiveness of sins, we must first reconcile ourselves with everyone, forgive them for the insults and insults inflicted on us: during fasting we must not, like the Pharisees, only seem those who fast, should also not reproach those who do not fast or those who do not fast as they should. As a result of this teaching, Orthodox Christians ask each other for mutual forgiveness on this day, which is why this day is colloquially called a farewell day. In monastery and cathedral churches it is customary to say farewell after Vespers or, more correctly, after Little Compline. The Vespers itself during the Cheese Vespers week is no longer performed as usual, but the same as happens on all Sundays before St. Mondays. Pentecostals. This Vespers is remarkable for its great prokeme, which is sung after the entrance and the song: “Quiet Light,” - a prokeme, both in its content and in its melody, very touching and touching: “Do not turn away your face from your servant,” and so on. (See Sunday Reading, 1888, vol. 1). III. After all that has been said, it is impossible not to mention, brethren, those two touching and touching church songs that are sung at Sunday matins after the psalms of polyeleos (“Praise the name of the Lord”) in the said four preparatory weeks for Great Lent, namely: a) “Open the doors of repentance for me...” and b. and the Pharisee and continues until the fifth week of Lent exclusively. As for the second song, or the 136th psalm (“On the rivers of Babylon”), it is sung at Sunday matins only in three weeks: the prodigal son, the meat and cheese week, and mainly refers to the week of the prodigal son, in order to more vividly remind sinners of their removal from the heavenly fatherland and slavery to sin. A. Cheese week, or Maslenitsa There are days and weeks in the year that are almost eagerly awaited. This is Cheese Week, or the so-called Maslenitsa. Both the lower and the higher, the small and the old, the rich and the poor, the working and the idle, expect it as a great holiday and prepare for it in advance. But perhaps not everyone knows what kind of holiday this is, when it began, and how it should be celebrated? Maslenitsa, if we understand it as the Christian people understand it today, is an institution both ancient and at the same time new: ancient - for even in paganism, the Greeks and Romans had festivals similar to our Maslenitsa, which they called bacchanalia and were spent in games, drunkenness and disorder; new - for such a celebration of Maslenitsa, which we see now, as being inconsistent with the spirit of true Christianity, could not have happened in those centuries when Christians, as faithful sons of the Church, were obedient to her mother’s voice and fulfilled all her commands with childish obedience. The middle ground between these two Maslenitsa - pagan and new Christian - is occupied, according to the time of its origin, by ancient Christian Maslenitsa. The latter originates from the luminous times of primitive Christianity and belongs to the institutions of the first centuries of the Orthodox Church. True, its founder, in its present form, is recognized as the Greek emperor Heraclius, who, during the six-year war with Chosroes and the Persians, made a vow to God - to establish it in the midst of fasting and meat-eating, if he defeated his enemies, and fulfilled this vow. But the first inventors and founders of this, so to speak, half-fast were the ancient Fathers of the Church, and the participation of Emperor Heraclius, who was already active in the 7th century, could consist in the fact that he imparted to this church institution the force of civil law. Thus, from the time of Heraclius, this institution became universal, and although weak Christians subsequently violated this fast, just as they violate other fasts, the Church never changed, in his reasoning, her instructions, and what she commanded about these seven days to the first Christians, she now instills in us. Not everyone knows these suggestions, because these days few Christians visit churches and listen to the sacred songs of the Church. Therefore, it would be useful to recall at least those of these songs that primarily show the purpose and purpose of Cheese Week. At the very beginning, the Church addresses us with the following appeal: “Having opened the threshold of divine repentance, let us proceed diligently, cleansing our bodies, brushes and passions, creatively, as obedients of Christ,” and so on. Many other songs that are sung in churches during Cheese Week have the same content. For example: “Bright pre-celebration of abstinence, bright pre-celebration of fasting today.” Or: “Behold, the door of repentance is opened, lovers of God... behold, this is the time of repentance, the entrance before the holiday of this fast... Let us not defile all the entrances and vestibules of fasting with evil by intemperance and drunkenness...” “Like the morning of repentance has dawned upon us; Now let us purify ourselves through fasting and tears and great corrections; Vozsia, Lenten spring, the color of repentance; Let us cleanse ourselves, brothers, from all filthiness,” and so on. After this, everyone sees what our Maslenitsa is and what it should be, according to the spirit of the Orthodox Church. It is the beginning and threshold of fasting, an easy measure of correction that should dispose us to strict measures, a healing of the soul that prepares us for more decisive and powerful methods of healing. It is necessary, therefore, to spend it in abstinence. We must act more cautiously and more temperately in the coming days than we did in the past days. We must remember that the Church, as a compassionate mother and a skilled doctor, gave us this time so that we could little by little get used to the feat of fasting. For this reason, in this week she prohibited many things that were allowed to her during other weeks. So - she forbade eating meat, marrying people, and even did not allow Liturgy to be celebrated on Wednesdays and Fridays. In these days, he teaches us to read the prayer of St. Ephraim, in order to show us all the more clearly that the time of mourning and fasting has already arrived. Moreover, this week was surrounded by such events, the memory of which should make everyone lament and mourn. For what days is our Maslenitsa protected by? What is its beginning and what is its end? It begins on the first day after the week of the Meat Empty Week, in which the Church remembers the future Last Judgment of Christ, and ends with the Week of the Meat Empty Week, in which the fall and expulsion from paradise of our forefather Adam, and with him all of us, is remembered. Remembering these two great events, one of which terribly decided, and the other will decide - no one knows how - our fate, it seems that it would be impossible to even think about amusements, games and amusements! Is it possible not to feel at all in the days following the day in which the terrible events of the future coming of Christ appear to us? Adam cried and repented all his life, remembering his fall, but won’t we mourn this general disaster for a few days in our lives? And yet, many are having crazy fun even when the Church encourages us to mourn and lament. For how is Maslenitsa usually celebrated - is it the eve of lamentation and fasting? How do we celebrate it? “Shame covers my face,” says St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, - when I bring this celebration to the middle. People of both sexes dress up in their best clothes, wives also decorate, or, more accurately, spoil their faces with various colors to seduce the young at heart, and out of natural beauty they make a false face. They also prepare whatever rich food they can: having prepared themselves, they invite each other to visit, and visit each other. And then, what else do you do to make this holiday fun? Evil does not stay between walls, does not hide in houses, it appears in the streets, along the streets, along the roads, and there is the worst evil - evil as temptations.” “Then there is incessant riding on horseback: then one is united behind others, like tied, following; a long convoy stretches out, like a rope of temptations. To these amusements are added other equally important ones: here cries and songs are raised, and sometimes fist fights take place; Sometimes fights, cursing, and foul language are heard. And so, it seems that the very air, filled with human temptations, is noisy. But what happens in the night, what happens in secret and hidden places, I don’t talk about that; for what happens is that it is shameful for them to eat and speak.” Of course, nowadays refined taste has, in some places, refined the amusements and amusements that are prepared for the days of Maslenitsa, and has left the stamp of some nobility on them. But, according to the spirit of the Church, it should be a time for her to stop all amusements and properly prepare for strict fasting. Therefore, the one who spends Maslenitsa in proper abstinence will act very wisely! He will enter the days of St. Pentecostals with readiness and with a heartfelt disposition to the exploits of fasting. Nothing will induce him to return back, he will not be recalled from the labors of virtue, neither by the desire for Egyptian meats, nor by the thirst for worldly amusements, nor by the memory of bygone days, for all this, as long past, has already been forgotten by him. Fasting is a light burden for him, because he is already accustomed to bearing it. (From “Sunday Reading”, see “Athos Leaflet” No. 153). B. What is Maslenitsa according to the teachings of St. Tikhon of Zadonsky? “Our Mother, the Holy Church, in her hymns sung during Cheese Week, sings to us, her children: “Having opened the threshold of divine repentance, let us proceed diligently, having cleansed our bodies, brushes and passions, creating a creative deposition, like obedients of Christ.” And in another place: “This is the time of repentance, the pre-festive entrance to this fast.” And again: “Let us not defile all the entrances and vestibules of the fast with evil through intemperance and drunkenness.” And we hear from the songs of the Holy Church, and we know what Maslenitsa is - we know that it is the beginning, or the threshold, of the holy Great Lent. For the Holy Church has already forbidden the consumption of meat and the celebration of marriages; on Wednesday and Friday the Liturgy was not allowed to be held for the sake of fasting, and to touch food and drink more abstinently, in order to gradually get used to the feat of fasting, she commanded: and for this, Christians, as true sons of the Church, should act far more abstinently in everything this week than in past days, although abstinence is always commendable. But is that how it's done? You know yourself, there is no need to talk about it. Do Christians listen to the sweet and amiable hymns of the mother of their Church? What a shame! What a shame for us! “I have given birth to sons,” she extends God’s plaintive voice, “I have given birth to sons and exalted them, but they have rejected Me! They gave birth to sons with the font of rebirth (i.e., holy baptism), gave them the milk of God’s word, raised them with the sacraments of faith, blanketed them with the robe of incorruptibility, and confirmed them with the hope of eternal life. Hear the sky and tell the earth! I gave birth to sons and ascended, but they rejected Me... How children renounce their mother, listen: she orders them to be more reverent in those days, and they act more outrageously; she orders them to abstain, and they give themselves over to passions; she determines fasting, and they overeat and drink more; she orders the purification of bodies and souls, but they defile more; she commands the passions to put off, but they strive harder; she offers repentance, and they become more ferocious; she orders to lament for the sins committed, but they add more sins; she commands them to cry, but they are more comforted; She commands to propitiate God, but they anger more. Fair complaint! Regret and crying are a worthy voice! I gave birth to sons and ascended, but they rejected Me. Hear the sky and tell the earth! Children renounce their mother, Christians do not listen to the Church of Christ, Christians who have rejected Satan and all his works are turning back to his works! This is a deplorable matter, brothers, and a terrible one! For whoever does not listen to the Church is, according to the word of Christ, like a pagan and a tax collector. And I repeat: “Whoever does not listen to the Church is not a son of the Church; whoever is not a son of the Church, Christ is not his shepherd; Whoever Christ is not a shepherd is not Christ’s sheep; He who is not Christ’s sheep expects eternal life in vain.” For Christ promises eternal life only to His sheep: “My sheep,” He says, “listen to My voice, and I know them; and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand” (John 10:27–28). This, brothers, is what the disorderly celebration of Maslenitsa leads to! The very celebration of Maslenitsa in the above-mentioned manner is a pagan affair. The pagans had a false god, the inventor of all drunken drinking. The pagans established special holidays for this nasty god during the year, and these holidays were spent in all sorts of riots, games, drunkenness and filthiness. Look: isn’t this how Christians spend Maslenitsa, and others too? Isn’t this how they celebrate holidays? There’s no point in showing the light at midday, you see for yourself. And I also confirm that whoever spends Maslenitsa in the above-mentioned atrocities is an obvious disobedient to the Church and, as it were, stubbornly stands against it, and shows himself to be unworthy of the Christian name. Do you know, brothers, what days are used to mark Maslenitsa, or Cheese Week, what is its beginning and what is its end? It begins on the first day after the meat-free week, in which the Holy Church commemorates the Last Judgment of Christ, in order to bring us into fear and feeling. Then the Holy Gospel preaches that the Son of Man will come in His glory and all the holy angels with Him (Matthew 25:31); That terrible Judge will come, Who tests hearts and bellies, from Whom all creation will tremble with anger and rage, the sky will shake, the sun will turn into darkness, and the moon will not give its light, the stars of heaven will fall, the mountains will melt, and hell itself will shake; Then they will say to the mountains: Fall on us, and to the hills: Cover us from the presence of him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb! Then it is announced that all the nations will gather before this terrible Judge, and He will separate them from each other, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. Then it seems that the sheep, i.e. the righteous will be placed at the right hand of that terrible Judge, and the goats, that is, sinners, at the left. Then the longed-for voice of the righteous Judge is heard to those on the right hand: “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world...” (Matthew 25:34) Then, like thunder, it will roar and everyone will be trembled by the terrible saying of the angry Judge to those who are on His side: “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared to the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41). This is what the day that precedes the cheese week represents to us! How does Cheese Week end? During the week of the Dead, the Holy Church remembers to us the fall and expulsion from paradise of our forefather Adam, and with him ourselves. So we, therefore, on this day we mourn our extreme misfortune, we then mourn that hour and day in which our race began to be a transgressor of God’s commandment, in which by God’s justice we were cursed, condemned to death, given over to corruption, expelled from paradise, deprived of that most beautiful kindness, removed from the God-created village, sent to this deplorable vale, in the sweat of our brow ours to look for bread for ourselves. We are still crying, remembering that hour in which we lost the image of God and took rank with senseless beasts, becoming like them, in which, finally, death began to reign over us. Oh, what a sad memory! What a sad day Maslenitsa ends! We remember all the troubles and evils that began that day. You see, brethren, what days Maslenitsa is protected by: one offers us weeping, and the other fear; one represents the beginning of the Fall, and the other eternal torment for sin; one remembers that we angered God with sin, and the other predicts that the angry God will judge for this sin and reward everyone according to their deeds. Now you see what cheese week is, and how contrary to Christianity those who spend it in drunkenness and other outrages act: therefore, in order to spend it in a Christian way, one must act as the Holy Church commands, namely: put aside all the indecent indecent amusements and leave the evil custom, remembering the terrible judgment of Christ and remembering the forefathers' fall and all the disasters that followed. We must leave behind, and I repeat, we must leave behind in advance, because when the soul departs from the body, our conscience will torment and torment us!.. If we now leave behind evil customs, then this will be a matter of our good will; and if we don’t leave them now, then at death they won’t leave us, even if we didn’t want it... But then our conscience will arm itself, which will denounce, torment, torment us for not listening to the useful admonition; then there will be the torment of God's terrible judgment, then sorrow, sadness, illness, melancholy, sighing, despair of eternal life will come, then the trembling and horror of Gehenna will overwhelm us, then there will be true repentance, but later. Take heed to this, sinner, and again I say, take heed, so that all this does not befall you! Have pity on yourself, for God still cares about you when he gives you the opportunity and time to repent. However, whoever does not want to correct himself according to the old custom, let him know: if it is always bad and sinful to spend time in outrages, then it is especially sinful to see off the cheese week as the eve of holy fasting!..” (From the “Creations” of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk). B. Peculiarities of church services of some Lenten Weeks I. Take your thoughts, my brothers, to the days of Great Lent. You are Orthodox Christians. If in normal times of the year you visit the church of God, so that here, together with your brethren, you can enjoy listening to the word of God and the touching singing of the saints. song, then the Holy Church demands from us even greater zeal in visiting the church of God in the days of St. Pentecostals, inspiring us to study without laziness in the church of God and to pour out feelings of sincere and deepest repentance before God. II. The bell rang out, calling to the Church of God. You have long since gotten up from sleep, washed your face, prayed to the Lord God, but have not yet eaten food. And they did well: for, according to the rules of the Church, if ever, then especially during Great Lent, one must even abstain from meager food until the end of the service. You go to Church and hear: the Lenten bell itself is different from the usual one. Instead of ringing all the bells, you hear the rare ringing of one bell, and not the largest one, but a common one. Why? Because the monotonous and lingering ringing of the bell brings confusion to our soul, devoted to passions, reminding us of the last trumpet and eternity. Now you have come to the Church. With all the humility characteristic of a repentant sinner, enter the house of God, like the gospel publican, and here, before the start of the service, make three bows before the holy doors, saying: God! cleanse me, a sinner, and have mercy on me. Do the same when leaving the Church. Having chosen a place as desired, stand there during the entire service, without moving from place to place, without disturbing the general silence by whispering, laughing or other actions that are indecent in the Church of God. This is what the church charter says: “No one should have the power in the church to create whispers lower than spitting or spitting, but rather heed what is said from the psalmist: the hands of those who have are bent towards the Persians, the heads of those who have been bowed, and the eyes of those who have been down, praying for our sins, remembering death and future torment and eternal life.” Finally the divine service began. How is it different from the service to which you have been accustomed for a whole year? If you are accustomed to looking at church services only as pleasant entertainment, you are accustomed to delighting yourself with the beauty of the sacred. vestments, the brightness of the lights before St. icons, solemn singing, then you will be unpleasantly surprised by the peculiarities of the Lenten service. And if you, in accordance with the requirements of a truly Christian soul, are looking for joy in church services when you should rejoice, and sadness when you should be sad, then you will be touched by the sad service of Great Lent. With its monotony and quietness, it will not evoke in you the solemn, festive mood excited by sweet singing. No, on the contrary, it will awaken in you the consciousness of your sinfulness. The Holy Apostle said: “If any of you suffers, let him pray. If anyone is happy, let him sing psalms” (James 5:13). And since complacency is alien to a repentant person, St. The Church does not allow solemn singing during the days of Lent and offers reading to her children who suffer in the consciousness of sins, and if singing, then quiet and drawn-out, which can awaken in us a feeling of tenderness. In church readings you hardly hear either the joyful gospel news about the Savior or the apostolic sermon about Jesus Christ. Your ears are filled with priests. books of the Old Testament: you hear either the accusatory speeches of the prophet Isaiah, addressed to the obstinate Jews, or the parables of Solomon or, most often, the psalms of David, in which a soul is poured out, suffering from contrition of heart. Therefore, during Lent the Psalter is read twice a week. And here are some more features of Lenten worship: you notice that the royal doors are almost constantly closed, with this the Church inspires us that the doors of heaven will close on us if we do not atone for our grave sins through fasting, prayer and sincere repentance. You see that incense is being burned, and know that your prayers will not ascend to heaven, like incense, if your soul is mired in sins or filled with anger at your neighbors. The darkness of the church, due to weak lighting, reminds you of the pitch darkness that, according to the word of the Lord, awaits us if we do not repent and bear fruits worthy of repentance. Dark vestments of the priest. the faces remind you of a man who came to the wedding of the king’s son not wearing wedding clothes, and was expelled from the bridal chamber, as the gospel parable says. Finally, you notice in others, and you yourself often bow to the ground: this expresses the most vivid consciousness of your sinful insignificance and a fervent prayer to the Creator for mercy. Bowing is accompanied by prostration, as, for example, at the dismissal prayer of Great Compline or during the transfer of the Holy Gifts at the Presanctified Liturgy, and kneeling while singing the verses: “may my prayer be corrected...” at the same Liturgy. All this expresses feelings of deepest repentance and humility. Prostrations to the ground are most often accompanied by the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian: “Lord and Master of my life...” About how to offer this prayer, accompanying it with bows, the church charter says: “When the time approaches for the holy great bows, then everyone, standing straight and steadily looking towards God mentally and physically, must begin with tenderness and the fear of God, and whoever has the gift of tears, then with tears, the first part of the prayer “Lord and Master of the life.” mine” and, after reading, make a great bow, and do the same after reading the second and third parts. Then, make 12 small bows, with the prayer “God, cleanse me, a sinner, and have mercy on me,” and finally, read the entire prayer of St. again. Ephraim, bow to the ground.” Prescribing such an order, the church charter sternly denounces “those who do not know how to pray holy prayer”, condemns those who pray not according to church tradition, but according to accepted habit, as soon as they have formed their own character: they hunch over a little, bend over a little, then bow down, nod their heads while making the sign of the cross, and think that by doing so they are fulfilling the rite of the faithful bows of their fathers. Vain thoughts! Thus, my brothers, the Holy Church, with all the features of the Lenten divine service, strives to force us to say to ourselves in the words of the prodigal son: “Father! I have sinned against heaven and before You” (Luke 15:18), and like a harlot, weep tenderly about our sins. For the same purpose, she does not allow holidays during Great Lent, except for the Annunciation and the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem, she transfers the commemoration of the dead to Saturdays, when fasting, according to the rules, is easier, and prohibits marriages altogether. III. But, strict in its statutes, the Holy Church does not go to extremes, so as not to arouse in us joyless despondency. Just as in the mournful hymns and prayers of Great Lent she gives people hope for the all-forgiving goodness of God, so for spiritual and physical rest she appointed Saturday and Sunday in Great Lent. “Like on big roads,” said St. John Chrysostom, - there are inns and hotels in which tired travelers can rest and calm down from their labors, and then continue their journey, and so in St. For those who entered the path of fasting, the Lord gave Saturday and Sunday days, as if they were inns, as if they were a refuge for a short rest, so that they, having encouraged both soul and body, would again with zeal enter on the same path and continue this wonderful and saving journey” (Conversation II on the book of Genesis). The relief prescribed for these days consists, firstly, in a slight reduction in fasting, and secondly, in the celebration of the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, this most joyful, especially for the communicants, divine service, and on Sunday, after the Sabbath rest, the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great, as longer. (Compiled from “Non-liturgical conversations about worship”, part 2, issue 6, published by the St. Petersburg Brotherhood in the Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 1889). A. Bell ringing in Lent Why is it that during Great Lent it is commanded to preach the gospel differently than on other days? Why this sad, slow, mournful ringing, as if some misfortune had happened somewhere, for example - an all-destroying fire or a person had died? Why, what, what is this for? Is there really some kind of misfortune? Oh, there is, and what else! Great, wider than the flame that at one time destroys chambers and huts, forests and fields, more vast than the flood of water that drowns everything living on earth. Human souls, Christian souls, are perishing. The flames of sin and wickedness, the flames of worldly lust, have engulfed them on all sides, and they are perishing, perishing - the poor, falling into the bottom of hell... The Church of Christ sees this from its heights and speaks with the voice of a bell to the souls engulfed in flames, so that they hurry, while there is still breath in them, to the life-giving source of repentance, so that they are immersed in its waters flowing into the belly eternal, so that they may be saved from final destruction. The Church of the Lord sees those who have already died spiritually and, pained by them, announces this misfortune to the world of God: “Hear heaven, tell the earth: sons have begotten and raised up, but they have rejected me. Rachel wept for her children, and did not want to be consoled, as if they were not!” This is her grievous grief and inconsolable grief! The children spiritually begotten by her, raised and cherished are not the essence, they died, and she, the orphaned mother, orders her bells to speak to heaven and earth about such a great loss of hers: “Sons have begotten and raised up, but they have rejected me! ..” She also knows about the righteous rebuke of God against her living, but sinful, and yet dear children, she sees in the distance the cloud of the Lord’s wrath coming on the unrepentant, and with the languid, mournful ringing of a bell she announces to her children the misfortune that is coming. “Come to me, my children, come to me, my dears! - she says, spreading her wings wide, like a kokosh gathering her chicks. I will hide you, I will protect you from the clouds - thunderstorms. There is no one stronger than me in the world! Do you hear, my children, that the Lord says: “Behold, I am coming quickly, and my reward will be with me to repay everyone according to his deeds” ... “This is truly so! If ever, then it was precisely on these great days of St. Forty days the ringing of the bell “means the future judgment and the trumpet of angels, calling from the graves to the general judgment”... Oh, Lord, Lord! “If you see iniquity, who will stand? Have mercy on us according to Your great mercy, and according to the multitude of Your compassions, cleanse our iniquities. Do not despise, Lord, a contrite and humble heart!” B. General outline of the service in St. Pentecost I. In the first five days of each week, the Holy Church, through the appearance of the church and worship, teaches us the saving sorrow that is for God. The entire visible side of the divine service, which does not have solemnity and splendor, is adapted to this goal. Everything that can be changed and adapted to the spirit of St. fasting, from the very beginning it quickly changes and greatly affects our external senses. So, at this time of spiritual grief and sadness, the solemn ringing of bells falls silent, and instead only the rare, sad strikes of one bell let us know about the time of public repentant prayer. When we are going to church, we no longer see light clothes: all the altar servers, as well as the throne, altar, lecterns - all in black vestments. Our gaze is not amazed by the brilliance of countless burning lamps and lamps: now only in front of local images are several small candles quietly glowing. We no longer listen to joyful and solemn, but touching and touching melodies. Rarely, and then only for a short time, do the royal gates open before us: a clear sign that the gates of the kingdom of heaven have been closed for us by our sins, but that God’s mercy is always ready to open them as soon as we are cleansed from the filth of sin. We pray, sometimes making frequent bows to the ground, and even more often small bows, sometimes falling to our knees, sometimes prostrating ourselves on the ground. Finally, all services in St. The Pentecostal service is performed mostly quietly and slowly. The outer appearance of the church and the service, which so clearly tells us what should be done in the inner church of our heart, is fully consistent with the inner side of the service. During the first five days of each week, the Holy Church with special care postpones all celebrations, in order to arouse in us even more strongly feelings of heartfelt tenderness and contrition for sins. Thus, she decided not to commemorate martyrs or other saints during the fourty days of Great Lent (except for Saturdays and Sundays) and completely forbade marriages, celebrating birthdays, etc., because during the days of fasting “everyone must have an understanding of their sins, and not leave worrying about them, shy away from holidays and be satisfied with spiritual joys before the time.” (48th rules of the Council of Laodicea and interpretation of this rule). The most solemn and majestic part of the service is St. Liturgy. The consecration of the Holy Gifts on it is a true triumph of a Christian and fills his heart with solemn joy. But we should cry, and not celebrate on the days of mourning: it is clear that this highest spiritual joy is incompatible with the sadness of fasting; it can either itself be disrupted by the sadness of those who fast, or it can suppress in them grief over sins. Therefore, the Holy Church, in order to promote our spiritual sadness and lamentation of sins, forbade the celebration of the full Liturgy on all five days of each week of Lent (Canon 48 of the Council of Laodicea). But so that with the abandonment of the perfect Liturgy these days, Christians do not lose the grace of the Holy Mysteries and do not lose the opportunity to propitiate their Lord with the sacred prayers that occur during the sacrament, St. On some of these days the Church has established the celebration of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, moreover, after the 3rd hour in the afternoon, i.e. at a time when fasting is already permitted - in order to thus preserve the rules of fasting, which command one to eat food once a day, and then in the evening. The order and composition of daily services in the first five days of each week also changes. To lengthen and strengthen our prayers, several services are combined into one, and some are separated. Thus, the 3rd, 6th and 9th hours are connected with Vespers, and on Wednesday and Friday with the Presanctified Liturgy. Compline, which in ordinary times is mostly small and connected with Vespers, is now celebrated separately from it and therefore is almost always large. To arouse repentant feelings in us, everyday readings and chants are partly replaced by special ones. Thus, we are completely deprived of the spiritual joy of listening to the apostolic and gospel readings, instead of which readings from the Old Testament books are offered, edifying us in the shadow of fortune-telling and in the spirit of denunciation, which is sometimes aggravated. Thus, at the hours, psalms are added according to the kathisma, at the Midnight Office, instead of one kathisma, two are read, and at Matins, instead of two, three are read. The entire Psalter in each week of Lent is read not once, as happens in ordinary times, but twice. At Matins and Vespers, the canons and stichera of the Octoechos are omitted, and instead of them the special canons of the Trisong are sung, combined with the canons of the Menaion, with stichera similar to the self-vocal Triodion. II. Let us take a closer look at the content of the readings and chants, common either to all or only to some services. Let us delve into each service separately in order to see with what wonderful wisdom all this is adapted to the purpose of St. post. a) From the readings, the Church has learned the special importance of St.’s prayer of repentance. Ephraim the Syrian “Lord and Master of my life” and so on. This prayer is read by the priest at every service, in front of the royal doors, with raised hands, and is always accompanied by prostrations to the ground. They divide it into three parts: in the first, a number of sins are presented to us that are especially disastrous and criminal in the days of St. fasting; in the second, a chorus of virtues appears, especially necessary in these days and constituting human perfection; in the third, with special effort, one asks the Lord, the King of all, for that which is most necessary for those who repent - “to see one’s own sins and not to condemn one’s brother.” Deciding on the days of St. By fasting to cleanse the church of our soul from all sinful defilements and fill it with the fragrance of the spirit of holiness, we first ask the Lord and Master of our life to destroy in it even the very spirit of vices, which in us is the beginning of all bad thoughts, words and actions, and then to give us the spirit of virtues as the beginning and life of everything that is salvific in our soul. The prayer ends with the blessing of God forever and ever, and this indicates the purpose for which we ask Him for spiritual gifts. More often, this prayer is read twice: in this case, one reading is separated from the other by 12 small bows, with the pronunciation at each bow: “God! cleanse me, a sinner! With this content of the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian, for all its brevity, exhausts the entire depth of our spiritual poverty, embraces the entire breadth of our spiritual needs and demands! But most of the Lenten readings are borrowed from the Psalter, so at all services we mainly listen to the reading of the psalms. This is not, of course, because the Holy Church cannot borrow edifying readings from other books of Holy Scripture, but because “The Psalter alone,” as Basil the Great says, “contains within itself everything that is useful in all the books of Holy Scripture.” “The Psalter,” according to him, “is a kind of universal treasury of good instructions, and everyone will find in it in abundance everything that is useful to him. The psalm produces sorrow for God: for even from a heart of stone it brings forth tears.” “The Psalter,” according to another father, “is a kind of complete medicine for human salvation. Whoever reads it, everyone can find in it the healing that his ulcers specifically require. Anyone who wants to, delve into it: as in some school of souls, as in some disgrace of virtues, he will find there an image of all kinds of exploits and can choose the one for which he considers himself more capable, who will more easily bring him the crown... So, what is the Psalter if not the organ of virtues? “The Psalter, according to St. Athanasius the Great, clearly and in detail sets out the whole of human life, all states of the spirit, all movements of the mind, and there is nothing in a person that it does not contain within itself. Whether you want to repent and confess, whether you strive to excel in virtue, whether you want to praise, thank, glorify the Lord, you will find instructions regarding all this in the divine psalms.” There are so many spiritual treasures contained in the psalter, and all of them perfectly correspond to the requirements of those who fast. Each psalm, whatever its content, is certainly filled with prayerful sighs, thanksgivings, and praises. But most often in the psalms we listen to the voice of the soul turning to God with prayer for guidance in the Holy Spirit. His commandments, about the forgiveness of sins, grace-filled enlightenment and purification, about heavenly help, protection and patronage from enemies visible and invisible. What words, what prayers can more clearly express all the spiritual needs of the penitent? What other book of St. Can the Scriptures so completely and accurately correspond to the spirit of Lent, express it so eloquently and with such irresistible power dispose us to repentance? Other readings are borrowed from the books of the prophet Isaiah, Genesis and Proverbs, so that these books are read almost in their entirety throughout Lent. These readings, called proverbs, usually follow one after another, always in the same order: at the 6th hour one proverb from the prophet Isaiah is read, and at Vespers two are read - one from the book of Genesis, the other from the book of Proverbs. The proverbs from the book of the prophet Isaiah contain, for the most part, strong denunciations of the prophet against the wrongdoers. In these speeches, God's rebuke and punishment to sinners are announced, or sinners are called to repentance and they are promised cleansing from sins. Reproofs and threats are depicted in the most majestic and terrible pictures and have a striking effect on the sinner’s soul, producing a saving change in it, and appeals to repentance breathe special tenderness and touch to the depths of the soul. All this should strike our hearts all the more powerfully because it is spoken from the person of God Himself and because all the threats of the prophets are the disasters of real life. "God! You are my God; I will exalt You, I will praise Your name, for You have done wonderful things... Therefore the mighty nations will glorify You; the cities of terrible tribes will fear You, for You were the refuge of the poor, the refuge of the beggar in his time of need, a protection from the storm, a shadow from the heat... and the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces, and will take away the reproach of His people throughout the whole earth... And they will say on that day: Here is He, our God! We trusted in Him, and He saved us! This is the Lord; we trusted in Him; Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation!” (Isa.25:1-9). Listening to the reading of these proverbs, we are convinced with both our mind and heart of the infinite greatness of God, His infinite goodness and mercy towards the repentant sinner, as well as in His eternal, unchanging truth towards the unrepentant. The same lessons of piety that are communicated in the spirit of prophecy in the readings from the prophet Isaiah, in the proverbs from the book of Genesis, are presented to us, as if visually, in the actual history of the human race. The events narrated in the book of Genesis depict either God’s boundless goodness towards the righteous, always merciful and miraculously protecting them, or God’s mercy towards the sinner, always calling him to repentance, or man’s ingratitude towards God. His bitterness and unrepentance, which entails, have already been justified over sinners by the very deed and therefore, in the case of our hardness and unrepentance, they can also be fulfilled over us. “Hear, O heavens, and listen, O earth, for the Lord says: I raised and raised up sons, and they rebelled against Me. The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's manger; but Israel does not know (Me), My people do not understand. Alas, a sinful people, a people burdened with iniquities, a tribe of evildoers, sons of destruction! They have forsaken the Lord and despised the Holy One of Israel... From the sole of the foot to the crown of the head there is no healthy place: ulcers, spots, festering wounds, uncleansed and unbandaged and not softened with oil... Hear the word of the Lord, princes of Sodom; Hear the law of our God, O people of Gomorrah! Why do I need the multitude of your sacrifices?... Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; remove your evil deeds from before My eyes... Learn to do good, seek righteousness, save the oppressed, defend the orphan, stand up for the widow. Then come and let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be white as snow... If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land” (Is. 1:2-20). Along with denunciations and exhortations, proverbs from the book of the prophet Isaiah contain a lot of spiritual building for our salvation. These contemplations contain the highest consolations for the righteous, persecuted by the inevitable punishment and destruction. With such lessons we are fully convinced of the ever-present closeness of the Creator and Provider to His creatures and, as if with our own eyes, we see that nothing happens on earth without the will of God. On the other hand, during these readings we involuntarily forget everything present and, reverently contemplating in the past the judgments of God revealed to the world, we humbly and willingly learn to strive with all our might for good and to flee from all evil. After in the previous proverbs we heard God’s judgments on the human race, completed, ongoing and about to be completed, we need special instruction on how to bring down the blessing of the Lord upon ourselves and avoid His righteous wrath. For this, wisdom is needed, teaching a person to fulfill the commandments of God. And now, after the proverbs from the prophet Isaiah and the book of Genesis, follow the proverbs from the book of Proverbs, in which the very Wisdom of God follows with us. This Wisdom (in Chapters 8 and 9) is depicted in such sublime features that can only befit a hypostatic Wisdom, i.e. Son of God. That is why its lessons are of particular importance to us. And the more varied these lessons are, the more extensive their application. In them the repentant will find instruction, advice, reproof, and approval, and most of all, wise rules for public and private life, rules of moral, civil, and ecclesiastical virtues. “A wise man will listen to the instructions of wisdom and increase his knowledge” (Proverbs 1:5). And everyone will understand the true truth. Meanwhile, sinners learn how disastrous their condition is when they do not heed the voice of God calling them to repentance. Because I called and disobeyed... Wisdom tells them: “I called, and you did not listen,” Wisdom tells them. “That’s why I will laugh at your death.” Then they will call me, and I will not hear... Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord for themselves, did not accept my advice, despised all my reproofs; therefore they will eat the fruit of their ways” (Prov. 1:24–31). b) In addition to the readings, the Holy Church guides us on the path of repentance with sublime and touching chants, which “many from the saints and God-bearing, beautiful fathers are good and worthy, from the Holy Spirit, who made the song.” Nowhere is the fallen human spirit mourned with such bitter tears; nowhere is the sorrow of a sinner who has come to consciousness so truly expressed, nowhere is the desire for grace-filled reconciliation with the Lord expressed with such strong prayerful cries as in these holy ones. chants. That is why they have a special secret power to awaken us to repentance and contrite prayer. Their language is intelligible to everyone, inexpressibly sweet and convincing; their tone is mostly sad and touching. The chants include all three-song canons, various stichera, troparia, kontakia and many other songs known under different names. All of them, for the most part, are special for each week, for each day, and even for each service and fill most of the Lenten Triodion. But since they were all compiled specifically for Lent, then, despite all their diversity, they have one common character. Thus, throughout Lent, the chants alone forcefully and convincingly instill in us what true Lent should consist of. As we fast, brethren, physically, let us also fast spiritually: let us resolve every union of unrighteousness, let us dissolve the obstinate needful changes (let us destroy in ourselves the stubbornness for the necessary moral change), we will tear apart every unjust charge (demand): we will give bread to the hungry and we will bring the bloodless beggars into their homes. Let us fast a pleasant fast, pleasing to the Lord. True fasting is alienation of evil, abstinence of the tongue; abstinence from rage, excommunication from lusts, slander (slander), lies and perjury: alienation of these is true and favorable fasting. (I cried the stichera to the Lord for Vespers on Monday and Wednesday of the 1st week of Pentecost). Other chants teach us to perform repentance itself. For this purpose, they most often turn us to ourselves, with strong convictions of sins. “Abandon the height of virtues, my soul, you have descended into the depths of sin, fallen into crafty robbers, full of stinking scabs, cast down in bewilderment; with the same cry to Christ God, who was crucified for you: take care of me, Lord, and save me. To whom have you become like, wretched one, being lazy about the soul and not doing good, but always loving to remain in the wicked; judgment is at the door, repent, cleanse yourself with fasting and prayer, and cry out to your Master: forgive those who have sinned, as you are gracious, and grant me correction.” (Samoglas, at Matins Wednesday of the 5th week and at Vespers Monday of the 2nd week). To strengthen the incentive to repentance, the hymns of St. The Pentecostals, on the one hand, most often threaten us with the terrible judgment of Christ, and on the other hand, they point us to eternal life and heavenly rewards. “Alas, all-damned soul, what is your answer? What fear will you receive, the sitting Judge, in the presence of the upcoming angels? Try your best, repent before the end. Now we suffer evil, like the soldiers of Christ: as soon as time passes, crowns are woven for those who strive, even as Christ will reward when he comes with the glory of the angels to judge all the earth.” (Matins, canon, Tuesday of the 2nd week). In order to more clearly prescribe for us the very method of repentance, St. the hymns present us with examples of true repentance: the publican, the prodigal son, the harlot, the robber, the Ninevites and many others, and they say to each of us: “Look to those who have previously repented, cry out to Christ: those who have sinned, save me, as you saved the publican, breathing from the heart.” (Sedalen, Matins, Tuesday of the 1st week). To perform repentance, for successful self-correction, it is not enough to see the image of correction and repentance and to present only motives and examples. For this, grace-filled forces and heavenly help from above are also needed. And St. chants very often turn us to God and the Lord Jesus Christ, in a spirit of repentance and contrition, with strong prayerful cries for grace-filled help, forgiveness of sins and mercy. Having received the voice of the prodigal with warm tears, we fall down to You, the Father of all and God, crying out: for having sinned, having moved away from You, and having labored in fornication, accept our repentance. I am all wounded, all, my Christ, I am all cut off, heal my purulent ulcers, passionate remorse, which is from sin. About the All-Holy Trinity! You are our service, You are both refuge and power, in Your sole nature You have sent down to us the cleansing of sins. (Matins, canon in the 2nd week; Monday of the 2nd week and Friday of the 1st week). For the same purpose, St. hymns often turn us with prayerful appeals to the saints of God, first and most of all to the Most Holy Theotokos, then to St. The Cross, and, finally, to the powers of heaven and to all the saints. For in the depths of malice I am rejected... help me, pure Virgin Mother, instructing me on the path to salvation. The Cross of Christ, who taught the thief in the faith, and granted me grace through fasting. The apostolic face prays to Thee, Jesus the All-Tsar, they pray to Thee to repair the angels for many bounties, grant Thy people deliverance to the wicked, correction of life and the appropriation of Thy kingdom. (Matins, canon, Wednesday of the 1st week and Wednesday and Thursday of the 2nd week). This is almost the entire content of the hymns of the Orthodox Church in St. Pentecost. All of them, as well as all Lenten readings, are aimed at one main goal, namely to guide us in the exploits of fasting and repentance. And what a complete, comprehensive and perfect guide they provide for those who listen to them with love and with the desire for salvation! How many lessons, and instructions, and reproofs and consolations, and examples, and motivations, in a word - everything that a soul that has realized its sinfulness and seeks reconciliation with God so needs! c) But the readings and chants in St. The Pentecostal service also receives special strength and expressiveness from the order in which they are located in individual daily services. Therefore, let us consider these last ones, starting with the Midnight Office. aa) Midnight Office in St. Lent is celebrated every day and without any changes, of course, because all the readings and singing included in it are fully consistent with the meaning of fasting. So, at the very beginning of it, a repentant psalm is read, in which David mourns his fall into sin: “Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your great mercy, and according to the multitude of Your compassions, cleanse my iniquity” (Ps. 50:3). It is followed by the no less expressive Psalm 118. Here the psalmist, pleasing the blameless, walking in the law of the Lord, experiencing His testimonies, and together enjoying the law of God, prays to God to teach him His justifications, confesses before Him his readiness to keep His commandments, repents of not fulfilling them and, finally, cries out: “I am lost like a lost sheep; seek Thy servant, for I have not forgotten Thy commandments” (Ps. 119:176). Those troparions at the daily Midnight Office are also edifying for those who fast, in which we are reminded of the second coming of the Lord: “Behold the bridegroom is coming... it is a terrible day for my soul to contemplate. ..” or our departed brethren are remembered, or a prayer for mercy is contained: “Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy on us: in Thee is our trust...” “Open the doors of mercy for us...”, etc. bb) Lenten Matins is already somewhat different from everyday ones. Some solemn songs are abandoned in it and replaced by others that correspond to the spirit of repentance. So, after the sixth psalm, in which the voice of the soul is expressed, repenting and turning to God, not the joyful and solemn “God is the Lord and has appeared to us” is sung, but the drawn-out “Alleluia”, and then the next troparion is replaced by a trinitarian hymn, which concludes with the seraphic exclamation: “Holy, Holy, Holy!” After reading the three kathismas, not the full canons, usually consisting of eight songs, are sung, but three songs of repentance, composed especially for St. Pentecostals. In order to frighten sinners with the righteous judgment of God and to more strongly arouse in them a feeling of repentance, the second, accusatory song of Moses, “Look, O heavens, and I will speak” (Deut. 32:1-14) is not left out during Lent. It portrays in the harshest terms the ingratitude to God and the corruption of the Israelites and pronounces God’s rebuke and threats to this obstinate and corrupt people. At the end of the canon, instead of the usual solemn troparion, the trinitarian luminaries are sung, which contain a prayer to God for the enlightenment of the soul from above: “Shine light, Lord, to cleanse my soul from all sin.” Finally, in the first hour, a special tenderness is aroused in us by a verse that is sung three times and each time accompanied by great bows: “In the morning hear my voice, my King and my God!” What is this voice about? Direct my steps according to Thy word, and may my lips be filled with Thy praise, O Lord, etc. cc) At the 3rd, 6th and 9th hours, connected with Vespers, our prayer is especially intensified. Besides the fact that at each of these services we are more than once thrown to the ground with the prayerful appeals of St. Ephraim the Syrian, we accompany with prostrations the three times singing of special prayers for each hour, pronounced by the priest in front of the royal doors. In these prayers, remembering the greatest benefits of the Savior, which He poured out on the human race at the 3rd, 6th and 9th hours of the day, we at the same time ask Him not to deprive us of the same mercies. So, after reading the kathisma, at the 3rd hour we hear: “Lord, Who sent down Thy Most Holy Spirit in the third hour by Thy Apostle: Do not take Him away from us, O Good One, but renew us who pray to You.” At the 6th hour: “And on the sixth day and hour on the cross, the daring Adam’s sin was nailed into paradise and the handwriting of our sins was torn apart, O Christ God, and save us.” On the 9th: “Who at the ninth hour for our flesh tasted death, put to death our flesh’s wisdom, O Christ our God, and save us.” In the troparia, learned for each hour and explaining in detail the events remembered during these hours, we turn with even more intense prayer to God for help and forgiveness of our sins. So, at the 3rd hour we ask the Lord to give us quick and known consolation, never to be discouraged in our spirit, not to be separated from our souls in sorrows, to unite with us, etc. Having vividly reminded us at the 6th and 9th hours of the crucifixion of our Lord, the Holy Church, in the succession of the Fine, in a special way points us to one very edifying event for us on Calvary. Two thieves were crucified with the Savior. One of them passed from the cross with his soul into the kingdom of heaven: the path for such a transition was repentance! In order to more deeply imprint such an event on us and together teach us that in order to enter the kingdom of heaven we also need both repentance and the gospel virtues, the 9 gospel beatitudes are sung with the refrain of the repentant prayer of the prudent thief: “Remember me, Lord, when you come into your kingdom.” In conclusion, with this same prayer we turn to each person of the Holy Trinity and bow to the ground three times. The hours end, after the Creed, with a prayer to God “Loosen, forgive, forgive, O God, our sins,” and to the Most Holy Theotokos, so that She would come to our aid, hasten us to prayer, and strive to entreat for us, those who ever revere Her. For this, at Vespers, after the 18th kathisma and two paremias, we, according to the leadership of the Holy Church, again worship to the ground several times, falling with prayerful singing to all our heavenly intercessors: to the Most Holy Theotokos, to the Baptist of Christ, the apostles and all the saints, so that through their prayers we will get rid of our iniquities and from all troubles and sorrows. d) The last service of the day is Great Compline. Some psalms read on it especially soften our hearts and give us the opportunity to express all our feelings that naturally arise in us when we realize our sinful state. “Hasten, O God, to deliver me, hasten, O Lord, to help me... I am poor and needy; God, hurry to me! You are my help and my Savior; God! do not delay” (Ps. 69:2, 6). "God! Do not rebuke me in Your wrath, and do not punish me in Your anger. Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am weak; heal me, O Lord, for my bones are shaken; and my soul is greatly shaken; How long are you, Lord? Turn, Lord, deliver my soul, save me for the sake of Your mercy, for in death there is no remembrance of You: in the grave who will glorify You? I am weary with my groanings: every night I wash my bed, I wet my bed with my tears” (Ps. 6:2-7). After such intense cries, we still feel the insufficiency of our prayers, and therefore we flow to the prayers of the Most Holy Theotokos, St. John the Baptist, St. apostles, prophets, martyrs and all saints, calling to all of them: “Pray for us sinners!” For this, the penitential psalms 50, 101 and the prayer of King Manasseh are read, the reading of which forces us to again cry out to God: “Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy on us... do not be angry with us, but remember our iniquities...” and to the Most Holy Theotokos: “Open the doors of mercy for us, blessed Mother of God ..” Contrite with grief over sins, fully understanding our powerlessness to find consolation in this sorrow, we turn to the Lord of hosts: “Lord of hosts, be with us, for is there no other helper for You in sorrows?” And we conclude all this with a sincere consciousness of our unworthiness, confession of the goodness of God and the powerful intercession of the saints: “Lord, if Thy saints had not been, they had prayer books and Your goodness that has mercy on us, how dare you, O Savior, sing to You?” For this, we once again resort to the Most Holy Theotokos, demanding salvation, and ask Her to pray to Her Son and our God to grant us forgiveness of our sins, we surrender ourselves under Her most pure protection and place all our hope in Her. Compline, the last service of the day, ends with a particularly touching rite. Both the priest and the people, now going to sleep and not knowing whether they will see tomorrow, mutually confess themselves to be sinners and, throwing themselves to the ground before each other, ask for mutual forgiveness. Isn't this how we should end every day of our lives? dd) But the most important service, performed only in St. Forty days and the first three days of Holy Week, there is the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, so called because the Holy Gifts are not consecrated at it, but are offered to the faithful that were already presanctified at the Liturgy of the previous Sunday. It consists of part of Vespers and part of the perfect Liturgy. But since, almost from the very beginning, the universal sacrifice of Christ reclines on the altar, under the guise of bread and wine, from the very beginning it has many features that differ from Vespers and from the ordinary Liturgy, and which arouse in us feelings of reverent reverence and contrition for sins. The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts begins at Vespers, but its first exclamation is the same as that which occurs at the perfect Liturgy. Then, while singing the stichera on the Lord, the priest takes the Holy Gifts out of the ark and places them on the altar in the Holy Chalice, before which a special light is lit. With this candle and censer in his right hand, the priest, after reading the first proverb, goes through the royal doors to the people and, making a cross over them, proclaims: “The Light of Christ enlightens everyone.” And the people, seeing in the material light the symbol of the gracious light of Christ, fall on their faces with reverence, expressing silent joy at the gospel of Christ, and living repentance for sins, and heartfelt readiness to be enlightened by the heavenly light of Jesus Christ. But those who desire this enlightenment must hear and fulfill the verbs of the hypostatic wisdom of Jesus Christ, which are therefore offered in the readings from the parables. In order to actually fulfill all the suggestions that eternal wisdom itself gives us in proverbs from parables, we need the gracious help of God, which can only be sought through fervent prayer. But prayer is also a gift of God: therefore, immediately after the paremia, the people kneel, and among the general silence, the quiet singing of touching verses is heard: “May my prayer be corrected, like a censer before You.” For us and at any time, there is nothing more necessary than true prayer, especially during Lent. Therefore, the first verse is repeated after every other, and all this singing ends with it. At the same time, the priest burns incense before the throne, and then kneels and raises his hands to heaven. Who among those who fast, despite all that he sees and hears, will not be touched in his heart and cry out from the depths of his soul: “May my prayer be corrected,” i.e. may she be holy and perfect! May this lifting of my hands be pleasing to You, O Lord, just as this sacrifice of Your Son, now reclining on the altar, is pleasing to You! In the second verse we ask the Lord to hear our prayer now and always heed it, and in the last two - to guard our lips and not to turn our hearts into words of deceit and not to bear the guilt of sins. From our heart come all evil thoughts (Matthew 15:19). Being corrupted, it forges evil thoughts and all evil (Proverbs 6:14). But of all the evil thoughts, its worst are those with which it tries to excuse all our sins and calm our conscience. When it has invented pretexts for our apology, then the evil hidden in it begins to be revealed, first of all, in our words. Both heart and mouth are in our complete freedom. Our holiness and perfection, or depravity and corruption, cannot be expressed anywhere as completely as in our hearts and words, and we do not need to worry about anything so much as about the purity of our hearts and the chastity of our words: “Keep your heart with all things, for from it are the springs of life” (Proverbs 4:23). “From the fruit of a man’s mouth his belly is filled; He is satisfied with the product of his mouth. Death and life are in the power of the tongue” ( Proverbs 18:20–21 )! Therefore, in the last verses we ask the Lord to plant virtue in the very depths of our being and destroy evil at its very beginning. During the singing of these verses, the same litanies are proclaimed as at the perfect Liturgy. Only from Wednesday of the third week are additional special prayers added to them for those preparing for enlightenment. These prayers, reminding us of the ancient custom of the Church to prepare catechumens for Baptism during fasting, have full application to us during days of fasting and repentance. Sinners, we have lost almost all the grace-filled gifts we received in Holy Baptism. Therefore, how timely it is now to ask the Lord to once again enlighten our minds, grant us repentance and the robe of incorruption, perfect our faith and again number us among the holy chosen flock! After the litanies, instead of the Cherubic song, another one is sung, more adapted to the essence of the Liturgy itself: “Now the powers of heaven serve with us invisibly; Behold, the King of glory enters, behold, the secret sacrifice is completed.” During the great entrance, the priest walks silently, and the people, throwing themselves to the ground, offer “god-like worship to Christ God, who exists in mysteries” (Charter, church). “At this time,” says Simeon of Thessalonica, “we are sanctified, seen by the Lord Himself, kept from the priests, and offered as our propitiation. Then we must fall warmly to Him and ask forgiveness for those who have sinned” (“New Tablet” § 2). After the transfer of the Holy Mysteries, the choir, with the final words of the begun song, invites us to begin the communion itself with faith and love: “Let us approach with faith and love, that we may be partakers of eternal life, alleluia!” The rest of the Liturgy is shortened, because all those parts of the perfect Liturgy that are closely related to the consecration of the Gifts are omitted, and only the preparatory prayers for Holy Communion remain. After the Lord’s Prayer, we hear the priest’s exclamation: “The holy presanctified to the holy!” to which the face responds with a song in which it again calls for Holy Communion: “Taste and see that the Lord is good, alleluia!” The last feature of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is the prayer behind the pulpit, which is different from that which is read at the perfect Liturgy. In it we pray through the lips of the priest that “the Almighty, who led us in these most honorable days to the purification of souls and bodies, to abstinence of passions and to the hope of resurrection, will give us to fight a good fight, to complete the course of fasting, to observe the undivided faith, to crush the heads of invisible serpents, to appear conquerors of sin and to reach and worship the holy resurrection without condemnation.” III. This is the service on the first five days of each Holy Week. Pentecostals. On Saturdays and Sundays it already retreats from Lenten and approaches ordinary. Fasting on these days, according to the charter of the Orthodox Church and in accordance with the apostolic rule (pr. 64), is made easier, partly out of respect for the greatest events of these days (“New Tablet” § 2), and partly because, as St. Chrysostom, “so that those who fast may somewhat weaken the labors of fasting for the body and encourage the spirit, and after these two days again continue their wonderful journey” (Conversation 11 on Gen.). The divine service itself these days is adapted to all this. Thus, the appearance of the church and worship now takes on a more joyful and solemn appearance than a sad one. In the evening, bowing to the ground is completely abandoned. Matins is performed as at any other time. On Saturday, celebrating with those who partake of the Holy Mysteries and, in accordance with this triumph, bringing them peace, the Holy Church celebrates the Liturgy of St. Chrysostom. But, sharing spiritual joy with them, on Sundays she celebrates the longest Liturgy of St. Basil the Great, suggesting through this that in these days St. On Lent, it is appropriate for us to stand longer in prayer during divine services than at other times. However, while closer to the ordinary, the divine service on these days does not completely move away from Lenten. Thus, at Matins and Vespers, stichera and other songs are sung, with the goal of confirming us in the exploits of Lent. At the Liturgy, the Gospel and the Apostle are read, which always have a close relationship with those who fast. The festivities themselves on these days, filling us with spiritual joy, are completely adapted to the goal of St. post 10. First week of Lent. Conversation No. 2. About why in the first week of St. Pentecost is celebrated in honor of Theodore Tyrone and why this celebration is accompanied by the blessing of the koliva I. “You destroyed this trick of the wisest by your intention, in a dream you appeared to the then bishop” (stichera on the heel of the first week of Great Lent). This is how the Holy Church sings, glorifying one of the miracles of St. Great Martyr Theodore Tiron. The Holy Church annually dedicates it to the memory of St. Great Martyr Theodore Tiron, the seventeenth day of the month of February - the day of the martyrdom of the passion-bearer. In addition, every year it is dedicated to the memory of St. Great Martyr Theodore Tiron and Saturday of the first week of Great Lent. On the eve of this Saturday, on Friday, at the Liturgy, according to the prayer behind the pulpit, the prayer singing of St. to the Great Martyr Theodore Tiron and, at the end of it, in honor of the same great martyr, the specially prepared kolivo is blessed with a special prayer, i.e. boiled wheat grains or other seeds, seasoned with honey or some other sweet substance. II. Such a celebration of St. to the Great Martyr during the first week of Great Lent is performed in remembrance of the benefits shown to Christians during the first week of St. Pentecostal St. Theodore Tyrone, more than fifty years after his martyrdom. The Roman Emperor Julian, an apostate and cruel persecutor of Christians, wishing to subject Christians to desecration and ridicule in the first week of Lent, i.e. At a time when they were trying their best by strict fasting to keep themselves from all uncleanness and to please the Lord, in 362 after the Nativity of Christ he commanded the mayor of Constantinople to sprinkle all food supplies sold in the marketplaces with the unclean blood of idolatrous victims. This wicked command of Julian was carried out with all precision. But the All-Good Provider did not allow the malice of the persecutor to triumph over Christians: He destroyed the malicious intent of the apostate through wise instruction to believers, sent down from St. Great Martyr Theodore Tiron. “You,” we heard a church song in honor of St. Great Martyr, – onago, – i.e. Juliana, - you destroyed the trick of the wisest with your intention, in a dream you appeared to the then bishop, revealing the deepest of the mind.” Appearing to the Archbishop of Constantinople Eudokius at night on the first Monday of Great Lent, as if alive, in full military garb, St. The great martyr said to the saint: “Rise up as quickly as possible and, immediately gathering the flock of Christ, strictly command that none of the Christians in the coming days should buy food or drink at the market, since all this, by order of the wicked king, is desecrated by the blood of idol sacrifices.” The saint doubted and asked the wonderful man who appeared: “Who are you, who cares about Christians?” “I am the martyr of Christ Theodore Tyrone,” answered the warrior, “and was sent down from the Lord Jesus Christ to help you.” “Without commercial food and drink, how will poor people, who have no supplies in their homes, subsist?” the archpastor objected with meekness and reverence. “Make kolivo, i.e. boiled grains of wheat, seasoned with honey, and thereby avert the lack of the poor and comfort them,” St. said in response. Theodore Tyrone became invisible after that. Saint Eudokius exactly fulfilled the command of St. Great Martyr, and thus the apostate’s trick was destroyed by the wisest intention - the inspiration of St. Great Martyr Theodore Tiron. Through this wisest suggestion, Christians, according to the all-good providence of God, were saved during the days of Great Lent from the desecration planned by Julian by sacrificed to idols and triumphed over the crafty machinations of the wicked persecutor, to the greater glorification of the name of Christ. In memory of this wonderful event and in gratitude to St. Great Martyr Theodore Tyrone as the intercessor and guardian of the flock of Christ, the Holy Orthodox Church since then, i.e. from 362 AD, and to this day celebrates thanksgiving, chanting St. to the Great Martyr on the eve of Saturday of the first week of Great Lent, a prayer canon and at the same time blessing in honor of St. the passion-bearer is a deliberately prepared kolivo, with which St. The great martyr suggested that the desecrated Lenten food should be replaced during the first week of Lent. So, a real celebration in honor of St. The Great Martyr Theodore Tiron clearly testifies to us that Christian fasting is holy and very pleasing to the Lord, that those who fast are under the special protection of God: for when in ancient times Christians during fasting were in imminent danger of being desecrated and ridiculed by an apostate, the Almighty did not hesitate to save them from this danger miraculously through the appearance of St. great martyr. And our conviction in the holiness and pleasingness of fasting to the Lord should comfort and strengthen, brethren, us who fast in our labors of abstinence, painful for our weak flesh, inspire and encourage us to great feats of fasting and repentance. III. Let us, brothers, during the days of fasting, inspire ourselves by constantly remembering that our All-Good Provider, who commanded us to fast, is always ready to show His all-powerful, gracious help during our fasting deeds. And with this in mind, let us try, as much as possible, to come to the Lord more often and more diligently during the days of fasting with prayer for the sending of heavenly help. At the same time, let us not forget to flow in our prayers, and especially as a priest during the days of Great Lent, to the intercession of St. Great Martyr Theodore Tiron, who once appeared as the intercessor and guardian of fasting in St. Pentecost. Amen. Conversation No. 3. About the rite of Orthodoxy I. The first week, or, what is the same, the first Sunday of Great Lent is called the Week of Orthodoxy. On this day, in every Orthodox city where there is a bishop, in the main, or cathedral, a solemnly formidable rite is performed, known as “anathematization,” i.e. anathematization of the most important heretics and false teachers. The word anathema means: excommunication from the Orthodox Church for a time, either only until the heretic repents, or, if he persists, forever. This rite of anathematization of heretics has existed since the times of the apostles, on the basis of the words of the Savior: “If he does not listen to the church (that is, whoever does not obey the teaching of the true Church, or, moreover, begins to distort it maliciously), then let him be to you as a pagan and a publican” (Matthew 18:17). That is, look at such a person in the same way as the Jews looked at pagans and tax collectors, trying not to enter into any relationships with them other than those that are inevitable in everyday life. This means that do not consider such a person as your brother in faith, even if he was once baptized, stop Christian-fraternal communication with him and look at him the same way as a leper, fearing not to become infected with his evil faith, as a dangerous, cruel mortal disease. Based on these words of the Savior, the holy apostles always advised Christians to avoid all spiritual communication with heretics or false teachers, not to enter into useless arguments with them, and not even to receive them into their homes. And finally, they, the holy apostles, repeatedly pronounced anathema against them, i.e. excommunication from the Church, even sometimes with their betrayal to Satan, for the destruction of the flesh (1 Cor. 5:5). So, those who were excommunicated from the Church, former Christians, were deprived of the grace-filled Gifts and, as a result, became prey to the devil, were overwhelmed with spiritual sorrow and were even stricken with bodily illnesses. “A heretic,” they said, “after the first and second admonition, turn away” (Titus 3:10). “Whoever comes to you and does not bring this (i.e., true) teaching, do not receive him into your house and do not welcome him” (2 John 1:10). “Whoever preaches to you a gospel other than what you have received (i.e., if any of these false teachers preach to you, not what we preached to you and what you received from us) be accursed" (Gal. 1:8-9). "Cast out the wicked from among you" (1 Cor. 5:13). On the same basis of the words of the Savior and this example of His chosen disciples, or apostles, the Holy Orthodox Church has always, as new heretics or false teachers appeared in it, sowed their tares among the wheat, i.e. spread their vile teaching among the Orthodox, first calling them to their councils, or meetings, exhorting them to abandon their errors, refuting them from both Scripture and Tradition. And if, despite this, they remained stubborn and inflexible, then according to the authority given to her by God, she anathematized them, that is, she directly, solemnly and openly declared to each and every Orthodox Christian that such and such heretics, for example: Arius, Macedonius, Nestorius and similar blasphemers, are dangerous, incorrigible people, and therefore in church and religious matters other faithful Christians should not have contact with them. II. This great and significant sacred rite is now performed as follows. a) After reading the hours before the Liturgy, and sometimes at the end of the Liturgy, the bishop in full holy vestments leaves the altar, with the archimandrites, presbyters, deacons, and stands in his usual place. b) The clergy bring two icons to the middle of the church: the Savior and the Mother of God and place them on lecterns, after which the “rite of Orthodoxy” begins, which, in its composition and order, is prayer singing with some features. c) After the usual exclamation of the bishop, the King of Heaven is sung, the Trisagion and Psalm 4 are read, which tells the wicked and unbelievers not to lift up their horns, i.e. their pride, to the heights, and did not speak untruths against God. d) After this psalm, the great litany is proclaimed, in which, among other things, a prayer is raised to the Lord that He would look with a merciful eye on His holy Church and keep it unharmed and invincible from heresies and superstitions, protect it with His peace, so that He, by the power of the Holy Spirit, would calm down discord and all apostates from Orthodoxy He turned to the knowledge of the truth, returned the lost sheep to His chosen flock, so that He, with the light of His God-mind, would enlighten the thoughts of those darkened by unbelief, and would preserve and strengthen the faithful in orthodoxy. e) Then the troparia are sung... and the Apostle is read (beginning 121), in which the Church begs her faithful children to “beware of those who create strife and strife, contrary to the teaching that the word of God teaches them. For such people, she says, do not serve God, but serve their own belly and with their cunning eloquence they deceive the hearts of the simple-minded. So, be wise in good, steadfast in evil. And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet quickly” (Rom. 16:17–20). f) Then the Gospel is read (Matthew 75), in which those who are not firm in the faith are warned against temptations, the immeasurable love of the Savior is depicted with the parable of the good shepherd, who, leaving ninety-nine obedient sheep in the mountains, is looking for one lost one, and the Church is given the authority to first, secretly and openly, reprove children who are disobedient to her, and then, if both reproaches or admonition will not have any effect on them, excommunicate them from her bosom and consider them on a par with tax collectors and pagans. g) After the Gospel follows a special litany, in which a fervent prayer is again raised to the Lord that He, not wanting the death of sinners, but expecting their conversion and repentance, would convert all apostates or heretics to the true faith and the Church, so that they, together with all the faithful, glorify our God with one mouth and one heart. So that He, having given commandments about love for God and neighbors, would stop hatred, enmity, insults, perjury, bribery and all other iniquities between them. h) Then, after an exclamation, the bishop reads a prayer in which he thanks the Lord and God for the fact that He, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, according to the merits of the Redeemer, strengthened us, enlightened us and consoled us with the Orthodox faith, which we must observe like the apple of our eye. And then He diligently prays that He would enlighten our lost brethren, who rejected the gospel, despised the grace of heaven, opposed the gospel truth, fell into heresies and schism and thereby subjected themselves to condemnation, would enlighten them with the light of truth, soften their hardness of mind and heart and open their ears to the knowledge of His holy voice, so that they would turn to our Savior. i) After this prayer, the protodeacon, standing in the prepared place (usually at the pulpit), first of all proclaims the threefold praise of the greatness of God in the creation and redemption of the human race, then loudly pronounces the Creed and, after reading it, calls out: “This apostolic faith, this Orthodox faith, this faith establish the universe.” Further, he points to those rules, dogmas and traditions, in everything consistent with the Holy Scriptures, which were revealed at seven Ecumenical and nine Local Councils, which we must be guided by in the detailed disclosure of the true faith. j) At the end of this confession he says: “We please and praise those who captivate their minds into obedience to Divine revelation and strive for it, and we excommunicate and anathematize those who resist this truth and do not repent of their error, according to the word and example of Christ the Savior Himself and His Church.” k) Then the formidable word anathema (or excommunication from the Church) is proclaimed three times by the protodeacon and repeated three times by the clergy or choir. Firstly, to those who deny the existence of God and falsely claim that this world is original, that it formed by itself, without an all-wise Creator and is governed without His Providence. Secondly, to those who say that God is not Spirit, but flesh (or matter), that He is not righteous, not merciful, not omnipotent and not omniscient, as well as utter other blasphemies against Him. Thirdly, to those who do not recognize the equality of the persons of the Holy Trinity. They consider the coming of the Son of God and the mystery of redemption to earth useless. They do not believe the gospel word of revelation. They do not recognize the Holy Virgin as the Ever-Virgin. They do not believe the writings of the prophets and apostles as the inspired word of God. They reject the immortality of the soul, the end of the century, the future, last, terrible judgment of Christ, and then the eternal bliss of the righteous and eternal torment for sinners. Anathema is also proclaimed to those who reject the seven saving sacraments contained by the Church of Christ for our sanctification and salvation, and who do not recognize the councils of the holy fathers and their traditions, which are equivalent to the Holy Scriptures. Those who blaspheme and revile holy icons call them idols, as well as those who commit rebellion and treason against the anointed of God, the Orthodox kings. Eternal memory is proclaimed to all who formerly reposed in Orthodoxy and piety, kings, princes, as patrons and defenders of the true faith and the Church, as well as Orthodox pastors and teachers and all confessors of the Church of Christ. l) Then Christian piety is proclaimed to the zealot, defender and patron of the Church of Christ, the Most Pious Autocrat of All Russia and the entire Reigning House, as well as to all the most holy patriarchs and the Holy Synod, to the entire Orthodox clergy and government, and to all Orthodox Christians, many years are proclaimed, which ends with the bishop in the following prayer to the Lord: “Holy Trinity, glorify these and confirm them even to the end in orthodoxy; convert and create the libertines and blasphemers of the Orthodox faith and the Church of Christ, and those who do not obey it, so that they may come to the knowledge of Thy eternal truth, through the prayers of our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary and all the saints.” Amen. n) Finally it is sung: “We praise God to you,” and there is the usual dismissal with kissing the cross and St. icons: the Savior and the Mother of God. (See “Sermons” by Archpriest I. Polisadov, vol. 1). III. This, my brothers, is the solemn, terrible and righteous judgment of the Church of God on all sons of opposition to the Orthodox Church, pronounced to it on the Sunday of Orthodoxy in all the cathedral churches of the Orthodox world. Appendix to conversation No. 3. Church historical information about the origin of the holiday of the Triumph of Orthodoxy The Church established the annual commemoration of the triumph of Orthodoxy on the occasion of the final overthrow of the enemies of Orthodoxy - the iconoclasts. The doctrine of the veneration of holy icons, based on Holy Scripture, approved by the custom of the first Christians, remained inviolable until the 8th century. But in the 8th century, the flattery of iconoclasm, having opened in the very center of the Christian world, Greece, spread, like a destructive infection, to all countries. Inexperienced souls everywhere became its victims by the thousands. The abomination of desolation extended to the very sanctuaries - iconoclasts appeared on the thrones of the royal and saintly churches of some famous churches. The Church of God is undergoing persecution more severe than what it suffered from the pagans. For 110 years, almost continuously, the tears and innocent blood of the Orthodox were shed, all kinds of sorrows and torments were experienced: imprisonment in dungeons, executions in squares and fields. Honest icons and relics of saints from everywhere were collected and consigned to fire. The God-loving Tsarina Irene and the 7th Holy Ecumenical Council gave some joy to the Church. But four more times the persecutors of the faith appeared on the royal throne and handed over the holy staffs to the wolves of Christ’s flock - the iconoclasts. Theophilus already knew the right hand of God, punishing him, as well as all his iconoclast predecessors, for the persecution of the Church of God, but did not have time to stop him. It was left to his wife, the Christ-loving Theodora, to restore peace and splendor to the Church. The first act of her piety was the command: to raise all icon-worshippers from prison and imprisonment to their previous degrees, and to the iconoclasts to abandon either their delusion or their service to the altar. Methodius, returned from captivity to the patriarchal throne of Constantinople, with the consecrated cathedral and the civil ranks, appears at the throne of the queen to petition for the solemn restoration of the holy icons. “Command, God-crowned queen,” he tells Theodora, “to renew the Church of God, and then to receive the priceless and saving treasure - the holy icons, so that the horn of Christians may be exalted and the memory of you, with your beloved children, may be blessed for generations.” “Whoever does not honor the image of our Lord, His Most Holy Mother and all the saints,” answered the queen, “kissing honest icons, let him be cursed!” I, the least servant of the Lord, consider it an honor to fulfill your good desires. Do not reject, I ask you, holy fathers, my humble request: save my husband through your prayers.” Having admired the queen's faith, the patriarch bequeaths fasting and prayer to everyone, from the elderly to the baby. First week of St. Lent is spent in tears and prayer: day and night the cathedral church is filled with people praying for Theophilus. And the sacrifice of a contrite and humble spirit is not rejected by the Lord. “Great is your faith, wife,” said a wondrous man in a dream to the queen, sitting on the throne, before whom Theophilus stood naked, bound, reproached and beaten by those present, “know that for the sake of your tears alone and for the sake of the prayers and intercession of the priests, I forgive your husband.” Clothed, with these words, in clothes and released from bonds, Theophilus is given to his wife. “Your prayers, bishop, have been heard,” the bright angel said to Methodius, “having also appeared to him in a dream, “the king is forgiven.” The God-wise shepherd, in order to be convinced of the truth of the visions, opens a sealed scroll, which he placed at the holy meal at the beginning of the general prayer, with the names of all the heretics who were before Theophilus, and this last one written. The names of all the kings remained as they were, but Theophilos was blotted out. Having glorified God, who surprised His goodness on a sinner, the shepherds, by common agreement, decided that on the next (i.e., the first) Sunday of Lent, the sacred order with holy icons, accompanied by the people, should go to the cathedral church from all monasteries and churches. Having united with the patriarch, they left the church with the holy icons and the Gospel and continued the procession to the so-called royal doors, where the prayer service was performed. After this prayer, offered with tears and tenderness, with the singing of “Lord, have mercy!” returned to the church to celebrate the Liturgy. In order to forever preserve in memory this triumph, by agreement of the spiritual and civil ranks, it is customary in the first week of Great Lent to annually remember the triumph of Orthodoxy, which took place after the restoration of icon veneration. The thought of Orthodoxy, which served as the basis for the establishment of the festival in the first week of St. At the beginning, as can be seen from the service for this day, the Pentecostals were limited to one veneration of icons. But later it was more revealed, and in the so-called succession on the week of Orthodoxy it appears in its entirety: there the victorious monument of Orthodoxy was erected, here it was distributed and decorated. In the latter case, he represents the triumph of the Church over all who have ever been heretics and schismatics: in the rite of Orthodoxy, not only the Orthodox teaching of the Church on icon veneration is affirmed, but all the dogmas and decrees of the 7 Ecumenical Councils; condemned - not just the error of the iconoclasts, but all previous and subsequent heresies and schisms; blessings are pronounced not only on icon venerators, but on all who live and have gone to the Lord in the faith and piety of their fathers; Condemnation is pronounced on everyone who deviates from the teachings of the Universal Church - in word, life, and writing. (See “Sunday Reading”, 1838, No. 45). Second week of Lent. Conversation No. 4. About the merits of Gregory Palamas I. In the church charter, every week of Great Lent, for our spiritual edification, there is a remembrance, together with the Church, of the person or event to which the week or Sunday is dedicated. In the second week of Great Lent, the laudatory memory of “one of the saints of our father Gregory Palamas” is celebrated. If the whole week of St. the post is decorated with the name of St. Gregory, then there must be something in his deeds why he especially comes to mind during fasting and as a result of which the memory of him serves for the special edification of those who fast. II. What would it be? Why in the 2nd week of St. Pentecost is celebrated by St. Gregory? Because, firstly, he was one of the greatest ascetics in the fasting and toilful way of life on St. Mount Athos. There he spent most of his days, in fasting, prayer and silence, and there he grew to that purity of heart and height of spirit that he became a visible and tangible vessel of God’s grace for everyone. Secondly, because St. Gregory was a most zealous champion of the Lenten life against those who wanted to denigrate and humiliate him with various slander. Let us go into some details of this circumstance and the Grigoriev case. It can serve for edification in our time. The fact is that the inhabitants of Mount Athos, leading, as we know, an ascetic lifestyle, so cleansed themselves of everything carnal and became so refined and elevated in spirit that many of them were granted revelations and spiritual visions, especially the illumination of heavenly light, similar to that which was seen around the Savior on Tabor. In this event, not only was there nothing contrary to the spirit of the Gospel, but, one might say, it was proof and a guarantee of what is promised to the righteous in it, that is, that they themselves will be enlightened like the sun in the kingdom of heaven. Is it surprising that those who were once destined to shine “like the sun” are now already on earth illuminated like the moon by the light from the spiritual Sun, who is Christ the Lord!? But the enemies of Orthodoxy looked at this spiritual experience differently. Instead of recognizing in him with reverence the success of ascetics in the spiritual life, they looked at him as a figment of the imagination. Not only that, they began to spread everywhere that the Athonite ascetics had fallen not only into self-delusion, but also into heresy, that, by assimilating divinity to this heavenly light, they supposedly introduced two principles into the Divinity - the created and the uncreated - and with such a teaching the right faith was supposedly violated... So the enemies proclaimed! This slander extremely embarrassed not only the people of Athos, but also the entire Orthodox Church. Among the then unrest of the heretical saints. Athos was, as it always is, like a spiritual Ararat, on which the ark of Orthodoxy found refuge and was saved, and on this very Ararat, as the evil-minded claimed, heresy appeared - appeared under the guise of the most pious and, therefore, the most dangerous! What is it? And the entire Greek Church was in great excitement. At this dangerous time for the Church, St. Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessalonica, appeared as an angel of silence to calm the storm. Possessing an extensive and deep knowledge of Holy Scripture, he showed one and all that the teaching about the Light of Tabor, the vision of which the ascetics of Athonite were honored with, is completely in accordance with the spirit of the Gospel. That those who doubt the event of this light and the illumination of God’s chosen ones while still on earth, thereby reveal only the lack of their purity and their spiritual exploits. As a student and pupil of Athos, who knew not only by hearsay, but by experience, the way of life of the ascetics there, St. Gregory goes into all the details of the controversial subject, pursues every slander of the evil-minded, from its first beginning to the last end, and, thus dispelling the darkness brought upon St. the mountain, showed it in all its spiritual greatness, which was not yet known until that time. The very captivity of the Saracens did not bind the lips of the saint. Gregory: even in prison, he continued to defeat the enemies of Orthodoxy and confirm the wavering children of the Church in the truth. In gratitude for such apostolic deeds, which brought peace to the Orthodox Church, the pastors of the Church unanimously, even during the life of St. Gregory, they called him the son of the Divine light, and after his holy death it was soon decided that his memory would adorn this Sunday day. And fair enough! Because the honor of not only the inhabitants of Athos, but the entire ascetic life is protected and protected, the honor of St. and luminous fasting, as the first of the means by which St. Athonite ascetics achieved illumination with divine light. And most fitting of all was the recollection of the exploits of St. Gregory: to coincide not with any other time, but precisely with the days of Great Lent. III. In our time, thank the Lord, there are no such heretical disturbances as troubled the Church during St. Gregory, but the memory of him is very instructive for us. How is it instructive? So that we, keeping in mind the ancient example of the defense of fasting, do not allow ourselves to be carried away by those frivolous judgments about the ascetic life and in particular about St. fasting, judgments that, unfortunately, we can sometimes hear from the lips of people who are not even strangers to respect for the Church. Moreover, so that we shield our ears from the insane mockery of this kind of those who undertake to judge everything and reject everything, not knowing anything as they should. After all, the spiritual experiences of ascetics are most often criticized by such false minds, who have too meager and weak concepts about spiritual objects, which are completely opposite to their hardened view of everything and the human spirit itself. If you meet such people, if you hear such speeches, then remember St. Gregory and his feat, remember how he crucified and slandered St. ascetics. Such a memory will always serve as a ready shield for you against temptation. This is not the first nor the last time that life in the spirit has been criticized by carnal people. The Apostle clearly said that “the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, because he considers them foolishness; and cannot understand, because this must be judged spiritually” (1 Cor. 2:14). Note the expression of the apostle: “and cannot understand.” How can you judge what you don’t understand? In order to judge spiritual objects, especially spiritual experiences, for this, the judge himself must be granted the Spirit, which may we all achieve by the grace of the Lord and the prayers of St. Gregory. (Compiled from the “Sermon” of Innocent, Archbishop of Kherson, vol. 3). Appendix to conversation No. 4. Stories from the lives of saints, showing that in a prayerful mood their souls were enlightened and their bodies were transformed “And when I prayed,” says St. Evangelist Luke about the Transfiguration of the Lord - the appearance of His face changed, and His clothes became white and shining” (Luke 9:29). It is remarkable that such an extraordinary and glorious change in the appearance of the Lord did not occur under any other circumstances, but precisely during prayer. Here, in the transfiguration of the Lord Jesus, the wonderful power of prayer is revealed in all its clarity: for one must know that prayer not only transformed the Lord’s face, but can transform anyone who prays. This idea may perhaps seem too bold, but in fact it is absolutely true, and in the lives of saints one can often find stories about how prayer miraculously transformed those praying. Here are some examples. 1) Every rational being (both angel and man), entering into communication with the ever-animal light, is naturally illuminated by it - internally and externally. Thus, Moses, the seer of God, in the midst of his conversation with God on Sinai, was illuminated to such an extent by divine light that even after descending from the mountain, a dazzling reflection of the glory of God remained on his face, and he was forced to put a veil over his face (Ex. 34:29-33). 2) In Egypt, in the first centuries of Christianity, there were many wonderful ascetics, and hardly anywhere did people achieve a greater measure of holiness than the glorious men who lived there. In the desert of lower Egypt, Abba Joseph was silent. One day Abba Lot visited him and said to him: “My Father! According to my strength, I fulfill a small prayer rule, observe moderate fasting, try to observe purity, not accepting sinful thoughts; What else should I do? The elder began to pray and stretched out his hands to heaven - and his fingers became like ten lit lamps. Then he said to Abba Lot: “If you want, be all like fire. It is impossible to be called a monk if you do not burn like fire.” (“Fatherland”, Bishop Ignatius, p. 198). 3) There, in Egypt, he was famous for the exploits of St. Arseny. The life of this great father was truly angelic, and his prayer was like the prayer of the seraphim... One of the brethren, out of some need, came to the hut of Abba Arseny and through the crack of the door saw the old man as if on fire - he was all like a flame. The brother was worthy of such a vision, and that is why he was honored. After standing for a while, he knocked on the door; the elder came out and, noticing the change in his brother’s face, asked him how long he had been here and whether he had seen anything? My brother said he didn't see it. The elder, after talking with him, released him (“Cheti-Minei” May 8). 4) “It happened to me,” says the Right Reverend Theophan, “to receive one monk, in whom tangible effects of grace had already begun to manifest themselves. The conversation began about spiritual things. As he came into himself and his thoughts deepened, his face became brighter and brighter, and then everything became white, like snow, and his eyes sparkled.” 5) And they say about Father Seraphim of Sarov that he often became enlightened, especially during prayer in church, apparently for everyone. There are many legends about such manifestations in Fatherland books. 6) It is written about one thing, for example, that as soon as he, having stood in prayer, raised his hands to the sky, bunches of light flowed from all the fingers of his hands over a sufficient space. 7) About another it is said that his disciple came to him for some reason and knocked; there was no answer. He bent down to look into the hole and saw that the old man was standing all on fire, like a pillar of light. And there are many, many such tales. (See the book “What is spiritual life?” by Bishop Theophan, p. 108). Reading these and similar tales, you involuntarily ask what happened to St. husbands? When they stood in the air in a feat of prayer, when they were on fire, didn’t something similar to what happened to them happen to the Lord the Savior on Tabor? Yes, the Lord promised that “the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Matthew 13:43), and this enlightenment, this glory for the great saints of God began here on earth. It was not constantly revealed, but only during prayer, just as the transfiguration of the Lord also followed during prayer. According to the teachings of one great ascetic, known, of course, by experience, in man himself, reborn by the grace of God, there is a Spiritual grace-filled light, which during the present life is hidden under a shroud of flesh, but in eternity - on the day of the resurrection of the dead, it will be revealed visibly - in the bodies of the righteous and will form, as it were, their royal vestment 11, and the immutable word of truth assures us that on the last day of retribution of the righteous They will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father (Matthew 13:43). And so, brethren, this blessed light, hidden under the rough present flesh, in moments of holy delight of righteous souls and especially during their deepest and most ardent prayer, which set in motion all the forces of the spirit, and perhaps the best elements of the body - this light, excited and strengthened by the life-giving rays of the gracious Sun, without being held back in the soul, enlightened their body. Third week of Lent. Conversation No. 5. About the rite of veneration of the Holy Cross during the Week of the Veneration of the Cross I. During Great Lent, precisely on the 3rd Sunday of Pentecost, we, Orthodox Christians, perform the following sacred rite: at the end of Matins or the All-Night Vigil, the priest carries the Holy Cross on his head from the altar to the middle of the church, and places it on the lectern. Here they glorify the Holy Cross, worship it and kiss it. Then the Holy Cross remains outside the altar, on the lectern, for the whole week, and it is worshiped 3 more times a week: on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. II. Why is this ritual performed and what is its significance? This is why the rite of veneration of the Holy Cross is performed on the 4th week of Lent, and this is the significance of this rite. a) Usually we do not like fasting with its exploits, it is not sweet for our spoiled nature, and so the Holy Church offers us relief and even delight in fasting with its exploits in the vision of the Holy Cross, presented to the gaze of those fasting during the time of fasting. “When those walking a long and hard path, it is written about the purpose of establishing the rite of worship of the Holy Cross, tired of labor, find a shady tree dressed with abundant leaves, then, sitting down a little, they rest, and, as if having become young again, they make the rest of the way: so now, in Lenten times, in the midst of a regrettable path and feat, the Holy Cross is planted. fathers the Life-Giving Cross, giving coolness and peace and making the weary light and courageous to complete their work.” (On the week of the Worship of the Cross, synaxarium). How can the Holy Cross not only ease the severity of fasting, but also sweeten its bitterness? As follows: when, looking at the Holy Cross, we reflect, for example, on how the Lord, crucified on the cross, suffered, and still suffered, not for his sins, but for ours: will we not suffer the feats of fasting for our own sins? The Lord suffered grievously on the cross; won’t we endure the feat of fasting, which, although unpleasant, is not as terrible as the suffering of the cross? The Lord passed from the cross to heaven into the eternally blissful kingdom, and we are rewarded for all kinds of deeds, for deeds of the true, i.e. spiritual and physical, fasting - the kingdom of heaven with its bliss. So, this is the purpose for which the rite of worship of the Holy Cross is performed during Lent, and this is the meaning of this rite. b) Let us move on from the exploits of Lent. And it’s not just the heaviness and bitterness of fasting that the Holy Cross can alleviate and delight; no, it can alleviate and delight all our sorrow, all our hardship in life. And everyone in general, and each of us in particular, has so many different sorrows and burdens!.. Earth is a place of troubles, sorrows and troubles, but there are none in heaven. Either deprivation of those close to our hearts, or deprivation of wealth, position in society, or illness, or troubles from others, or failure in business and enterprise, or deprivation of benefits, these are our constant companions in life. Here on earth there is constant and everywhere trouble, as the Apostle Paul describes - “trouble in journeys, trouble on the rivers, trouble from robbers, trouble from fellow tribesmen, trouble from the Gentiles, trouble in the city, trouble in the wilderness, trouble at sea, trouble among false brethren” (2 Cor. 11:26). And none of those living on earth, even those who seem the happiest to us, are free from troubles, sorrows and troubles. So, troubles, sorrows and troubles are the inevitable companions of each of us, but what is it like to endure them? And here is St. The Cross can ease and even delight them for us. How? The way it makes fasting easier and more enjoyable for us, i.e. through reflection on our Lord Jesus Christ crucified on it and on ourselves. One day, when the Jews passed through the Arabian desert on their way to the Promised Land, they came to a place where there were many snakes, the snakes bit many of the Jews, and those who were bitten died. Moses, their leader, cried out to God about this, and God commanded him to erect a tree and hang a copper serpent on it, and so that anyone bitten by the serpent would hasten with faith to look at this copper serpent. Moses did this, and everyone who was bitten, looking with faith at the copper serpent, received healing and did not die. The copper serpent hung on a tree by Moses represented our Savior Jesus Christ crucified on the cross. Just as the Jews, bitten by serpents in the desert, had to look at the copper serpent hanging on a tree, and, looking with faith, were healed, so in trouble, in sorrow and in trouble, we will rather approach the Cross, we will rather direct our gaze to Him Crucified on it, and troubles, sorrows and troubles will not be difficult for us, but will still be easy. Let us look at the Crucified on the cross, and we will see that the Lord of heaven and earth, the Holiest of all saints, was crucified and suffered on him, and we suffer not innocently, but for sins. The Lord suffered for our sins and patiently endured suffering; Shouldn't we, who suffer for our own sins, patiently endure suffering? This is how the thief who suffered at the same time with the Lord, also on the Cross, reasoned about his sufferings, and, undoubtedly, it was easier for him to suffer than for the other thief who was crucified with him. Let us look at the Crucified on the cross and remember that the path from the cross for Him was to the kingdom of glory, and we will see and remember that for us there is a direct path from suffering to bliss, as the Lord showed us by His own example, and it will certainly be easier for us to suffer then. Having suffered here, let us not suffer there beyond the grave. “Punish me, Lord, in this life, only have mercy in the next,” some of the true Christians prayed to God. “Lord, You must have forgotten me!” the ascetic exclaims to God when one year in his life has passed without sorrow. This indeed was done, and with great success, by some of the pious people. It is written in the “Prologue”: “In one monastery there lived a pious monk, five brothers loved him, and one insulted him. Not wanting to endure insults, he moved to another monastery, but here eight brethren loved him, and two insulted him. He went to the third monastery, but this was no better - seven loved him, and five hated him. He decided to go to the fourth monastery, and he did. On the way, meanwhile, I began to think to myself: if I obey my thoughts, then, perhaps, I will have to go around the whole world, and I will certainly not find peace anywhere: for people are the same everywhere - many good, many evil. It’s true, and in this monastery, where I’m going now, it won’t be any better for me. Then the thought of Jesus the Savior crucified on the cross came to him, and he took his notebook and wrote in it: “Let them insult me: I endure everything for Jesus Christ.” Having written this, he rolled up the book, tied it on his belt and went to the monastery. As he expected, this is what happened: in this monastery where he came, they also began to insult him; but he immediately took up his book, and having read the words in it: “I endure everything for Jesus Christ,” at that very moment he calmed down, at that very moment he felt better. Thus, he endured all the troubles patiently and easily” (“Prologue” February 15). III. Remember, brother Christians, pointed out to us by the word of God, and the Church, and the example of pious people, the means to patiently enduring troubles, sorrows and troubles, to alleviating and even delighting them for ourselves, is looking at the Holy Cross with reflection on Jesus Christ Crucified on it and on ourselves. Fourth week of Great Lent. Conversation No. 6. About the life of St. John Climacus, commemorated in the fourth week of Lent I. On the fourth week (Sunday) of Great Lent the memory of St. John Climacus. After the veneration of the Cross, the Church instructively remembers this saint, who depicted a ladder of virtues that adorn the lives of people bearing the cross, and with his own life showed a living example of bearing the cross and fasting. Very little historical information has reached us about the life of St. John Climacus, but from it we can extract a lot of instructive information for ourselves. It is known that he was a highly educated man who devoted himself to the exploits of spiritual life from a young age - from the age of 16. For these exploits, he retired to Mount Sinai and there he committed himself to the obedience of Elder Martyrius. His obedience to the elder was so great that he seemed to have no will of his own at all. He was very simple in his dealings with the brethren, and although he was very learned and educated, he behaved in such a way that in no way did he show his advantages over others. He lived with the elder for 19 years until the end of his life, and after his death he decided to live in solitude. He chose the Thola desert as his place of solitude, not very far from Mount Sinai. Here he labored in great feats of fasting and prayer for forty years. During this extraordinary Lent, his fast was as extraordinary as the very continuation of his fasting. Although he did not shy away from food that was not forbidden by the rules during Lent, in order to thereby crush, as he himself said, “the horn of pride,” he accepted it so little that he seemed more to taste than to partake. But he resolutely abstained from any passion, speaking commandingly to her: “Be silent, be numb.” His repentance was accompanied by deep contrition of heart and tears. Avoiding satiety and laziness, he devoted his free time from prayer to reading the Divine Scriptures, copying books and saving conversations with the brethren. He endured the insults that he happened to experience from his brethren patiently, with prayer to God for the offenders. The wondrous, highly ascetic life of St. John forced the brethren to elect him as abbot of Mount Sinai after his 40-year stay in the desert. Having been elected abbot, he made all his efforts to ensure that the monks led by him were rewarded with ascension to God and greater proximity to Him. He died at the age of 80, leaving behind a soul-saving book he composed - “The Ladder,” showing 30 degrees of a godly life. Here is a short story about the life of St. John Climacus! What edifying lessons does he teach us? There are many of them, but we will take at least a few of them. II. a) Saint John from a young age devoted himself to serving God, practicing virtues more and more. This is a lesson for you, young generation! Youth is a blooming age of life; its decoration is most appropriate for serving God and virtue. Is it not in the spring that the farmer sows his seeds in the field so that he may have good fruit? And the more carefully and diligently he cultivates his field at this time and the better seeds he sows, the better the grain harvest he will receive and the greater the profit he will receive from it. And whoever misses a good time for sowing, poorly cultivates the land and sows bad seeds, will receive a meager harvest, and sometimes will receive nothing. The spring of our life is youth. Whoever sows the seeds of piety and good morality in youth will undoubtedly reap their good fruits in adulthood and old age. But whoever ruins his youth in empty pleasures and various sinful habits, what can he expect in adulthood, and especially in old age, even if he lived to see it? We know from experience that those who spend their youth poorly, and especially their youth, remain with their bad habits for the rest of their lives and grow old prematurely, not living to a ripe old age. b) Rev. John was very abstinent in food and drink. He ate everything allowed by the regulations, but ate very little. Following his example, we, fellow Christians, always need to refrain from eating and drinking a lot, so that our body never takes precedence over the spirit, so that our soul is always bright, kind, capable of every good deed. It is known that those who eat heavily and drink a lot can be immobile, heavy, drowsy, lazy and have little ability to do business. Such a person obviously lives more of an animal life than a spiritual one, while a Christian should live a more spiritual life. Both the Word of God and the Fathers of the Church always and everywhere command Christians to abstain. The Savior says: “Take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be burdened with gluttony and drunkenness” (Luke 21:34). Moreover, those who are abstinent live healthy, long-lasting and good lives, just as St. John lived until he was 80 years old. That is why one of our saints says: “Drink abstinently, eat little, and you will be healthy.” Let us strictly follow this wise rule. c) Following the example of St. John, it is appropriate and useful for all of us to also maintain certain rules in life, in order to be guided by them for the benefit of our souls and eternal salvation. These rules should be for all our activities: for prayer, for eating and drinking, for various household activities and, finally, for rest and sleep. In all this there must be glory to the name of Christ. St. Apostle Paul says: “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31). Therefore, we must work and act prudently and prudently in everything, keeping in mind not only our own spiritual benefit, but also the benefit of others. d) The Monk John Climacus devoted most of his life to prayer and praise of God, and the rest to various works for the benefit of his soul and others. Therefore, we must, if not most of our lives, then at least short hours of it, devote ourselves to prayer and praise to God, namely: we must devote the morning of the day to God in order to thank our Creator, albeit with short, but fervent and pure prayers, for all His mercies and benefits to us, and also in order to ask for His blessing and help for the coming day. The evening of the day should also be dedicated, at least in part, to God in order to thank Him for the past day and ask Him for forgiveness for the sins we have committed. The time free from prayer should be devoted to various everyday works. But for these works to be blessed by God, it is necessary that they be honest and conscientious - both in purpose and in the motives for which we work. What is not honest and conscientious, God will never bless. e) Finally, we must, following the example of St. John Climacus, to endure the sorrows, troubles and sorrows that happen to us patiently, without grumbling, remembering the word of the Lord that only he who endures them complacently will be saved to the end. III. These, brothers, are the lessons that the life of St. John the Climacus, now celebrated, teaches us! Let us be guided by them for our own benefit - we will try to implement the lofty virtues of the saint in our lives, they will bring us happiness and well-being on earth and will merit us eternal bliss in heaven. Amen. (Compiled from the book “Holy Pentecost” by Justin, Bishop of Tobolsk). Fifth week of Lent. Conversation No. 7. About the life and deeds of repentance of St. Mary of Egypt I. On Sunday of the fifth week of Lent, among other things, a service is held in honor of the Venerable Mary of Egypt, whose memory is celebrated on April 1. The life of the Venerable Mary presents a striking example of a strong sinful fall and then deep repentance, living feats of self-sacrifice and mortification of the flesh and high moral perfection and serves as a rare example for repentant sinners, which is why it is very opportunely glorified on the 5th Sunday of Lent, after depicting her life for believers on Thursday of this week. Let's take a brief look at the life of the saint. Mary was born in Egypt, being beautiful in face, but frivolous and disobedient to her parents; she, while still twelve years old, left her parents, went to the populous city of Alexandria and there she was exposed to carnal uncleanness and then so indulged in her insane passion that she lost all shame and decency in satisfying it. This is how Maria spent seventeen years! Once she learned that a lot of people and, by the way, young people were going by ship to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross of Christ, Mary decided to take advantage of this opportunity to satisfy her criminal insatiable passion, and instead of paying for transportation by ship, she offered her dishonest services. The young people agreed to her proposal, and Maria defiled herself and others and the sea itself with her student deeds. She did not leave lawlessness even in the holy city itself. But here, by the grace of God, the end of her dishonorable life was put. On the day of worship of the Life-giving Cross of Christ in the Church of the Resurrection of Christ, when believers were flowing into the church in crowds, Mary also went there, but could not enter it, no matter how much she tried to squeeze in alone and together with others. At first this circumstance seemed to her an accident, but when in her eyes a multitude of people entered the church, and some invisible force kept removing her, she thought that, perhaps, her sins and the wrath of God did not allow her to enter the shrine. In feelings of repentance and heartfelt contrition for her wickedness, Mary raised her gaze upward and saw an icon of the Mother of God on the wall. Then Mary, with tears, began to ask the Queen of Heaven to be a helper and intercessor for her before God, and made a firm vow to correct her life. After that, she again approached the doors of the church and entered it freely. Here, with the greatest reverence, tenderness and contrition, she bowed to the cross of the Savior and, upon leaving the church, again began to pray before the icon of the Mother of God, repeated her vow of repentance before her and again asked Her to be the helper of her salvation. Then, hearing in the distance an invisible voice: “If you cross the Jordan, you will find good peace,” she mistook this voice for the voice of God and, having bought three small loaves of bread with the three coins given to her on the way by an unknown person, she went to the Jordan. On the bank of this river, in the Church of St. John the Baptist, she partook of the Holy Mysteries and ate half of the small bread. Having sailed across the Jordan in a small boat, Mary withdrew into the deep desert, in which the great forerunner of the Lord John dwelt (I cried out the stichera to the Lord). Here she spent forty-seven years, all the time without seeing not only a person, but also a beast or any other animal. She had no shelter, always being in the open air, and endured constant thirst in the waterless desert. The clothes she had previously worn had all decayed with age. Her food consisted only of desert roots and herbs. The two and a half loaves she brought across the Jordan seemed to have turned to stone, but she ate them for several years. She spent the first seventeen years in a strong struggle with her evil thoughts, as with the fiercest beasts. The idea of ​​various sensual pleasures, delicious foods and drinks tormented her, the flame of lust scorched her entire being. Exhausted, she threw herself to the ground and lay there day and night, asking for help from her heavenly Helper. Then, for 30 years, Mary, by the grace of God and the help of the Most Holy Theotokos, was freed from the agitation of passions and did not feel the harmful influence of air changes, being constantly in prayer and contemplation of God. She was so exalted by her spiritual exploits that she “surprised the ranks of angels and the hosts of men” (9th canon of the canon). During prayer, she stood in the air, walked on water as if on dry land, knew the word of God, having never read a book or learned to read and write - by one grace-filled insight, and could also know the thoughts and feelings of a person - as the Monk Zosima was privileged to see all this, to whom she told the story of her life. II. The life of the Venerable Mary is very instructive, brothers. She inspires us: 1) Avoid reasons for sin, since the first sinful falls are especially important and, if a person does not repent of them soon, very often serve as the beginning of his wickedness and corruption. 2) Therefore, after committing each sin, one must repent before God and ask for His help against temptations, since unrepentance leads to obstinacy in sin and the voice of conscience is muffled. 3) To avoid major mistakes and misconduct, obey parents, pastors of the Church, superiors and mentors, for disobedience and self-will lead people to various reckless and disastrous actions. 4) Be attentive to God calling us to the path of salvation through various circumstances of life - happy and unhappy, the voice of conscience and other means, for inattention offends the grace of God, and we can completely lose it. 5) Do not despair of God’s mercy, no matter how mired we are in any vice or passion, because the Lord always lovingly accepts sincerely repentant sinners. 6) On the other hand, do not use God’s mercy as a reason for carelessness and laziness, but constantly struggle with your passionate and bad habits, strive in prayer, contemplation of God and in labor as much as you can. 7) At the same time, one should not rely much on one’s own strength, but constantly ask for God’s help and resort to the intercession of the Queen of Heaven. 8) To acquire the grace and Mercy of God and the help of the Most Holy Theotokos, we must constantly humble ourselves and not condemn others, even apparently great sinners, both because they can repent, correct themselves and become God’s chosen ones, and because condemnation in itself is a very serious sin, for the condemner, as it were, delights in the right of judgment from the heavenly Judge, and at the same time, it is a very dangerous sin, since the condemner is deprived of the grace of God and very often is exposed to the same weaknesses and vices of which he condemned others. The Gospel in honor of the saint (Luke 7:36-50) shows that the Lord also accepts great sinners who resort to Him with true repentance, faith and zeal, which is very clearly seen in the life of the Venerable Mary. (See “Ryazan Diocesan Gazette”, 1888, No. 13). III. Let us strive, brethren, to imitate in repentance the saint of God, the Venerable Mary of Egypt, in order to be worthy to receive remission of sins and to learn for ourselves the lessons that her life instills in us, in order to inherit eternal life. Amen. Appendix to conversation No. 7. About the Great Canon Since the Great Canon has significance in the Orthodox Church and for Orthodox Christians and is read in its entirety on Thursday at Matins of the 5th week of Lent, we consider it necessary to talk in as much detail as possible about it. The Great Canon was compiled in the seventh century by St. Andrew, Archbishop of Crete 12, who, in addition to this canon, wrote many others. As soon as this canon appeared, the Church unanimously gave it the name Great, not so much for its vastness - there are 250 troparia in it - but for its inner dignity and strength: “It contains inexpressible tenderness, and it is so strong and touching that it can soften the hardest soul and breathe into it vigor and strength for saving activity, if only it is sung with due attention and from a heart imbued with contrition.” (Synaxarion on Thursday of the 5th week). Everything that can arouse a person to repentance, humility, prayer, self-sacrifice - everything is collected and presented in it. It indicates all the events of the Old and New Testaments, in which the meaning and power of sin and the meaning and power of a righteous life were especially strikingly expressed, and all the persons in whom one or the other was realized were indicated. The fall of the first man and the deep corruption of the primitive world; the virtues of Noah and the stubborn impenitence of Sodom and Gomorrah; patriarchs and great people of the ancient world: Job, Moses, Joshua, etc.; the piety of David, his terrible fall and rebellion, the greatness and humiliation of Solomon, the wickedness of Ahab and Jezebel; great examples of repentance: the Ninevites, Manasseh, the harlot, the thief - in a word, we have before us the whole of sacred history in its most important representatives of piety, turning to God and unrepentance for iniquities. And every event, every example is given so that everyone can make a personal application to himself, learn a lesson and edification for himself. And, as if not content with examples from sacred history, or knowing that there will always be unrepentant ones who will say: “Those were other times, other circumstances, and even other people, not as weak as we are now,” he points to a living example, an example of a fall below which it is impossible to fall below, and a rebellion to which a person can rise, even if he has fallen so deeply - the example of Mary of Egypt 13 . And what gives this canon a special, irresistible power is that it does not contain dry, lifeless references to examples - no, everything here is deeply, sincerely felt. For himself, first of all, the compiler of the canon draws lessons from the examples, compares himself with them and, finding this comparison not in his favor, denounces, reproaches and warns himself. That is why reading this canon has such a strong effect on the soul. You see, you feel, you realize that this is not a general denunciation of general depravity, but mine - personal, that St. Andrey says exactly what I have to say if all these examples are compared with my life and activities. Yes, every word of Andreev is my word, if only with the same strict impartiality I examine and define myself - there is no other word and there cannot be. The Great Canon, in its entirety, is read on Thursday of the fifth week at Matins. Here, in former times, the life of St. Mary was read. That is why Matins itself received the name standing of Mary of Egypt, which has survived to this day. Divided into 4 parts, it is read in the first four days of the 1st week of Lent. Its external difference from other canons is that it has all nine songs and each of its troparions is accompanied by David’s word of repentance: “Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me!” Let us present here the irmos and several troparia of this canon. Song one. Irmos. This God is my helper and protector, and I will glorify Him, the God of my father, and I will exalt Him: gloriously will I be glorified. In Russian: My helper and patron became my savior. Behold, He is my God, and I will glorify Him, the God of my father, and will exalt Him, because He has been solemnly glorified. Where should I begin to mourn the deeds of my disastrous life? What beginning shall I make, O Christ, for real weeping? But You, being merciful, forgive my sins. Go, lost soul, with your flesh, repent before the Creator of all, leave your previous senselessness and shed tears of repentance before God. Woe to me, my lost soul! Why have you become like your first wife, Eve? You looked with unclean eyes - and you were terribly poisoned; touched the forbidden - and boldly indulged in meaningless pleasures. Adam was deservedly expelled from paradise: he did not keep one of Your commandments, Savior. What must I endure when I constantly reject Your commandments, which exude life? On me lies a murder heavier than Cain’s: caring only for the life of the flesh, I, with full consciousness, became the murderer of my soul, rebelling against it with my criminal deeds. Yes, I have sinned, Savior. But I know that You are merciful, You punish with condescension and are ready to show mercy. You see someone crying and, like a father, you rush towards your dissolute son, calling him to You. Since my youth I have been violating Your commandments, Savior. Indulging in passions, I spent my whole life carelessly and carelessly. That is why I appeal to You, Savior: at least at the end of my life, save me. Do not go into court with me, presenting my deeds, examining my words, denouncing my spiritual aspirations; but, O All-Powerful One, in Your mercy save me, despising all my wickedness. (Venerable Mary) Having conquered the violent desires for carnal pleasures, you turned to Christ, completely submitting to His divine commandments, and, with all reverence, fulfilled all the virtues as one. Song two. Irmos. Look into the sky, and I will proclaim and sing of Christ, who came in the flesh from the Virgin. In Russian: Listen, sky! I will speak and sing praises to Christ, who, being born of the Virgin, came in the flesh. Listen, sky! I will speak; Hear, O earth, the voice bringing repentance to God and glorifying Him. God my Savior! Hear me in Your mercy and accept my sincere repentance. I have sinned more than all people: I alone could have sinned so much before You! But, as God and Savior, be merciful to Your creation. I have lost my original beauty and splendor, and now I lie naked and ashamed. I covered myself with a shameful robe like leaves of a fig tree; but it only exposes the predominance of passions in me. Another Irmos. You see, you see, for I am God, who rained down manna and brought forth water from stones of old in the desert by My people, by My one right hand and by My strength. In Russian: Look, look, here I am God, I, who in ancient times sent down manna from heaven to His people in the desert, and brought water out of the rock, and all this only by My power. Having completely ignored those who lived before the law (that is, until the time when God gave the law through Moses), you, soul, did not become like Seth, did not imitate Enos, nor Enoch, nor Noah; but it turned out to be alien to the life of the righteous. But you, my soul, opened the abysses of the wrath of your God, and drowned everything like the earth - flesh, deeds, and life - while you yourself remained outside the saving ark.” (To Mary) Plunged into the abyss of evil, you, Mary, stretched out your hands to the merciful God, and He, who sought your conversion in every way, out of mercy and to you, like Peter, stretched out His divine hand. Song three. Irmos. Establish my thoughts on the immovable Christ, the stone of Your commandments. In Russian: Christ! establish my thought on the unshakable rock of Your commandments. Soul! Flee to the mountain, like Lot, and hasten to Zoar. Run from the flames and try to hide from the burning of Sodom - from this endless fire that will be kindled by God Himself. Trinity-One, God! Save us from temptations, from temptations and from surrounding dangers. Another Irmos. Establish, O Lord, on the rock of Your commandments, my moved heart, for You alone are holy and the Lord. In Russian: Lord! establish my wavering heart on the rock of Your commandments, because You alone are holy and Lord. I, Savior, imitated Noah’s dissolute contemporaries, but I will face the same fate - inevitable death. You have heard, my soul, how in ancient times Abraham left his homeland and became a wanderer on the earth - imitate his determination. Flee from sin, as he departed from the land of Haran; go to the land that exudes ever-living incorruption, which Abraham has already received as an inheritance. You know, the lost soul, like Isaac, who prefigured the sacrament (the death of the Savior on the cross), was lifted up in a hitherto unprecedented burnt offering - imitate his firmness. Live in the world, among people, imitate the priest of God and the solitary king, who was the likeness of Christ (of course, Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of the Most High God, who blessed Abraham). And about the ladder from earth to heaven, which Jacob saw, you know, my soul: why don’t you have a reliable ascent there - piety? (To Mary) The storm and uncontrollable waves of sins have taken over me, Mary. But help me, and with your prayers guide me to the haven of repentance pleasing to God. Canto Four. Irmos. The prophet heard Thy coming, O Lord, and feared, for Thou wouldst be born of a virgin and appear as a man, and said: I heard Thy hearing and was afraid: glory to Thy power, O Lord. In Russian: Lord! The prophet trembled when it was revealed to him about Your coming, that You would be born of a Virgin and appear among people, and said: “I received a revelation about You, Lord, and fear seized me: may there be glory to Your power.” Stay awake, my soul; Try with all your might, like the great patriarch (James), to acquire activity and understanding, to see God through contemplation, to penetrate the impregnable darkness and, thus, acquire exactly what is needed. Knowing about Job, who was justified on the dung heap, his firmness, you, my soul, did not imitate and did not have firm determination in what you saw and experienced, but you turned out to be impatient in everything. More than anyone else, he was fair and honest and, despite this, he did not escape the attack and shackles of the seducer; What will happen to you, lost soul, with your sinful aspirations? What will you do when something like this happens to you? Merciful! Having given myself over to passions that were so destructive to the soul, I became an idol for myself. But, Savior, show me mercy: accept me who repents, restore me who confesses, so that I do not become the property and victim of the enemy. (Maria) Maria! mired in the abyss of great unrest, you indulged in it without restraint. But when the desire for the best awakened in you, you miraculously rose to the very top of virtue with your activity, surprising even the angels with this. Song five. Irmos. From the morning night, O lover of mankind, enlighten me, I pray, and guide me in Thy commandments, and teach me, O Savior, to do Thy will. In Russian: More humane! I pray to You: illuminate me with Your light, who never ceases to sing the song of the morning to You at night, guide me on the path of Your commandments and teach me, Savior, to fulfill Your will. Christ the King! I confess to You that I have sinned; sinned, as Joseph’s brothers once did, who sold the fruit of purity and chastity. He was connected by siblings - a righteous soul; sold into slavery - worthy of all love - and typified the Lord (sold and betrayed); and you, soul, sold yourself entirely with your wickedness. Behold, soul, imitate the life of Moses when he dwelt in the desert, and you will contemplate God appearing in the bush. Song six. Irmos. I cried out with all my heart to the generous God, and heard me from the underworld, and raised my belly from aphids. In Russian: With all my heart I cried out to the merciful God - and from the very depths of the underworld He heard me and delivered my life from corruption. You, soul, have strayed from the Lord, like Dathan and Abiron; but in the very depths cry to the Lord: have mercy! so that the earth does not open up under you and swallow you up. Your aspirations are meaningless, soul, as in the ancient times of Israel: you insanely preferred satiety to the depraved pleasures of passions to divine manna. Arm yourself and fight, as Joshua once did with Amalek, with carnal passions and always try to defeat the Gibeonites - seductive thoughts. (Maria) Maria! With your extraordinary life on earth you acquired heavenly dispassion. Pray, therefore, that those who glorify you will be delivered from passions for your prayers. Kontakion. My soul, my soul, arise from what you have written down; the end is approaching and the imashi will be confused: arise (wake up), for Christ God, who is everywhere and fulfills everything, will have mercy on you. In Russian: My soul, my soul! wake up, why are you sleeping? The end is approaching - and how embarrassed you will be! Wake up, so that Christ God, who is omnipresent and fulfills everything, will have mercy on you. The Seventh Song. Irmos. We have sinned, we have been lawless, we have been untruthful before You, we have been inferior to observance, inferior to those who have done as You commanded us: but do not betray us to the end, O God of the fathers. In Russian: We have sinned, we have committed lawlessness, we have committed all sorts of unrighteousness before You; we have not kept or fulfilled anything that You commanded us; but, God of the fathers, do not abandon us to the end. I reveal the secrets of my heart to You, my Judge, look how bitter it is for me; look how hard it is for me; notice how I judge myself. O God of the fathers! You are merciful: You yourself have mercy on me When the ark was being transported on a chariot and the turning calf almost dropped it, Zan only touched it (to support it) - he was punished by God's wrath. Soul! Avoid such insolence and reverently honor everything divine. Oh my grief! You, my soul, have tried to imitate the abominations of Ahab: you have become an abode of carnal impurities and a shameful receptacle of passions; but from your very depths, turn to God in prayer and confess your sins to Him. And for you, soul, heaven was closed, and hunger befell you, just as Ahab once did when he did not listen to the words of Elijah the Tishbite (prophet); but try to be like the widow of Sarepta, who nourished the prophet during the famine. Oh my Savior! I have completely lost Your image; perverted Your law; darkened everything that was good in me; passions extinguished the lamp (mind); but, having had mercy, return me, as David says, joy. (To Mary) Having called upon the Most Pure Mother of God for help, you first of all suppressed within yourself the storm of passions that so cruelly tormented you, and thereby defeated the enemy who had gained the upper hand over you. And now help me, who honors you, in my bitter situation. Canto Eight. Irmos. Whom the armies of heaven praise, and tremble with cherubs and seraphim, every breath and creature, sing, bless and exalt to all ages. In Russian: Everything created by God, everything that lives and breathes, sing, bless and forever glorify Him, Whom the heavenly army glorifies and before Whom the cherubim and seraphim tremble. Once Elisha, having received the cloak of Eliin, received a double gift of grace from God (prophecy and miracles); and you, soul, for your intemperance, have not been awarded such grace. Once upon a time, a Somanite woman treated a righteous man with cordiality; and you, soul, did not accept either a stranger or a traveler into your home. This is why you will be kicked out of the palace (the kingdom of heaven) and you will weep. Soul! You heard how the Ninevites repented before God: they put on sackcloth and sprinkled ashes on their heads. And you did not imitate them; on the contrary, she turned out to be worse than all sinners who were before the law and after the law. Merciful Savior! No one has sinned before You more than me; despite this, accept me, repenting with trepidation and crying out with love: “I have sinned before You alone, have mercy on me, O merciful One.” (To Mary) Having seen an unexpected miracle in you, saint, blessed Zosima could not help but be amazed: he saw an angel in the flesh and, completely filled with fear, praised the eternal Christ. Canto Ninth. Irmos. From the seedless conception there is an unspeakable nativity, to the mother of the husbandless mother the incorruptible fruit: God’s birth renews the nature: with the same do we give birth to you all, as the Blessed Mother of God, we Orthodoxy magnify. In Russian: Behind seedless conception there is an inexplicable Christmas; from a husbandless Mother and the fruit is imperishable; for the birth of God renews nature. That is why we - all generations - Orthodoxy glorify You, the Blessed Mother of God. The mind is all damaged; the body has become decrepit; the spirit faints; the word has lost its power; life is extinguished, the end is near, what will you do, my lost soul, when the Judge appears to examine everything that is yours? The law has lost its force for you; The gospel means nothing to you; you have neglected all the Holy Scriptures; the prophets and all the inspired word have weakened: - you are all sick, soul, and there is no doctor who would heal you. In order to touch you with something else, I give instructions from the New Testament. Try to imitate the righteous, and turn away from sinners, and propitiate Christ with prayer, fasting, purity and abstinence. The incarnate Christ called thieves and harlots to repentance. Soul, repent, the door of the (heavenly) kingdom is already open, and first of all, repentant publicans and adulterers enter there. After fasting for forty days in the desert, the Lord became hungry, thus testifying to His human nature. Soul! Don't indulge in carelessness; if the enemy attacks you, then repel him with prayer and fasting. The forerunner of grace settled in the desert, and all of Judea and Samaria, hearing it, rushed to him and, confessing their sins, diligently accepted baptism; and you, soul, did not imitate them. Soul! After all, you know about the cities to which Christ preached the gospel, to what curse they were subjected (Luke 10:13-15); shuddering at this instruction, do not be like them, whom the Lord, equating with the Sodomites, condemned even to hell. The thief blasphemed You, and the thief confessed You as God, and both hung on the cross. But, O All-Merciful One! like the thief who believed in You and knew God in You, open the door of Your glorious kingdom to me. Do not demand from me fruits worthy of repentance, because my strength within me has failed. Always grant me a contrite heart and humility of spirit, so that I may offer them to You, only Savior, as an acceptable sacrifice. My judge, who knows all of me! You, who are about to come again with the angels to judge the whole world, then, looking at me mercifully, have mercy and have mercy on me, Jesus, who has sinned more than all people. (Maria) Maria! with your wonderful life you surprised everyone - angels and people. You lived as spiritual beings (angels), conquered nature itself, and through this, entering the Jordan, crossed it as an incorporeal being. Subsequently, troparia were added to this beautiful canon in honor of its creator, St. Andrey Kritsky. That is why in every song, after: “Reverend Mother Mary, pray to God for us,” they sing: “Reverend Father Andrew, pray to God for us.” Here, for example, are two troparions: Andrei! We pray to you: with your prayers, deliver us from shameful passions and intercede that we, who sing of you with faith and love, glorious one, may be worthy of the kingdom of heaven (first song). Oh, Andrew, Saint of Crete! Through your prayers, intercede for me forgiveness of sins, because you are the best teacher of repentance (song three). In the church charter about the reading of this canon, this is what it says: “We begin the Great Canon inertly (slowly, without haste) and with a contrite heart and voice, doing three throwings for each troparion (that is, three bows before each verse).” Conversations 8. About the service on Saturday of the 5th week of Lent I. The ancient Israelites, after the death of their enemies in the depths of the Red Sea, sang on its shores a victorious song to the deliverer - God, joyfully exclaiming: “Thy right hand, O Lord, is glorified in strength; Thy right hand, O Lord, has slain the enemy” (Ex. 15:6). And every year since then, on Easter, they sang this song, in memory of their miraculous deliverance from powerful enemies. And the Orthodox New Testament Church has seen itself repeatedly overcome by the right hand of the Almighty, and its enemies, in grave moments of danger, were overthrown by miraculous help from above. II. On Saturday in the 5th week of St. The Holy Church solemnly proclaims a song of gratitude to the Most Holy Theotokos, through whose help and intercession Constantinople was saved three times from strong and fierce enemies. Since at the very beginning its founder, the great Constantine, was dedicated to the Mother of God, the city of Constantine therefore revered the Most Holy Virgin as its patroness. There, many churches were erected in Her honor; there, in the Blachernae Church, a holy image of Her, written by the Evangelist Luke, and Her sacred robe and belt were kept. In 627, the fierce preachers of Alcoran were barely known, but another strong enemy was tormenting the Eastern Church: Chosroes, the Persian king, the same one who took Jerusalem and, having robbed the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, captured the Life-Giving Tree of the Cross of Christ along with Patriarch Zechariah. His commander Sarbaz, having conquered Syria, Palestine and Egypt, freely reached Chrysopolis (present-day Scutari), destroying Christian churches everywhere and forcing Christians to worship the sun. On the other hand, the Avar Kagan, treacherously breaking the peace, rushed towards the empire with crowds of barbarians and placed his tents in front of the gates of Constantinople. Emperor Heraclius was then with an army in the depths of Persia, avenging the shame of St. city, and its troubled capital, seeing the lights of the barbarians from its walls, sought protection only in the churches of the Lord. Patriarch Sergius, with the image of the Mother of God walking around the walls and pillars of the city, begged heaven for protection and encouraged the citizens with the help of the Mother of God. The churches were constantly open, and the people begged the saint day and night. Protector of the city to save it from the weapons of foreigners. The fierce enemies, having rejected the peace offered to them, threatened with blasphemy not to leave one stone unturned in the city, but on that memorable night, when the united forces of the Avars and Persians from the sea and the dry route moved to crush the walls of Constantinople, a terrible storm, which suddenly rose up against the Blachernae church itself, scattered and sank their ships with a multitude of troops. On the morning of the next day, their remnants, driven by fear of heaven, fled back in shame. It was then that the grateful people, who had been in the church all that night, cried out to St. To the victorious defender of the city, “the all-night vigil and not sedentary”, the hymn: “To the chosen Voivode, victorious, for having got rid of the evil ones, let us sing thanksgiving to Thy servants, O Virgin Mother of God!” And from then on, “in remembrance of this great and supernatural miracle, the Church accepts to assign this feast to the Mother of God at the present time, when there was victory for the Mother of God. The unsaddled (akathist) spoke, all the people then simply standing behind them, the Mother of the Word hurriedly sang a song” (Synaxarion). Constantinople saw similar actions of the intercession of the Mother of God in subsequent times, during the reign of Constantine Pogonatus and Leo the Isaurian, during the attack of the Saracens and Hagarians. Their troops and ships, scattered by a storm, all perished in the depths of the sea. The Church combines all these glorious memories into one and collectively offers the “Victory Voivode Elected.” We do not know the creator of the akathist - a work that, both in content and in appearance, is unique in the circle of church songs. One must think that it is contemporary with the most wonderful event, for a fresh grateful feeling is visible in all his songs. Perhaps the Patriarch, Sergius, who prayed with the people in the Blachernae Church and witnessed the miracle itself, then, or shortly afterwards, composed this laudatory song to the Mother of God as a memory for centuries to come about “Her omnipotent leadership.” At first, the feast of the akathist was celebrated only in Constantinople, and precisely among the royal palaces, in the very Blachernae Church, in which the miraculous image of the Mother of God and the consecrated remains of Her earthly life were kept: Her robe and belt, and where the people, on the night of the attack on the city of the Avars and Persians, celebrated the all-night vigil of the Mother of God, but in the 9th century this holiday was included in the typologies of the monasteries of St. Sava and Studite and then into Triodion, and from that time on it came into general use throughout the Eastern Church. In its external composition, an akathist is nothing more than a sacred panegyric (praise) in honor of the Blessed Virgin, consisting of 24 hymns or songs, arranged in accordance with the 24 letters of the Greek alphabet. Each hymn, beginning with the letter of the alphabet corresponding to it, ends, in succession, with the psalm “Alleluia!” or with the greeting of the Archangel of the Mother of God “Rejoice”, and the whole creation ends with a short prayer to the Blessed Virgin that She would save Christians from disasters and misfortunes. The akathist is read in this form on all other days of the year, at the beginning or at the end of other church services; but on Saturday of the 5th week it is included in the very composition of the divine service and is sung at Matins, and not all at once, but separately, in the interval of other songs and its readings - in 4 different exits, each section begins and ends with the singing of the first kontakion “To the Mounted Voivode” and so on. Later, Joseph the Studite wrote a canon on Saturday Akathist, and some other people added prayers of thanksgiving to this in memory of the same “omnipotent governorship” of the Mother of God. III. It is impossible to pass here in silence that our Orthodox fatherland has more than once seen the obvious protection of the Mother of God over itself. Christian Greece, as it were, entrusted Russia to the protection of the Mother of God, handing over to her, along with Christianity, one of the St. images of Her, which, according to legend, was written by the Evangelist Luke. Repeatedly this face of the Most Holy Virgin accompanied the Russian regiments during their battle with the infidels and showed miraculous help when their forces were too weak to fight them. It is enough to remember one miraculous deliverance from the invasion of the formidable Tamerlane, who was already standing on the Russian borders, and suddenly turned back from the vision of the Heavenly Virgin in a dream, so that, together with Greece of the same faith, we can sing to this Most Holy Virgin the same song of thanksgiving, victorious: “To the chosen Voivode, victorious, as having been delivered from the evil ones, let us sing thanksgiving to Thy servants, Virgin Mary!" (Compiled from “Sunday Reading”). Sixth week of Great Lent. Conversation No. 9. About the resurrection of Lazarus (Lessons from the Gospel reading: a) Jesus Christ will call everyone to life, just as He called Lazarus from the dead; b) The Lord is able to resurrect from sinful death to life; c) Jesus Christ is our resurrection and our true life). I. On Saturday of the 6th week of Great Lent, the greatest miracle of the Lord is remembered - the resurrection of four-day-old Lazarus from the dead. Jesus Christ performed a great and glorious miracle by raising Lazarus from the dead. When Lazarus fell ill, as we heard in the Gospel, Lazarus’s sisters sent to Jesus to notify Him that Lazarus, whom He loved, was ill. But Jesus hesitated to come to the sick man. Lazarus died, and Jesus was still far from Bethany, where Lazarus lived with his sisters, Martha and Mary, and when Jesus came to Bethany, he found that Lazarus had been lying in the tomb for four days. Met by the sisters of Lazarus, Jesus as a man mourns with them and asks: “Where did you lay him?” Jesus again mourns, coming to the tomb, and says: “Take the stone.” The sister of the deceased says to Him: “Lord! already stinks; for he has been in the grave for four days.” This is evidence that Lazarus’ body has already given over to corruption, according to the law of human, mortal nature. Jesus says, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” Thus He prepares for the vision of a great miracle. So, they took the stone away from the cave where the deceased was laid. Jesus glorifies the Father in the hearing of the people, and then, as the Son of God, he cried out with a loud voice: “Lazarus! get out." “And the dead man came out.” Jesus speaks to that Lazarus, whose soul had already been in another world for four days, to that Lazarus, whose body was already being destroyed and given over to corruption. Jesus speaks not as if he needed help from above to perform a miracle, but as Almighty. He commands in a loud voice: “Lazarus! get out." And the soul of Lazarus, having heard the commanding word of Jesus, the Lord of the living and the dead, returned to its body, and the decayed body of Lazarus, having heeded the voice of the Lord, threw off the bonds of corruption, and, as if from a dream, rose to life. "Lazarus! get out. And the dead man came out." Lazarus, according to the word of the Lord, resurrected and came out of the cave in which he was buried. So Jesus Christ, by this miracle, clearly showed that He is not an ordinary man: for who can create such a miracle with his own strength? He showed that He was not such a prophet as there were before Him, for example, Moses, Elijah, Isaiah, Daniel. Those prophets performed miracles not by their own power, but by the power of God, therefore, before performing a miracle, they usually turned to God in prayer and performed miracles in the name of God. And Jesus Christ, as the omnipotent God, Himself, by His own power, works miracles, He Himself commands: “Lazarus! get out” and thus shows that He is almighty God. He speaks, and His voice calls the soul from another world, and the dead body, given over to decay, came to life, became healthy, and the four-day-old man was resurrected. While Jesus Christ performed a miracle, many who saw the miracle believed in Him, as the evangelist says: “Many of the Jews who came to Mary and saw what Jesus did, believed in Him” (John 11:45). So always, reading and listening to the story of the resurrection of Lazarus, we must revive our faith in the Lord Jesus, think about His divine greatness and omnipotence, about His boundless dominion over the living and the dead, over the visible and invisible world. II. a) Let us think, brethren, how Jesus Christ with His divine word called Lazarus from death to life, so on the last day He will call all the dead to life in order to bring about judgment on the living and the dead. The Lord Himself teaches: “The time is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who have done good will come forth into the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil into the resurrection of condemnation” (John 5:28-29). b) Let us also think, brethren, that in this way and at all times the Lord is able to resurrect from the death of sin to life of grace. He says: “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life” (John 5:24). Whoever listens to the word of the Lord Jesus and believes in Him and His Father has eternal life, i.e. whoever listens with faith to the teaching of Jesus Christ and follows it, as a true disciple of Christ, receives the grace of the Holy Spirit, which, if he remains faithful to Christ until the end of his life, will be in him a source of spiritual peace and consolation, a guarantee and predestination of eternal bliss - will prepare him for his fate in the eternal glory of the Lord Savior, King of heaven and earth. He who has this grace-filled life in his soul on the last day will not be condemned along with sinners or those who did not believe in Jesus Christ or those who did not fulfill His commandments. But at the voice of the Lord, having assumed the glorified body, he will stand at the right hand of the Lord and hear His longed voice: “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:34). c) Jesus Christ said to Lazarus’ sister: “I am the resurrection and the life... Everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die” (John 11:25–26). So the Lord Jesus is both our resurrection and our true life. Let us always love Him with all our heart and all our soul, as our God and Savior. Let us be most concerned about faithfully fulfilling His commandments, no matter who is in what rank or condition. And we will live forever by the grace of the Lord Savior, and bodily death will not be terrible for us: for in this way we will only move from this vain and sorrowful life to an endless and blissful life. III. Christ the Savior and our God! Just as You, by Your omnipotent word, raised the four-day-old Lazarus from death to life, so, by the power of Your Spirit, raise us all from sinful death to grace-filled life and grant us to always live by faith in You, always fulfill Your commandments and remain faithful to You until the end of our lives, so that with hope we can move into eternal life. (Compiled from the “Sermon” of Eusebius, Archbishop of Mogilev). D. Some Lenten prayers and chants Conversation No. 1. On the words “Remember me, Lord, when you come into Your kingdom” I. But how will the Lord remember me in His glorious kingdom? It was good for the thief, who suffered together with the God-man and, in the midst of the torment of the cross, came to know his Savior; it was good for him to say then: remember me, Lord! Without relying on any of his previous deeds, unable to continue to do anything pleasing to God, the repentant on the cross could find joy in the fact that he was suffering together with the God-man, and could say to Him like this: “Lord! do not forget me, Your fellow sufferer, although I suffer for my sins, and You suffer innocently. Turn this very thing into my merit, that I, the guilty one, suffer with You, the All-Holy One!” What, my soul, can you say to the Lord? Do you suffer with Him? You are definitely suffering, you are in a terrible illness, but you, poor thing, feel little of this suffering, you even love this illness. No! you suffer without the Lord, and how can you say to Him: “Remember me in Your kingdom.” How and why should we remember You? Those who lived and died for the Lord had even more right to say the prayer “Remember me, Lord,” those who “in everything showed themselves to be servants of God, in great patience, in adversity, in need, in difficult circumstances, under blows, in prisons, in exiles, in labors, in vigils, in fasting” (2 Cor. 6:4-5), could say: “For You they die Every day we are counted as sheep destined to be slaughtered" (Rom. 8:36). Those who have done a lot of good to their neighbors also have the right to pray this way, for example, people like Nehemiah, who, having accomplished the feat of love for his fatherland, said: “Remember, my God, for my good, everything that I have done for this people!” (Neh. 5:19), or the beneficent Tobit, whose prayer: “Remember me and look upon me” (Tov. 3:3) was worthily heard. But what have you done for the Lord or for your neighbors, my soul, for which the Lord would remember you in His kingdom? There are, as if the Lord has memorial books, in which all our deeds, good and evil, are written; By these books we will one day be judged (Rev. 20:12). But for you, my soul, who has not done anything good, it is better to pray not “remember, Lord,” but “forget what I did on earth, so that everything that serves to my condemnation may be blotted out from the book of my life!” Ask for the blessings of those “whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered” (Ps. 32:1). With what thought, with what feeling will I repeat the prayer “Remember me, Lord?” III. There is only one thing left for me - to pray to my Savior like this: “Remember me, Lord, Lover of Mankind, while I am still in this life, before the doors of repentance are closed for me, remember me with Your endless mercy and do not leave the perishing without Your gracious help. O Thou who reignest forever among Thy saints! Remember that there is Your unfortunate and perishing creature on earth, which, although from time to time, rushes to You, seeks You and desires to find its peace and bliss in You. Remember this creature, drowning in vanity and sins, and extend a helping hand to it! Remember me, Lord, in Your kingdom!” (Compiled from “The Helmsman”, 1890). Conversation No. 2. To the words “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” I. This is what the publican who came to the church with a broken heart found better to say! He looked all over himself and found nothing good. He had only hope for God's mercy. It is to this mercy of the Lord that he now turns and, turning from the depths of his heart, he cries out: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” II. Let us delve deeper into our life, into our behavior, into the state of our soul - and a sigh like a publican’s will burst from our chest, and our heart will desire nothing more than to pray this tender prayer: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” Where have you been before, sinner? Our own conscience speaks to each of us. Whose will were you doing? What rules did you follow? God! God! I was far from You, Your law was not in my memory, my soul was not attached to Your commandments. I lived as I wanted, I did what my wayward will, my whimsical flesh wanted. I did not find consolation in prayer, in visiting church, in helping my neighbor, in motivating myself. For me it was more pleasant to be where there was worldly laughter and joy, to see and hear what pleased only the senses. My soul languished with longing for You, and I turned it further and further away from You. And what can I do but cry out to You: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” I am showered from head to toe with Your mercies towards me. You gave me a soul, You gave me the gift of speech, a heart capable of all good things. You, finally, out of love for me, came down to earth and shed Your blood for me in order to save me from the hands of the enemy the devil. But I did not feel these mercies and remained ungrateful to You. I did not use the reason given to me to understand You, I did not use the gift of speech to praise You, to proclaim about You - I uttered idle words with my tongue, often harmful to my neighbor and often those that offended both my soul and my body. I forgot about Your grave sufferings endured for me, I, by my oblivion, imputed them to nothing and, looking at Your cross, indifferently, calmly continued to crucify You a second time with my unclean life, a life sometimes not better than an unreasonable animal? But, Lord, do not be angry with me for my ingratitude towards You - and be merciful to me, a sinner! Bearing Your name, sealed by the Holy Spirit, I should be all love; but this love that You are looking for in me is not in me. I'm callous and cruel. My heart is petrified, my eyes do not shed tears of tenderness. I calmly look at the misfortune of my neighbor, I even often rejoice at it, I cannot indifferently see the prosperity of my brother, I would wish all the best only for myself. I strictly judge the actions of everyone. I'm only lenient with myself. Oh, Lord, do not rebuke me, naked from love, but have mercy according to Your mercy! God, be merciful to me, a sinner! You, Lord, out of Your love for me, have often admonished me in my carelessness. You sent me sorrows, deprivations, failures, illnesses, but I did not heed them. I did not value such a visit from You. I did not correct myself, but grumbled, considering myself in my pride worthy of joys alone. I didn’t even want to know that through sorrow and patience I must achieve my salvation. I was looking for something without knowing what, thinking only about earthly things, sometimes completely forgetting the soul, eternity, death, judgment. I lived as if I would never die. But, Lord, do not punish me for such carelessness with Your righteous judgment and be merciful to me, a sinner! (See Sunday Afternoon, 1888, No. 15). III. Brothers! We all stand before the Lord sick, wounded by passions, sinful habits, we are all in sins, just as in scabs there is no place in us that is whole, a place that is healthy. Let us feel this illness as deeply as possible, just as the publican felt his sinfulness. Let us all go to the Physician of our souls - the Lord, let us ask Him for healing, weep, weep for ourselves before Him, put an intention in our hearts - a firm intention to live for Him, and the Lord will accept our confession, heal and justify, as He justified the tax collector. Oh, if ever, then now, in the days of confessing our sins, we will repeat the prayer of the publican, we will enter the spirit and be imbued with the thoughts and feelings that are contained in it, and humble and contrite prayer will save us! Conversation No. 3. On the words “On the rivers of Babylon, there weeping and mourning, Zion will never be remembered to us” (Ps. 136) I. The attentive ones among us hear the singing of this psalm at all-night vigils on three Sundays: on the week of the Prodigal Son, on the week of meat - the memory of the Last Judgment, and on the week of cheese - the fall of Adam. II. Why is this psalm sung at this time, what does it mean, what does it have to do with us? By proclaiming this psalm on the week of the Prodigal Son, on the week of the reminder of the Last Judgment and on the week of remembrance of the fall of Adam, the Holy Church wants us to be imbued with the feelings expressed in the psalm - the feelings that the Jews breathed in the Babylonian captivity. In captivity, we live in a sinful world as exiles from our heavenly fatherland. At our feet, before our eyes, the river of times flows into the sea of ​​eternity, carrying away year after year of our fleeting life, century after century of the life of an entire people and all humanity. The activity of our spiritual powers is connected by our limitations, our carnality, our sinfulness, and the conditions of earthly life that are painful for the impulses of the soul to heaven. Instead of singing songs to the glory of God in paradise or in heaven, we must, by the sweat of our brow, earn bread on the cursed earth, hang harps on the willows of Babylon, instead of singing the praise of God and our happiness on them in the heavenly homeland, in the heavenly Jerusalem. The already disastrous and cramped conditions of sinful earthly life are directed by an invisible, insidious enemy so that we serve him with the powers given to us by God, not only involuntarily, like captives, but also with love, like obsequious slaves, amusing him and his minions with the whole structure of our thoughts and feelings and desires, words and deeds and inclinations. This is where the grief comes in! It is this grief that the Church wants to remind us of. Remind us that we are prisoners, and we have forgotten this. Remind us that we should cry, but we fool ourselves with artificial joys. To remind you that life is passing away and the end is approaching and the imams are confused, but we imagine that this will never happen, we think about the joys and worries of the present moment and tomorrow, when, perhaps, today one of us will not be in the world. To remind you that the blessings of this world are perishable and perishable, and we cling to them with all the strength of our soul. To remind us to serve God, and not to please the dark forces, to love God with all our hearts, with all our thoughts, with all our strength, but we, thinking about everything to please the devil, forget to think about God. So the Jews sang about their earthly Jerusalem: if I forget you, Jerusalem, my right hand will be forgotten, O Lord! (Ps. 137:5) Do we remember our heavenly Jerusalem? And we don’t think so! Today the Church put the following things into our ears: “Adam sat straight from heaven and wept his nakedness in a poster: alas, I was warned by evil deception and was robbed and taken away from glory... Sometimes this king of the earth of all God’s creatures has now appeared as a captive...” But we did not even hear or listen to this. We are also deaf to the suggestions of the Church - to beware of the sons of Edom, our brothers in the flesh, but not in the spirit, who say in the day of the destruction of spiritual Jerusalem in our souls and those around us: “Deplete, exhaust it to its foundations.” Our hearts are dull and hard to remind the Church about the final judgment, about reward for the righteous, about the torment of sinners along with the devil and his angels, about the need to smash against stone every child of sin that lives and multiplies in us, every evil thought, vicious movement of the heart, dark impulse of the will. “Blessed is he who has and will dash your babies against the stone,” this song of the Church, the song of the Spirit of God for us is only a pleasant irritation of the ear, if in God’s church on appointed days it is sung well. III. We have sinned, O Lord, we have sinned without law, we have acted untruthfully before You, we have been inferior to observance, we have been inferior to those who have done as Thou hast commanded us. Amen. (Compiled from “Teachings, conversations, speeches, appeals and messages” by Nikanor, Archbishop of Kherson and Odessa, vol. 1.). Conversation No. 4. To the words “My soul, my soul! Get up, write what? The end is approaching, and you will be embarrassed: rise up, so that Christ God, who is everywhere and fulfills everything, will have mercy on you.” I. This is how Saint Andrew of Crete addresses his soul in a touching hymn, read according to the rules of the Church at the evening service of the first week of Great Lent. II. Let us, Christians, turn with these words to our soul and try to awaken it from a heavy, painful sinful sleep. My soul, my soul, arise! Arise from your attraction and attachment to earthly things! Arise from your enslavement to the flesh! After all, you were created not for earth, but for heaven! Not for enslavement to the corruptible, but for the service and glorification of your Eternal Creator and Provider! My soul, arise, what are you writing off? Look how those who want your salvation are waiting for your awakening. Here your guardian angel stands before you. He says to you: “Raise your eyes, poor soul, from earth to heaven! Arise from your sinful sleep!” Oh, what joy he will be filled with if he sees you awakening! Your tender mother, the Church of Christ, longs for your awakening, so that you, who have risen, but are still weak and sick, can begin to heal you with prayers and sacraments. Arise! Should you sleep when your faithful and sincere friends are trying to awaken you, and your primordial enemy the devil, who desires your eternal destruction, is trying even more to put you to sleep? My soul, my soul, arise! the end is approaching! Alas, my soul! Why are you neglecting your life? Why do you spend her few days absent-minded? Don’t you know that they are about to call you. They will call you to a trial open before the whole world, at the terrible judgment of God. The judgment of God is terrible, very terrible, although God is good, although He is merciful, for the same Jesus, Who now calls everyone to Himself, on the day of judgment will send away those who have not come. The end is approaching. Know, my soul, that as soon as a person has time to step into this world with one foot, he places the other in the grave. The infirmities of birth are, as it were, already the beginnings of death, the cradle is the forerunner of the coffin, the shroud is the first edge of the funeral shroud. The first hour of earthly life is already a step that brings us closer to death; an hour has passed, and our life has shortened, a day has passed - a year has passed - and we have already come much closer to the limit of our life, a considerable part of our life is no longer there; and the past is irrevocable. You are sleeping, soul, and death is quietly approaching you with quick steps. After all, you are thus wasting time, the golden time needed for your correction; rise up! If the souls of the righteous, not without confusion, thought about the hour of death, then what will be your confusion, my poor soul, when separated from the body? The hour of death will come - and the Imashi will be embarrassed. That terrible day and hour will come, in which neither brother, nor relative, nor friend, nor superiors, nor power, nor wealth, nor glory will protect. But there will only be a man and his deeds. Then you will be confused and afraid, my sinful soul. You will be afraid of those fruits whose seeds you have sown on the earth. You will be afraid of eternal Gehenna. All your earthly deeds, which you remember down to the smallest detail, will seem vile. You will wish, you will sincerely wish for correction, but it will be too late. You will pray for mercy, but there can be no mercy, and you will forever, forever suffer in such torments that you cannot even imagine now. Oh, my poor soul! But you can avoid all this! Wake up! Wake up, shake off your sinful oppression and repent, sincerely repent of all your bad past. After all, besides the path of repentance, there is no other path to salvation. Wake up, and wake up now, don’t put it off until tomorrow: the enemy is on guard, will take advantage of your slowness, and there will be no end to this “tomorrow.” Unfortunately, we not only see many people putting off repentance, but we also do the same ourselves. Oh we are unfortunate! After all, postponing until tomorrow, or, more accurately, until an unknown time, the correction of our lives, we seem to be reasoning with ourselves: “In order to purge passion from my heart, I will wait until it takes root even deeper in it. To put out the fire that is consuming me, I will wait until it becomes inextinguishable. In order to get rid of the shackles that burden me, I will hesitate until their weight increases even more. In order to free myself from the fetid sludge of sins in which I am suffocating, I will remain in it until I am completely mired in it.” Thus, we dedicate our unfulfilled desires to God, and spend our whole lives in sins. No, soul, do not put off repentance, otherwise the time will come when it will be too late and will give way only to despair. Do not put off repentance until the hour of death: you can go to hell with such repentance. So, arise, my soul! If now bad thoughts begin to confuse you again, drive them away with the thought of the Last Judgment, and they will retreat from you. Try, if possible, to remember all your sins and get ready for an early confession. Confession is one of the main actions of repentance. After the sinner comes to his senses, like the prodigal son mentioned in the Gospel parable, he recognizes his sins, turns to God with a contrite and humble heart, reproaches, condemns, mourns himself before Him, gives a diamond-hard intention to correct his life and make amends for vices with opposite virtues with firm trust in the all-powerful help of God's grace and hope for the infinite God's mercy, he must confess, reveal his sinful state before the priest, without hiding a single sin from him. But know, my soul, that repentance is an agreement with God about the correction of life, so not only perk up, but also do not plunge into sinful sleep again. If you, my soul, rise up truly, then may Christ God have mercy on you. Let your past be like a stone thrown into the sea, which disappears and remains unknown to anyone. Let your sins drown in the abyss of God’s mercy, disappear before the eye of heavenly Justice. And then you, like white snow, will be worthy of receiving the greatest of all gifts given to man - the true Body and Blood of Christ in the Sacrament of Communion. After this, Christ, who is everywhere and fulfills everything, will penetrate your being, and you will exclaim, as once Miriam, carrying the Savior in Her womb, cried out in delight of gratitude: “He who is mighty has done great things for Me” (Luke 1:49). (See “Sermons” of Innocent, Archbishop of Kherson). III. Oh, my soul, my soul! wake up and write it off! The end is approaching, and you will be embarrassed: rise up, so that Christ God, who is everywhere and fulfills everything, will have mercy on you. If you do not rise up and rise up, then such grief and such a fate will befall you, the full horror of which is completely impossible to even comprehend. Conversation No. 5. On the words “Let my prayer be corrected, as incense before You, the lifting of my hand, the evening sacrifice” Conditions for favorable prayer to God I. When the feeling of our poverty and helplessness awakens in us and prompts us to cry out to God for help, when the consciousness of our sinfulness and threatening destruction prompts us to run to God the Savior and cry out to Him with the voice of the perishing, then first of all, brethren, we must take care that our very prayer is acceptable before God. Therefore, the prophet of God prays that his prayer would be corrected before God, would go straight to heaven, would ascend to the throne of God, would be accepted and heard favorably by the goodness of God. “May my prayer be corrected like a censer before You!” II. What is needed for a censer to spread incense and lift up the mountain with the incense placed in it? First of all, you need fire. So our prayer only then ascends to the mountain and is directed to the throne of God when it comes from a heart burning with the fire of holy and God-pleasing feelings. a) This spiritual fire is kindled, my brethren, firstly, by a feeling of reverence and fear of God, when the one praying is vividly aware and feels who he is, where he is and to whom he is approaching. Earthly dust, he is worthy to appear before the throne of the Creator and Lord of all. Who with fear and trembling faces the darkness of those St. angels, cherubim and seraphim. The inexorable servant, disobedient to the all-powerful will of his Master and Lord, who used the valuable talent of life given to him for evil, dares to appear before the Lord and his Judge, before Whom the righteous, who please Him well, stand in trembling anticipation of His terrible judgment, Who even in His angels obstinately discerns something. The criminal, who has angered the Lord a thousand times with his iniquities, who has long been guilty of eternal death and fiery hell, appears before the Omniscient Judge and God, who sees all the secret thoughts of his mind, sees the innermost feelings of his heart, who has the power to destroy both his body and soul in fiery hell. May our spirit humble itself before the unapproachable Glory of God, may our soul tremble before the face of the Lord of glory, may our entire being be shaken by the fear of the truth and judgment of God! b) Another coal with which the incense of God-pleasing prayer is kindled is living love for the Lord. If we love our own life, then is it possible not to love the Giver of life - the Heavenly Father? Is it possible not to love the Lord Jesus Christ, Who in the communion of His Body and Blood makes us partakers of His endless and eternal life? If you value your life more than everything that is precious to us on earth, then is it possible not to value most of all the grace of the Most Holy Spirit of God, without which our soul will die an eternal death? “Why shouldn’t you love my Lord,” says one saint. husband, - You are my life, You are my salvation, You are My glory and praise, You are my wealth and eternal treasure, You are my hope and hope, You are my joy and eternal peace. For this sake, may I place all my hope, all my hope, all my desire in You alone, O Lord, may all my heart, all my soul, all my thoughts be deepened in You alone, imam, all my inner being, limbs and brains, may I pour out to You alone, day and night, may I thirst for You, day and night, may I thirst for You, O my God; that I may be wholly in You and You in me.” c) The third coal with which the incense of our prayer to God is kindled is tenderness and contrition of heart. It is drawn, my brethren, mainly from thinking about the suffering on the cross and the death of the Lord Jesus Christ for us. For this reason, St. The evangelists depicted for us the sufferings of the Lord in all detail, so that the Lord Jesus Christ would be written before our eyes, as if he had been crucified before us. Looking at the cross of Christ, we see tangibly the infinite love of God for us sinners, which did not allow the fallen human race to perish an eternal death, which did not spare His beloved only begotten Son for the salvation of ours, which for the sake of His blood, shed for our sins, still has mercy and spares us, does not immediately destroy us in the very transgression of His holy law, but mercifully and patiently calls us to repentance. Looking at the cross of Christ, we see the inexpressible love of the Son of God for us, who laid down His soul on it for our salvation. What did our Lord not suffer for us? For our exaltation and pride, for our love of glory and love of glory, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient even to the point of death (Phil. 2:8), endured reproach and humiliation, slander and slander, unrighteously condemned to death and counted with the wicked (Is. 53:12). For our carnality and lust for our uncleanness and carnal defilements, He gave up His flesh to be mocked and beaten, to be tortured and tormented, to be crucified and nailed to the cross. Looking at the cross of Christ, we also see our grave ingratitude in the face of this inexpressible love for us. What and where is this criminal ingratitude not? The Lord adorned us with His image, distinguished us with reason and free will, but we, with our carnal lusts, become like senseless cattle and become like them. The Lord gave us the word to glorify His greatness and miracles, to give thanks to His goodness and generosity, for mutual edification, admonition and consolation, and we turn this gift of God into a weapon of lies and untruth, deception and deceit, slander and condemnation of each other. The Lord revealed His holy will to us, gave His law in order to bring us into His kingdom, and we not only do not try to know the will of God, to please Him by fulfilling His commandments, but by our lawless deeds, by not paying attention to His voice, by despising His holy word, we seem to directly say to Him: “Depart from us, we do not want to lead Your ways” (Job 21:14). The Lord washed us with His blood and sanctified us with His Spirit, but we, desecrating ourselves with sins, trample on His blood and humiliate the Spirit of God. Looking at the cross of Christ, we can read on it our future fate, if we do not sincerely turn to the Lord with all our hearts. “If they do this in a harsh tree, what will happen in the world?” (Luke 23:31) If He, the Most Pure and All-Holy, having taken upon Himself the sins of others, had to endure such terrible suffering and such a painful death, what can we expect for our own sins, if we do not atone for them with true repentance not for a while, but for our entire life, if we do not truly die with Christ for everything that is vicious, unclean, criminal, and do not come to life with Him for a holy life and godly? That is why, my brothers, St. To arouse the spirit of prayer in themselves, men constantly remembered the saving sufferings of Christ, constantly reflected on them, tried to deepen them in their hearts, to sanctify their minds and understanding, imagination and memory with them. That is why the Holy Church, in the days of fasting and repentance, most often remembers the suffering and the Cross of Christ, most of all encourages us to worship His most pure and life-giving wounds and beg Him crucified for us, may He strike with the power of His grace the cruelty and petrification of our heart, may He crush it with the fear of His judgment, may it wound it with His love, may it flow from our contrite heart springs of tears, washing away all sinful filth, and may our prayer ascend like fragrant incense to the throne of God. (Compiled from the “Complete Collection of Sermons” by Demetrius, Archbishop of Kherson and Odessa, vol. IV, ed. 1895). Conversation No. 6. To the words “Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me!..” I. Let us ascend, brothers, to the very beginning of our life on earth. What's there? - darkness and impurity, lust and passions. “I was conceived in iniquities, and my mother gave birth to me in sins” (Ps. 50:7), - the saint cries for all of us. David. Conceived in lawlessness, I myself am therefore lawless; born in sin, I myself am therefore a sinner. And wasn’t this what the illnesses of my birth meant? Why did both the giving birth and the child suffer if there was no guilt or impurity? Isn’t this what my cry at birth expressed? What was crying out to me then? Not reason, not memory, not imagination - my whole nature cried out then... Why was she embarrassed and what did she suffer from? From internal innate disorder, from sinful impurity and guilt. My first cry was addressed not to the earth, but to heaven - to You, Giver of Life, Who formed me in my mother’s womb and Who alone could recreate me outside my mother’s womb. Imagining all this now in my mind, I still hang my face down, I am ashamed of the impurity of my origin, I am afraid of the inheritance that I brought, and I cry out: “Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.” Be merciful to the poor creature, which came into the world with all the impurities of our fathers and forefathers, which brought with it a terrible inclination to evil, which had and will have to struggle with many sorrows and temptations and temptations! “Have mercy on me, God, have mercy on me!” II. Following the first birth of flesh and blood, there followed another, higher and better birth of the Spirit. Despite my uncleanness and insensibility, immediately after my birth the Holy Church accepted me into her arms. She washed away the filth of my nature in the font of baptism, sanctified me with the grace of the Spirit, sealed me with the sign of the cross, and clothed me in the white robe of innocence. From a child of wrath I became a child of grace. But where is this royal vestment now? Where are the gifts poured out on me? Alas, I, like Solomon’s bride, must say: “They made me watch over vineyards; I did not keep my own vineyard” (Song. 1:5). I did not retain the grace of Baptism, I did not remain faithful to the One with whom I was united! I have desecrated the white robe of innocence! Lost grace and Spirit! One was taken by the world, another was stolen by passions, the other was lost due to negligence and carelessness. All of me is like a man who has fallen into the hands of robbers: from head to toe there is no integrity in me. Who should I turn to for help, except You, my All-Good Creator and Almighty Provider? “I have gone astray like a lost sheep: seek Thy servant, for I have not forgotten Thy commandments” (Ps. 119:176). “Bring my soul out of prison, that I may glorify Your name” (Ps. 142:7). “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me” (Ps. 50:12). After the years of my foolish infancy, about which the very first sage could not help but say to the Lord with David: “I was like cattle before You” (Ps. 73:22), the years of adolescence and youth came. Time is the most precious. At this time, I, like my first parents, was in the paradise of innocence, and before me was the tree of life with a promise and the tree of death with a commandment. I could not stretch out my hands to the forbidden fruit; I had the power to remain on the path of truth and integrity. Everything held me back: the grace of Baptism, and the voice of conscience, and my parents, and, alas, nothing held me back! And to me the tempter serpent seemed more trustworthy than my Creator and Benefactor, and for me the tree of death seemed good for food, pleasing to the eye, to see, and red, to understand, and I, a hundred times more foolish than my ancestors, for I had their experience before me, - and I, the unfortunate one, boldly tasted the bitter food, sinned and lost paradise. Ah, my brothers, who would not wish for the days of his youth to return, those precious days when it was up to us to take the path of the Lord or to deviate into the crossroads of sin and worldly vanity! But these days will not return, and each of us, remembering them, can only exclaim from the depths of our souls: “Do not remember the sins of my youth and my crimes; according to Your mercy, remember me, for the sake of goodness” (Ps. 24:7), Your only goodness! The time of courage and mature years has come: we entered into various connections of family, friendship, acquaintances, entered the path of public service, took upon ourselves various responsibilities, many of us testified with an oath that they would be faithful to the truth, unyielding guardians of the truth for themselves and for others. What should be expected from us after this? One should expect a firm and unwavering fulfillment of one's duties, a courageous struggle against vice in all its forms, a prudent use of the gifts of happiness to whom they are sent, and a generous enduring of the blows of misfortune to whom they befall. That we will always be ready for every good deed, removed from all lies and untruths, we will be self-controlled and strict with ourselves, generous and merciful towards our neighbors, meek, sincere and loving towards everyone and everyone, unforgettable towards our enemies. But, my brothers, tell me for yourself: how many can boast of all this? Who, taking the most superficial glance at his duties, will not say: oh, I did not and do not fulfill them as I should! How much time has been lost and is dying in vain! How many God-given talents have been ruined and wasted! Many times I have decided to do good, and to this day I do bad. I see that I’m going the wrong way, but I’m going incessantly. And when will this ill-fated struggle of conscience with passions end in me? Where is the end of my mental captivity and slavery? Almighty Creator, my prayer to You! Have mercy on Your poor creation! Give me the strength to break the bonds of sinful habits and passions! “Turn away my eyes, so as not to see vanity!” ( Ps. 119:37 ) Touch the sin-loving heart, let it stop beating for dust and corruption! Have mercy on me, God, have mercy on me! Save me from myself! The years of old age will also come: my body will weaken, my feelings will close one after another, and the now flattering world itself will begin to run away from me. But will all this turn me to God and eternity? Will I use even this miserable remainder of my life for good deeds? Will not the same lusts and the same passions divide him among themselves? Oh, how many old men, who seem to grow younger with age in anger and love for the world! How many are standing at the door of the tomb and looking back! Will I be like them? Will my last years and days not pass in vanity and blindness, as do many? Merciful Lord, do not let me fall into this terrible blindness! Spare me from this hellish insensibility! Have mercy on me, God, have mercy on me! Following the infirmities, the last illness will finally come, we will lie down on a bed from which we will never rise again. The doctor will retreat, the priest will approach, relatives and associates will surround our bed and will await our death. At this terrible hour, in the midst of the last languor of body and spirit, in the midst of the endless confusion of thoughts and feelings, what voice would you, my brothers, wish to come from your lips? I wouldn’t want anything else for this other than: “Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me!” Have mercy on the sinner whose life has disappeared in vanity and sins! Show the last sign of mercy and grant that I may emerge from the prison of my flesh with the feeling of a thief who repented on the cross! Finally, the hour of a general worldwide awakening from the sleep of death will strike: it will be necessary to rise from the womb of the earth, put on a new and indestructible body, and, together with one’s deeds, appear at the terrible judgment to hear the verdict on oneself for all eternity. Then, in the midst of heaven and hell, between angels and rejected spirits, what will you feel, my poor soul? Will you not cry out for the last time: “Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me!” Yes, my brothers, at the terrible world court of God, not before, the end of this repentant prayer: it will stop when the fate of each of us is forever decided in the face of the universe. After this there will be no place for her. In paradise, the righteous will have only one joy and one eternal praise of the name of God. In hell, for sinners, there is only a cry of despair and gnashing of teeth. III. Which of these fates awaits us? The Lord is the only one who knows. But if we remain as we are, if we die in our sins, then it is clear where our part is and with whom our lot is. Let us cry to the Lord God from the depths of our souls, each and every one: “Have mercy on us!” Grant us all repentance before the end! Amen. (Compiled from the “Sermon” of Innocent, Archbishop of Kherson). Conversation No. 7. To the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian: “Lord and Master of my life! Do not give me the spirit of idleness, despondency, covetousness and idle talk. Grant the spirit of chastity, humility, patience and love to Thy servant. Hey, Lord the King! Grant me to see my sins and not condemn my brother. For blessed art thou unto the ages of ages. Amen" I. In these days of fasting and repentance, we most often pray in the words of this prayer by one of the great Christian ascetics, St. Ephraim the Syrian. There are few words, but they contain a lot. Let us delve into their meaning, so that our utterance of a ready-made prayer is not just a repetition of other people’s words, but also an expression of our own thoughts and feelings. II. 1) Lord and Master of my life! Do not give me the spirit of idleness. What is the spirit of idleness and how is it revealed in us? This is the spirit of laziness and carelessness about what should be the main subject of our care and concern, or inactivity and neglect about our most essential needs. What are we called to do? To constantly improve oneself through knowledge of the truth and implementation of the law of good. All our activities should be directed mainly towards this, and no matter what we do, we should always have one main thing in mind - to constantly become smarter and kinder. Our very pleasures should be such that they develop this desire in our soul. And if, instead of sound thought, an unreasonable attraction to various objects prevails, instead of good will - arbitrariness and whim, instead of love for truly beautiful things - a passion for sensual self-pleasure, then what kind of state is this? Is this life or a dream, or spiritual death itself? If it is not yet death, then it is not life. This is a spiritual dream, which, however, can also be followed by spiritual death. “Awake, you who sleep, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light” (Eph. 5:14). Awaken your mind to think about a person’s calling and how to fulfill everything that God has commanded you and overcome obstacles on the path to a higher life. Call on all your willpower to fulfill your responsibilities that lie with you as a person, a citizen, a family man and a member of the Church of Christ. Open your heart to what is truly beautiful in the world of God, in human affairs and, especially, in the Church of Christ. And fear the spirit of idleness as one of the spirits of evil and death. 2) Do not give me the spirit of despondency. Dejection is a state of soul in which it sees everything from some dark side, is not content with anything, does not rejoice in anything, does not actively seek anything. In this spiritual illness, a person almost completely ceases to value life and sees no joy in anything. Where does such a destructive spirit come to us from? In the world it is generated either by the cramped circumstances of life, or by promiscuity and immoderation in sensual pleasures. In both cases, it is the fruit of a disorder of spiritual and physical strength, either tired from excessive stress, or dulled by idleness. Therefore, whoever is too devoted to the world knows more or less this disease, for which, however, there is no cure in the world itself. But even far from the world, and among people seeking God, a similar gloomy disposition sometimes manifests itself. And the great righteous people sometimes said about themselves: “My soul slumbers from despondency” (Ps. 119:28). Experienced ascetics even believe that a period of some despondency in the life of anyone who decides to devote himself exclusively to the ascetic life is almost inevitable: this is the time after the first exploits for God, a time of testing for a person who has not yet been tempted in spiritual life, when he becomes, so to speak, between the world and God and remains, as it were, alone with himself, does not want to step back, but feels his own powerlessness and moves forward, closer to his chosen goal. But no matter how diverse the causes and types of this spiritual illness may be, the main cure for it is the same for everyone - the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Only its enlightening and life-giving power can awaken us from dangerous despondency and destructive despair. Whoever does not have hope in the love and mercy of the Lord, no other hope will help him in sorrow, but with hope in the Lord, with devotion to His good will, no sadness and despondency will completely weaken the soul of the believer. Why didn’t wild deserts, harsh life, silent solitude, severe hardships and continuous exploits plunge the great ascetics of Christ into joyless despondency? Their faces were not gloomy, their characters were not gloomy. People from the world came to them for consolation, and they always had a word of kind sympathy and encouragement for the suffering. This is because they lived with Christ and with His grace healed not only their own, but also other people’s moral ailments. 3) Do not give me the spirit of covetousness and idle talk. The spirit of covetousness, apparently, can only operate in those who occupy a more or less prominent position in society, but if both those withdrawing from society and those renouncing the world pray to protect themselves from such a spirit, then it is true that it is dangerous for everyone. And indeed, its manifestation can be observed everywhere, in all relationships between people, in the relationships, for example, of a father of a family to his family, a master to his mercenaries, a mentor to his students, a boss to his subordinates, even a servant to his younger brothers. Take a closer look at how they want to turn every position into a kind of power, and where they should think only about duties, they think, on the contrary, only about rights and like not so much to fulfill, but to order whoever they can and exact from whomever is convenient. Everyone wants to rule. Meanwhile, what did the Lord command to His followers? “Jesus called his disciples and said, “You know that the princes of the nations rule over them, and the nobles rule over them; but let it not be so among you: but whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant; and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave; for the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:25-28). There is only one thing we can and should seek and ask for domination from God Himself - dominion over ourselves, over our vicious lusts and passions. Just as covetousness in activity, so idle talk in peace - as common among us, is just as unworthy of us and destructive for our moral life. It is not without reason that the wisest and most pious people often closed their lips rather than opened them, even for well-intentioned advice and pious conversations, and sometimes even imposed temporary silence on themselves. In a vessel that is often opened, the strength and aroma of the most fragrant substance will not last long. What can we say about people who, having neither a good stock of thoughts in their souls or hearts, nor warm sympathy for their neighbors, give complete freedom to their tongues and try to outdo each other in idle talk? Lies and charm and reproach - this is what the speech of idle talkers is predominantly made of, and this is a composition that contains a lot of poison for others, and even more for those who prepare it. All passions participate in idle talk, each bringing its share of evil. What fills the church of the soul, in which such a combination of evil with evil is produced! The tongue is unbridled, says St. apostle, “uncontrollable evil; it is full of deadly poison” (James 3:8). And sometimes we want to elevate idle talk to a kind of art! We do not know what evil spirit we feed through this in our poor soul. Drive away, Lord, from my soul every spirit of self-indulgence, bitterness, pride and lies; Grant the spirit of chastity, humility, patience and love to Thy servant. 4) Grant me the spirit of chastity. To be chaste means, in general, to keep your soul from all unclean thoughts, and more particularly from thoughts of voluptuousness. Chastity of soul and body is like the freshness and fragrance of our life. The chaste is like a plant that, with the hand of a caring gardener, is sheltered from the scorching rays of the sun, protected from strong gusts of wind, protected from the cold, fed with moisture in moderation, protected from the harm of insects and removed even from the unnecessary touch of the hand of a curious person. Just as such a plant is whole, fresh, and pure, so is a chaste person whole, fresh, and pure. It seems to smell like life. In his presence, all immodesty is revealed ashamed, and vice itself often loses its insolence. Such is the virtue of chastity, the adornment of all ages, and especially youth. And they often don’t take care of her! Should I say more: sometimes they neglect it, they want to exclude it from the list of virtues! May God save us from such madness leading directly to the perversion of everything holy and beautiful on earth. 5) Grant me the spirit of humility. Should a slave be exalted in the eyes of his Master? Humility is a truly human virtue, and therefore it should be, as it were, the character of all our virtues. The more talents someone has received from God, the more they must have their own poverty. “Why imashi, did you accept him? And if you have accepted it, why should you boast, as if it were not accepted?” (1 Cor. 4:7) Humility, like chastity, with which it is closely and united, is also dear in the eyes of men. He who is not exalted in strength and power is loved and revered sincerely; those who do not boast of intelligence and talents are willingly given the advantage; whoever, despite being rich, does not despise anyone for their poverty, is not envied and desires an increase in well-being. And the Lord speaks of the humble in this way: “To whom will I look but to him who is meek and silent, and who trembles at My words?” (Isa.66:2) By humility all the gifts of grace are multiplied and preserved; the humble man alone does not fall, because he does not stand tall, does not look ahead, and has nowhere to fall. 6) Grant me the spirit of patience. “I will require patience” (Heb. 10:36), St. tells us. apostle, because we must go to the kingdom of heaven along a narrow path. But where and on what path is patience not needed? But in the world, isn’t it necessary to endure and endure? But you, Christian, pray for patience only for good deeds: “Lord, grant me patience not to please people and passions, but to please You, who endured immeasurable sorrows and suffering for me. When the needs and sorrows of life come against me, when I encounter strong insults from untruth or human envy, when I suffer losses that are bitter to my heart, then strengthen me, who is weak, and protect me from murmuring against people and against You. When illnesses exhaust my body, or internal confusion exhaust my spirit, when my soul weakens in serving You and the darkness of despondency covers my heart, then, oh, then most of all send Your strength to the weary one, grant him patience with hope and save him from despair! 7) Grant me the spirit of love. God Himself is love, and whoever wants to abide in God must abide in love. Love is not a private virtue, it is the root and summit, the beginning and crown of all virtues, the union of perfection. As soon as I do not have pure love for my Lord, then I am not a son to Him and not a brother to my neighbors. Grant me, O God, the spirit of Your love, teach me to forgive insults, pray for enemies, bless those who curse and do good to those who hate me, as You Yourself did in word and deed on our sinful earth. Your kingdom is a kingdom of peace and love: lead us all to it through the path of pure love and mercy. 8) To her, Lord the King, grant me to see my sins and not condemn my brother. For blessed art thou unto the ages of ages. We do not like to test ourselves, and therefore we know little what evil lurks in our sinful nature. If our inner gaze were more often turned to ourselves, then we could not help but hate our uncleanness and think about cleansing our hearts, and turn to the Physician of our bodies. “Hey, Lord the King, do not spare my pride, but awaken my soul and enlighten my conscience and drive away from me the spirit of condemnation of my brethren. You love those who bless, and not those who condemn, and therefore you yourself are blessed forever.” Amen. (Compiled from “Collected Sermons” by Archpriest Favorov, professor of theology at Kiev University, published in 1887). Conversation No. 8. To the words “Tomorrow hear my voice, tomorrow I will appear and see me.” (Ps. 5:4) I. Who wants to get up so early to pray? This is a person who has a ton of affairs of all kinds, who has so many responsibilities that it is difficult to count them. For whom there is not a single hour completely free, in a word - this is the king of a large people, Saint David! He says: “Tomorrow hear my voice, my King and my God! Tomorrow I will appear and see me!” (Ps. 5:4) And do not think that this happened to him just once, on some special occasion, when those who are not accustomed and the laziest compel themselves and appear, not before the face of God, but also before the faces of men, from whom they expect mercy in the deep morning. No, there are other places in the Psalms of David that testify to his holy custom of going to the place of the residence of the God of Jacob. “I think about You,” he says in another psalm to the Lord, “I think about You in the night watches” (Ps. 62:7). The night itself did not prevent him from engaging in contemplation and prayer. “I remember You,” he says, “on my bed.” And not only did he remember, but what did he do? He got out of bed, threw himself on the ground and prayed: “At midnight I rose to praise You for Your righteous judgments” (Ps. 119:62). But perhaps such closeness to heaven was purchased at some detriment to the earth. Perhaps, when the king of Israel went to the holy church in this way, his other duties suffered from this: the flow of royal affairs stopped or slowed down; the army became weak; truth and impartiality were not observed in the courts; the welfare of towns and villages was lost sight of; no improvements were made, no things were introduced that were required by the new needs of the people and circumstances? No, on the contrary! The Kingdom of Israel has never, neither before nor after, been in such strength, blossomed and risen as under that king who devoted not only his days, but also his nights to glorifying the name of God. David’s successor, Solomon, as we know, took the opposite path: having forgotten his father’s covenant, he stopped walking in the justifications of the Lord blamelessly, instead of the holy harp of David, on which the glory of Jehovah rattled morning and evening, he led those singing and playing at his feasts for the pleasure of the flesh. So what? At the end of his reign, despite all his former wisdom, wealth and glory, the throne of Israel began to sink down until, under his successors, who surpassed each other in wickedness, it was razed to the ground. II. What should we conclude from all this for our edification? a) Firstly, that piety, as St. says. Paul, it is good for everything to eat, “having the promise of the present and future life” (1 Tim. 4:8) not only of the future, but also of the present, and that those are very mistaken who look at the time spent in the thought of God and in deeds of piety as lost for success in worldly affairs. Why are they wrong? Because success in these latter matters, as in all others, most of all depends on the blessing of God. To whom can this blessing most belong, if not to those who themselves bless the Lord with both their thoughts and their deeds? If earthly rulers especially love and distinguish those in whom they notice special zeal for themselves, then will the Lord of earth and heaven forget His faithful servants? “I love those who love me,” He says, “I will glorify those who glorify Me” (Prov. 8:17; 1 Sam. 2:30). In addition, a pious mood of thoughts and the fear of God, making a person sedate, prudent, modest and well-disposed towards everyone, thereby save him from many temptations and misfortunes that befall peace lovers for their pride, arrogance and contempt. b) In particular, the example of St. David teaches us to be diligent in prayer and visiting the churches of God, and to use the night itself, especially the morning, for this, when possible. In fact, a day that begins with fervent prayer will always be much happier than a day whose beginning is not sanctified by it. On such a day, what is needed will be done better, and what is needed will be avoided, or rather. Our Orthodox Church, knowing this, provides us with all the conveniences for this. There is no day on which she does not accompany the sunrise with the call to morning prayer, audible to everyone. But how many heed this call! For the most part, it resounds idly in the air, and the cities, the most abundant in inhabitants, are like a cemetery at this time, where, no matter how much you shout and sound, you cannot raise anyone from the womb of the earth. In this case, will we indiscriminately blame everyone for their lack of diligence? No, many, not only in the morning, but throughout the entire day, one might say, are chained to their places. The Holy Church itself prays for such people, as for those who labor and have passed away through blessed wine. But how many are there who have absolutely nothing to do at home, who can do whatever they want with their time, and who, however, on the biggest holiday, that is, a small number of times a year, would consider it an unbearable feat for themselves to get up early in the morning and come to Church with others for prayer! There are no other obstacles to this from their side, except that in such a time they need to make some compulsion for themselves and leave the bed at an inappropriate hour. And they have long been accustomed to devoting the entire morning to sleep, for they spend most of the night in vigil. But ask: what are they working on? On important matters that cannot be delayed? No, what is called - in their own language - is to spend and kill time. Truly - to kill, because there is nothing more harmful than such night activities. They kill more than one time, and often their conscience and soul along with it. At least, the poor ones, at the same time they regretted their health, which they value so much in all other cases, for it does not perish from anything so much as from this unnatural transformation of night into day, and day into night. For do you think that it was in vain that the sun was commanded to rise and set at a certain hour? No, this is the law of our life and our activities. You can violate it as much as you like, but this violation will never remain without harmful consequences for the violators. III. The Church does not require going to Matins every day, for many, even if they wanted to, cannot do it for various reasons. But there is no person who, firstly, could not get up early, much less stay awake until almost noon; further, there is no person who could not and should not sanctify his morning and begin his day with prayer, albeit short. And this is something that everyone and everyone must certainly do; this is what we demand from a Christian. Is it a great demand? Meanwhile, its implementation is extremely useful not only for our salvation and for our soul and conscience, but also for success itself in earthly and everyday affairs. For it is not in vain that it is said that piety is useful for everything, that it builds cities and houses, just as, on the contrary, unbelief and free-thinking, leading to luxury and debauchery, ruin not only houses, but entire kingdoms. There is so much evidence of all this around us that you would have to be blind not to see it. Why, for example, did such and such a house fall and go bankrupt, which, not so long ago, had no equal in wealth, inner peace and family joys? Because along with the pious parents, through whose labors everything was acquired, their good customs, zeal for the faith and the Church, fear of God, and love for the poor were buried in the ground. We say this not as a reproach to anyone (our duty is not so much to reproach the most guilty as to cry for them and with them), but as a warning to everyone. It is difficult to be happy without faith, and if there are, then for a short time, and then more apparently than in reality. And it is impossible not to perish without faith, which, however, does not protect from destruction, for, just as there is no other God except the Omniscient, Just and All-Holy, so there is no other way to be blessed than by walking in His holy commandments and being faithful to His most good will. Amen. (Compiled from the “Sermon” of Innocent, Archbishop of Kherson and Tauride, vol. III). Conversation No. 9. To the words “Lord, Who sent down Your Most Holy Spirit at the third hour by Your Apostle, do not take Him away from us, O Good One, but renew us who pray to You.” In the matter of salvation, a Christian needs the help of the Holy Spirit I. But aren’t we asking too much from the Lord in this prayer? The apostles had to fight with the whole world, with princes and rulers, with the very rulers of the darkness of this age. They had to go against thousands of errors and prejudices, against the darkness of dangers, torments and deaths. Therefore, they needed to be endowed with power from above; they needed not only tongues of fire, but even more fiery souls and hearts. What's next for us? The struggle is mainly with one’s own heart, the battle with one’s passions and lusts, the need to stand against some only opinions and false rules of the world. Isn’t it enough, therefore, for us to confine ourselves to our own strengths and not to disturb, so to speak, the Holy Spirit, especially since on the apostles, due to the purity of their own spirit, it was easy and pleasant for the Holy Spirit to descend, and in us, unclean and carnal, how can His most pure grace dwell? II. Let us humbly admit our own unworthiness. In comparison with such chosen vessels of grace as the apostles of Christ, we are all like small night lamps before the stars shining in the firmament of heaven. But it is impossible for us to renounce prayer for the grace of the Spirit due to our very weakness. On the contrary, if the weakest need the strongest help, then we not only have the right, but also the necessity to ask for it. However, the feat that lies ahead of us, although in appearance it is small and insignificant in comparison with the feat of the apostles, is in its essence just as impossible for us to complete it successfully without help from above. a) It is true that the apostles had to fight with the whole world, and we with only our hearts. But look more closely into this single heart - there is a whole world here, not only with all its temptations, but also with all the malice, with all the stubbornness. What is missing from this sin-loving heart of ours? Idols and idols? A hundred times more than in any pagan temple. There is here both an idol of worldly pride and an idol of carnal lust, there is here an idol of warfare and enmity, and an idol of the love of money. The only difference is that in the idol’s church these idols and idols stand soulless and motionless, they have eyes but cannot see, hands cannot touch them, but in our hearts all these idols are filled with strength and movement. As long as we fall before them and burn incense to them, they are silent, but touch them and reveal the intention to crush them, even to move them only from their place, and thunder and lightning will fly from each one, so that, unstrengthened by grace, you will fall to the dust. After this, how can anyone who wants to fight with his heart not call upon the Spirit of God for help, that Spirit who alone can create a pure heart and renew a right spirit in our womb? b) The apostles had to give answers in the midst of their preaching before the princes and rulers. When you begin the work of repentance and your salvation, perhaps princes and rulers will not ask you, but how many answers you will have to give not to princes and rulers! At all the so-called big or small world, trial or meeting, you must stand - in person or in absentia - but stand as a defendant and guilty. In one meeting they will report that you have become a hypocrite and a hypocrite and have various secret views; in another, that you have fallen into melancholy and are close to mental insanity; at the most lenient level, they will declare it a secret that something strange and regrettable is beginning to happen to you. This is how strangers will judge. From those closest to you and your family, you will hear more than once: “What’s wrong with you?” are you healthy? Is there anything that worries you? Aren't you offended by something? And do you think that you will satisfy and calm everyone when you say that you are busy with the work of your salvation, that you are sad for God? For these very words, suspicion will be raised against you even more, and you will more than once, or rather, every time, not knowing what to say and how to reason with others about you, you will involuntarily turn to the One who taught the apostles, so that he may instruct you in what is appropriate to do and say. c) The apostles faced danger everywhere for their preaching, threatened with persecution and tormentors. Apparently you will not be tortured, but instead of the fact that those who were tortured suffered for several days, others for several hours, your suffering will continue throughout your life. The world you left will never leave you alone. Since you will not follow the path that almost everyone takes, but the opposite one, then everyone you meet on the way will consider you lost and will nod your head. Your best actions will seem like an insult to many, and therefore will interfere with their actions. Your very humility and patience will serve as a reason for some to despise and insult you. And if you, as a person, sin in anything, then even your small sin will be considered an unforgivable crime. All this, taken separately, is not so great and important, but in its complexity it will form such a cross that you will more than once fall under it and look for Simon of Cyrene to help, and woe to you if the grace of the Comforter Spirit does not appear with your help, which alone can strengthen you and sweeten the sorrow of your situation. d) And all this, however, is not the last struggle and not the last cross. The essence of the matter is to change your heart, to make a spiritual heart from a carnal heart, to drive out the spirit of self-love from it, to kill lust in it, to return to it the purity with which it came from the hands of God and without which it is impossible for us to appear before the face of God. But who can do this? We ourselves absolutely cannot. For here you need to be above yourself, to become alien to yourself, to be both a priest and a victim. For this, a higher, divine power is needed, the power of the Holy Spirit. III. Let us cry, beloved, let us cry together with the Church: Lord, Who sent down Thy Most Holy Spirit at the third hour by Thy Apostle, do not take Him away from us, O Good One, but renew us who pray to You! Amen. (Compiled from the “Sermon” of Innocent, Archbishop of Kherson and Tauride, vol. III, ed. 1873). Conversation No. 10. To the words “And on the sixth day and hour on the cross nailed the daring sin of Adam into paradise, and tear up the handwriting of our sins, O Christ God, and save us!” I. Touchingly, the Holy Church, throughout Lent, sings this touching prayer and thereby forces us to fervently pray to it. II. What does this prayer contain and what does it ask for? The greatest mercy is asked, namely, that the Lord crucified on the cross would tear up and destroy the handwriting and our sins, just as He nailed to the cross and destroyed the crime in paradise of our ancestor. a) Tear up the handwriting of our sins - this expression is taken from St. Apostle Paul (Col. 2:14), who used it in the sense that each of our sins before God is like a debt, for which there is a handwritten receipt of the debtor. As long as such a receipt exists, the debtor, as is known, is liable under the law, and his debt is subject to mandatory collection from him, and when his record is destroyed, then responsibility is removed from him. It is this destruction that we ask for in the prayer we are considering. “Tear up the handwriting of our sins, O Christ God, and save us!” That is, to put it simply, forgive and forgive us our sins, so that we may be free from any answer for them before the court of Thy righteousness! You see now how great our request is! If it is important for us when someone forgives us a monetary debt, especially when we cannot pay it, then it is all the more important that all our sins be forgiven us, of which we are not able to pay the truth of God for any of them. And the most merciful Lord is always ready to show us this greatest mercy. For this very reason, He ascended to the cross and suffered death for us, in order to blot out all our sins and free us from any responsibility for them. Therefore, even in the Old Testament, through the mouth of the prophet, He not only allowed people to approach Him with a request for this, but, one might say, called everyone to Himself, even urgently demanded it. “Come and let us reason together,” says the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they be red as crimson, they will be as white as wool” (Isaiah 1:18). After this there is no reason to doubt: boldly approach the cross of Christ, boldly bring all the manuscripts of your sins. No matter how great and varied they may be, everything will be paid and forgiven, everything will be smoothed over and destroyed. For the blood of the Son of God, who died for us, has an infinite value in the eyes of God. It has such power that it can cleanse from all sin. So, do not despair and do not be discouraged, sinner! Even though you have surpassed all sinners in your sins, as soon as you stand under the cross of Christ and are sprinkled in the spirit of faith with the blood of the Savior, then you are safe and have mercy. And not only will you be pardoned, but you will also be rewarded, as if you were innocent and wronged. b) But, my beloved, such mercy is not given unconditionally from the cross of Christ. Otherwise, there would be no end to its abuse: the sinner could do nothing but sin daily and receive forgiveness. Thus, the very mercy of the Savior would not serve to save him, but to his destruction, disposing him to insensibility in sins and to continue his lawless life. Therefore, our Savior is ready to accept sinners, ready to grant everyone not only peace and forgiveness, but also new life and sanctification by the grace of the Holy Spirit, only from each and every one of those forgiven does He demand the fulfillment of certain conditions. What are these conditions? The most necessary and necessary, not so much for Him, but for ourselves, because without their fulfillment the very forgiveness given to us will not help. Namely: He demands that, having laid down the burden of our sins at His cross, we do not return for them, do not fall into the same or new sins, but try to live our lives in purity and truth. Without this there is no forgiveness or pardon. For what would be the use of both, if we, having been forgiven, intended to indulge in sin again? Why treat a wound that you madly inflicted on yourself, if the next day after healing, you intend to inflict the same wound on yourself again? III. Now it is clear who, together with the Church, can worthily pronounce the prayer we are considering. Every sinner can pronounce it, for it is composed, obviously, not for the righteous, but for sinners, but what sinner can pronounce it? A believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and in the power of His Cross, truly repenting of his sins, truly having the firm intention, having received forgiveness, to continue to behave not as he lived before - in sins and impurity, but in the fear of God, in obedience to his conscience and the law of the Lord, trying not only not to repeat previous iniquities and untruths, but also to block them, as much as possible, with deeds of faith and Christian love. Such a petitioner will not be refused; the Lord Himself stretches out His hands to such a one from the cross, for He ascended to it not for the righteous, but for sinners. Amen. (Compiled from the “Sermon” of Innocent, Archbishop of Kherson and Tauride, vol. III, ed. 1873). Conversation No. 11. To the words “Who at the ninth hour tasted death for our flesh, put to death our wisdom in the flesh, O Christ our God, and save us!” I. In a righteous person, all the powers and abilities of the soul and body are in a harmonious relationship with each other: his body is submissive to the soul, and his soul is submissive to the spirit, or mind, and his mind, as the ruler of his entire being, wisely guides him along the path of salvation. On the contrary, the sinner’s whole being is in disorder, his strengths and abilities are in an inverted ratio: the spirit submits to the soul, and the soul to the body. From here the sinner develops the so-called carnal wisdom, which borders on madness and directs a person to all destructive paths. This carnal wisdom, under the influence of the spirit of malice and the world lying in evil, so takes possession of a person that it dominates him in all respects, and gives him no rest, day or night, driving him through all worldly and everyday pleasures, promising them bliss, but filling him with emptiness and bitterness. The wisdom of the flesh is not subject to the law of God; it can be subordinated below, as St. ap. Paul (Rom. 8:7), much less is it subject to the spirit or understanding of man. II. What to do after this with such rebellious wisdom? How not to try to deprive him of all his strength, to eradicate him completely? For as long as it is alive, until then there will be no true life in man. What kind of life is this, when the mortal and sinful flesh is wise and in charge, and the eternal spirit blindly carries out these insane orders? a) But how can one take away strength and life from carnal wisdom, when it has become the all-controlling principle in sinful man, the only source of his activity? The flesh itself will not renounce its dominion, no matter how illegal it may be; the spirit, even if it wants, cannot regain its rights, for it is not difficult for it to become solidified, but once solidified, it is extremely difficult to cleanse, free itself, enlighten, take its place, and take power into its hands. For this, help is needed from above, a force is needed that would remove the bonds from him, raise him from the dust, feed him with strength and life, and thus give him the opportunity to be what he should be. And this very thing is asked in the prayer we are considering: “Who at the ninth hour tasted death for the sake of the flesh, put to death the wisdom of our flesh...” You yourself, Lord, who tasted death in the flesh on the cross, so that we all come to life and live in spirit, look upon the disastrous state of our spirit, oppressed by the bonds of the flesh, and put to death its wisdom! Bound this unbridled beast yourself: strike him in the very heart, so that our sin-loving flesh will stop dragging us through the wilds of passions and vices, and may turn into what it should be - into an obedient instrument of the spirit. b) It goes without saying that the one who says this prayer must decide on all the actions that He who died for us in the flesh Himself deems necessary for the mortification in us of the wisdom of our flesh. And since no killing can be carried out without pain and suffering, each of us must decide to endure this suffering. For without such determination, what would our very prayer mean? It would be either deception or self-delusion... But here is our strangeness or, better said, madness! When we call a doctor to remove some incurable member, we no longer resist his actions, no matter how painful they may be, but we also help him with everything we can, we moan, scream, but we obey and give thanks for our very suffering. And with the heavenly Doctor we mostly do the opposite. Despite the fact that we ourselves beg Him to put to death the wisdom of our flesh, when He begins His work, i.e. begins to humble and strike our carnal man - whether with illness, dishonor, or other blows - then we immediately turn back, complain and murmur, put up barrier after barrier, and thus, instead of mortifying the wisdom of the flesh, we often fall into even greater slavery of the flesh. What is this from? All this is because we, for the most part, are not convinced of the harmfulness of carnal wisdom and, in general, carnal and sinful life for us. If we pray for deliverance from this, it is only because the Church commands us to pray this way, and we ourselves - in our souls - do not feel the need for this at all. III. That is why, my beloved, so that we do not pronounce St. prayers are in vain, we must diligently think about how harmful the wisdom of the flesh is for us. We must be convinced, together with the apostle, that this wisdom is enmity against God, that it is death for us. How can I be sure? Firstly, by thinking about where the wisdom of the flesh comes from in us and how harmful it is revealed in us - for which the experience of both our own and other people can serve. For, if we are careful, we will see that whenever we obeyed the wisdom of the flesh, nothing but evil and harmful came out of our actions. Amen. (Compiled from the “Sermon” of Innocent, Archbishop of Kherson, vol. III, ed. 1873). D. About the Liturgy of the Presanctified Conversation No. 1. About the Presanctified Liturgy I. The subject of our conversation, brethren, will now be the Liturgy of the Presanctified, or Presanctified Gifts. It is so named because in it the Presanctified Gifts are offered to the faithful for communion, i.e. Body of Christ and Blood of Christ. The bread and wine are consecrated, transmuted into the Body and Blood of Christ during the preceding full Liturgy, the consecrated Lamb is imbued with the Blood of Christ and is preserved on the throne in the Tabernacle until the time of the Presanctified Liturgy. The establishment of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts dates back to the first centuries of Christianity. The reasons for the establishment of this service were: on the one hand, the strict observance of the fast of St. Pentecostal, on the other hand, the desire of ancient Christians to partake of the Holy Life-giving Mysteries as often as possible. In Lent, it was prescribed to eat food no earlier than sunset, and the full Liturgy is celebrated around noon, therefore, by celebrating it, which in ancient times was followed not only by the communion of the Body and Blood of Christ, but also by a common meal or supper of love, fasting, that is, complete abstinence from food, would be broken prematurely. Moreover, the full Liturgy is a solemn and joyful rite as a remembrance of our renewal and salvation through Jesus Christ. Therefore, the Fathers of the Church considered it indecent to perform this service during the days of Great Lent, as at a time when Christians should not be consoled or rejoice, but only cry and lament over their sins. Only on Saturdays and Sundays is the fast relaxed and the full Liturgy celebrated. But the ancient Christians had such zeal for the greatest Sacrament of Holy Communion, they loved their Redeemer and Lord so passionately that they considered it a great deprivation for themselves to remain several days in a row without communion of the Holy Mysteries. And therefore, a divine service was established, in which the Presanctified Gifts were taught, after Vespers and without a common meal, because at the Presanctified Liturgy there is no proskomedia. The Liturgy of the Presanctified is usually celebrated on Wednesdays and Fridays (except on the Great Day) of St. Pentecostals. But, in the case of holidays or other circumstances, it is allowed to perform it on other days, except Saturday and Sunday, when there is a full Liturgy. During Passion Week, the Presanctified Liturgy is celebrated three times: on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. II. The Presanctified Liturgy consists of Lenten hours, Vespers and the Liturgy itself. a) Lenten hours differ from ordinary ones in that, in addition to the prescribed three psalms, one kathisma is read at each hour, the distinctive troparion of each hour is read by the priest in front of the royal doors and sung three times in the choir - with prostrations to the ground, after each hour the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian (Lord and Master of my life) - also with prostrations to the ground, after reading the hours the prayer of the repentant thief is sung: “In Your kingdom, remember us, Lord, when You come in Your kingdom.” This prayer is sung many times, and between its repetitions the Savior’s sayings about the beatitudes, or the means to obtaining the kingdom of heaven, are sung, and in conclusion, both choirs together, with special tenderness, sing the verses: “Remember us, Lord, when you come in your kingdom. Remember us, Master, when you come to Your kingdom. Remember us, Holy One, when you come into Your kingdom." This ends the clock. b) The very celebration of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts begins with Vespers. As a result, according to the charter, it should depart, according to Eastern time, at the ninth hour after the rising of the sun, or according to ours, at the third hour in the afternoon, since the rules of St. Fathers are commanded to eat food during Lent only once a day in the evening. But, despite the fact that the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is preceded by Vespers, it still begins not with the ordinary exclamation of the priest: “Blessed is our God,” but with the exclamation: “Blessed is the kingdom of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,” which is heard only at the perfect Liturgy. Immediately following the exclamation, believers are encouraged to worship Christ our God, our Redeemer, threefold, and the usual opening evening psalm (103) is read: “Bless my soul the Lord,” in which the greatness of God, the almighty Creator and Provider of the world, is glorified. After the psalm, the great litany is proclaimed - the same one that is proclaimed at the beginning of the ordinary Liturgy, After the litanies, the 14th 18th kathisma will be sung, i.e. psalms are read bearing the inscription “Song of Degrees,” as if on the steps of a ladder, raising the souls of those praying to God with heartfelt contrition for sins. And then psalms 140, 142, 129 and 116 are sung (“Lord, I have cried to You” and “Let my prayer be corrected”, “With my voice I have cried to the Lord”, “Out of the depths I have called to You, O Lord” and “Praise the Lord, all nations”), between the verses of which there are several so-called stichera, i.e. short songs of praise in honor of a celebrated saint or some sacred event commemorated on a certain day by the Church. In a word, right up to the Small Entrance, an ordinary vespers is performed, the content and signification of the chants and sacred rites of which we have already spoken about. During the singing of the stichera “I cried out to the Lord,” the celebrant, having previously filled the entire altar with incense, takes from the Tabernacle the Holy Presanctified Gifts, i.e. The Holy Lamb, drunk with the most pure blood of Christ, places them on the paten, reverently censes, going around the throne three times, finally raises them to his head and thus, with the honor befitting the King of glory and the Lord, with the presentation of a candle and censer, transfers them from the throne to the altar. There they also pour wine mixed with water into the cup, which is subsequently, however, not deliberately blessed. Before the song “Quiet Light” there is a small entrance with a censer or the Gospel and then the reader reads two proverbs in the middle of the church 15: one from the book of Genesis or other books of Moses, in order to describe the providence of God about the first people to induce believers to give thanks to the Lord, and the other from the parables of Solomon, in order to incite them to imitate the righteous, who are depicted in the book of the wise with living features and bright colors king of Israel. Between these two paremias, the priest, holding a censer and a lamp in his hands, which until that time had stood in front of the holy gifts, overshadows the people from the royal doors with the utterance of deeply mysterious words: “The Light of Christ enlightens everyone,” for which he first prepares with the exclamation: “Wisdom! Sorry! This sacred rite recalls the candle that is usually presented before the Gospel and burns during its reading, and together indicates the incense performed before the reading of the Gospel at the perfect Liturgy. In a spiritual sign, material light serves as a symbol of the light of the Gospel teaching, which is now being replaced by tributary teaching and which believers are deprived of in the days of mourning and contrition for sins. At the same time, it reminds us of that divine light, which everyone will soon worship in the Presanctified Gifts. By the very overshadowing and utterance of the words: “The Light of Christ enlightens everyone,” he preaches to us as clearly as possible about Jesus Christ, the true Light, Who shone in the flesh for “those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,” enlightened the universe with the light of His teaching and offered Himself for the sins of people as an acceptable sacrifice to God, like incense. His Eminence Veniamin, Archbishop of Nizhny Novgorod and Arzamas, explains this entire sacred rite excellently and in great detail. “For four reasons,” he says, “the priest, when reading the prophetic proverbs, shows the people a lighted candle and, moreover, says: “The Light of Christ enlightens everyone.” First: not only at the Presanctified Liturgy, but also at every Lenten Vespers, two proverbs are always read: one from Genesis and the other from Proverbs, as in the charter, sheet 132, it is shown: “before, throughout the Great Pentecost of the evening, one proverb from Genesis and the second from Proverbs are read.” But since the entire book of Genesis historically describes the deeds of men that took place from the beginning of the world, especially the fall of Adam, the errors of many people, the executions that followed for them, and many and various punishments for the disobedient, - with the parable, the book foreshadows the coming to earth of Christ the Savior, His structure, which has the ability to drive away our darkness with divine light, explains, instructs everyone on the right path and offers various ways to do this. moral and mysterious, then the priest, affirming the words with Parables and through them the enlightenment of our souls, foreshadowed before the reading of those Parables, at Vespers in the form of a material and held light in his hands, shows Christ Himself not at the beginning after the creation of the world, but after many centuries, as if he had come in the evening to enlighten us, and clearly proclaims the same thing: “The Light of Christ enlightens everyone.” This opinion is affirmed by Simeon of Thessalonica: “And having been filled with the reading of Genesis, Priest Abiye appears with the lights of the Royal Doors, entering everyone who stands up, creating the image of the cross with a censer, exclamously saying, “Wisdom, forgive, the light of Christ enlightens everyone, and enters the holy altar.” Then the reader will read the parables on the pulpit. This shows that by the end of the centuries, the true light Jesus Christ Himself arose in the darkness of those who sit in the flesh and filled the universe with the light of His grace.” Second: at the Presanctified Liturgy, which is nothing more than the same evening singing, the candles were lit at the beginning of the Lord, and before lighting them, at the lamp prayers, thanksgiving took place for this night light, given to people by God, and prayer, so that God would instruct us to always walk in the light of truth. Now the same spiritual and heavenly radiance, and in the mysteries of the Presanctified Contents, through this material light the priest here shows people and the most perfect hope from these Mysteries of Christ for the enlightenment of our souls instills in everyone with these words: “The Light of Christ enlightens everyone.” Third: the catechumens, as those preparing for baptism or enlightenment, must be brought out of the same hour, after reading the special litany, but before the same thing, that is, before their bringing out, Christ, the true Light, enlightening every person coming into the world, present in the mysteries of the presanctified, is shown to them under the image of this material light, so that they are sure that from His fulfillment in baptism they will receive the light, and in that words it is stated: “The Light of Christ enlightens everyone.” Fourth: the Gospel at the perfect Liturgy is read before the Holy Gifts are consecrated, since Christ first proclaimed His teaching, and then presented His flesh to eat and His blood to drink under the guise and in the form of bread and wine. But just as at the Presanctified Liturgy the Gospel, as the gospel of Christ, is not read (the Gospel at the Presanctified Liturgy is read only on holidays), since the Holy Gifts are not consecrated at it, but the presanctified one is offered. For this purpose, Christ, instead of that Gospel in these Presanctified Gifts, is revealed to everyone in the form of a lighted candle through the priest, and all the enlightenment that comes from Him is announced in these words: “the light of Christ enlightens everyone.” (“The New Tablet,” Part II, pp. 228–230). After the second paremia, the people kneel and with tenderness raise their prayerful voice to the Lord: “May my prayer be corrected, like a censer before You; the lifting of my hand is the evening sacrifice. Lord, I have called to You, hear me: listen to the voice of my prayer, sometimes I will cry to You. Set, O Lord, a guard over my mouth and a door of protection over my mouth (i.e., guard the door of my mouth). Do not turn my heart into the words of wickedness - do not bear the guilt of sins” (i.e., so as not to look for excusable circumstances for living a sinful life). The priest, while singing these verses, stands alone with a censer in front of the throne and a cloud of incense rising from the censer, visibly reminding us that, during the real evening sacrifice and the raising of hands, our very prayer, like incense, should ascend directly to the throne of God. At the last repetition of the first verse, with which all other verses are interspersed, as if to complete the devotion to God of the entire Church, the priest himself, having given the censer, kneels before the throne. After that, with contrition of heart and three bows to the ground, he pronounces the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian: “Lord, Lord of my life! Do not give me the spirit of idleness, despondency, covetousness and idle talk. Grant the spirit of chastity, humility, patience and love to Thy servant. Hey, Lord the King! grant me to see my sins and not condemn my brother; for blessed art thou unto the ages of ages.” The Liturgy of the Catechumens, as in the perfect Liturgy, ends with the ordinary special litany and the litany of the catechumens. However, this last one is added from half of Lent, i.e. from Wednesday of the Week of the Cross, a litany about those preparing for enlightenment, or about those of the catechumens who, without postponing their baptism beyond the present Pentecost, especially prepared for this by studying the Gospel, fasting and prayer. For them, the Church prays to God that He “strengthen them in good intentions, enlighten them with the enlightenment of reason and piety, grant them the bath of rebirth (i.e. Holy Baptism), the remission of sins and the clothing of incorruptibility, and number them among His chosen flock.” In conclusion, those who are catechumens and preparing for enlightenment are commanded to leave the church. After this, the Liturgy of the Faithful begins. c) The Liturgy of the Faithful begins with the usual two short litanies, performed by the faithful alone, after which the Holy Gifts are transferred by the priest from the altar to the throne with the honor befitting the King of Heaven. At this solemn moment, in the words of the author of “Letters on the Divine Service of the Eastern Catholic Church” (pp. 80–81, 4th ed.), the lamp appearing in the northern doors of the altar notifies the faithful of the coming of their King, in the form of a sacrifice carried at the head of a presbyter, preceded by a deacon, covering his path with incense, and everyone falls down reverently before an incomprehensible mystery, as Isaiah fell before the unbearable glory of Him who sat on the cherubim, and complete silence reigned in the church. The quiet, measured feet of three people walking, sometimes stopping, or the sound of a shaken censer before the Gifts are faintly heard only on the dais, around the altar, above the heads leaning towards the platform, and one imagines: “Now the powers of heaven serve with us invisibly: behold, the King of glory enters, behold, the secret sacrifice is completed” (this sacred song is sung at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts instead of the Cherubic Song). Such timidity pervades the sounds of this trembling heart! And the rising clergy begins, even over those prostrated to the ground, an invocative song: “Let us draw near by faith and love, that we may be partakers of eternal life. Hallelujah! The Great Entrance at the Liturgy of the Presanctified has a particularly important and mysterious significance, because at this time the already consecrated Gifts are transferred - the Body and Blood of the Lord - a perfect sacrifice, the King of Glory Himself enters. Everything that the Church prepares for the celebration of the Sacrament of Communion and that relates to the celebration itself - all this is excluded from the Presanctified Liturgy. And therefore, when the singers end the Cherubic hymn with the words: “Let us draw near by faith and love, that we may be partakers of eternal life; Hallelujah,” then, after the prayer of Ephraim the Syrian with bows, the petitionary litany is read directly, usually preceding the singing of the Lord’s Prayer “Our Father.” The priest precedes the cry: “Holy of Holies” with the word “presanctified.” At the opening of the Royal Doors, when the Holy Gifts are brought out for the communion of the people, the clergy, instead of the words “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,” sings: “I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise is in my mouth; taste the bread of heaven and the cup of life, and see that the Lord is good. Hallelujah". The prayer behind the pulpit, read at the Presanctified Liturgy, differs from the one read at the full Liturgy. It is applied more to the time of fasting and repentance. The priest, on behalf of all the people, prays that the Lord will give us the strength to accomplish the feat of fasting, to crush the heads of the invisible serpents (i.e., the spirits of evil, who especially try on the holy days of fasting to hurt a person with temptations and evil suggestions), to defeat sinful habits and inclinations, so that, finally, with dignity, with a pure heart, we can worship the Holy Resurrection, i.e. joyfully meet the great and holy days of Easter. At the dismissal of the Liturgy of the Presanctified, instead of the names of St. John Chrysostom or Basil the Great, the name of the compiler of the rite of the Presanctified Liturgy of St. Grigory Dvoeslov. A. Historical and archaeological sketch of the Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts In the Orthodox Church throughout St. Forty days, with the exception of Saturdays, Sundays and a few holidays that occur during Great Lent, the full Liturgy is not celebrated. This custom of the Orthodox Church is not new - it was legitimized by the fathers of the Sixth Ecumenical Council and the Council of Laodicea. “It is not proper to bring Holy Bread on Lent, said the fathers of the Council of Laodicea, except on Saturday and Sunday” (pr. 49). “During all the days of Lent, St. Lent, except Saturday and week and the holy day of the Annunciation, St. Let the liturgy be no other than that of the Presanctified Gifts,” confirmed the fathers of the Sixth Ecumenical Council (pr. 52). From the fact that the fathers of the Council of Laodicea prohibit the celebration of the full Liturgy on the days of St. Lent, we can conclude that even in the 4th century it was considered indecent to perform the Bloodless Sacrifice during the days of Great Lent. But this opinion, although not universal in the Christian Church, of course, was no longer new at that time: a local council could not have approved it contrary to the general ancient custom, or at least would have outlined the reasons that prompted such an innovation. Obviously, the council approved this opinion because it had previously been accepted by many and served as a rule for some private Churches. Indeed, such an opinion existed even during the time of Tertullian, who says: “Others believe that during worship on fasting days the Bloodless Sacrifice should not be offered.” So, it has long been considered and then legalized as untimely to perform the Bloodless Sacrifice on the days of St. Pentecostals. The question arises: why is it not accepted and determined by the Church to celebrate the full Liturgy on the days of Pentecost, except for Saturdays and Sundays? The offering of the Gifts and their consecration is the Eucharist, especially in the form in which it was performed in ancient times, i.e. when, in connection with the Eucharist, fraternal love suppers were held - not in conjunction with the strictness of fasting. Being present at the consecration of the Gifts or the celebration of the Sacrament of the Eucharist, true Christians were animated by a feeling of high joy in Christ the Savior. The Liturgy at which the consecration of the Gifts was performed was called Easter by the ancient Christians, because they were present at this Liturgy with the same joyful and high feelings as at the celebration of Easter. But these feelings are not compatible with the contrition and sadness with which one should spend the days of Lent. Therefore, on certain days of Great Lent it is not necessary to perform the Sacraments of the Eucharist (the consecration of the Gifts). “If anyone seeks the reason,” says Michael Anchial, Patriarch of Constantinople in the 12th century, “why the celebration of the Eucharist in St. Pentecostal, let him know that this is forbidden so that we are able and disposed only to mourn our souls killed by sin, and only to do and say that which can arouse great sadness and tear out the strongest cries. For us, the forty-day period of fasting is a time of war and battle with the armies of darkness, and during the battle, when there is extreme danger to life, the warriors only care about how not to suffer from the attack and cruelty of their enemies, and do not think at all about holidays and celebrations. Meanwhile, the Redeemer’s saving sacrifice for the whole world gives us joy... But it is incongruous and contrary to reason to rejoice and be sad at the same time” (U Allia, de Missa praesanet., p. 1573). Zonara says almost the same thing: “Fast days are designated for crying and tenderness for the cleansing of everyone’s sins, and to offer a sacrifice to God means to triumph; to triumph means to have fun. But can we be sad and rejoice at the same time? That is why on some days of Lent... the Bloodless Sacrifice is not sanctified...” (interpretation on 52nd Ave. Council of Trullo - the sixth Ecumenical Council). Theodore Balsamon repeats the same words (in his interpretation of the 52nd Ave. of the Cathedral of Trullo). By prohibiting the performance of the Bloodless Sacrifice on the well-known days of Lent, which, recalling and depicting the salvation of the world accomplished by Jesus Christ, arouses joy, the Church did not and does not deprive believers of the divine Body and Blood during all this time. The Divine Body and Blood of Christ constitute the daily bread for the soul. Reinforcement with this heavenly food is especially necessary for those fasting during spiritual endeavors. Since ancient Christians used to receive Holy Communion every day, the Church allowed them to receive Holy Communion. Pentecost, for which she established the celebration of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts. “Warriors,” says Matthew Blastar, “having spent the whole day in battle and only in the evening parting with the enemy, when they remember about food, they prepare a table for themselves from yesterday’s supplies, so as not to exhaust their last strength. At daybreak, they must immediately engage in battle again with the enemies and, thus, being completely occupied with war, do not have the opportunity to slaughter oxen and offer sacrifices, according to the custom of those who annually celebrate the festival. In the same way, we, making our new sacrifice on Saturday and on the Lord’s Day, when the stress of excessive asceticism weakens us, like those who mourn and fight, eat first the offered and presanctified grains, just to prolong our life until the evening. But having become partakers of this Holy Flesh, we strengthen ourselves in order to again enter into battle with the enemy. For a truly spiritual warrior, spiritual food serves as reinforcement.” When the believers had a pious zeal to approach the Holy Mysteries every day, then the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts was celebrated on all days of Lent. But when later, as a result of the weakening of this zeal among Christians, there were no more daily communicants, then the need to offer the people the Holy Gifts every day passed, and the Church ceased to celebrate the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts every day. Thus, the custom was established to perform this Liturgy only on Wednesdays and Fridays, as on days that were more important in remembering events from the life of the Lord. Thus, the Jerusalem charter no longer prescribed the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays of St. Pentecostals. However, even now in the Kiev Pechersk Lavra the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is celebrated every St. day. Lent, except Saturday and Sunday. When the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts appeared as a special service appointed for the days of St. Pentecostals? It is impossible to determine with certainty when the rite of this Liturgy appeared. The Trullo Council - the sixth Ecumenical Council - with its 52nd rule legitimized the widespread use of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts: “On all days of Lent, except Saturday and the week and day of the Annunciation, St. Let the Liturgy be no other than that of the Presanctified Gifts.” But it would be unfair to say that this Liturgy only appeared during the Council of Trullo. Long before the time of this council, it was in use in the east and west. In the first half of the 7th century, it was in use in the churches of Jerusalem: “Now,” says Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem, “more than others in respect for the sacred rites of Basil the Great and John Chrysostom with the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts.” The Church of Alexandria also used the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts before the time of the Council of Trullo. In the Alexandrian Easter chronicle, under the year 612, it is written: “In the third year of Heraclius, under Patriarch Sergius of Constantinople, from the first week of fasting after “Let it be corrected,” during the transfer of the Gifts of the Presanctified from the vessel, they began to sing a special song; after the priest says: “According to the gift of Thy Christ,” the people begin: “Now the powers of heaven invisibly serve with us. Behold the King of glory enters. Behold, the secret sacrifice, perfect, is brought to pass. Let us approach by faith and love, that we may be partakers of eternal life. Hallelujah". The Alexandrian chronicle, therefore, speaks of the rite of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts as known at the very beginning of the 7th century and indicates only the time when it is necessary to sing “Now the Powers of Heaven” - a song that appeared again under Patriarch Sergius. From the same testimony of the Alexandrian chronicle one can see the use of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts in the churches of Constantinople. It mentions the Patriarch of Constantinople Sergius, probably because this patriarch established the singing at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts “Now are the powers of heaven” - a song composed by George Pisida, a contemporary of Patriarch Sergius, as suggested by Archbishop Filaret. Chernigovsky. In addition, there is a general legend that at the end of the 6th century, Gregory the Dvoeslov, who was in Constantinople, set out the rite of this Liturgy in writing. Long before the time of the Council of Trullo, the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts was celebrated in the West in the Gallic, Spanish and Roman Churches. Judging by the fact that in the Gallic and Spanish Churches the worship of the Greek Church was generally preserved even after the Council of Trullo, there is no doubt that the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts was not celebrated in these Churches. As for the Roman Church, Gregory the Dvoeslov introduced it into use there. So, the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts was in widespread use much earlier than the Council of Trulla, although not in all private Churches. The extensive use of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts at the beginning of the 7th and at the end of the 6th century suggests a much earlier origin of this service, which is why scholars of Christianity are looking for the beginning of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts in the first centuries of Christianity. Many church writers - Michael Anchial, Alexei Aristen, Matthew Blastar and others - see an indication of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts in the resolution of the Council of Laodicea. “It is not appropriate to bring Holy Bread (to perform sacred services) on Lent, except on Saturday and Sunday” (pr. 49). This rule, of course, does not directly indicate the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, but it must be taken into account that the council, having prohibited the offering and consecration of gifts on Lent, except Saturdays and Sundays, did not forbid believers to partake of the Holy Mysteries every day for the whole year, as well as during Lent. Communion of St. as often as possible. The mysteries, common in the life of ancient Christians, could not be interrupted during the days of fasting for entire weeks, when the most zealous Christians even of the time of Basil the Great, according to the testimony of this saint. father, began to solve mysteries up to four times or more a week. Thus, the Council of Laodicea, although it does not mention the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, presupposes its use - the communion of the Presanctified Gifts with decent prayers. And that indeed during and before the Council of Laodicea the Presanctified Gifts were used and Christians partook of them not only in homes, but also in churches, this cannot be doubted. In very ancient times we see the custom of sending the Holy Gifts through deacons to those who were not in the church (1 Apology of Justin the Martyr, ch. 67). At the same time, it could easily happen that the Holy Gifts were delivered to some the next day after the Liturgy was celebrated - beyond the distance of Christian homes from the church, or the Gifts brought were received after eating and therefore, of necessity, it was necessary to postpone communion until another day. No less ancient is another custom of Christians - to take away part of the Gifts for communion by those present at the service. Cyprian the Hieromartyr tells about one fallen woman that, wanting to open the ark in which the Holy Gifts were located, she was frightened by the fire that descended from the ark. If Christians used to partake of the Presanctified Gifts in their homes, then even more so in church during public worship, where some parts of the Eucharist were left and stored for those who required Holy Communion. Those Christians who lived far from churches took the Holy Gifts home with them, and those who lived near churches did not have such a need and could partake of the reserve Gifts in church when the Liturgy was not celebrated, as during the days of fasting. The ancient church writer Tertullian assures us of this when he says: “Will not your fast be more solemn if you stand before the altar of the Lord? Having received the preserved Body of the Lord, both remain intact, both the communion of the sacrifice and the fulfillment of the office (fasting).” Communion in church with the spare Gifts could not be allowed without the necessary prayers and rituals: it was more decent to coincide with the communion with the spare Gifts at the church service. And therefore, on those days when the Liturgy was not celebrated, communion could be combined with evening prayer, also listening to the word of God, or with some parts of the Liturgy, excluding only prayers and the action of the consecration of the Gifts itself. Church writers of the first centuries point to such meetings during the days of fasting, where prayers and readings from the word of God were performed, but there was no consecration of the Gifts; the Holy Mysteries were also received, but in the evening, and not in the morning, therefore - presanctified Mysteries. In the 8th word on Ps. 118. St. Ambrose expresses himself this way: “The evening sacrifice also exhorts (you to fast) so that you never forget Christ, and you cannot forget, when you go to your bed, that Lord, to whom in the west of the day you poured out prayer, who satisfied you who were hungry with the food of His body.” Here, in the words of Ambrose of Milan, is there not a clear indication of such evening liturgical meetings of Christians, at which the Sacrament of the Eucharist was not performed, but there was communion with the Holy Mysteries, with prayers befitting a mystical supper? In such evening liturgical meetings one can see both the beginning and example of the real Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts. And in its present form, the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is nothing more than an evening service, combined with prayers before and after receiving the Holy Gifts. With what prayers the ancient Christians communed with the Presanctified Gifts took place, there is no detailed description of that. The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, as was the custom of the first centuries, was celebrated according to oral tradition and probably with the freedom with which other church services were performed in one church or another. According to the general Tradition of the Universal Church, Gregory Dvoeslov was the first to set out the rite of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts in writing and conveyed it to the Roman Church. He became acquainted with the rite of this Liturgy in Constantinople, when he was there for three years as papal apocrisiary under Pelagius II. As a lover of church liturgical rite, he put it in writing and, having become the Roman Pontiff, introduced it into use in the Roman Church. Since the Greek Church before Gregory the Great did not have a written rite of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts and did not find it in other Churches, it accepted the rite of this Liturgy written by St. Gregory. From the Greek Church, the rite of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, written by Dvoeslov, was soon borrowed by other Churches: Jerusalem, Alexandria, which could be seen from the testimony of Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem, and the Alexandrian chronicle. The spread of the rite of the Liturgy, written by Gregory Dvoeslov, was also facilitated by the authority that this father enjoyed in the east and west as a great teacher and administrator of the Church. Nevertheless, the rite of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, written by Gregory the Dvoeslov, could not enter into general use without a conciliar definition (see 59 Ave. of the Council of Laodicea). Therefore, the Council of Trulla (52 Ave.) approved the performance of this rite for all Churches during the days of Pentecost. But the existing tradition that the rite of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, introduced into general use by the Council of Trullo, was written by Gregory the Dvoeslov, apparently is undermined by two ancient copies dating back to the 13th or 14th centuries. One of these lists, the Calabrian one, has the following inscription: “The Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, compiled by St. our father Herman, Patriarch of Constantinople." There is a similar inscription on another list: “Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts of Patriarch Herman.” Both of these inscriptions in no way weaken the reliability of the general Tradition of the Church about the compiler of the written rite of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts: they cannot be understood in the sense that it was Patriarch Herman who first wrote the rite of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts. If we admit that Patriarch Herman was the first to write the rite of this Liturgy, then we are admitting inconsistencies. Patriarch Herman lived a long time after the Council of Trullo, and the Council of Trullo appointed the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts for general use, which he could not have done if the rite of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts had not been written and known to many Churches. Otherwise, before this determination, the council itself would have to set out in writing the rite of the Liturgy and publish it for general use. It is known, however, that the fathers of the Council of Trullo did not define the rite for the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, and before and after this council there was no other written rite of the Liturgy, except the one that we have in the Orthodox Church and, according to tradition, is attributed to St. Grigory Dvoeslov. Moreover, Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem, who lived before the Council of Trullo, speaks of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts as a written rite, because he mentions it in the same way as the written Liturgies of Basil the Great and John Chrysostom. Thus, there is no way to attribute the rite of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts to Patriarch Herman, and the above inscriptions cannot be taken as testimony about the author of the Liturgy. It remains to accept them in the sense that Patriarch Germanus sent a presentation of the Liturgy to Calabria with an order to perform it according to the stated order, in accordance with the rule of the Sixth Ecumenical Council. The rite of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts cannot be attributed to Herman’s contemporary, Gregory II, the Pope of Rome, as the Latins want to think, claiming that the rite of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts was established by this pope and that the Greeks, due to poor acquaintance with Roman history, confuse Gregory the Dvoeslov, or the first, with Gregory the second and therefore mistakenly attribute to the first what belongs to the second. One must think that St. Gregory, setting out in writing the rite of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, changed its ancient rite too little. This conclusion is led by the fact that many sacred actions, litanies and prayers in the rite of the Liturgy of St. Gregory bear clear traces of their very early origin. In the first times of Christianity, the catechumens during the days of Lent usually prepared for baptism or enlightenment, which is why they were called enlightened. At that time, the Church daily offered special prayers for them, which we also find in the rite of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts of St. Gregory. And from the middle of the fourth week of Great Lent until Great Saturday, on which the baptism of the enlightened took place, she further intensified these prayers, as should be the case according to the order of the Liturgy of St. Gregory. In order to encourage the catechumens to greater preparation, to arouse in their souls a strong desire for St. enlightenment, the priest, through the last twenty days of Lent, overshadowed their lighted candles with light, meaning through the radiance of material light the intelligent light approaching them, the true light, enlightening every person coming into the world. (Bl. Augustine 96 conversation on John). We also see the overshadowing of the people by a lighted candle with the cry: “The Light of Christ enlightens everyone” in the rite of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts of St. Gregory the Great. There is an indication that St. Gregory Dvoeslov did not again compose the prayers for the transfer of the Presanctified Gifts from the altar to the throne and the preparation of the believers for Holy Communion. Mikhail Anchial, proving the antiquity of the Liturgy with the Presanctified Gifts, writes: “Our words are confirmed by the rumor known in all the Holy Churches, originating from an unwritten tradition, that rumor that the prayer that is read after the placing of the Presanctified Gifts on the Holy. altar, belongs to St. Athanasius, who was in the rank of deacon at Nicaea, the first Ecumenical Council." In some ancient written prayer books, this prayer also preserves the name of this saint in the inscription. Afanasia. Consequently, in the 12th century, when Anchial lived, the prayer read upon entering the altar with the Holy Gifts was still known under the name Afanasyeva. The Patriarch says that this prayer was called Afanasyeva in ancient service books, and in legend it is known by the same name. In the thought that St. Gregory Dvoeslov changed the ancient rite of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts too little, and we are also convinced that, while setting out the rite of the Liturgy for the Romans proper, he did not select a single prayer from the Roman Liturgy. Without a doubt, he did this because he found all the prayers, songs and rituals ready. Finally, the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is not inscribed with the name of St. Gregory the Great, as the Liturgies of Basil the Great and John Chrysostom are inscribed, is a new sign that St. Gregory did not change the rite of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, just as John Chrysostom and Basil the Great changed the ancient rite of the Full Liturgy. With all this, the merit of Gregory Dvoeslov is great: he brought the rite of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts into proper clarity and a certain order. That is why the Holy Church, in gratitude for his care and work - to bring the rite of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts into proper and definite order - calls on his name at the end of this Liturgy on dismissal and after the prayer of thanksgiving, the troparion is read to this saint: “Who from God above received divine grace, glorious Gregory” and kontakion: “The subordinate seemed to be the chief shepherd of Christ, the monks of the line, Father Gregory ..." To restore the rite of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts in the form in which it came from the pen of St. father, and there is no way to compare it with the rite of the same Liturgy of the present time, even if this rite was placed in the sacramentary of Dvoeslov, because the sacramentary of Dvoeslov was constantly changing and now belongs to him by almost one name. In the current sacramentary of St. Gregory the Great, only the remains of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts have been preserved, namely the Liturgy celebrated in the west on the Friday of Holy Week. If in the sacramentary of St. Gregory, the rite of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts did not survive, but it was preserved in its entirety in separate copies written both in the east and in the west. All lists, ancient and modern, are similar to each other, and the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts has not changed almost at all since St. Grigory Dvoeslov. (Extracted from the magazine “Guide for Rural Shepherds,” 1876, pp. 393–407, in No. 13). B. Explanation of the words of Psalm 140, sung at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts “Almost everyone knows the psalm (beginning with the words: “Lord, I have cried to You, hear me...”), said St. Chrysostom is about the Christians of his time - everyone sings it often, from youth to old age, although not many completely understand its meaning. And it was not in vain that the fathers decided to proclaim this spiritual song daily: it is a kind of spiritual healing, it is a kind of propitiatory sacrifice, with which we must every evening cleanse our sins that we have committed throughout the day, at home, or in the marketplace, or in another place.” In fact, this song of the son of Jesse, sung by him during the days of trouble, is very touching. But the verses of the sacred song seem especially touching and arouse the spirit of prayer when in St. and the Great Pentecost are sung at the Liturgy of the Presanctified. The voice of the church singer, the reverent kneeling of all those present in the church of God, the very time of repentance, the consciousness of his spiritual poverty - everything makes the sinner cry out to the Lord with the prayer of David. May my prayer be corrected, like incense before You! Nothing is so necessary for us as true prayer, and prayer itself is never as necessary as during the days of fasting and repentance. Therefore, the Church decided from the very beginning to sing the second verse of the psalm, then repeat it after each of the following verses, and finally conclude the singing with it. For in it we pray for the prayer itself, may it be corrected and may it go straight to the throne of the Heavenly Father, like a stream of sacrificial incense, on a quiet evening, rushing straight to heaven. One of our greatest misfortunes is that our prayer has not yet ascended to the face of God. We prayed, but the prayer dissipated like smoke from the storm of our passions, not reaching the sky. May she at least now, in these days of repentance, rise steadily to You, our Lord and Judge! Like prisoners burdened with chains, we lift up our hands to heaven, which we are not worthy to look at, but may the humble lifting of our hands be acceptable before You, just as the evening sacrifice was acceptable, which was offered to You daily in the tabernacle and in the temple of Solomon. May my prayer be corrected, like incense before You! Lord, I called to You, hear me! By this appeal we do not mean a verbal cry, no matter how loud and strong it may be, notes St. Chrysostom, but a strong cry of a contrite heart, a tender voice of the soul, which all turns into a single fiery prayer and with all its might cries out to the Savior: “Listen to the voice of my prayer!” Hurry to my aid! Don’t let my very prayer perish! may my prayer be corrected, like incense before You! Place, O Lord, a guard over my mouth and a door of protection over my mouth! David asked guardians of his tongue, so that from the grave misfortunes of life he would not grumble about his fate, in view of the fact that at the court of Saul, and in the cave of Adullam and in the gorges of Engaddi, there were evil advisers who excited him to raise a grumbling and indignation against the persecutor king. But a sinner, as we all are, without the misfortunes of life, and without evil advisers, by evil will alone, will have a tongue sharp as a razor. The merciful Creator, having honored us with the gift of speech, thereby elevated us above all earthly creatures: but what do we make of this magnificent gift? According to the apostle, the babble of unrighteousness, the fire that devours both our and other people’s lives, the filthiness of our entire body (James 3:6-8). The word of God says: “If anyone sins not in word, he is a perfect man” (James 3:2), but we do not sin so much and so gravely as with our tongue. Isn’t our larynx often an open coffin in which we bury the best deeds of our neighbors? How can each of us not pray: “Set, O Lord, a guard over my tongue, guard the doors of my mouth,” from which, like from an abyss, pours blasphemy against Your deeds and the deeds of my neighbors? Do not deprive me of the gift of speech; for it is scary for man to be a dumb creature, but put a barrier to my evil words and give a word of goodness in my mouth, a word of praise and prayer to You, my God, so that my prayer may be corrected, like incense before You! Do not turn my heart into words of wickedness, do not bear the guilt of sins! Our inner word is even more evil and crafty; From the heart, says the Savior, come evil thoughts (Matthew 15:19). But the most evil of evil thoughts is when we internally do not feel guilty about sins, i.e. we invent excuses for our sins, we justify our vices. When, having sinned gravely, we say in our hearts: we have not sinned! And isn’t this apology for one’s sins the favorite conversation among sinners with their evil hearts?! That is why, when approaching the throne of grace, most often we should cry out to the Lord: “Do not allow our hearts to wander into evil thoughts!” Take away the wickedness that falsely justifies our sins! For our prayer is only favorable before You, Lord, when a contrite heart is poured out in it with a feeling of tax collector’s humility and repentance and when it is completely alien to the Pharisee’s condemnation of one’s neighbors and self-praise. (See Sunday Reading 1839) B. Explanation of the song “Now the powers of heaven serve with us invisibly...” “Now the powers of heaven serve with us invisibly. Behold, the King of Glory enters. Behold, the secret sacrifice is complete. Let us approach by faith and love, so that we may be partakers of eternal life. Hallelujah". Now (at present) the heavenly powers are invisibly serving with us, because the King of glory is coming. Now the mysterious sacrifice, already completed, is transferred (accompanied by angels). Let us approach it with faith and love so that we may be partakers of eternal life. Hallelujah (praise God). This touching song is sung only during Great Lent at the Presanctified Liturgy, during the transfer of the Holy Gifts from the altar to the throne. This is the most solemn moment at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts. When the first half of the song “Now the Powers of Heaven” is sung, then the lamp, which appears in the northern doors of the altar, notifies the faithful of the coming of their King, in the form of a sacrifice carried on the head of a priest, preceded by a deacon, covering the path with incense, and all those present, out of reverence before the incomprehensible mystery, fall on their faces, and a terrible silence settles in the church. Then the choir rises and begins to sing: “Let us draw near by faith and love, that we may be partakers of eternal life, hallelujah.” You see, Christians, what a solemn moment there is at the Presanctified Liturgy! What awe and silent reverence should we be imbued with at this time?! Meanwhile, some of you, whether out of ignorance or absent-mindedness, seem to not pay attention to what is happening in the church: instead of throwing themselves down, they stand upright. What unacceptable negligence! Remember, Christians, that at the Presanctified Liturgy it is not only consecrated bread that is transferred, as at an ordinary Liturgy, but the very Body of Christ, drenched in His Most Pure Blood. Therefore, everyone, without exception, must throw themselves down before the terrible sacrifice, which is served invisibly by the heavenly powers. What heavenly powers serve invisibly with us? Archangels and angels, cherubim and seraphim and other ethereal forces, whose main home is heaven, and that is why they are called heavenly. Now they serve with us. When is this now? During the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts. However, at every Liturgy the heavenly powers invisibly serve with us, and not only at the Liturgy, but also at every church service they serve with us. They primarily serve only during the Liturgy. Why? But because mainly during the Liturgy the King of glory, the Lord of hosts, Jesus Christ, is with us. Of course, for us sinful, fleshly people, angels, like disembodied beings, remain invisible. But to people who struggle in the field of pleasing God, mortifying the flesh and its passions, angels sometimes appear visibly. Here are examples of this. One day the Monk Sergius celebrated the Liturgy. The silent Isaac stood in the church and saw someone at the altar serving Sergius and wearing light robes. At the entrance with the Gospel, the wonderful visitor followed Sergius and his face shone with such a strong light that Isaac could not look at him. A miracle cleared his lips, and he asked another student, Rev. Sergius Macarius: “Who is this?” “I don’t know,” answered Macarius, “and horror pervades me.” At first I thought that this was the presbyter who came with Prince Vladimir, but the boyars said no; without a doubt this is an angel serving Sergius.” At the end of the Liturgy, both students begged the teacher to tell them who served with him. And Sergius discovered that this is an angel who always serves with him. The famous Sarov ascetic Fr. Seraphim, distinguished by his strict ascetic life (he lived at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th century). One day on Maundy Thursday, rector Fr. Pachomius, who never served without Fr. Seraphim, who was still in the rank of hierodeacon, began the Divine Liturgy at two o'clock in the afternoon of the evening, and after a small exit and paremias, when hierodeacon Seraphim exclaimed: “Lord, save the pious and hear us,” and, turning to the people, said, “And forever and ever,” he suddenly fell silent, changed his face and could not leave his place. Two hierodeacons took him by the arms, led him into the altar and left him aside. The service continued, and Fr. Seraphim stood motionless for more than two hours, his face constantly changing. When he came to his senses, he privately told the abbot and the treasurer that he had a vision. “A sudden light, like a ray of sunlight, illuminated me, poor one,” he said, “and, turning my eyes to the radiance, I saw the Lord our God Jesus Christ, shining with an indescribable light, surrounded, as if by a swarm of bees, by all the heavenly powers. Jesus Christ walked from the western church gates through the air, stopped opposite the pulpit and, raising His hands, blessed the servants and those praying; then He entered the local image on the right side of the royal doors. Then my heart rejoiced purely, enlightened, in the sweetness of love for the Lord.” So, we believe that the heavenly powers serve with us at the Liturgy, and not only at the Liturgy, but also at every church service. How then do those Christians sin who rarely or, even worse, never go to the church of God at all, and through this they are deprived of communication with the source of life - Jesus Christ and His holy angels! Yes, it is unfortunate to admit that many Christians like to attend secular meetings more than church ones. How often many more people gather at the market place than in the church of God! What house of entertainment is not filled with a greater number of visitors than the small walls of a house of prayer - the church of God. There is often not enough space for those who come, and here sometimes there is no one to occupy it. They don’t get bored spending entire Days there, but here a few minutes are considered long. There they notice with curiosity every phenomenon, every meeting, every conversation and remember for a long time, but here often the eyes of those who have things do not see anything, and those who have ears do not hear anything and go out without having anything in their memory or in their hearts. What a disastrous preference! In church meetings, heavenly powers serve, but in worldly meetings, heavenly powers are hardly with us, because Jesus Christ is hardly present in worldly meetings. There His name is hardly ever heard. And where Jesus Christ does not exist, there are no heavenly powers with us, because the heavenly powers are with us only for the sake of Christ, for Him and with Him. What forces serve invisibly in secular, worldly gatherings? Some serve, but not heavenly, not holy forces. Even our guardian angel is often not with us there. Just as bees fly away from places where smoke spreads, so holy angels cannot be in those assemblies where the stench of the world smokes. Therefore, Christians, go to the church of God: here the heavenly powers serve with us invisibly, here the Lord of hosts, the King of glory Jesus Christ, is with us, here the heavenly, holy, pure things will easily come to mind. Conversation No. 1. About the memories of Holy Monday I. On Holy and Great Monday we commemorate blessed Joseph the Beautiful and remember the withered fig tree, because from this last event the holy passions of our Lord Jesus Christ begin, and Joseph is remembered as a prototype of Jesus Christ. II. a) Joseph was the son of the patriarch Jacob, born of Rachel. Hated by his brothers for some dreams he had, he is first thrown by them into a waterless well (while his father, deceived by the bloody clothes brought to him by his children, considers him torn to pieces by a beast), then he is sold for thirty pieces of silver to the Israelites, who again sell him to Pentephry, the chief of the eunuchs of the Egyptian king Pharaoh. Here his mistress, who encroached on the chastity of the young man, who did not want to commit lawlessness, but fled from her, leaving his clothes, slandered him before the master, and he was thrown into chains and prison. Then, for interpreting dreams, he is taken out of prison, presented to the king and made lord of the entire land of Egypt. Finally, on the occasion of the sale of wheat, he revealed himself to his brothers, and, having spent his entire life virtuously, died in Egypt, besides other virtues, being great for chastity... This is an image of Christ, for Christ was also attacked by his fellow Jews, and He was sold by a disciple for thirty pieces of silver, and He was imprisoned in a dark and gloomy ditch - in a tomb. But He rose by His power from the grave and reigns over spiritual Egypt, that is, over all sin, and conquers it completely. He rules over the world and redeems us humanely by giving us mysterious wheat, giving Himself for us and feeding us with heavenly bread - His Life-Giving Body. For this reason, Beautiful Joseph is remembered today. b) Now we also remember the withered fig tree, for the divine evangelists Matthew and Mark, after the legend about the fronds, narrate: “The next day, when they left Bethany, He was hungry” (Mark 11:12), and another: “The next morning, returning to the city, He was hungry; and seeing a fig tree along the road, he approached it and, finding nothing on it except some leaves, said to it: Let there be no fruit from you henceforth forever. And the fig tree immediately withered” (Matthew 21:18–19). The fig tree here means the Jewish synagogue, in which the Savior did not find the proper fruit, but only the shadow of the law, which is why He took away this shadow from them, abolishing it completely. Someone will ask: why is a soulless tree dried up? Why is it, having not sinned, subjected to a curse? Let him know that the Jews, seeing Christ always doing good to everyone and not doing anything deplorable to anyone, thought that He only had the power to do good, and not to punish. The Lord, out of His love for mankind, did not want to show this over any person, but in order to assure the ungrateful people that He has the power to punish, but He does not want this, as the All-Good One, He shows the image of execution on a soulless and insensible tree. And that sin is likened to a fig, the reason is obvious, for sin also has in itself the pleasantness of pleasure - the sweetness of sin, but then produces bitterness - in the conscience. However, the fathers put here (on Holy Monday) the story of the fig tree for the sake of tenderness, just as about Joseph because he bore the image of Christ. A barren fig tree is every soul that does not have any spiritual fruit, which Christ, in the morning, that is, at the end of this life, if it does not find good fruits in it, dries up with a curse and plunges into eternal fire. And she is like a withered pillar, frightening those who do not bear the appropriate fruit of virtue. III. Through the prayers of the Beautiful Joseph, Christ God, have mercy on us (and grant us the strength to lead a chaste life, like Joseph, and to do good deeds, the fruits of faith, so as not to become like the barren fig tree). Amen. A. Explanation of the song “I see Your palace, my Savior” (sung on Holy Week) I. I see Your palace, my Savior, adorned, and I have no clothes, but I will go into it, enlighten the robe of my soul, O Light-Giver, and save me - we hear such a meaningful and touching song during Holy Week. There are many deep thoughts contained in this song. Let's delve into it and learn a few lessons from it. II. a) I see Your palace, my Savior, decorated. What kind of palace of God is this? This is God's permanent dwelling place. Although God is omnipresent, i.e. He is present everywhere, in every place of His dominion, but He also has a permanent place of His presence. God is present in heaven, there is His throne, there, as a King, He will sit on the throne of His glory; there, only there, thousands of thousands stand before Him and serve Him (Dan.7:10; Rev.5:11). From there the Lord came to earth, ascended there, and from there he will come again to judge the living and the dead. This is the highest, invisible, spiritual heaven, the abode of holiness and bliss, where there is no corruption and destruction, no sorrow and sorrow, where God and the Lord Himself are with the saints in His glory. We sinners cannot have any idea about this heavenly palace. Just as the sun surpasses all earthly light from fire, so - and even more - this heavenly beauty surpasses all earthly beauty. All the chambers located here are pitiful toys in comparison with those there, all the clothes are gold-woven - just an insignificant cobweb. How after this this heavenly dwelling must be desirable for us! After all, the Lord calls us sinners there: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). The Lord calls everyone, without distinction, to His heavenly palace for such a feast, where there is no number of joys and pleasures, and the continuation of which will have no end. b) But here’s the trouble: we have nothing to wear to the heavenly palace. And the imam doesn’t wear clothes, but I don’t wear them. Our clothes are shabby and worn out. We received it from our fallen ancestors, we were born in it, and we ourselves disfigured it a lot. Let's look at ourselves, how ugly we are in it. We have all sorts of sinful defilements. Which of us is free from laziness, lust, drunkenness, fornication and other carnal impurities? Whose tongue is not defiled by idle talk, condemnation, slander, and foul language? Whose soul and heart are not infected with pride, ambition, greed, envy, hatred? See how ugly we are in our sinful clothes! How can we appear in this form to our King God, to the heavenly kingdom, where there is only shrine, light, glory, beauty, joy and triumph? Let us recall the Gospel parable about the wedding celebration of the king’s son. “One day,” said the Savior, “a certain man, a king, arranged a wedding feast for his son, and sent his servants to call those invited to the wedding feast, but they did not want to come. He sent another time, but they did not come again. Then the king ordered the slaves to go to the crossroads and invite everyone they found to the feast. The slaves carried out the orders of their master, and the wedding feast was filled with reclining people. The king, going in to see those reclining, saw a man there, not dressed in wedding clothes. And he says to him: “Friend! How did you come here not wearing wedding clothes?” He was silent. Then the king said to the servants: “Binding his hands and feet, take him and throw him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen" (Matthew 22:2-14). To prevent this from happening to us, we need to take off our old robe, defiled by sins, and put on new, clean, light clothes. c) But where can we get these clothes? It is given to us by our Savior Lord Jesus Christ. So in the church song we turn to Him: “Illuminate the robe of my soul, O Light-Giver, and save me.” Yes, He, the Merciful, dresses us up so that we may be worthy heirs of the heavenly palace. And thank God, we are already clothed in these clean, bright clothes. We received these clothes as tune, i.e. freely, in the Sacrament of Baptism. “As many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Gal.3:27). Baptism removes our sins and makes people, conceived in iniquities and born in sins, pure and innocent, and thus it gives that bright robe that we need to enter the heavenly palace, i.e. to the kingdom of heaven. But here’s the problem: we all love our old sinful clothes and, for the most part, wear them even after baptism. The merciful Lord, knowing our weakness, indicated another way to return these clothes, lost by sins. This means is repentance and communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. You have sinned and through your sins you have lost the garment of purity and innocence: resort to the Sacrament of Repentance and the communion of the Body and Blood of Christ. With tears of repentance, as with a second baptism, you will wash away the filth from your soul, and through communion of the Holy Mysteries you will again enter into a close union with the Lord. If you neglect these means, then you may appear in the next world without a bright robe. Do you know, Christian, what fate befell the man who came to the royal feast not in wedding clothes. Take care to acquire for yourself the robe of your soul. Right faith, a pure and virtuous life - this is the clothing of our soul. (See “Sunday Leaflet”, appendix to “Divine Service Day”, No. 2b5). III. Let us, fellow Christians, “as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe ourselves with mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering and love” (Col. 3:12, 14). In this form, we can appear without condemnation at the wedding feast, at the world-wide future celebration in the eternal abodes of our heavenly Father. We will always try to preserve the holy robe of salvation given to us by the Savior and we will pray to the Lord: “Illuminate the robe of our souls, O Light-Giver, and save us.” B. Explanation of the song “Behold the bridegroom comes at midnight” (sung on Holy Week) You have just heard, beloved, the touching song “Behold the bridegroom comes at midnight,” which is sung at matins on the first three days of Holy Week. So that it is understandable to everyone and brings the desired benefit to everyone, let me offer your love an explanation of it. The song “Behold, the bridegroom comes at midnight” reminds us of the Savior’s parable, in which He likens the kingdom of heaven to ten virgins, who, according to ancient custom, took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. The composer of the song had this parable in mind. Let us present it here and explain it briefly: “The Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Of these, five were wise and five were foolish. The foolish ones took their lamps and took no oil with them. The wise, together with their lamps, took oil in their vessels. And as the groom slowed down, everyone dozed off and fell asleep. But at midnight a cry was heard: behold, the groom is coming, go out to meet him. Then all the virgins stood up and trimmed their lamps. But the foolish said to the wise, Give us your oil, for our lamps are going out. And the wise answered: so that there is no shortage for both us and you, you better go to those who sell and buy for yourself. And when they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and they that were ready went in with him to the wedding, and the door was shut; Afterwards the other virgins came and said: Lord! God! open to us. He answered and said to them, “Truly I say to you, I do not know you.” Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man will come” (Matthew 25:1-13). Explanation of the parable: ten virgins - five wise and five holy fools - mean us Christians. Of us, some are wise in their faith, virtuous life and readiness for death, others are foolish in their lack of faith, or cold indifference to faith, in their vicious carnal life, in their unpreparedness for death and the judgment immediately following it, since: “It is appointed to die once, but after this comes judgment” (Heb. 9:27). The foolish, it is said, took their lamps and took no oil with them. What kind of lamps are these, and what does oil mean for these lamps? Lamps are our souls, according to the words of the Savior: “The lamp of the body is the eye” (Matthew 6:22). By eye He means the human heart or soul. Oil is alms, according to St. Chrysostom, or good deeds in general. So, foolish Christians, having gone out to meet the groom, did not prepare good deeds for their souls that could support their spiritual life. The wise, it is said, took oil in vessels with their lamps, i.e. they stocked up on good deeds in order to meet the groom with dignity. Who is the groom? – Jesus Christ. When and how do we go out to meet Him? Our whole life must first be a preparation for a private meeting with Him, because every soul, after its death, must appear to Him with an answer as the Author of life, and therefore throughout our lives we must take care of acquiring and preserving in our hearts living faith and ardent love for the Lord, so that after our death we will not appear shamefully and condemned at the terrible throne of the Lord of glory. We will go out to a common meeting with Him after our resurrection from the dead, “all who are in the tombs will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who have done good will come forth into the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil into the resurrection of condemnation” (John 5:28-29). The groom will touch, i.e. Jesus Christ hesitates to put an end to our life by death, “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9). He equally delays His second glorious and terrible coming, so that the sons of the kingdom of heaven may multiply more and more. Meanwhile, people, seduced by the temporary sweetness of sin, its impunity, and seeing that the world stands firmly, and thinking that it will stand like that indefinitely, and themselves enjoying strong health and other material benefits, plunge into spiritual slumber, neglect their correction and sleep in a sinful sleep. But then, at the very midnight of sinful sleep, when none of the sinners even thinks about their terrible danger, a loud voice is heard: “Behold, the bridegroom is coming, go out to meet him!” Then everyone roused themselves and lit their lamps, i.e. strained mental attention. It will be good for wise Christians at this time: their souls will burn with the fire of the sweetest love for the Lord; but it will be bad for the foolish: the souls of these latter, like lamps without oil, will go out, i.e. they will grow dark and cold from lack of love for God, the source of love, and will begin to anticipate the torments of hell. They will ask for oil, i.e. wise Christians have good deeds, but they will not give, so that they too may not lack. They will go to buy from those who sell, i.e. they will come to their senses to do good deeds and go looking for an opportunity to do this, but at this very time the groom will come, i.e. at the very time they want to do good deeds, death will overtake them and place them before the Heavenly Judge without any virtues, reeking of their iniquities. If they want to enter the palace of the heavenly kingdom, to which we are all destined from our very birth, for which we live, the Lord will not let them in and will say to them: “I don’t know you.” “Watch therefore,” the Lord concludes the parable, “for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man will come” (Matthew 25:13). Now the Church hymn will be clear to all of us: “Behold, the bridegroom comes at midnight; and blessed is the servant (that is, every Christian), and he will be found vigilant; he is not worthy of restitution, but he will be found despondent (sleeping in a sinful sleep); Take care, therefore, my soul: do not be burdened with sleep, (i.e., do not be burdened with spiritual sinful sleep), lest you be given over to (eternal) death, and be shut out of the kingdom; but arise, calling: holy, holy, holy art thou, O God, have mercy on us through the Mother of God.” Amen. (From the “Sermons” of Kronstadt Archpriest John Sergiev). Conversation No. 2. About the memories of Holy Tuesday I. On Holy and Great Tuesday we commemorate the parable of the ten virgins; for the Lord spoke this parable to his disciples as he ascended to Jerusalem before His suffering. II. There are other parables that He spoke to the Jews at the same time. With the parable of the ten virgins, the Lord inclines to alms and together teaches everyone to be ready before the end. And before He spoke a lot to the disciples about virginity and eunuchs. And indeed, virginity deserves much glory and is truly great. But so that anyone, correcting this one virtue, does not neglect others, but mainly alms, which illuminates the lamp of virginity, the Holy Gospel offers a real parable. It calls five virgins wise because they added much and abundant alms to their virginity, and the other five are holy fools, who, although they observed virginity, did not give enough alms. That is why they are holy fools because, having corrected the greater, they neglected the less, and are in no way different from harlots, for these are conquered by their own body, and those by their property. When the night of the present life passed, everyone dozed off and fell asleep, i.e. died, for death is called sleep. But while they were sleeping, at midnight a cry was heard - and the virgins, who had a lot of oil with them, when the doors opened, entered with the Bridegroom. The foolish, who had little oil, looked for it after waking up from sleep. The wise wanted to give the holy fools some of their oil, but they could not, which is why they said: “So that there is no shortage for you and us, go better to those who sell, i.e. to the poor and buy it." But after death this is no longer possible, as Abraham also shows in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, when he says: “Those who want to move from here to you cannot, neither can they cross from there to us” (Luke 16:26). So, having arrived without light, the holy fools cried out, striking the doors: “Lord, Lord, open to us!” But the Lord gave them a terrible answer: “Go away, I don’t know you” (Matthew 25:1–13). For how will you see the Bridegroom without alms? III. So, the parable of the ten virgins was put here by the God-bearing fathers to teach us to always stay awake and be ready to meet the true Bridegroom with good deeds, and especially with alms, for the day and hour of death is unknown to us, just as by the example of Joseph we learn to acquire chastity, and by the fig tree to always bear spiritual fruit. He who does one thing, and moreover, a greater one, and neglects others, and mainly alms, will not enter eternal rest with Christ, but will return back in shame. For there is nothing more regrettable and shameful than virginity overcome by addiction to wealth. But, O Bridegroom Christ, unite us with the wise virgins, number us among Your chosen flock and have mercy on us. Amen. (See Sunday Reading for 1846/7, No. 51). Conversation No. 3. About the memories of Great Wednesday Synaxarion for Great Wednesday I. On Holy and Great Wednesday, the divine fathers ordered the commemoration of the prodigal wife who anointed the Lord with chrism, because this happened shortly before the saving suffering. II. When the Lord ascended to Jerusalem and was in the house of Simon the leper, the prodigal wife came to Him and poured valuable ointment on His head. The memory of this event is placed here so that, according to the word of the Savior, her extremely zealous work would be preached everywhere and on every occasion. For what reason did she come? Because she saw the compassion of Christ and His sociability with everyone, and especially now, when she saw Him entering the house of a leper, whom the law recognized as unclean and excommunicated (with others). The wife realized that if He healed this man’s leprosy, then He would also heal her mental illness. And so, when He was reclining at supper, she poured ointment (bought) at the price of 300 denarii on His head. For this, the disciples, and most of all Judas, were indignant at her, but Christ stood up for her so that they would not destroy her good intentions. Then he mentions His burial, discouraging Judas from betrayal, and honoring his wife with the fact that her good deed will be preached throughout the entire universe. St. Ev. Mark adds that the woman, out of zeal, also broke the narrow-necked vessel, which He calls alabaster. This vessel, as Saint Epiphanius says, is glass, without handles, which is also called vikion (in Greek). This myrrh was composed of many different types (fragrant substances), but mainly from the following: the color of myrrh, fragrant cinnamon, iris, aromatic reed and oil. III. Anointed with the mental world, Christ our God, free us from impure passions and have mercy on us, as one who is holy and loving of mankind. Amen. Appendix to conversations No. 1–3 From church hymns on the first three days of Holy Week At Matins on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of Holy Week. a) Behold, the Bridegroom comes at midnight, and blessed is the servant, he will be found by the vigil, but unworthy again, he will be found by the despondent: take care, therefore, my soul, not to be burdened with sleep, lest you be given over to death, and the kingdom be shut outside, but rise up, calling: Holy, Holy, Holy art thou, O God, have mercy on us through the Theotokos. Behold, at midnight the Bridegroom comes, and blessed is the servant whom He finds awake; but he is unworthy (of the kingdom) whom He finds asleep. My soul! See that you are not burdened with sleep, lest you be put to death and remain outside the kingdom, but cast off your slumber, crying out: Holy, Holy, Holy are You, O God, through the intercession of the Mother of God, have mercy on us. b) I see Your palace, my Savior, adorned, without even having clothes, but I will go into it: enlighten the robe of my soul, O Light-Giver, and save me. My savior! I see Your palace adorned, but I have no clothes to enter it. Giver of light! Make the robe of my soul bright and save me. Conversation No. 4. About the memories of the Maundy Thursday service I. On Maundy Thursday we remember the washing of the disciples’ feet, the Last Supper and the giving up of Jesus Christ to suffer. II. a) Let's start the conversation with Matins on Maundy Thursday. After the Great Litany and Alleluia, the troparion “Ever Glory, O Disciples” is sung. In Russian: “When the disciples worthy of glory at the supper were enlightened by washing their feet, i.e. began to understand the meaning of the work for which the Son of God came to earth, then the evil Judas, suffering from the love of money, became darkened and plotted to betray You, the righteous Judge, to lawless judges. Look, seeker of estates, at the one who strangled himself because of estates; Flee the insatiable soul who dared to do this to the Teacher, Who is the All-Good Lord of all, glory to Him.” Immediately after the troparion, the Gospel from the 22nd chapter of Luke is read, where the events of the Last Supper are narrated and the speeches spoken by the Lord to Judas, Peter and all the apostles are given. After the Gospel and the 50th Psalm, the canon is sung: “what is cut is cut.” It says here that the Lord, the immeasurable wisdom of God, the Author and Giver of life, without ceasing to be God, created a church for Himself from an unskilled, pure Mother, took on flesh and, becoming human, became one Person, Christ the God-Man. He arranges a soul-nourishing meal and dissolves the cup of joy and salvation for the faithful. He does not separate Judas, the ill-named Iscariot, from the divine meal, and he, darkened by malice, having forgotten his former friendship, is not enlightened by the gentle hints of the Lord: he stretches out the hands with which he received the Holy Bread to accept the price for Him Who created man with His own hands. Showing the deepest humility, Jesus Christ, God's wisdom, who bridles the forces of hell, holding uncontrollable water in the air, takes the laver in his hands, pours water into it, girds himself with ribbon, kneels and washes the feet of His servants, teaching them humility. After the canon and the song “Thy Chamber,” which has already been sung several times, stichera on praises are sung, followed by a great doxology, litany of petition and stichera on verse. The stichera describe how the lawless congregation of the Jews is about to betray the Creator and Creator of all to Pilate. Lawless and unfaithful! they prepare for judgment the One who Himself will come to judge the living and the dead; they condemn the One who heals human suffering to suffering. He goes to the free slaughter, gives lashes for wounds, cheeks for strangulations, does not turn his face away from the shame of spitting, and endures everything in order to resurrect everyone. To console and encourage the grieving disciples, He tells them: do not be afraid, do not be tempted by what you see. I came not to be served, but to serve and give my soul for the salvation of the world. Judas, having dipped his hand in salt with the Lord, stretches out his hands to the wicked to accept pieces of silver, calculates the price of the world with which they anointed the Lord, and is not afraid to sell the priceless. He allows his feet to be washed and betrays the Lord with a kiss, leaving the face of the apostles, he throws thirty pieces of silver to the ground, because he does not know about the three-day resurrection of the Lord. Darkened by greed, he at the same time loses his temporal and divine life, covers up covetousness with concern for the poor, pities the sinner’s world, and sells the heavenly world, sells, like a runaway slave, the One Who cannot be sold. In the first hour, in the proverb from the 11th and 12th chapters of St. Jeremiah, the prophet, doomed to death for his truthful speeches, appears as a prototype of Jesus Christ. His enemies are leading him to the slaughter, preparing to put the (poisonous) tree into his food and destroy him from the land of the living, so that his very name will be forgotten. The enemies of Jeremiah are the enemies of Christ. They corrupted the grapes of God and turned them into an impenetrable desert. Meanwhile, they prosper: their path is sung, their wealth grows, their families multiply. But the prophet threatens them in the name of the Lord: I will uproot them from their land and I will overthrow the house of Judah. I will have mercy on my faithful children and return them to their land, i.e. I will bring you into the saving fence of the Church. b) The Liturgy of Maundy Thursday is celebrated after the services of the 3rd, 6th and 9th hour and is preceded by Vespers. According to the charter, it should begin at 8 o'clock in the day, i.e. at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. This is so that the Liturgy, if possible, approaches the time at which the Lord established the Sacrament of Communion. Since the establishment of this sacrament is the most joyful event for our soul, Maundy Thursday is a day of sacred joy, and not sorrow. On this day, the service is performed not in dark, but in light vestments, and at the meal there is “the permission of wine and oil.” The stichera of Vespers are almost the same as the stichera of Matins. Upon entering, three proverbs are read with the Gospel. In the first, from the 19th chapter of the book. The Exodus depicts the greatness of God appearing to Israel on Mount Sinai amid earthquakes, thunder, lightning and the sound of trumpets. Given these terrible signs, the humility with which the Lord appeared among the disciples at the Last Supper is all the more instructive for us. In the 2nd proverb, from the 38th and 42nd chapters of the book. Job, the Lord, speaking to Job through the storm and the cloud, depicts, on the one hand, the wisdom revealed by God in creation, and on the other, man’s inability to comprehend this wisdom. Thus, here we are given a lesson - to reverently accept the incomprehensible Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ. The 3rd proverb, from the 8th chapter of the book of the prophet Isaiah, depicts the Lord, Who, giving His cloaks for wounds, His cheeks for blows, at the same time knows about His Divine greatness and predicts to His enemies that they will perish, like moth-eaten clothes, in that eternal fire that they have prepared for themselves. The Apostle from the 11th chapter of 1 Corinthians, telling about the establishment of the Sacrament of Communion, shows the danger that threatens those who approach this sacrament without preparation. “That is why,” says the apostle, “many of you are weak and sick, and many are dying” (1 Cor. 11:30). The holy apostle is not talking about physical weaknesses and death, but about spiritual death, about the infirmities of the soul. And how many of us, receiving communion unworthily, become weak spiritually, incapable of asceticism for the salvation of the soul! How many, becoming infected with grave sins, destroy their souls forever! The Gospel, taken from several evangelists, recounts the events from the supper of Simon the leper to the taking of the Lord to Pilate. Instead of the Cherubim song and sacramental verse, the following is sung: “Thy secret supper.” Here, begging the Lord to make us partakers of the Last Supper, we promise not to reveal the secret to our enemies, as Judas did when he revealed to his enemies the place of the secret prayer of Jesus Christ, we express our readiness to confess the Lord, like the repentant thief, and ask Him to remember us in His kingdom. The Liturgy is celebrated by St. Basil the Great. c) On Maundy Thursday, reserve Holy Gifts are prepared for the communion of the sick, the ritual of washing the feet is performed and the myrrh is consecrated. Let's talk briefly about these sacred rites. Spare Gifts are prepared like this. Consecrated in due time at the Liturgy on Maundy Thursday (the second besides the service), the Lamb is given the Holy Blood of Christ to drink and placed in the tabernacle. At the end of the Liturgy, an antimension is unfurled on the throne, the Lamb is placed on it, incense is performed around the throne and a bow is made. The lamb is then crushed with a copy on the paten into small particles and they begin to dry them with great reverence. To do this, a clean brick is placed on the throne at the edge of the antimins on the right hand, on which a clean brazier with burning coals is placed. After bowing, the priest takes the paten with the crushed Lamb and holds it over a vessel with coals, turning the particles with a spear and watching to make sure they do not burn. Properly dried particles are placed in St. tabernacle. The ritual of washing the feet is performed as follows. In the cathedral, during the Liturgy, after the prayer behind the pulpit, the 50th psalm is read and stichera glorifying the humility of Christ are sung, and at this time the bishop, without a staff, without a retinue of clergy, goes out to the pulpit, into the middle of the church. Before him, the deacons carry the Gospel, a basin, a washstand and a lention (towel). 6 archimandrites and 6 archpriests also come here. After praying for God’s blessing and for us to be confirmed in feelings of repentance, the protodeacon reads the 1st Gospel for washing the feet, and the bishop, without the help of subdeacons, removes the omophorion and sakkos, girds himself with a ribbon, pours water three times in a cross shape into the basin and, washing the feet of the clergy, wipes them with the ribbon. The one whose foot the bishop washes kisses the bishop’s miter and hand. When the protodeacon exclaims: “I will come to Simon Peter and speak to Him,” the first archimandrite stands up and says: “Lord! Will you wash my nose?” Bishop: “Even though I am creating, you don’t weigh it now, but you understand from now on.” Archimandrite: “Thou shalt not wash my foot forever.” Bishop: “Unless I wash you, do not have a part with Me.” Archimandrite: “Not only my nose, but also my hand and head.” Pointing to his hands and head, the archimandrite sits down. The bishop says: “The betrayed man does not demand only to wash his nose, because everything is clean, and you are clean, but not all of them,” and washes the archimandrite’s foot. Then he puts aside the lention, and when reading the 2nd Gospel he again puts on the omophorion and sakkos, and when the protodeacon says: “he lies down again,” the bishop sits down, the clergy stand up and the bishop, sitting, finishes the Gospel with the words: “I have given you an image, that as I have created for you, you also create.” Then the bishop stands up and prays to the Lord to wash away all the impurity of our souls, so that we, having cleansed the dust of sins and wiped each other away with the affection of love, may please God all the days of our lives and find grace before Him. Then - the dismissal of the Liturgy. The ritual of washing the feet vividly represents the Lord in the humble form of a bishop. The rank of bishop is high, and is high outside the Church, but in church service it is exalted, like a city on top of a mountain. And so, when we see how the bishop, without a retinue and without a staff, goes out to the pulpit, undresses himself, pours water, bows down at the feet of the priests, washes and wipes these feet, then we vividly imagine how the Lord said to the disciples after washing their feet: “Who is greater: the one reclining or the one serving? isn't he reclining? But I am among you as one who serves” (Luke 22:27). Let's also talk about the sanctification of the world. The grace of the Holy Spirit, which grows and strengthens us in spiritual life, is communicated through the Sacrament of Confirmation at baptism. Any priest can anoint with myrrh, but only the highest of the bishops can consecrate the oil itself, namely the patriarch in the east, and in Russia the metropolitan of Moscow or Kiev. They consecrate myrrh on Maundy Thursday, but not every year, but only when the supply of myrrh is depleted. It's done like this. The brewing of the world - a mixture of fragrant herbs and roots - begins on Maundy Monday. On this day, in the morning, the bishop in the chamber of the cross sanctifies the water and, having sprinkled it with a mixture of wine and oil, pours the wine and oil into the chrism cauldron and lights a fire under it. When boiling wine and oil, the deacons stir the cauldron, and the priests read the Gospel, with lighted candles standing around the cauldron. On Great Wednesday, aromas are poured into the cauldron, then the boiled myrrh is poured into the vessels, the vessels are sealed and the myrrh remains there until Thursday. “Alabaster” is placed next to the vessels, i.e. a vessel with the world of previous sanctification. On Thursday, the vessels, with bells ringing, while singing the troparion to the Holy Trinity: “Blessed art thou, Christ our God...” are brought to the cathedral and placed on a special table at the altar, and “alavaster” on the altar. At the great entrance, the vessels are brought into the altar and, accepted by the metropolitan, are placed at the throne, while the “alavaster” is placed on the throne. After the words: “And everyone and everything,” the Metropolitan, having blessed the ointment three times, prays to God to create the ointment “with spiritual anointing, a repository of life, the sanctification of souls and bodies, the oil of gladness.” After the Liturgy, the myrrh, with the singing of the 44th psalm, is taken to the sacristy, where a few drops from “alavaster” are poured into each vessel. III. Here, brethren, is a brief outline of that solemn and at the same time deeply significant service that takes place on Maundy Thursday of Holy Week. May it awaken in us a sense of Christian humility, without which we cannot be saved, the lesson of which the Lord gave us when He washed the feet of His disciples. May it kindle in us feelings of faith, love, reverence and fear of God, with which we must approach the Holy Terrible and Life-Giving Mysteries of Christ - the Body and Blood of Christ. May it remind us of those grace-filled gifts that help us grow in spiritual life, which we received in abundance in the Sacrament of Holy Confirmation. A. From church hymns on Holy Thursday a) Troparion. When the glorious disciple is enlightened at the thought of the supper, then the evil Judas, sick with the love of money, becomes darkened, and betrays the righteous Judge to the lawless judges. See the wealth of the steward, who used strangulation for the sake of it: flee the unsatiated soul, such a Teacher who has dared: to the good Lord of all, glory to Thee. When the glorious disciples were enlightened at the supper by washing, then the wicked Judas, infected with the love of money, became darkened, and so he handed over You, the righteous Judge, to the lawless judges. Look, collector of estates, at the one who hanged himself because of them; Avoid greed - that’s what she dared to do in relation to the Teacher. Lord, merciful to all, glory to You! b) Instead of the Cherubic song, the sacrament and “Let our lips be filled,” the troparion “Thy secret Supper” is sung. Thy secret supper this day, O Son of God, receive me as a partaker: I will not tell the secret to Thy enemies, neither will I give Thee a kiss like Judas: but like a thief I will confess Thee: remember me, O Lord, in Thy Kingdom. Among the many rituals and prayers with which the Church of Christ has strewn the life path of its children, so that, meeting them at every step, they would not be led astray from the true path, there is one sacred action, rarely performed for several years, but extremely important, for it has a necessary participation in other mysterious actions of the Church: this is the consecration of the world by the hand of the bishop in the Dormition Moscow and Kiev St. Sophia Cathedrals. I consider it necessary to speak with you, brethren, about this subject, for I have often noticed that out of ignorance you confuse the “Holy Chrism,” used during anointing as a seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit, with the sacred oil, which is used to anoint the sick during another Sacrament—the Blessing of Unction, and thus do not recognize the two sacraments. Others do not even distinguish it from simple oil, blessed at the festive all-night vigil or poured out of lamps burning in front of holy icons and relics, in order to make the sign of the cross on the foreheads of the faithful, as a sign of their spiritual joy and blessing from the one being celebrated. But a completely different, sublime meaning of the holy world. The prophet Moses, according to the word of God, first poured it on the head of his brother Aaron, elevating him to the rank of high priest of Israel, and another prophet Samuel performed the same action on Saul and David, anointing them to the kingdom. The high priests and kings - according to the law, and the prophets of Judah and Israel - according to the extraordinary command of God, received this mystical anointing from the hands of other prophets or high priests, as a sign of the Spirit of God descending on them, by which saints officiate, kings reign and prophets prophesy. The Hebrew word Messiah and the Greek Christ express the anointed one, and in a threefold sense it was given on earth to the Son of God, in the form of the Son of man: as the Prophet of His heavenly Father, as the King of Israel and the universe from the tribe of David, and, finally, as the High Priest of the Most High God, who took the place of the priests of the Jews, who sacrificed Himself for the sins of the world. Therefore, in the New Testament, the holy ointment serves as an incorruptible seal of the gifts imparted by the Holy Spirit to the one ascending from the font, and the very name of the Christian. It also signifies, at the solemn wedding of our kings, in that ancient church in which it itself receives consecration, the multiplied grace of God, strengthening them for the difficult feat of the kingdom. It finally sanctifies all the altars, or at least the antimensions of the churches, on which the Bloodless Sacrifice of Christ must be performed, so that they do not tremble and sit down, like the Calvary cliff, which could not bear its horrors. Having spoken about the mysterious meaning of the holy world, I will explain the very ritual of its preparation and consecration during the great days of Holy Week in the capital. From the week of the veneration of the cross in Lent, the preparation of oil and wine, fragrant herbs and aromas necessary for cooking the world begins. On the very first day of Holy Week, the clergy gather in the Kremlin, near the Assumption Cathedral, in the patriarchal chamber of the cross, where silver cauldrons and vessels are prepared. The bishop, blessing the beginning of ordinary prayers, sanctifies the water, while singing troparions for the descent of the Holy Spirit and the Dormition of the Mother of God, and sprinkles all the substances from which the myrrh should be formed, he pours this water into the very cauldrons, and the priests pour oil and wine and put burning coals. The saint, after a brief prayer to the Lord Jesus for the completion of the work to be started, which he blesses in the name of the Most Holy Trinity, departs, leaving the deacons and priests, who continue to make peace for three days while continuously reading the Holy Gospel. On Great Wednesday, they put aromas into the prepared myrrh and pour it into twelve large vessels, reminiscent of the apostolic number. The consecration itself takes place during the Liturgy of Maundy Thursday, and then the ritual of washing the feet is canceled, but the Sacrament of Anointing is not abandoned, which, following the example of the Church of Jerusalem, is performed collectively in the Dormition Church before the Liturgy, in memory of the wife who anointed Jesus for death. Everyone who wishes accepts participation in the sacrament from the elders through anointing with consecrated oil. Before the reading of the hours, the bishop, with all the clergy, goes from the cathedral to the chamber of the cross for the prepared vessels of the world, and the priests solemnly carry them to the cathedral altar, where they place them around the altar, and the choirs sing during the procession: “Blessed art thou, Christ our God, who are wise fishers of phenomena, having sent down upon them the Holy Spirit, and with them caught the universe: Lover of humanity, glory to Thee." The same solemn transfer of twelve vessels by the hands of the bishop is repeated at the Great Entrance before the Holy Gifts, for, like them, the myrrh must be consecrated on the throne. The senior archimandrite walks ahead of the entire procession and carries, under the shadow of two ripids, as if under the wings of cherubs, a precious alabaster or a vessel full of myrrh, reminiscent of the alabaster with precious myrrh that the repentant Magdalene poured out on the head and feet of Jesus. Then other vessels follow and are placed on the sides of the throne, and the alabaster itself is received at the door by the royal bishops and placed at the table. When the consecration of the Holy Gifts is to take place, he gradually opens each vessel and blesses it three times with the sign of the cross, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Then he pronounces aloud to the whole church a prayer of consecration over the world, calling on the Lord of mercy and the Father of lights to give him the grace of the secret service, like Moses, Samuel and the apostles, and to send the Holy Spirit upon this world, making it a spiritual anointing, a repository of life, the sanctification of souls and bodies and the oil of gladness that shone from the Old Testament into the New. He prays that through this seal of spiritual perfection all those who ascend from the bath of baptism will be recognized as citizens and householders of God by the holy angels and will be feared by the demons. May they, the saint continues, be chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy people, sealed by the sacrament and bearing Christ in their hearts, so that the abode of the entire Trinity may be created in them. Then the bishop turns to the church with a desire for peace and, at the call of the deacon to the faithful to bow their heads, he again approaches the throne and secretly thanks the Lord, who has given him the grace of service. He asks for the outpouring and sanctification of himself, like the world, for the world poured out is the very name of Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, in whom the whole visible and invisible world is fragrant. After proclaiming the glory of the Most Holy Trinity, he blesses three more times with the sign of the cross each of the vessels, which are placed just as solemnly in storage after the Liturgy, while singing the psalm: “My heart will vomit out the good word,” depicting the mysterious anointing and glory of the Son of God. All these prayers and actions of consecration of the world actually belong to the Sacrament of Confirmation, for, as I have already explained to you before, bishops alone have the highest authority to seal Christians in the faith, following the example of the apostles, and consecrate the chrism for the whole Church, so that later the priests can without delay communicate at baptism itself the grace-filled gifts of the Holy Spirit through life-giving anointing. And the holy myrrh, pouring throughout the entire Church from one gracious source, contains it in the indissoluble union of peace with the seal of the name of Christ, as a guarantee of common salvation in the one Christ Jesus (compiled from “Letters on Divine Services” by A. Muravyov, ed. 1882). Conversation No. 5. About memories on Great Friday I. On Holy and Good Friday we perform the holy, saving and terrible passions of the Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christ, (remembering) spitting, beating on the cheeks, strangling, insults, ridicule, scarlet clothing, sponge, vinegar, nails, a spear, and above all, the cross and death, which He willingly accepted for our sake. And also the saving confession on the cross of the prudent thief, crucified with Him. II. As soon as our Lord was betrayed, they lead Him first to the high priest Anna. This one sends Him to Caiaphas, where, spit upon, beaten on the cheeks, offended and ridiculed, he heard: prophesy to us, O Christ, who struck You? False witnesses also came there, accusing him of saying: Destroy this church and I will rebuild it in three days, and that He called Himself the Son of God. When morning came, He was taken to Pilate in the praetorium. Pilate entered and asked them, “What are they accusing Him of?” And since He did not reveal anything even similar to an accusation, He sends Him to Caiaphas, and he again to Pilate, for Caiaphas incited Him to kill Him. But Pilate says: Take Him and crucify Him and judge Him according to your law. They again say: we are not allowed to put anyone to death, prompting Pilate to crucify Him. Pilate asked Christ: Is He the king of the Jews? He recognizes Himself as a King, but an eternal one: for My kingdom, he says, is not of this world. Pilate, wanting to release Him, first tells them that he does not find any sufficient accusation against Him, then points to the festive custom of releasing one of the prisoners, but for them Barabbas turns out to be more acceptable than Christ. Pilate, to please the Jews, having first punished Christ, brings Him out from the military guard, dressed in purple with a crown of thorns placed (on his head), and puts a cane in his right hand, while the soldiers, striking Him, say: Rejoice, King of the Jews! Despite all this, having acted arbitrarily to please (the Jews), Pilate again says: I do not find any guilt in him (worthy of) death. But we will persecute Him, they say, for He calls himself the Son of God. During this conversation, Jesus was silent. The crowd shouted to Pilate: “Crucify, crucify Him.” They wanted to subject Him to a dishonorable death in order to destroy the good memory of Him. Pilate, as if shaming them, says: Shall I crucify your king? They say that they have no other king except Caesar. Since, having spoken blasphemous speeches, they did not succeed in anything, they mention Caesar in order to at least in this way satisfy their demon, for they say: “Everyone who makes himself a king is an opponent of Caesar.” When this happened, Pilate's wife, frightened by terrible dreams, sent to him, saying: Do not do anything to that Righteous One, because now in a dream I have suffered a lot for Him. And he, having washed his hands, abdicates the guilt of bloodshed; they shouted: “His blood is on us and on our children, if you let Him go, you are not a friend of Caesar.” Then Pilate, although he firmly knew, having tied Him up, that He was not guilty, handed him over to execution on the cross, and released Barabbas. Judas, who saw this, threw down the pieces of silver, went and hanged himself on a tree, and then his body disintegrated due to severe swelling. The soldiers, beating Him on the head with a cane, laid a cross on Him, then (when the Lord fell under the weight of the cross) seizing Simon of Cyrene (on the way), they forced him to carry the cross. Arriving at about the third hour at the place of execution, they crucified Him there, hanging two robbers on either side, so that He would be considered a villain. The soldiers divide His robe, and they cast lots for His unstitched robe, overflowing the measure of iniquity. That’s not all: even at the cross, mockingly, they said: “Eh! destroying the church and building it up in three days, save Yourself.” And again: “He saved others, but he cannot save himself?” And again: “If He is the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him.” If they spoke the truth, then, without a doubt, they should have followed Him, for He was recognized not as the King of Israel only, but of the whole world. For what did an eclipse of the sun for three hours mean, and (moreover) in the middle of noon? So that everyone can see the suffering. Earth shaking? The disintegration of the stones that exposed the coarseness of the Jews? The resurrection of many bodies to assure the general resurrection and to prove the power of the Sufferer? Tearing of the church veil? It was as if the church itself was indignant that the Glorified One was suffering in it, and therefore revealed what was invisible to many. At the third hour, as the divine Mark says, Christ was crucified, and from the sixth hour to the ninth there was darkness. At this time, Longinus the centurion, seeing something extraordinary, especially in the eclipse of the sun, exclaimed loudly: truly He was the Son of God. One of the thieves insulted Him, but the other, strictly forbidding him, stopped him and confessed Christ as the Son of God. As a reward for his faith, the Savior promises him to stay with Him in paradise. To complete the insult, Pilate also wrote an inscription above Him with the following content: “King of the Jews,” and although they did not want him to write like that, Pilate answered them: “What I wrote, I wrote.” Then, when the Savior said: “I am thirsty,” they mixed (the herb) hyssop with wine (dissolved with myrrh), and He, saying: “It is finished,” bowed his head and gave up his spirit. When everyone dispersed, His Mother and Mary of Cleopas remained at the cross, and John, His beloved disciple, also stood. The wicked Jews, not wanting to see the bodies on the cross, since Easter was a great day, asked Pilate to break the legs of the condemned so that death would follow sooner. And the thieves' legs were broken, for they were still alive, but when they came to Jesus, because they saw Him dead, they refrained from beating him. But one of the soldiers, to please the wicked, launched a spear and pierced Christ’s right side, and suddenly blood and water flowed out: the first - precisely blood - for communion with the Divine shrine, water for baptism. This source, truly divided into two streams, contains a mystery for us. And John, who saw this, testified and his testimony is true: for he writes as one who was present at all events and a spectator of them, and even if he wanted to tell a lie, in any case he would not have written what, apparently, tends to dishonor the Teacher. There is a legend that he, being present at that time, collected the Divine and Most Holy Blood, exuding life from the side, into a certain vessel. When all this was supernaturally accomplished, around evening Joseph came from Arimathea, a previously secret disciple like the others, and boldly approaching Pilate as an acquaintance, asking for the body of Jesus, he allows it to be taken. Joseph, having taken him down from the cross, laid Him down with deep reverence. Shortly before nightfall, Nicodemus arrives and brings a mixture of myrrh and aloes, prepared in haste at this time. And they, having wrapped themselves in swaddling clothes, as was the custom of the Jews, laid Christ close in Joseph’s tomb, hewn out of stone, in which no one had yet been laid, so that, after the resurrection of Christ, they would not attribute His resurrection to another. The Evangelist mentioned the adhesive composition of myrrh and aloes so that when they see the shrouds and headcloth remaining in the tomb, they would not think that He was stolen. Why not? Because there was no way to tear them off, since they were glued to the body. All this miraculously happened on Friday, and therefore the Divine Fathers decreed that we, with heartfelt contrition and tenderness, commemorate all this. It should be noted that on the sixth day of the week, i.e. Friday, because the Lord was crucified, because on the sixth day man was created in the beginning. And at the sixth hour of the day He was hanged on the cross, because at that hour Adam stretched out his hands and touched the forbidden tree and died. For it was necessary that at the same hour he should be recreated in which he destroyed himself. In the garden (he was buried) because Adam (fell) in paradise, the bitter drink represented eating (of the forbidden fruit), strangulation meant our liberation, spitting and dishonorable treatment of Him - our honor, the crown of thorns - our deliverance from the curse, the scarlet robe - our royal clothes instead of our leather vestments, nails - our complete inflexibility to sin, the cross - a tree in paradise. The pierced side is Adam’s side, from which Eve, and through her, the crime, the spear deflects the flaming weapon from me, the water from the side is an image of baptism. They say that in the place where Christ, the Head of all, was crucified, lay the skull of Adam (the first man): thus he was baptized with the dripping blood of Christ. The place is called frontal because when during an earthquake the earth’s soil rose from bottom to top, then, like some kind of miracle, only one thing appeared on it - Adam’s bone. Out of respect for the ancestor, Solomon, with the help of his warriors, covered this (bone) with a pile of stones, therefore this place from that time was called a stone pavement. The saints worthy of faith, on the basis of tradition, say that it was here that Adam himself was buried by an angel. And so, where the corpse was, the Eagle Christ appeared, the eternal King, the new Adam, who with the tree healed the ancient one who had fallen through the tree. III. By Your extraordinary and endless mercy. Christ our God, have mercy on us. Amen. A. From church hymns on Great Friday, a) Stichera ch. 5. You, clothed with light like a robe, Joseph fell from the tree with Nicodemus, and seeing you dead, naked, unburied, let us accept the compassionate cry, sobbing saying: Alas for me, sweetest Jesus! In the distance the sun hung on the cross, having seen it covered with darkness, and the earth shook with fear, and the church veil was torn apart: but now I see for You, for my sake, death has risen by will. How will I bury you, my God, or what shroud will I wrap around you? With what hand will I touch Your incorruptible body, or with what song will I sing more generously to Your exodus? I magnify Your passion, I will sing songs and Your burial with the resurrection, calling: Lord, glory to You. b) Troparia. The noble Joseph took down Your most pure body from the tree, wrapped it in a clean shroud, and covered it with odors (fragrant ointments) in a new tomb. When You descended to death, Immortal Life, then You put to death hell with the brilliance of the Divine. When You also raised those who had died from the underworld with all the powers of heaven crying out: Life-giving Christ our God, glory to Thee. An angel appeared to the myrrh-bearing women at the tomb, crying: Peace is fitting for the dead, but Christ, having appeared incorruptible, is alien. The western slope of the Mount of Olives, or Olivet (distanced from Jerusalem at a distance of one Sabbath journey), is covered here and there with naked olive and fig trees, twisted with age. At its foot, immediately by the road leading from the gate of St. Stephen across the upper bridge to Bethany and Jericho, there is a quadrangular space, enclosed by a high stone wall, 160 feet. in length on the west side and 150 feet. wide on the north. The entire area inside this fence is divided by wooden bars into several front gardens with paths strewn with sand and symmetrically arranged flower beds. Eight olive trees grow here, the oldest among the trees of the Mount of Olives. On their stumps, 18-20 and even 21 feet. in girth, and on their countless roots they bear the expressive stamp of a thousand-year existence. Their huge stumps consist of numerous thick branches, as if fused under one bark into one tree and resembling a group of columns connected together. Flowers and various shrubs grow at the very foot of the trees and protect their huge roots, stretching several fathoms along the ground, from the heat of the sun. This is the Garden of Gethsemane. It indicates both the rock where the Lord’s disciples slept during the last prayer of their Teacher, and the place of Judas’s treacherous kiss. A few steps north of the fence of the Garden of Gethsemane, separated from the latter only by a road, stands the burial den of the Mother of God, and to the right of it a small door leads to the cave in which, according to legend, the Savior spent agonizing hours before the betrayal of Judas. Now here the chapel and the entire cave bear the name Grotto of Agony (antrum agoniae). This is the area that was 18.5 centuries ago, on the night of Nissan 14, 34 AD. witnessed the beginning of an event that cannot be equaled in history. On that great night from Thursday to Friday, the Lord Jesus Christ with eleven of the apostles walked through the Valley of Cedars, or Jehoshaphat, with His feet after the Easter supper in the Zion upper room. On the slope of the Mount of Olives was the Garden of Gethsemane, which sheltered Him for several hours before the kiss of Judas Iscariot delivered Him into the hands of His enemies. True, the appearance of this area now does not correspond to the picture that it presented in the days of the earthly life of the Lord Jesus Christ. According to Josephus, Pompey had already destroyed many gardens in the vicinity of Jerusalem. Titus, in order to build embankments against the fortress of Antonia, not finding trees near the city, had to look for them in the distant surroundings, and the Roman army cleared away the space of 90 stadia around Jerusalem. On these same trees, and precisely on the Mount of Olives, thousands of defeated Jews were crucified. After the new conquest, under Hadrian, the trees were equally little spared. It is not surprising that after so much devastation, the Mount of Olives is now poor in vegetation. This was not the case on the great night of the Lord’s suffering. The dark green of the vineyards, mixing with the green of fig and in places mulberry trees and often intertwined with the silvery sheen of olives, thickly covered both slopes of the mountain. On the western side, flooded with soft moonlight, it looked like a wonderful fantastic carpet, which, starting at the top of the mountain, rolled down its slope and with its other edge was lost in the shady Gethsemane. Anyone who would judge the picture of the Garden of Gethsemane on the night of the Lord’s suffering by that place and those eight trees that now bear this name would be deeply mistaken. Gethsemane, a word meaning a vice, a press for extracting oil from olives, then served as the name of those olive groves with which the western foot of the Mount of Olives was densely covered. These groves were the property of the sanctuary, but, unfenced, they were accessible to everyone and more than once, under their shadow, they gave shelter to poor strangers who had gathered from different places for the holiday in the holy city. But if not the appearance of the area, then at least the place remained the same. If eight old olive trees among the flower beds of the present-day Garden of Gethsemane are not able to vividly awaken in our imagination a picture of the real Gethsemane on the night of the Lord’s suffering, then they still approximately indicate its actual place. Tradition, which bears the stamp of deep antiquity, never looked for Gethsemane anywhere else, but always here, near these eight veterans. According to a noble pilgrim of the late 4th century, they come to the place of prayer for the cup, and then to Gethsemane, descending from Imbomon (the place of the Lord’s ascension on the Mount of Olives), and the place of betrayal “is located at the beginning of the Valley of Jehoshaphat.” In the valley of Gethsemane, “located between Mount Zion and the Mount of Olives and also called the Valley of Jehoshaphat,” Antonin Martyr also points out the place of betrayal. There, at the entrance to the burial den of the Most Holy Theotokos, Bede saw, on the right side, “a stone embedded in the wall on which the Lord prayed on the night when he was betrayed, and the traces of His knees were imprinted as if on wax.” (See the book “Archaeology of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ” by Maccabees). Conversation No. 6. About the Matins of Great Friday I. On the night of Great Friday, the Holy Church performs one of the most touching services. It reveals before the eyes of the faithful the full picture of the sufferings of the Lord, raised by Him for the sake of our salvation from the bloody sweat of Gethsemane to the shame of Calvary and the imprisonment in the tomb of the Lord of glory. And blessed, truly, is the one to whom the Lord gives tears of tenderness and contrition, who leaves the church on this memorable night, like the Apostle Peter, with bitter weeping about his voluntary and involuntary betrayal of his Lord! II. 1) Following the first touching song of the Church, in which she mentally takes us to the upper room of Zion, where “at the washing of the supper, the glory of the disciples are enlightened, and Judas, sick with the love of money, is darkened,” the first Gospel of the holy passion is offered - the farewell conversation of the Savior with the apostles, that divine conversation, which is filled with as sublime, as sweet and comforting thoughts and feelings. "Children! I won’t be with you for long. You will seek Me, and as I told the Jews, where I am going, you cannot come... But do not let your heart be troubled, believe in God and believe in Me, I am going to prepare a place for you in My Father’s house. I give you a new commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you...Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do what I command you. If the world hates you, know that it hated Me first. If you were of the world, then the world would love its own; but since you are not of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: a servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you too; If they have kept my word, they will also keep yours. Because I told you this, your heart was filled with sorrow. But I tell you: it is better for you that I go, for if I do not go, the Comforter will not come to you, but if I go, I will send Him to you... You now have sorrow, but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you. You will have tribulation in the world, but take heart: I have overcome the world!” And how touching is this wondrous prayer of our Savior, with which He concluded His last conversation with the disciples!.. Oh, who will not be touched by these wondrous verbs of the most eternal Love: “I pray not only for them, but also for those who believe in Me according to their word. May they all be one: as You, Father, are in Me and I in You! Father, whom You have given Me, I want them to be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory, which You have given Me...” (John 17:20–24) When these divine verbs fall silent, the Church proclaims 15 antiphons, filled with deep edification and dedicated to the memory of the humiliation and suffering of the Savior: “The princes of men have gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ... The word is criminal - they bring a grave accusation against Him!” “Watch and pray, so that you do not fall into misfortune,” You said to Your disciples, O Christ our God; but the lawless Judas did not want to understand!” “Let us present our pure feelings to Christ and, as His friends, we will sacrifice our souls for Him and we will not oppress ourselves with the cares of this life, like Judas, but in our inner churches we will cry out: Our Father! Deliver us from evil!” After every third antiphon, a Gospel reading is offered in the order of events that are so vividly and so touchingly depicted by St. evangelists, that whoever listens to them attentively seems to be transported to the very places of events and becomes a witness to them... 2) Here (the 2nd Gospel narrates) in the Garden of Gethsemane, with a soul torn to pieces and sorrowful even to the point of death, the Divine Sufferer prostrated himself on earth in fiery prayer to the Heavenly Father... According to humanity, He is horrified by the impending torment, prays, let this cup pass by from Him, and at the same time surrenders all of Himself to the will of the Heavenly Father, and meanwhile, in the darkness of the night, already the vile traitor is sneaking up with a crowd of soldiers and servants of the bishop... The traitor approached and betrayed the Son of Man with a kiss... The cup of suffering of the Son of God has begun!.. But He calmly and courageously surrenders into the hands of the enemies, while all the disciples run away from Him in horror... Like some kind of villain, He is dragged in the darkness of the night through the streets of Jerusalem and presented to the bishop Anna for trial. This ends the 2nd Gospel. 3) The Third Gospel depicts the trial of Caiaphas and the entire Sanhedrin, where the Savior of the world solemnly declares that He is the promised Messiah, and suffers blows and reproaches for this. Meanwhile, Peter rejects the Lord three times in the bishop’s courtyard, but immediately breaks out of this den of murderers with bitter tears of repentance. 4) The Fourth Gospel tells how the Savior is dragged from the court of Caiaphas to the praetorium to Pilate, who for a long time and in vain strives to save Him and, thinking to arouse pity in the hearts of the evil enemies of Jesus, commands to scourge Him and in this bloodied form brings Him out to the people and exclaims: “Behold the man!” “Clad in light like a robe,” exclaims the Church at this sight of the Divine Sufferer, who frightened the very angels, “you stand naked in judgment, and you receive the stress on your cheek from the hands you created!” (antiphon 10.) “When you appeared before Caiaphas, O God, and were handed over to Pilate, the Judge, the heavenly powers shook with fear... for you were numbered among the lawless, the Sinless One, in order to save man!” (Sedalen, antiphon 12). 5) The fifth Gospel follows. While the wounded Savior stands at the judgment seat of Pilate, a terrible fate befalls the traitor Judas, who in despair “threw away the pieces of silver in the church, went out, went and hanged himself” (Matthew 27:5). But the work he had planned is already over... The Teacher is in the hands of enemies who urgently demand His death and brazenly accept responsibility for it before God... Pilate condemns the Savior to death!.. “My people! what have I done to you? - exclaims the Church on behalf of the Savior condemned to death. - My people! How have I upset you? I have enlightened your blind, I have cleansed your lepers, I have raised up the man who was lying on his bed... My people! what have I done to you?..” (Antiphon 12). 6) The sixth Gospel reading depicts for us the mournful path from Pilate’s praetorium to Golgotha, which the Savior walked, exhausted and ulcerated, with a heavy cross on his shoulder and watering the streets of Jerusalem with His sweat and blood. Tradition says that on this path the Most Holy Virgin met Her beloved Son and threw herself down before Him with bitter tears... Her tearing cry is heard in a touching church hymn: “When she saw the Lamb being drawn to the slaughter, Mary followed Him, crying: where are you going, My Child? Why are you in such a hurry? Or is another marriage taking place in Cana and You are rushing there to turn the water into wine for them? Should I go with You, My Child, or wait until You return? Say at least one word in response to Me, the Word of God! Do not pass by Me in silence, You Who kept Me pure: for You are My Son and My God!” (Ikos). 7 and 8) In the next two Gospel readings (7 and 8 Gospel), the Church depicts before the eyes of the faithful the very torment of the Lord’s crucifixion on the cross in the midst of two thieves, at which the Holy Church reverently confesses the great mystery of the Cross and casts before the One who exhausted Himself, for the sake of mercy for the fallen, the tender hymn: “To You, Who has exhausted the morning mercy for Your own sake, without fail, and until suffering, dispassionately bowing to the Word of God: give peace to me, fallen, O Lover of mankind!” The Three Song concludes with an equally touching song dedicated to the memory of the repentant thief: “You have vouchsafed the prudent thief in one hour of paradise, O Lord, and enlighten me with the tree of the cross and save me!” 9) Following this, the 9th Gospel reading tells about the last minutes of the Savior on the cross and His death, accompanied by terrible shocks of nature. Sacred awe takes over the soul when you hear the Church proclaim the stichera of the crucifixion: “The whole creation was changed with fear, seeing You hanging on the cross, Christ! The sun was darkened and the foundations of the earth shook, everything had compassion for the Creator of everything: you who endured the will of us for our sake, O Lord, glory to Thee!” 10 and 11) The two subsequent Gospel readings (Gospel 10 and 11) are dedicated to the memory of the removal from the cross and burial of the Savior by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. And 12) The last (Gospel 12) tells us about the last efforts of slander and malice towards the Savior of the bishops and scribes - the sealing and protection of the guards of His tomb. III. Matins concludes with the praise of Him who was crucified for our sake and who exuded immortality for the entire human race. (Compiled from “Sunday Reading”, 1856). Appendix to conversation No. 6. Always keep in mind the crucified Jesus Christ From the words of St. Demetrius of Rostov, per week. 13 The Apostle says: “I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2). How can we know and see Jesus Christ? It is not enough to look at the crucifixion of the Lord depicted on the icon with just bodily eyes, but one must mainly look at His suffering with inner eyes, for He is still suffering, although not in the flesh, but spiritually, being crucified a second time, according to the word of the Apostle, by sinners. And how to look at Christ with intelligent eyes - let St. Stephen, about whom he is written in Limonar, be our example. Three elders came to Abba Stephen and talked about spiritual benefits; but the elder was silent. “Why don’t you answer us, father? - say the elders. “After all, we came to you for your benefit?” “Forgive me, brothers,” Stephen said then, “I still didn’t even understand what you were talking about, but I will tell you what I can: I always, day and night, see in my mind nothing other than our Lord Jesus Christ hanging on the cross.” What wondrous thought of God! St. sits the father among the brethren, among human conversations, on Calvary, sees Christ, listens to Christ. In a similar way to Rev. Abba Isaac came to Pimen one day and, seeing him sitting in silence and as if in a frenzy, waited a little and, when he came to his senses, asked: “Tell me, father, where were you with your mind?” Forced by requests, Pimen answered: “My mind was where, standing at the cross, the Most Pure Virgin Mary the Mother of God wept.” What a good example of speculation! What a beautiful contemplation of the crucified Christ! These St. the fathers planted the spiritual grapes of their souls on the hill of Calvary, on the rich place where the blood of Christ was shed, where the work of our salvation was accomplished. Let us, sinners, stand on Calvary with our minds, look at the Lord nailed to the cross, tortured, bloodied, dead and bowed his head, look at His inexpressible love for us: for God so loved the world that He suffered such cruel suffering for us. Who has ever loved another as He loved us? Who loved father or mother, son or daughter, or friend, so that he would suffer for them as He did for us? God so loved the world. Is it possible to find a better love like His love for us? “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). And if only for friends, it would not be so wonderful, otherwise for His enemies, for sinners, our Lord laid down His soul, as the apostle says, “God proves His love for us by the fact that Christ died for us while we were still sinners” (Rom. 5:8). God so loved the world! Oh, your love is inexpressible, O Lover of mankind! Why did the Lord love us so much? Are we worthy of such love and the outpouring of His blood for us? Not at all; for how can we be worthy if we are His enemies? How worthy are we when we constantly anger Him? How are we worthy when we trample on His precious blood, shed for us, by evil deeds and always annoy Him? But why did God love us sinners? According to His ineffable mercy and goodness, He already loved us even before creation, and knowing in advance about our fall, He prepared salvation for us. What indescribable mercy and philanthropy! And what does He require of us for this? Is our wealth gold and silver? Not at all. “You are my Lord; You don’t need my blessings” (Ps. 15:2). Why? He demands only love from us, saying: I loved you, love Me too. I was beaten for you, spat on, hit on the cheek, but you love Me for this. For you, I was crowned with thorns, beaten on the head with a cane, condemned to death, nailed to a cross and pierced with a spear, and you love Me for this. For My blood, shed for you, I do not demand anything except your heart: “Son, give Me your heart,” - love me with your heart. Oh, my most beloved Lord! “My heart is ready for You, O God, my heart is ready. I will love You, O Lord, my strength!” Only You Yourself give me the strength to do what you command and command, what you want, help me love Yourself and love me. I will love You, Lord, who loved me and gave Yourself for me. Amen. (From the “Creations” of St. Demetrius of Rostov). Conversation No. 7. About Vespers on Holy and Great Friday I. One of the most touching and touching services dedicated to the Cross of the Lord or the suffering on the Cross and the death of our Lord and Savior in our entire church year is Vespers, celebrated on Holy and Great Friday. II. At the “Royal Hours”, which took place on Holy Friday in the morning, the Church already contemplated with awe and tenderness the amazing picture of the suffering of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, at Vespers, at the very hour of the Lord’s death on the cross (since the 3rd hour, at which this service is performed, according to ancient reckoning corresponds to the 9th, in which Jesus Christ tasted death in the flesh on the cross), we once again raise our spiritual gaze to the cross and the Savior crucified on it. Vespers, as usual, begins with the “initial” psalm (Ps. 103): “Bless the Lord, my soul.” But what a deep meaning this psalm receives here, how wisely in these moments of the re-creation of all creation and man by the cross, it raises our thoughts to the primordial creation of the world and man, by the power and action of the same Word of God, which now ends in the agony of the cross!.. Then the pleading cry of fallen man is heard: “Lord, I have called to You, hear me!” And as if in response to this cry, an answer expected for centuries, lamentable songs are heard after this, depicting the indescribable suffering of the divine Reconciler and mediator between God and man. The voice, or melody, of these stichera repeatedly changes, as if to better suit the impulses of feelings, turning either to the horror of all creation, compassionate with their Creator and Lord, then to the perpetrators of His crucifixion, who repaid Him for the greatest heavenly benefits with hellish malice, then to the soul-tearing “painful groaning from the depths” of the Most Pure Mother of the Son of God, standing at His cross, then to the most detailed description of the indescribable suffering of the God-man!.. Here the altar servers wear out the Holy Gospel as an image of the Savior carrying His cross to Calvary! And how significant is the song here that ends the first part of Vespers: “O quiet light of holy glory,” having come to the west of the sun, “we sing of You, give us life!” At the beginning of the readings, or “promemes”, etc., “prokeimnas” are sung, as usual, depicting the suffering of the Lord: “I divided my garments for myself, and cast lots for my clothes.” “God, my God, have you forsaken me? “Judge, O Lord, those who offend me,” etc. But the 1st and 2nd proverbs are not talking about the humiliation of God in the flesh! In the 1st (Exodus 33.11–23) the Lord God speaks to Moses, who said to Him: “Show me Your glory,” “You cannot see My face, because man cannot see Me and live... you will see Me from behind, but My face will not be visible (to you).” And in the 2nd proverb (Job 42:12–16) it is presented how Job’s unparalleled suffering and patience were rewarded by God and unparalleled mercies... So this is the reason and purpose of the suffering of Jesus Christ on the cross! As the Son of God, He had unapproachable glory with the Father before the foundation of the world. But He deigned to take upon Himself the human nature that was not involved in sin, which we have dishonored by sin, and by the way of the cross He again entered into His glory, “so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven, on earth, and under the earth” (Phil. 2.10)! With this thought, the first two proverbs shed special light on subsequent readings. Of these, the first: Isaiah’s prophecy about the extreme humiliation and suffering of the Redeemer (Is. 52:1–15, 53:1–12, 54:1). Then the word of the cross of the divine apostle is proclaimed: “For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2). Finally, St. The apostle and evangelist Matthew preaches about tradition, condemnation, various torments - before the crucifixion and on the cross, and finally - about the burial of the Lord Jesus. Here is a natural transition to the third part of the service under consideration, dedicated exclusively to the memory of the burial of the Savior. And after the usual evening litanies - before and after reading “Lord Vouchsafe” - the most touching funeral songs begin. “When Arimathea took You down from the tree dead, the Life of all, - having wrapped Himself in myrrh and the shroud, O Christ, he was moved by love - with his heart and lips to kiss Your incorruptible body: but overcome by fear, rejoicing, he cried out to You: Glory to Your condescension, O Lover of Mankind!” Verse: “The Lord reigns and is clothed with beauty.” And the next stichera depicts how the Deliverer of all, at the time when he was laid in the tomb, appeared victorious in hell: “Then Adam gratefully, rejoicing, cried out: “Glory to Your condescension, O Lover of Mankind!” And the heavenly powers, clinging to the tomb of the Life-Giver, “rejoicing about our salvation, cried out: “Glory to Your condescension, Lover of mankind! "But especially touching is the “merciful lamentation” of Joseph of Arimathea, who, with Nicodemus, having taken down from the tree - the One who is clothed with light like a robe, and seeing Him dead, naked, unburied, so, sobbing, said: “Woe is me, sweetest Jesus, whom the sun, having seen in the distance hanging on the cross, was burdened darkness, and the earth shook with fear and the church veil was torn apart: but now I see You, by the will of Your death for my sake!.. How will I bury You, my God, or with what kind of shroud? or with what hands will I touch Your incorruptible body? or what songs will I sing about Your exodus, O Generous One? I magnify Your sufferings, I will hymn Your burial, with the resurrection, crying out: “Lord, glory to You!” We see before our eyes how the handsome Joseph embraces the most pure body of the Lord in his arms, and how amazing it is to hear immediately the song of the God-Receiver, who was once honored to receive the Divine Infant Jesus into his arms: “Now do you let go of your servant, Master!” With the touching singing of the troparion: “Blessed Joseph, I will take down Your most pure body from the tree,” a deeply touching sight is presented to the eyes of the believers. The priests bring from the altar the Holy Shroud - the image of the Savior’s most pure body, as it was after He was taken down from the cross. Each and every one prostrates himself before this sacred image and with trembling reverence, with a tender soul, kiss the wounds of their Lord and the new covenant lying on His forearms, and sealed with His most holy blood!.. Meanwhile, “Compline” begins, with which the most remarkable “Vespers on Holy and Great Friday” ends. III. If anyone wanted to have an experienced understanding of the impression this service makes on Orthodox Christians, then he would only have to look at the faces of those present in St. church. All these faces, more or less, are at these moments covered with a certain sickly pallor, bitter thoughts are written on their foreheads, deep thoughts, the eyes, for the most part, are moistened with tears... One might think at first glance that it is the person closest to each and every member of the church community who has gathered to bury! And exactly, can anyone be closer to us than this Divine Dead Man? Can our eyes not shed at least a small drop of tears over the tomb of the One who poured out abundant streams of blood for us on the cross from his body, and water from his ribs with blood? Brothers and sisters in the Lord! With these wounds, which we contemplate in the most pure body of our Savior, He, as it were, cries out with His lips to each and every one of us: “See how much I have loved you; love me too! I don’t demand anything from you other than your love, I’m looking for your love! I was born for Your sake, I labored from youth for Your sake; I hungered, I thirsted, I fasted for you; suffered, tasted bitterness and tasted bile, was crucified for your sake, accepted these plagues and died for your sake! And for all this, there is nothing else I want to receive from you other than that you love Me!” “I will love You, O Lord, my strength! The Lord is my rock and my refuge!” (Ps. 17:2–3) “And what else can we love,” we will say with Saint Demetrius of Rostov (“Lamentation for the Burial of Christ”), “than You, our most beloved Lord, by Whom we desire to be loved forever and ever? How can we sweeten our sorrow if not You, sweetest Jesus, with Whom we hope to be sweetly satisfied throughout our endless life? Only You Yourself produce in us the love you want. Grant to us that we may love You and love You; grant to us that we may desire You and long for You; have kindled Thy love in us, O Only Begotten Son of God.” (Compiled from the book “Christian Reasonings and Reflections” by Archpriest V. Grechulevich, Part 1, ed. 1868). A. History of the Holy Orthodox Shroud At the vespers of Good Friday, Holy Week, while singing the stichera of Simeon Logothetes - “You are clothed with light like a robe” and the troparion “Blessed Joseph from the tree, I took down your most pure body”, a church rite reverently revered by the Orthodox world is performed - the removal and veneration of the Holy Shroud. Orthodox Christians became accustomed to this solemnly sad rite and fell in love with it. Thousands of Orthodox Christians of all ages flock to Great Friday Vespers in all churches, especially where hierarchal services are celebrated. Until the 14th century, Russia did not know the ritual of taking out and venerating the Holy Shroud. In the 14th century, with the adoption of the Jerusalem liturgical charter, at Matins of Great Saturday, after the Great Doxology, the troparion “Blessed Joseph” was sung, which served as the beginning of the appearance of this rite. At the same time, airs borrowed from Greece were added to the sacred Eucharistic vestments, i.e. large covers placed on the Holy Gifts after they are transferred from the altar to the throne. The laying of the third large plate, or air, marked the covering of the Holy Sepulcher with a large stone by Joseph of Arimathea, which is why it was accompanied by the singing of the troparion “Blessed Joseph.” The airs were donated to monasteries and cathedrals by wealthy parishioners who cared about the material wealth of their churches. They were decorated with gold and silver embroidery; on the more valuable ones, the “position of Christ in the tomb” was sometimes embroidered. In Greece, such air was called - επιτάφον - tomb - and was used in the same services and in the same way as we now use the Shroud. During the time from Easter to the Ascension, two priests wore επιτάφον on their heads during the Great Exit for the Holy Gifts. Since the 16th century, the ritual of carrying air during the entrance with the Gospel to Matins on Holy Saturday was introduced in Russia. The entrance ended with worship and kissing the air, after which he was laid down with the Gospel on the throne. At the same time (i.e. in the 16th century), the Greek επιτάφον received the name Shroud in Russia. The appearance of the Holy Shroud in the Russian Orthodox Churches should actually be attributed to the 16th century, although at that time it was not yet in general use, being the property of only some especially revered churches. In the 17th century, the ritual of taking out the Shroud became even more widespread in Russia, but was not obligatory. Its introduction depended on whether the church had the Shroud and a sufficient number of clergy to perform the rite. Due to the optional use of the Shroud in the past, in our church books there is no definite regulation on its removal, and the removal at different times was carried out differently. The charter of 1553 says that at the matins of Great Saturday, after the Great Doxology, the abbot with the priests and deacons, dressed in vestments, come out with the Gospel and air, which they carry on their heads; immediately after taking it out, the brethren kiss the air and the Gospel, after which they place them on the table - the throne. In the everyday life book of the Anthony-Siysky Monastery (XVI century), this entrance is described in detail. So, it says: “After the end of the canon and the luminary, the abbot went to the large church, where he put on full priestly attire; All the exit participants did the same. At the end of the doxology, the singers came out of the altar, followed by sextons with candles, deacons with a censer, then priests carrying air; The procession was closed by the abbot with the Gospel. The exit was accompanied by alternating singing of “Holy God.” The priestly participants in the procession entered the altar through the royal doors. The deacon said: “Wisdom, forgive,” after which the troparion of prophecy and proverbs was read. The air was placed on the throne, where it remained until Easter Saturday, when after the Liturgy it was removed from the throne and put away in its usual place.” In some churches, at Matins on Holy Saturday, the Gospel was presented in the middle of the church and even in the refectory, and the Gospel was placed on a lectern. After encircling the Gospel and shouting: “Wisdom, forgive,” the reader sang the troparion “Noble Joseph” and read the proverb. In the Joseph-Volokolamsk Monastery there was an air exit from the large church to the small one. At the beginning of the 17th century, the rite of worship and removal of the Shroud did not exist in the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, although the high air was used in church use during Holy Week and had already received the name “Shroud.” In the Trinity Charter of the early 17th century, about the entrance to the matins of Holy Saturday, it is said that the archimandrite, having put on all the sacred clothes, walks with the Gospel under the Shroud, which is carried by the priests; the altar was exited by the northern doors; Also participating in the exit were two sextons with candlesticks, two deacons with ripids and two with censers, who performed incessant incense near the Shroud. During the exit, the chant of “Holy God” was started. In addition to the Shroud, the air rushed, but there was no worship of the Shroud - they bowed and gave kisses at the first hour of the Holy Day. holiday icon. The removal of the Shroud during the entire matins of Great Saturday in the Trinity-Sergius Monastery began to take place around the middle of the 17th century. In the Novgorod St. Sophia Cathedral, the ritual of wearing the Shroud around the church already existed at the beginning of the 17th century. In the Colored Triodion of the Moscow edition of the 17th century, at the matins of Great Saturday after the troparions on God the Lord and appear to us! it is supposed to be carried out into the middle of the church and placed on a lectern, the image of the holiday and candles distributed to the brethren, but there is no mention of the Shroud. In the printed charter of 1610, the entrance to the matins of Great Saturday is described in this way: during the Great Doxology, the abbot, together with the priests and deacons, enters the altar and puts on all the sacred clothes, and the priests put on only the vestments. Immediately after vesting, the abbot, having accepted the Gospel, accompanied by hieromonks with airs and deacons with censers, while singing the Trisagion, leaves the altar and stops in front of the royal doors until the end of the Trisagion. Then the deacon proclaims “Wisdom, forgive” and the troparion “Blessed Joseph” is sung in the choir. After the dismissal there is a kissing of St. holiday icons. There are no instructions about bringing the Shroud into the middle of the church for worship and kissing it until the end of the 17th century, but at the end of this century, namely in the Typikon of 1682, it was established that upon entering the middle of the church, place the Holy Shroud on a special table arranged in the form of a coffin, and after the dismissal, kiss the Shroud or, where it is not there, the icon of the holiday, while they sing in the choir: “Come, let’s please you.” And in our time there are differences in the order of removal and veneration of the Holy Shroud. In the Moscow Assumption Cathedral, the removal of the Shroud is performed before the start of Vespers on Good Friday by the bishop himself. Kneeling, brother, before your Savior, depicted on the Holy Shroud, lying in the tomb for your sins, and kissing the sores on His hands and feet, you say with a heartfelt shudder and love: “I will not kiss Thee like Judas, but like a thief I will confess Thee, remember me, Lord, when You come in Your kingdom.” B. Where did Mount Calvary get its name? During the earthly life of our Lord Jesus Christ, outside the wall of Jerusalem, on its western side, there was a small elevation or hill, circular in shape. The distance from the city wall to the base of the hill was about a hundred paces and the same from the base to its top, to which the climb was steep and difficult. This hill is the now well-known and universally famous Golgotha, or place of execution. Here executions were usually carried out on criminals who were brought here and crucified. And in the rock of Golgotha ​​there was a depression like a cave, where convicts were imprisoned before the death penalty was carried out on them. On the eastern side of Golgotha ​​there was a square, which was formed by the space between it and the wall of Jerusalem, and where people gathered to watch the executions. On the western side there were gardens, one of which belonged to Joseph of Arimathea, mentioned in the Gospel (Mark 15:43). Adjacent to the northwestern side of Golgotha ​​was the so-called valley of corpses and ashes in Holy Scripture (Jer. 31:40). It was a deep ravine where execution instruments and the bodies of executed criminals were thrown. And on the southwestern side, not far from Golgotha, there was a road to Jerusalem through the Gate of Judgment, so named as if to commemorate the fact that the Judge would once pass through it, Who would pronounce “judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be cast out” (John 12:31). Golgotha ​​is a Hebrew word and, according to the explanation of the evangelists (John 19:17; Matt. 27:33), means Kranievo, or Place of Execution. When, exactly and why this place began to be called by that name, it is difficult to decide based on the difference of opinions. Some 16 think that the name of Golgotha ​​came from its resemblance to the skull of a human head, which it really resembled in its circular shape; others - because there were numerous skulls and bones scattered on it and around it of criminals executed here 17 . St. Cyril of Jerusalem 18 suggests that it was named so prophetically as a sign that the Head of all humanity, Jesus Christ, will suffer on it for the sins of the whole world. “Isn’t it prophetic,” he says, “that someone called Golgotha ​​the place on which the true Head, Christ, endured the cross, as the apostle says: “And He is the head of the body of the Church” (Col. 1:18) and also: “He is the firstfruits, the firstborn from the dead, so that He may have primacy in everything.” This Chapter suffered on the forehead. How significant is this prophetic name! But most of the holy fathers and teachers of the Church, based on one legend from distant antiquity, are of the opinion that Golgotha ​​received its name from the skull of Adam’s head, which was once placed in this very place and directly above which was placed the cross of Jesus Christ - the second Adam. “There is a legend,” says St. Basil the Great 19 - preserved from unwritten memory that Judea had Adam as its first inhabitant, who, after being expelled from paradise, was in this country to console himself for his losses. So, she was the first to accept a dead man when the condemnation of Adam was fulfilled.” So, the ancient and still existing custom in the Christian Church at the foot of the Cross of the Lord to depict the skull of a human head has a deep meaning and historical significance. This is not just a simple symbol, but a living story about a real event, about the divine restoration of fallen man and prostrate humanity to the dust. This is the origin of the name Golgotha ​​and its sacred and mysterious meaning! So Golgotha, from the first, one might say, days of the world, the vale of the dead, became a place of life and incorruption! So, Golgotha, according to the events and sacraments that took place on it, above all the mountains and hills, is a particularly sacred and holy place, and it is not in vain that our Holy Church calls it a new paradise. “The place of the frontal heaven was soon,” she sings, “just as the tree of the cross was erected, and an animal bunch would grow, You, the Savior!” Therefore, every true disciple of Christ cannot help but strive in spirit there, to this holy place. Golgotha, where his beloved Lord and Teacher suffered and died. To whom should all the thoughts of his mind, all the feelings of his heart belong, if not to the One who laid down His life for him? Who, as St. says the apostle (1 Cor. 6:20), bought it at a price, not with corruptible silver or gold, but with the precious Blood of Christ (1 Peter 1:18) and Who from His purchased, by all rights, can demand that it belong to no one and nothing except Him alone - His Master and Lord? Never and nowhere did the Son of God - the Son of Man - appear in such a splendor of greatness and beauty as during His suffering on the cross on Golgotha. Here, on this great day of His, one of the patriarchs, seeing His kindness above all the sons of men, was delighted with the sight and rejoiced (John 8:56) 20. And another of the prophets, amazed at His scarlet beauty, asked in reverent horror: “Who is this who comes from Edom, wearing scarlet robes from Bozrah? Why is Your robe red, and Your garments are like those of one who has trodden in a winepress?” (Isa.63:1-2) So He was red then in His utensils 21 Stained with His blood, as if clothed in purple, with a crown of thorns on His head, like a diadem, He ascended to the cross and sat on it, like a king on a throne, in all the greatness of His glory and beauty! What disciple of Christ would not want to see his Teacher-God at that solemn moment for the entire universe, when the bloody work of redemption was finally accomplished, when in His face mercy and truth met and truth and peace kissed each other, “Truth will arise from the earth, and truth will come from heaven” (Ps. 84:12), and, forming some kind of wonderful middle cross, finally reconciled heaven with earth? So for the soul that believes in the Lord Jesus, the events on Golgotha ​​are desired! So they are worthy of words, although they are above all words! V. Church of the Resurrection of the Lord with Golgotha ​​and the Holy Sepulcher The current Church of the Resurrection, which encloses within its walls the holy places of the crucifixion and burial of the Savior, does not represent one single building. The platform on its southern side, which opens the entrance to the interior of the church, is the only point outside that remains free and undeveloped. The rest of the space all around, from above, from the sides and even from below, is occupied by extensions of various sizes, shapes and purposes: monasteries, chapels and chapels, sacred memories of one or another event from the history of the suffering of the Lord, living rooms of the local clergy, hospice houses, Mohammedan mosques and other buildings, among which even an oil mill found a place. There is no proportionality in the arrangement of individual parts, not the slightest hint of architectural unity. Two domes on a line from west to east rise above this mass of structures, but in their structure, size and overall appearance, they are not proportional and differ sharply from each other. The western one, Kubbet el-Kiame - the dome of the Resurrection, as the Arabs call it, is much wider, but somewhat lower than the eastern one. In shape, it resembles a lamp shade, bluntly ending at the top with a round hole with an iron grille. Its outer skin is made of copper. The eastern dome (Kubbet Nossediniya) is stone, gray, resting on a white cylinder with arched windows. It can be called slender, next to the western dome, the grandiose dimensions of which do not have a correspondingly high base for themselves, so that it seems as if it weighed down this part of the church. Adjacent to the southern facade, on the western side of the entrance door, is the tower of an ancient bell tower, deprived of its upper part. The same lack of unity and proportionality is even more noticeable inside the church. Walking a few steps from the front door, we have on the right side the site of the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ. Two steep staircases, each 18 steps long, lead to the current Golgotha. Frequently, the pious thefts of pilgrims, who chopped off pieces of rock for themselves as a shrine, but more often, repeated deliberate dressings caused the original appearance of this place to be lost long ago. During the period of the Frankish kingdom, John of Wirzburg spoke of Golgotha ​​as semicircular. The same is repeated by evidence from the 14th century. In the 15th century Tucher and Fabry depict it as dodecagonal. In the 16th and 17th centuries it was decagonal, in the 18th century. they are already talking only about its six corners. Thus, the appearance of Golgotha ​​gradually changed and now, at the top of it, the pilgrim already finds a square platform, 40 feet on each side, all covered with marble. A through arch divides this area into two parts: the left (northern) is occupied by the Greek chapel of the crucifixion, on the right there is a Catholic chapel of nailing to the cross. Three pits in the depths of the first mark the places where the crosses of the Savior and the two thieves were strengthened. They form a triangle: the recess of the Cross of the Savior occupies its western corner, the cross of the right robber stood on the northern corner, and the left one stood on the southern corner. Both pits of these latter are now blocked and only black circles on the marble floor indicate their place. The round hole where the Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ stood, one foot deep and 1.4 feet in diameter, is lined with silver, and above it, on four low marble supports, not covered with altar robes, rises a throne for the performance of the Bloodless Sacrifice in the very place where the blood of the God-Man was shed as an atoning sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. To the right of the throne, 5 feet southwest of the left thief's cross, an oblong silver frame is set into the marble floor. Through its glass you can see the cleft of the rock, at the moment of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, which cut Golgotha ​​to the ground - into the northern and southern halves. Even Cyril of Jerusalem pointed to this chasm as tactile evidence of the great events that took place at this place. About 40 paces northwest of Golgotha ​​there is a round church with the Chapel of the Sepulcher in the center. The entire rotunda of the Sepulcher is 65 feet in diameter. 18 massive pillars, placed at a distance of 4 feet from each other (the eastern ones are slightly further), support the upper gallery. In the middle, just under the round hole in the dome, is the monument to the Holy Sepulcher, like a church within a church. It has the appearance of a pentagonal chapel, 20 f. length and 14 ft. width, ending in a crown-shaped dome. On the east side, a low entrance door, flanked by marble benches, leads to the angel's chapel. In the middle of it is occupied by a quadrangular fragment of rock lined with marble - a remnant of either the original antichamber of the tomb chamber, removed during its first finishing during the time of Constantine, or of the stone with which the entrance to the tomb of the Savior was closed. From the angel's chapel, a door on the western side leads into the very cave of the holy tomb. The current entrance is so low that one must bow one's head to enter the sanctuary. But it has a great price, since it represents the remnant of the original tomb mouth: under its plaster hides the living rock of Malyaki. The same undisturbed soil of rock, 6 feet high by 3 feet thick, forms the lower part of the walls of the present chamber of the Holy Sepulchre, as well as the tomb bed itself. The latter, all lined with slabs of white marble, is placed not opposite the entrance, but immediately to the right of it, therefore, on the northern side of the chamber. The present chamber is so small that three or four people can barely fit between the tomb bed and the opposite wall. On a small marble ledge bordering the holy bed, there is a row of candlesticks with burning candles and small vases with fresh and artificial flowers. Behind them, in a shallow niche, are three images of the risen Lord. The best decoration of the coffin is the 43 gold and silver lamps descending from above, belonging to various religions and burning here day and night. Adjacent to the western wall of the Tomb Monument on the outer side is a still poor wooden chapel of Copts. From the rotunda of the Sepulcher, the so-called royal or triumphal arch on the eastern side leads to the Katolikon, the Greek cathedral Church of the Resurrection, with icons of Byzantine writing, resplendent with its elegant architecture and richness of decoration. On the eastern side it ends in a semicircular altar. In the middle of the church, on the marble floor, a small pedestal in the form of an urn indicates the “center of the earth” that the ancient pilgrims were looking for here, based on the words (Ps. 73:12). From the outside, the eastern of the two domes serves as an indicator of the site of this church. On three sides, except for the western entrance, the Catholicon is surrounded by a dark passage, in which various sacred places related to the Calvary story are indicated. In the south-eastern part of this passage, between the chapels of the “dividing of the vestments” and the “crowning of thorns”, 28 steps of a wide stone staircase lead to the chapel of St. Helena, located at a considerable depth in the ground and owned by the Armenians. Its dome, supported by four massive columns with Corinthian capitals, overlooks the square of the Abyssinian monastery, from where light penetrates down through the embrasures of its windows. Two altars on the eastern side of the chapel are dedicated - the left (northern) to the prudent thief, the right - to St. Elena. A door in the southeast corner and behind it a staircase of 13 steps lead even lower into a built natural cave. It is about 25 feet long, 20 feet wide and 16 feet high. No daylight penetrates here at all. In this cave-cistern, according to legend, three crosses were found. These are the main points in that group of buildings, which is called by one common name: the Church of the Resurrection, or the Holy Sepulcher. There are three very special parts here. The Rotunda of the Sepulcher and the Greek Church of the Resurrection form a straight line from west to east and form the foundation of the whole. The Chapel of St. Helena and the Chamber of the Finding of the Cross are an underground part, with a slight deviation of the same line to the southeast. The Calvary chapels rise above the main square and stand out of touch with the general line, leaving it to the south. Without going into a detailed overview of the numerous extensions that adjoined these main parts on all sides, we already from this general plan clearly see how three points, completely different in position and the events that took place on them, wanted to be connected together here and how, therefore, it is completely understandable, the connection was artificial and instead of one building there were several. (See Maccabees' Archeology of the Sufferings of Jesus Christ). D. About the miraculous signs that accompanied the death of the Savior 1. “And behold, the veil of the church was torn in two, from top to bottom; and the earth shook; and the stones dissipated; and the tombs were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised again” (Matthew 27:51–52). It was announced through the prophet Haggai that at the death of the Messiah, extraordinary, amazing miracles would occur, so that both heaven and earth would shake. “Once again,” says the Lord, “and it will be soon, I will shake heaven and earth, sea and dry land” (Ag.2:6). This prophecy was literally fulfilled. Immediately after the Savior gave up the ghost, an invisible hand, says the evangelist, with a great noise tears the curtain of the church from top to bottom: “and behold, the curtain of the church was torn in two, from top to bottom” (Matthew and Luke). The thick darkness that covered the entire earth from the sixth hour dissipates, and the sun illuminates the earth brighter than before. Then the earth shakes, the rocks fall apart, the coffins are opened, the dead are resurrected. Let us note that the expression and behold, the evangelist placed immediately after the words give up the ghost in order to show us that all these miracles happened at that very moment when the Savior died - that they related to His death, were its action, consequence and testimony - that these were not ordinary phenomena, but miraculous, performed by the omnipotence of God for the glory of the Dead, in order to make us recognize in Jesus the Nazarene, who died on the instrument blasphemy, the true Son of God, the Lord of the universe, the Messiah, the Savior of the world. And indeed, miracles so great, so new, so varied, all occurring at the same time, were nothing other than evidence that heaven, earth and all creatures recognized their Lord and Master in the crucified Jesus Christ. These revolutions in all of visible nature, in which it, moved in its foundations, seemed to want to return to insignificance, were, as it were, a complaint, a universal groan of the sorrow that all creatures felt when they saw their Creator dying on a shameful weapon. How clearly the greatness and omnipotence of God is visible in these miracles. Here is the Divine Savior, who during his life did not consider it proper to respond to the Jews to the curses and reproaches with which they showered Him, now, after death, he answers them in the most decent way for Him: as God, He answers them with the indignation of all nature. “The miracles that accompanied the death of the Savior,” says St. Leo the Great, - were nothing more than the answer that heaven and earth were entrusted with giving to the insane and base reproaches of the Jews. The answer is great, amazing, able to stop their mouths, humble and shame them, for this answer clearly proved that Jesus Christ is truly the Son of God, and showed them how great their iniquity is, the murderers of the true Messiah. This lawlessness brought upon them a universal curse.” Just as on the cross the Savior revealed over the two villains crucified with Him the dual power of punishment and mercy, so the miracles that occurred at His death had a dual purpose: to express the indignation of heaven against the Jews and to proclaim mercy to the pagans. They were a formidable reproach, terrifying some, and sweet consolation for others. They pointed to those saving actions that the death of the Lord was supposed to produce in the world. The curtain of the temple hid the Holy of Holies from people. The Almighty reveals to everyone what was previously forbidden for people to look at. Now, at that minute when the Savior dies, tearing the veil, He clearly shows us, says the blessed one. Augustine, that through the merits of this death, all the secrets, all the veils that covered the Holy Scriptures, were destroyed. Everything that was secret, hidden and incomprehensible in the Old Testament, through the sacrament of the cross, became clear, obvious, and understandable to everyone. Indeed, adds bl. Jerome, as soon as the veil was torn, all the secrets of the ancient law, hitherto hidden, became obvious and passed on to the pagan nations. Let us also note that at the same time, when the Savior died on the altar of the cross, and when the veil of the church was torn, incense was burned in it and the evening sacrifice was performed. Shouldn't the sacrifice itself have stopped at this terrible time? Thus it was shown that the universal sacrifice of the Lamb of God henceforth ends the sacrifices of the Old Testament and abolishes all rites of the law. The curtain of the church, which hid the Holy of Holies, was not opened to anyone except the high priest, and then only once a year. This expressed, according to the explanation of the apostle. Paul, that heaven, whose transformation was the Holy of Holies, became inaccessible to sinners (Heb. ch. 9). Now, taking away this veil, the heavenly Father reveals to us that great and comforting truth that through the death of His Son the curse is lifted from us and heaven itself is opened to receive all believers. Thus, the veil that hid God from us is torn by the Savior, and we are invited to openly contemplate the greatness and glory of God: “But we all with unveiled face, beholding in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Cor. 3:18). 2. Other miraculous signs are no less mysterious and no less significant. The eclipse of the sun and the thick darkness that covered the entire earth from the very moment when the Savior was crucified signifies the deep blindness into which the nations fell in relation to God, the true sun of souls, and in relation to the promised Intercessor of men. This eclipse also heralded, according to St. Cyril, and that punishing darkness with which the Jews will be struck for crucifying the Savior. The sun, which illuminated the Savior more brilliantly than before at the hour of His death, expressed that the highest spiritual light of the knowledge of the true God will appear in the world from the time of this death, that the cross, covered until now by the darkness of shame, will henceforth shine with a new light among the nations, and that the Savior - the true Sun of righteousness - will be recognized, honored, loved and blessed throughout the world. 3. The earthquake that occurred at the very moment of the Savior’s death announced that, as punishment for the rejection of the Divine Messiah, Jerusalem would be destroyed in such a way that, according to the prediction of the Savior Himself, not one stone would remain of this deicide city. It also depicted the confusion and surprise of the whole world when they told him the mystery of Jesus crucified, the revolt of princes and nations to hinder the preaching of the Gospel, the horrors of persecution during the times of martyrdom, the fall of idolatry, the power of the Church, which has to shake thrones and nations and change the whole world according to this prophecy: “The Lord reigns: let the nations tremble! He sits on Cherubim: let the earth shake!” (Ps.98:1). 4. The disintegration of the stones, reproaching the Jews for their hardness of heart, for their insensitivity to the death of the Redeemer, mourned even by inanimate nature, is at the same time a high sermon that this power of God, tearing apart the rocks, will just as easily crush the hard hearts of people and soften them with the action of its grace. That in this way the prophesied words of the Forerunner will be fulfilled: “God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones” (Matthew 3:9), and can create heirs of faith and promise from hardened people, such as the pagans were. 5. Finally, the Savior announced to us that He has the power equal with the Father to give life and resurrect people not only in the soul, but also in the body: “For, how. The Father raises the dead and gives them life, and so the Son gives life to whomever He will” (John 5:21). This power was revealed at the time when the tombs were opened and the dead were raised at the death of the Savior. This was also a sign of that resurrection, in which all people will become participants by the power of the infinite merit of the Savior’s death. And indeed, says the blessed one. Jerome, weren’t all these miracles in the physical world repeated with even greater force in the spiritual world, among so many pagan nations who turned to the true faith and, rejecting previous errors and vices, knowing the true God and serving Him, became chosen vessels of life, having previously been tombs filled with the bones of the dead and all uncleanness. And didn’t the beneficial effects of the signs of Calvary begin at the same time as they were performed? Have spiritual miracles similar to them been revealed? The centurion standing at the cross, seeing them, was illuminated by heavenly light and exclaimed: “Truly this man is the Son of God!” (Mark 15:39) A certain spiritual shock occurred among the people, for, beating Percy, they departed from the spectacle of Calvary. May our hearts be shaken, may the veil and sensual darkness, hiding heavenly objects from our mental gaze, be torn apart, may our inner man awaken from deep sleep, “let him who sleeps arise and rise from the dead, and Christ will sanctify him” (Eph. 5:14). (See "Sunday Reading", for 1883). Glory to Your passion, Lord, glory to You! I. With such reverently touching words we remember the saving passion and death on the cross of our Savior, standing in prayer in the church of God and holding lighted wax candles in our hands, on the morning of Good Friday. With lighted candles we return from church and to our homes - these are our family churches. How pleasant the light of such candles is for us! The warmth that occurs when these candles burn serves as an expression of the warmth of our prayerful feelings and our love for the Son of God who suffered for us. II. A passionate candle is a shrine to a devout Christian; it is a joyful light for him in all the terrible situations of his life. So, she lingers in his hut before the face of the Savior during a terrible thunderstorm, a terrible storm and heavy downpour. By lighting one before the icon of the Lord Almighty, a devout person seems to say with his heart to the Lord: “God and Lord of hosts! Just as this passionate candle burns with fire, a witness to my prayerful memories of Your passion, so my heart burns with love for You. I know how great my sins are and what punishments I deserve, Lord, for the iniquities I have committed, and therefore I think that this terrible thunderstorm, and this terrible storm, and this rapid flow of rainwater from the sky, all of this was sent down by You, Lord, as punishment for my untruths and atrocities, for my dislike and contempt for my neighbor, for my inhumane attitude towards Your creatures - various animals and birds. Therefore, horrified by Your righteous anger, I repent before You of the sins I have committed and vow not to indulge in such iniquities anymore - just do not, for the sake of my sins, destroy me, the guilty one, and many innocents!..” And the pious Christian believes with all his heart that the Lord graciously listens to his prayer when lighting a passionate candle - a symbol of ardent love for the suffering Savior. turns away His anger, moved by righteousness. This candle accompanies a devout Christian into the eternal afterlife. When the last minute of a person’s life comes, they light a passionate candle and give it to the dying person, so that a pious Christian, crossing the threshold of earthly life, seems to illuminate for himself with a passionate candle the unknown path to eternity - the same candle with which, standing in church, he remembered the saving passions of the Lord - the soul of a Christian at this time is likened to those “ten virgins who, taking the lamps, their own, went out to meet the bridegroom,” actually those virgins who “trimmed their lamps” (Matthew 25:1, 7). Devout people believe that no matter how difficult a person’s death may be, when a passionate candle is lit, the dying person will feel better and die peacefully. Each time a passionate candle is lit, they usually cross themselves and say: “Glory to Your passion, Lord, glory to You.” Glorifying the Lord with the spoken words, a Christian with his soul and heart seems to be saying the following: “Lord! glorifying Your saving passions and looking at the candle - a witness to my prayerful memories in the church of God of Your divine passions, at the sight of the flame of this candle, I cannot help but remember the eternal flame of Gehenna, from which, saving the human race, You, my sweetest Jesus, accepted the most terrible suffering and death on the cross. The light of this candle reminds me of this moment when You, our Light, set, from our sight, the never-setting sun knew its west” (From the works of St. Demetrius of Rostov). Looking at this candle, standing lit before Your most pure face, I cannot help but remember the moment when, looking at Your passion on the cross, the sun and moon became hundred in their order. Looking at the passionate candle before Your image, my Savior, I cannot help but remember the words of Holy Scripture, calling You Christ God with fire. The writer of the book of Deuteronomy clearly states: “The Lord your God is a consuming fire” (Deut. 4:24). And truly You, Lord, are a fire for us, shining for everyone, warming everyone with Your love, “and nothing is hidden from its warmth” (Ps. 18:7). “O Lord, who appeared in fire to Moses and to all the people of Israel, and in me there is love for You, the Only Begotten Word of God!” (From the works of St. Demetrius of Rostov). So, the meaning of a passionate candle is very great: in it is an expression of our contrite will and our submission to God, in it is an expression of the warmth of our prayerful feelings and our love for the Calvary Sufferer. She reminds us of that terrible hour in the Garden of Gethsemane, when the traitor “Judas, having taken a detachment of soldiers and servants from the chief priests and Pharisees, comes there with lanterns and torches and weapons” (John 18:3). Finally, this candle reminds you of that fire among the court of the bishops (Luke 22:55), by which Peter stood and warmed himself (John 18:18) and “One maid, seeing him sitting by the fire and looking at him, said: “This one also was with Him” (Luke 22:56). Let us always, in all cases of our many-sorrowful life, reverently light a passionate candle and believe that in the terrible hour of the final judgment of us, it will serve as a witness to our submission to God and our ardent love for Jesus Christ, who suffered for us. She, like the Gospel slave, will point to each of us with the light of her sacred fire: “And this one was with Him! And this one was always with the Lord in spirit, heart and thought, burning with love for Him!..." III. Lord, who suffered for the human race! Do not allow me to be blinded by the passion of love of money, like Judas, the darkened and fallen light, who betrayed You, the most luminous light, on thirty pieces of silver, but may Your ever-present light shine upon me, a sinner, for You are truly the Father’s radiance. Conversation No. 8. About the memories of Holy Saturday I. On Holy and Great Saturday we celebrate the burial of our Lord Jesus Christ and His descent into hell, by which the human race, called out from aphids, passed on to eternal life. II. All days are surpassed by the Holy Pentecost, but greater than the Holy Pentecost is the Holy and Great Week (Holy Week), and greater than the Holy Week itself is the Great and Holy Saturday. For, as in the first world-making, God, having created all creatures and on the sixth day finally created man, on the seventh day he rested from all His works and sanctified it, calling it the Sabbath, i.e. peace: so in the work of intelligent creation, having completed everything (the work of redemption) and on the sixth day (heels) having recreated the decayed man, renewing him with the Life-Giving Cross and death, the Lord calmed down on the real seventh day, falling asleep in a life-giving and saving sleep. God the Word descends in the flesh into the grave, and also descends into hell with a natural and divine soul, separated by death from the body and delivered into the hands of the Father, to whom He brought His blood, which became our deliverance. But the soul of the Lord was not kept in hell, like the souls of saints, for it was not subject to the ancestral oath. Our Lord Jesus Christ entered the tomb bodily and with the Divinity, extremely united with the flesh: but at the same time He was in paradise with the thief and, as previously said, in hell with His deified soul, and was prenaturally with the Father and the Spirit. Everywhere He was like an indescribable, unlimited God: “It is nothing for the Divinity to suffer in the tomb, as below on the cross.” The Lord's body experienced the release of the soul from the body, but not the destruction of the flesh and members, or their complete corruption. Joseph, having taken the holy body of the Lord from the tree, buries it in a new tomb and in the vertograd, placing a great stone over the entrance of the tomb, and the Jews asked for a guard for the tomb and attached their authentic seal to the tomb. And all this turned out to be against them. From now on, hell trembles and is amazed, feeling the most powerful force, and soon, having unrighteously devoured it, it will spew out both Christ - the hardest and cornerstone - and those whom it contained in its belly as a pleasure for itself. III. Inexpressible by Your condescension, Christ our God, have mercy on us! - Amen. (See Sunday Reading for 1846, pp. 511-512). Conversation No. 9. About the service of Holy Saturday I. Now we will talk about the highly solemn service on Holy Saturday. II. a) On Great Saturday, at matins after the Great Litany, the troparion “Blessed Joseph…” “To the Myrrh-Bearing Women…”, which were sung at Vespers on Friday, and the Sunday troparion in the 2nd tone “When you descended to death, immortal life…” are sung in Russian: “Immortal life! When You descended to death, then you put hell to death with the light of divinity, and when You raised the dead, all the powers of heaven cried out: “Christ God, giver of life, glory to You!” Then the verses of the 17th kathisma, or the 118th psalm, are partly sung and mostly read. These verses are called immaculate because they begin with the words “Blessed are you immaculate,” and generally speak about the bliss of morally immaculate or pious people. Each verse of this psalm is accompanied by praise or short funeral songs in honor of Christ the Savior, which depict the foolishness and ingratitude of the Jews, envy, malice and deceit of the high priests and scribes of the Jews, the love of money and betrayal of Judas, the fear of the disciples, the suffering and burial of Jesus Christ, the saving fruits of His suffering and death, love and condescension towards the human race, power and glory Deities who were manifested in His humiliation, suffering, death and burial. These are blameless and the praises are divided into three parts - articles. The first few verses of immaculate praise and praise and the last two are sung before the Shroud or on the choir, while the rest are read. During their reading there is censing: when reading the 1st article - the entire church, and when reading the 2nd and 3rd - only the Shroud, the altar, the iconostasis and those standing before - from the solea. At the end of the Immaculates, Sunday troparions are sung, “The Council of Angels was amazed...” and so on, during which incense is performed for the entire church. Then the canon is read, adapted mainly to the burial of Jesus Christ, which, among other things, speaks of the saving fruits of His death and burial, victory over hell, death, etc. The Irmos of this canon and their most touchingly solemn melody produce some kind of special spiritually joyful impression in the soul of those who listen to them. At the very beginning of the doxology, the priest puts on all his priestly clothes. Then he lifts the Shroud, brings it to the altar and places it on St. throne - to commemorate the fact that the Lord Jesus, crucified and buried, was not separated, according to divinity, from the Father, but, being “in the fleshly tomb,” at the same time “was on the throne with the Father and the Spirit.” During the singing of the Trisagion, the Shroud is taken out of the altar and carried around the church three times - in memory of the three-day stay of our Savior in the tomb. “Is there a person – i.e. truly Orthodox, who could look coldly and indifferently at this sad and solemn wearing of the Shroud? Whose soul would not be filled with a wide variety of feelings - fear, gratitude, reverence and love for the Savior? (See “Letters on Church Services” by I. Bellustin). After being worn three times, the Shroud is again brought into the church and placed in its original place. Here, above the Shroud, as if above the very tomb of the Lord Jesus, the Holy Church solemnly confesses its faith both in His resurrection and in the general resurrection of all members of His grace-filled kingdom. The “troparion of prophecy” and the prokemena speak directly about His resurrection. In the following proverb from the prophecy of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 37:1–14), the general resurrection is figuratively represented. “The hand of the Lord was upon me, and the Lord brought me out in the spirit and set me in the middle of a field, and it was full of bones, and he led me around around them, and behold there were very many of them on the surface of the field, and behold they were very dry. And he said to me: Son of man! will these bones live? I said: Lord God! You know it. And he said to me: Prophesy against these bones and say to them: The bones are dry! listen to the word of the Lord! Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will put breath into you, and you will live. And I will cover you with sinews, and I will grow flesh on you, and I will cover you with skin, and I will bring breath into you, and you will live, and you will know that I am the Lord. I prophesied as I was commanded; and when I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a movement, and bones began to come together, bone to bone. And I saw: and behold, sinews were on them, and flesh grew, and skin covered them from above, but there was no spirit in them. Then He said to me: Prophesy to the spirit, prophesy, son of man, and say to the spirit: Thus says the Lord God: come from the four winds, O spirit, and breathe on these slain, and they will live. And I prophesied as He commanded me, and the spirit entered into them, and they lived and stood on their feet—a very, very great army.” After the paremia - the Apostle from the First Epistle to the Corinthians (beginning 133, 1 Cor. 5: 7-8) and from the Epistle to the Galatians (beginning 206, Gal. 3: 13-14), which explains the mystery of the suffering and death of Christ, and the Gospel (Matthew, beginning 114, Matt. 27: 62-66), which tells about the latter the machinations of Pharisaism against the Lord Jesus and the placing of a guard with a seal at the entrance to the tomb of Jesus Christ. After the litanies - the Sublime and the Petitionary - the song is sung “Come, let us bless Joseph of ever-memorable...” In Russian: “Come, let us honor (give respect, praise) the ever-memorable Joseph, who came to Pilate at night and asked (from him) the Life of all (creation), (calling to him): give me this Wanderer, Who had no place to lay (His) head; give me the One Whom the wicked disciple betrayed to death, give me this Wanderer, Whom the Mother, seeing hanging on the cross, cried out with sobs: alas for Me, My Child! Woe is Me! Now what was predicted in the church by Simeon (the God-Receiver) has come true: weapons (sorrow) will pass through your heart. But change My weeping into joy about Your resurrection. “We bow down, O Christ, to Your suffering and holy resurrection.” At the same time, those present in the church venerate the Shroud. b) The Liturgy on Holy Saturday is celebrated together with Vespers and, according to the rules, should begin at 10 o’clock in the afternoon or, in our opinion, at 4 pm. At Vespers, stichera (8) are sung, first the usual Sunday stichera (4) of the first tone, then special solemn stichera of the 8th tone (4) about the presence of Jesus Christ in the tomb and, mainly, about His descent into hell and the removal from there of the souls of the righteous who died from Adam before the death of Jesus Christ Himself. These stichera excite in the hearts of believers (with their content and melody) high joy about the victory of Jesus Christ over the devil, hell and death. After entering, 15 proverbs are read, which contain: 1) transformation, for example: a) about God’s re-creation of man under the image of the creation of the world (proverb 1), b) about the deliverance of the human race from the captivity of the devil and sin, from condemnation and death, under the image of Moses leading the Jews out of Egypt and their passage through the Red Sea (proverb 6), c) about the saving death of our Redeemer Jesus Christ, under the image of the slaughter of the Passover lamb by the Jews (proverb 3) and Abraham’s offering to God the sacrifice of his son Isaac (proverbs 10), d) about the three-day stay of Jesus Christ in the tomb and resurrection, under the image of Jonah's three-day stay in the belly of the whale and liberation from there (proverbs 4) and under the image of the miraculous salvation of the three Jewish youths: Hananiah, Azariah and Mishael, from the Babylonian furnace (proverbs 15), e) about the resurrection at the hour of the death of Jesus Christ of some Old Testament righteous people and then about the general resurrection - under the image of the resurrection of two youths by the prophets Elijah and Elisha (proverbs 8 and 12). 2) Prophecies about the coming of the promised Redeemer and the properties of His gracious kingdom: a) about the illumination of Jerusalem with a gracious light, about the manifestation of the glory of the Lord over it and the gathering to it from all sides of kings and peoples with riches to worship the place on which the Lord’s feet stood and salvation was accomplished (proverb 2), b) about the cessation of Old Testament sacrifices and rituals with the death of the Savior, similar to the cessation for the Jews manna, when they tasted the fruits of the promised land (promise 5), c) about the purpose of the coming of the Son of God to earth - to preach the gospel to the poor, to heal the broken-hearted, to preach freedom to captives (proverb 11), d) about the establishment of a new eternal covenant of God with people instead of the old one and about the dissemination of true concepts about God among people (proverb 14), e) about the invitation of the true Church to triumph and joy, since the Lord will clothe her with the robe of salvation, will be her guardian and protector and will forever unite with her (proverbs 9). After the 6th proverb about the passage of the Jews through the Red Sea, the reading of the proverbs is suspended, the royal doors are opened, a song of thanks and praise to the God of Moses and the Jews is sung, sung by them after the miraculous passage through the sea and the drowning of the Egyptians in it: Let us sing to the Lord, gloriously we have been glorified, etc., and the reader reads the verses of the song, and the choirs sing for each verse: “Gloriously become famous." After the 15th - last proverb, with the royal doors open, the song of the three Jewish youths is sung: Ananias, Azariah and Mishael, about their salvation unharmed in the kindled Babylonian furnace, with the refrain for each verse of the song: “Sing to the Lord and exalt Him forever.” The whole world is called to this doxology - visible and invisible, rational and unreasonable: angels and heavens, spirits and souls of the righteous, prophets and martyrs, priests and all sons of men, then the sun, moon and stars, lightning and clouds, night and day, light and darkness, fish and birds, and all animals and livestock, mountains and hills, seas and rivers, dew and frost, etc. These laudatory, joyful and solemn songs and especially some proverbs: 2, 7, 9, 11 and 14, expressing the victory of our Redeemer over the devil, hell and death, enlightenment, renewal and salvation of the human race by Him, bring into spiritual delight every true believer who listens to them with a pure heart and zeal. At the end of the proverbs, the Small Litany is said and, at the exclamation of the priest, instead of the trisagion (Holy God...) the hymn is sung: “The Elders were baptized into Christ...” since in the primal Church those who joined it received Holy Baptism mainly on Holy Saturday. The apostolic reading (Rom. 6:3-11) speaks of the mysterious meaning of baptism, namely, that at baptism we were baptized into the death of Jesus Christ and buried with Him, so that, just as He was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. Immediately after reading the Apostle, the reader, instead of “alleluia” (to the priest’s exclamation of “peace be upon you”), proclaims: “Rise up, God, judge the earth, as you have inherited among all nations” - the last verse of the 81st Psalm. The same verse is sung in the choirs, while the reader, standing in front of the pulpit, reads all the verses of this psalm: “God is one hundred in the assembly of gods...” and for each verse the faces repeat the same last verse. At this time, the clergy change their clothes - they take off their black vestments and put on light, mostly white ones, since in the upcoming reading of the Gospel the resurrection of Jesus Christ is announced. The Liturgy of Basil the Great is celebrated, at which, instead of the usual song “Like the Cherubim secretly forming...” the song is sung: “Let all human flesh be silent...” (in Russian) “Let every man be silent and let him stand with fear and trembling and not think about anything earthly. For the King of kings and Lord of lords comes to sacrifice Himself - to be slaughtered and given as food to the faithful. He is preceded by the ranks of angels, all the principalities and powers, the many-eyed cherubim and the six-winged seraphim, covering their faces and singing the song: Alleluia.” The Liturgy continues as usual. Instead of “Every creature rejoices in You, O Gracious One...” the irmos of the 9th song of the canon is sung: “Do not weep for Me, O Mother, seeing in the tomb... I will arise and be glorified...” The sacrament is sung: “The Lord has arisen as He sleeps and is risen to save us.” Immediately after the prayer behind the pulpit, before the reading of the 33rd Psalm “I will bless the Lord at all times...”, the blessing of the loaves is performed, with the usual censing and prayer. The blessing of the loaves is performed at this time because in ancient times the Liturgy ended at about 7 o’clock in the evening and the believers did not go home, but remained in the church to listen to the reading of the “Acts of the Apostles” and naturally had a need for some reinforcement of the body with food after the past fast and before the upcoming vigil, which is why they were then given a small amount of bread and wine. (“Sunday Reading”). III. This is how the Holy Saturday service ends. Many joyful feelings are aroused at this service in every good Christian, especially when reading some proverbs and singing songs, also when the clergy change dark clothes to light ones and read the Gospel about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. But, unfortunately, there are few people at this most important service, under the pretext of lack of time for various preparations for the holiday, for which there would be enough time besides this service. In fact, most of those who attend this service spend their time in idleness and deprive themselves of great spiritual consolation and expose themselves to a lack of zeal and love not only for church services, but also for our Savior Himself. Let's think about this, brothers and children, and correct ourselves. Appendix to conversation No. 9. From church hymns on Holy Saturday 1. The wave of the sea hid the persecutor of old, the tormentor, under the earth, the shelter of the saved youths: but we, like youths, sing to the Lord: “Gloriously is he glorified.” The one who in ancient times covered the persecutor and tormentor with a sea wave, the children of the saved Himself hid under the earth - but we, like young women, will sing to the Lord, for He was solemnly glorified. 3. You who hanged the whole earth on the waters uncontrollably, seeing the creature hanging on its forehead, shuddered with horror to many, are you not holy, O Lord, who cry out. You, who hung the whole earth on the waters without support, the creature, seeing you hanging on Golgotha, trembled with great horror, crying out: “There is no Holy One but You, Lord.” 4. On the cross, Habakkuk, foreseeing Your Divine exhaustion, cried out in horror: “You have thwarted the mighty power, O blessed One, joining with those in hell, for You are omnipotent.” Habakkuk, seeing Your divine humiliation on the cross, cried out in amazement: “You have stopped, O Good One, the dominion of the mighty, uniting yourself with those in hell, like the omnipotent.” 5. Your Epiphany, O Christ, which mercifully came to us, Isaiah saw the non-evening light, and out of the morning you cried out: “The dead will rise again, and those who are in their graves will rise, and all earthly creatures will rejoice.” Seeing the non-evening light of Your Epiphany, O Christ, who was merciful for us, Isaiah, awake in the night, exclaimed: “The dead will be resurrected, and those who are in the graves will rise, and all who live on earth will rejoice.” 6. I was fast, but was not kept in the chest of the whales Jonah: Bearing your image, who suffered and was given burial, as if he came from the palace from the beast, inviting the custodians, who guarded vain and false, left this mercy to nature. Ion was swallowed up, but not contained by the whale's bowels; for, prefiguring You, Christ, who suffered and was given up for burial, he came out of the beast as from a palace, and cried out to the guards of Your tomb: “You who guarded in vain and in vain, you did not recognize the Most Merciful.” 7. The ineffable (inexpressible) miracle, in the cave delivering the venerable (pious) youths from the flames, in the dead, lifeless tomb, is relied upon for the salvation of us (for the salvation of us) singing: “O God the Deliverer, blessed art thou.” 8. Be terrified and fear the heavens, and let the foundations of the earth move (shake), for the dead are counted among the living ones on high, and the little ones are accepted strangely into the grave. Bless His youths, sing to His priesthoods, and exalt His people to all ages. 9 . Do not weep for Me (do not weep for Me) Mother, seeing in the tomb, You conceived Him in your womb without seed, the Son: for I will arise and be glorified, and will exalt with glory unceasingly, as God magnifies You with faith and love. b) Stichera. Voice. 5. Come, let us bless the ever-memorable Joseph, who came to Pilate in the night and asked for everyone’s life, give me this strange one, who has nowhere to lay his head: give me this strange one, whose evil disciple betrayed him to death: give me this strange one, whose mother sees him hanging on the cross, weeping and crying out like a mother: “Woe is Me, My Child! alas for Me, My Light, and My beloved, My womb! Simeon foretold in the Church today will happen: My heart has passed through the weapon: but turn your tears into the joy of Your resurrection.” We worship with Your passion, Christ, we worship with Your passion, Christ, we worship with Your passion, Christ, and the holy resurrection! Word at the entrance to St. Pentecost. "Manual for Rural Shepherds", 1875, vol. 3, p. 188. “Sunday Reading”, part 1, page 136. Tertullian “On Fasting”, ch. 13. Synaxarion these days in the Lenten Triodion. Matthew Vlastar 300 p. 50. See in detail in “Tobolsk Diocesan Gazette”, 1885, No. 3. This article is based on an article published in the magazine “Instructions and Consolations of St. Christian faith", ed. St. Andrew's Skete in Odessa, for 1891, No. 4. Rev. Macarius of Egypt conversation 32. “A Sermon on Patience and Reasoning”, ch. 429. He is from Damascus and began his ministry as a reader in the Jerusalem church. In 681 he was patriarchal locum tenens at the Sixth Ecumenical Council of Constantinople. Archbishop of Crete from 701 to 711. Died in Metilene. His memory is on July 4th. The life of St. Mary, from the words of a still living tradition, was written by Sophrony, Patriarch of Jerusalem. St. Andrew, going to the Ecumenical Council in 680, took the life with him and presented it, along with his canon, to the entire assembly of shepherds. Both were approved by them and then introduced into church use. It is truly a pity that the life of St. Mary is not read in our churches, although in a brief extract, but in a language quite accessible to the people. Such an example is stronger than any and all sermons. True, this life, mainly before Others, is read by literate people in the “Cheti-Minea”; but as much as the heavy language, so much and the excessive floridity, they make it difficult to overcome this reading; That’s why it doesn’t make the impression it should have if all this had been conveyed in live speech, without rhetorical embellishment. The reading of the Psalter is called versification because in ancient times the psalms were usually sung in verse, alternately on both choirs, as is partly done now. The word proverb means teaching along the way, or a briefly expressed allegory. In ancient times, it was the custom to write short sayings at crossroads for the edification of those passing by. See Interpretation of bl. Jerome on the Gospel of Matthew ch. 27, p. 33. See "Catechetical Teachings" XIII, 23. See his Commentary on the prophet Isaiah ch. 5. This is the place of St. Chrysostom and Theophylact explain about the day of suffering and the crucifixion of the Lord itself. See their interpretation in the place shown. St. Cyril of Jerusalem, in “Catechetical Teachings” XIII, 27, and St. Cyprian. in letter 63, this passage is explained about the suffering of the Lord.