Слово о суете жизни и о покаянии

Strive, you who have left the vanity of life and everything that is perishing, and do not turn your heart to this again. Wealth passes, fame disappears, beauty fades, everything changes and disappears like smoke, passes away like a shadow, fades away like a dream. That is why Solomon said: “vanity of vanities, all vanity” (Eccl. 1:2). That is why David sang, saying: “Man walks in the same way, but is troubled in vain” (Ps. 39:7). Indeed, those who love the troubles of real life worry in vain. Indeed, they are worried in vain, worried in vain, worried in vain, who collect and put in treasuries what will soon perish, what they cannot take with them. For leaving everything, naked as we were born, we will go to the Terrible Judge. Having left all the treasures we have collected, naked, pitiful, sad, darkened, contrite, humiliated, open to everyone, timid, trembling, bowed, embarrassed, with our faces buried in the ground and hiding it from shame - so let us go, so we will appear, so we will stand on this great one, on this terrible one, impartial, incorruptible, incomprehensible to us, the Judgment Seat, where the Angels tremble, where the terrible Thrones are placed, where the Books of Deeds are read, where the river of unquenchable fire, where the merciless worm, where the darkness impenetrable by light, where the cold tartarus, where the incessant lamentation and gnashing of teeth, where the incessant tears, where the incessant sighs, where the inconsolable crying, where there is no place laughter, but weeping, where there is a place not for exclamations, but for trembling, where there is a place not for joy, but for sighs, where there is a place not for fun, but for Judgment. It is truly terrifying to hear, terrifying and to see how every creature suddenly rises up, gathers, is subjected to punishment and accounting for all words, deeds and thoughts, for every sin committed both day and night. Great is the fear then, brethren, great is the trembling! A great need, such as has never been and never will be until this day, will befall when the angels flow, the trumpets sound, the stars fall, the sun is darkened, the heavens are confused, the whole earth shakes. The forces will move, the Seraphim, the Cherubim will begin to move, and the things above, and those below, and the earthly, and the underworld will be confused and shaken; The tombs will be opened, the bodies will be gathered, the Judgment Seat will be prepared. Then there will be great fear, unspeakable trepidation, inexplicable need! This is a great storm, a great disturbance, a difficult circumstance, an incomprehensible confusion, a great sob! Let's listen to what Daniel says: “Az Daniel saw in my vision at night... The throne was set up, and the Ancient One sat down... His throne is a fiery flame, His wheels are scorching fire. A river of fire flows before Him... and so I stand before Him: The judgment is seated, and the books are opened... My spirit trembled... I was Daniel, and the visions of my head troubled me” (Dan.7:2, 9-10, 15). Oh! The Prophet, contemplating the future Judgment in a vision, fell into fear and horror. What will we endure when we experience reality itself, when everything, from the east of the sun to the west, appears naked, showing everyone on their necks the burden of sins? Then the tongue of blasphemers will continually burn in flames, and no one will cool it. Then the teeth of the slanderers will be crushed by the unmerciful Angels. Then the lips of idle talkers will be blocked by fire. Then the hanging hands of the money lovers will tremble and ache, being whittled. Then, without mercy, the eyes of those who “pity” will be gored (Ps. 34:19). Where then are the parents, where are the brothers, where is the father, where is the mother, where is the friend, where is the neighbor, where is the pomp of kings, where is the power of princes, where is the arbitrariness, where is the pride of judges, where then are the slaves, where are the slaves, where is the decoration of clothes, where are the dandy shoes, where is the decoration of rings, where are silk and linen fine fabrics, where are meat dishes, where is the pomp of gold, the clanking of silver, where is luxury, where is abundance where there are wines, where there are horses, where there are gardens, where there are decorated and painted houses, where there are vain incense, where treasures are stored up, where there are decorated beds, where they despise the poor and behave as immortals, where they reproach the poor, where they despise those in need, where they consider themselves wise, where they drink wine with timbrels and faces and indulge in luxury, where they always laugh and ridicule the reverent, where oppressing slaves and neglecting the fear of the Lord, where are those who abhor godliness? Where will those who disbelieve in torment and behave like immortals be at that hour? Where will there be those who argue: “Let us drink and drink, or in the morning we will die” (1 Cor. 15:32). Where will they say: “Give it to me today and take it for yourself tomorrow”? Where are those who argue: “Let’s enjoy what’s here, but as for what’s there, we’ll see more”? Where are those who argue: “God loves mankind and does not punish those who sin”? Oh, how those who reason like this will repent! How long will they be tormented, and there will be no One who has mercy on them. As long as they groan, there will be no Savior. More than once, tormenting themselves, they will say: “Woe to us! We laughed at ourselves! We were taught, but we did not listen; we were admonished, but we listened with disdain; they proved it to us, but we didn’t believe it; by listening to the Scriptures, they deceived themselves. God's Judgment is Righteous! Truly, worthy and righteous we bear punishment. Truly, we will accept according to our deeds! Woe to us because we endure torment for temporary and impure pleasure. For a short time, not wanting to be zealous, we are condemned to eternal fire for the sake of unimportant, low glory for a person! They have lost true glory, for little pleasure they have been deprived of the joys of heaven, for the sake of perishing wealth they have lost the wealth of the Kingdom! We enjoyed ourselves in the vain age, and those who did not enjoy it now rejoice, those who fasted are consoled, those who kept themselves pure rejoice in the heavenly chamber, those who wept for a short time rejoice forever, those who neglected earthly things received heavenly things. We alone, the unfortunate ones, are worthily handed over to torture; We cry now, and there is no one to save.” So, so that in the next century we do not say anything similar to these foolish people, let us anticipate our end, warn the plunderer of our souls, let us flee (let us resort to salvation) while there is still time. Let's breathe, repent, stir ourselves up, I beg you! - from the sleep of our laziness, let us throw off the burden of negligence, raise our hands to the One who is able to save and say; “Jesus Christ! Save us, we’re dying!” Let us hurry before the sun reaches the west, before the door is closed. After night falls, no one works anymore. After the market of life ceases, no one is engaged in buying anymore. After the spectacle is over, no one is crowned, no one begins to fight, no one enters the battle. Therefore, I beg you, let us hurry. For we need haste, brethren, great haste is needed to achieve this, so that, having knocked on the door, we will not hear: “We do not know you” (Matthew 25:12)! Let us speed up the procession and come to our senses, for how often do we dishonor the Lord! How often do we upset the Benefactor! He benefits us, but we daily find ourselves ungrateful. He is generous, but we reject His bounties. He feeds us, protects us, provides for us, and we, daily breaking His commandments, do not feel shame. Let us finally be ashamed! For the time is near, the day has already come, and we must give Him an account for our whole lives. Let us finally stop the exorbitant luxury and vile laughter, so as not to cry bitterly. Let us finally stop slandering, offending, and hating the brethren. Let us stop collecting treasures, living dissolutely, and indulging in fornication. We will spend time in prayer, in petitions, in fasting, in repentance, we will show a new, changed life. Let us confess our sins, let us turn, brethren, because it is time for conversion; let us repent, because it is time for repentance and many tears. Let us show caring repentance before God, let us show that we are thinking about the Day of Judgment, that we no longer hate sin, that our intentions have been corrected. I beg you, let’s work a little here so that we won’t be punished too much there. Let us struggle temporarily so as not to suffer forever. The time is near, but the Judgment is long; the end is near, fear is great, but there is no Liberator. Then everyone will seek the time that they squandered badly, and will not find it. Woe to the careless one, because, burning in flames, he will seek a drop of water and will not find it. Woe to the unbeliever, for he will suffer eternal punishment. Woe to the unrepentant, because he goes to a strict Judge. Woe to the one who does not hasten, because he is given over to the unmerciful Angels! He who loses a piece of gold finds another, but he who destroys time does not find, brethren, how to replace it with another time. Let us no longer spare our body, but let us wear it out, because “blessed are those who mourn...hungry and thirsty” (Matthew 5:4, 6). Our body is clay. The hour will come, a terrible day, fierce and not foreseen, and the earth will sink into earth, and dust will again become dust. Let us be sober, I convince you, for the path is set before us. Let us sober up, for that hour will come and will certainly pass. Let's not deceive ourselves. Let us suppose that we enjoy, let us suppose that we enrich ourselves for five, ten or a hundred years, but behind this comes old age; and what's behind it? Impotence! After that, there is this terrible hour, which we all expect and tremble about, and about which we do not care. It is a great thing to see how the soul is separated from the body! Great is the hour of that necessary moment for everyone, when the voice becomes exhausted, when the tongue is unable to pronounce a word clearly. We constantly turn our eyes here and there, and do not recognize the friends or brothers standing in front of us. And if we do find out, we can’t talk to them. We see our children mourning, and with this sorrow we set off. At that hour we have no concern for either everyday affairs or friends, nothing occupies us except concern for our falls and how the Judge will appear, what we will say in our justification, whether we will receive any forgiveness, and what place awaits us. When we think about this, merciless Angels sent by God suddenly appear to us. Then, seeing them before us and horrified by their coming, if we find ourselves unprepared, in what confusion will we be, trying to escape from the bed and not having the strength to do so? Then, with a sad face, we turn touching gazes to them, begging, convincing, asking, kneeling and humiliatingly, and crying: “Have mercy on us, humane-loving holy Angels, have mercy! Do not take me, barren and unclean, to the Creator, do not separate me, a sinner, from my body! No! I ask and beg you, give me some time to repent, sigh, shed tears, give alms! I beg you, be merciful, because I have squandered and squandered the time of my life.” And the Angels, hearing this from us, will say to us: “Pitiful soul! Low soul! You have lived all your days in negligence and now you want to repent?! The sun has already set, my soul; your time is over; The hour of the visitation has arrived. God commanded you, poor soul, to enter the eternal gates according to your deeds. There is no longer hope for you, there is no longer salvation for you, but eternal execution awaits you.” Hearing this and being convinced that everything is the truth and not a fable, let us make an effort to be ready before that hour, and if out of habit we remain in sins, then we will cut them off from ourselves by repentance. Let's not deceive ourselves, brothers! There is Judgment and eternal torment, and unquenchable fire, and an undying worm, and pitch darkness, and tartarus, and gnashing of teeth and weeping, as the Lord reminds us of all this in the Gospels! But He does not lie: “Heaven and earth pass by, but My words do not pass by” (Matthew 24:35). Therefore, let us all fear and tremble, who have hitherto lived in sins, and we will try to be numbered with the saints for repentance. Don’t tell me: “I stole, I killed, God does not accept me; I have committed adultery, God will not hear me.” Don't say anything like that! God accepts everyone - like a thief, like a harlot, like a tax collector. Let us just wake up from sleep, I beg you, let us not be too lazy to hit the door with repentance, saying: “Open to us, Master, open to us unworthy, humble and sinful, for the sake of Your holy name - have mercy, do not close the doors! Do not deprive us of Your mercy, Your glory, Your Kingdom, because You are God to us, the poor and hopeless, and Your Kingdom and the power and glory of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and always and unto the ages of ages!” Amen. You might be interested in: