Слово о всеобщем Воскресении, о покаянии и любви, о Втором Пришествии Господа нашего Иисуса Христа

Let us not, beloved, prefer anything to unfeigned love, because we fall many times every day and hour. Let us acquire love, for it covers a multitude of sins. What good is it, brothers, if we have everything, but do not have the love that saves us? What good is it if someone organizes a great dinner, invites the king and the princes, prepares everything for the meal without any shortage, but does not have salt? It is impossible to taste such a dinner. Not only will the expenses of the one who called be in vain and his labors will be lost, but he himself will be ridiculed by those called. So here too, my brothers, what good is it for us to work in the wind if there is no love in us? Without love, every deed is unclean. If someone keeps virginity, if he fasts or stays on vigil, if he prays or gives shelter to the poor, if he brings firstfruits or all the fruits as a gift to God, if he builds churches or does anything else - but all this without love - he will not be counted as anything before God, because it is not pleasing to Him. So, do not do anything without love. If you say: “Although I hate my brother, yet I love Christ,” then you will turn out to be a liar. John the Theologian reproaches you, saying: “Do not love your brother who you have seen, God who you have not seen, how can you love” (1 John 4:20)? Therefore, it is clear that if anyone has hatred for his brother and thinks of himself that he loves God, then he is a liar and deceives himself. For John also says: “This commandment is from Him, that he who loves God also loves his brother” (1 John 4:21). And the Lord also says: “By this commandment the whole law and the prophets hang” (Matthew 22:40). What a great and extraordinary miracle! He who has love fulfills the whole law, “for the fulfillment of the law is love” (Rom. 13:10). Oh, the incomparable power of love! Oh, the immeasurable power of love! Neither in heaven nor on earth is there anything more precious than love. She is divine love, is the head of virtues, love is the cause of all good things; love is the salt of virtues, love is the end of the law. She inhabited the heart of Abel, she was an accomplice of the patriarchs, she protected Moses, she dwelled in the prophets, she made David the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, she strengthened Job. And why not say the most important thing? – She brought down to us from heaven the Son of God! Through love all blessings have been revealed to us: death has been destroyed, hell has been captured, Adam has been called back; a single flock is made up of angels and men by love; Paradise was opened with love, the Kingdom of Heaven was promised to us. She made the fishermen wise; she strengthened the martyrs; she converted deserts into hostels; she filled the mountains and dens with psalmody; she taught husbands and wives to walk the narrow and cramped path. But how long until I put an end to the word about love? Who is able to retell all the merits of love? Even the Angels will not retell them as they should. O blessed love, giver of all blessings! Blessed and most blessed are those who have acquired true and unfeigned love, as the Lord said, that “greater love has no one than he who lays down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). Having this divine love, the Apostle Paul says that love does not do evil to one’s neighbor, does not repay evil for evil, slander for slander. He who has acquired this love is not proud of anyone, does not envy anyone, is not angry, does not complain, and never has hatred for his brother. He who has this love loves not only those who love him, but also those who insult him. Having this divine love, the first martyr Stephen prayed to God for those stoning him, saying: “Lord, do not put this sin on them” (Acts 7:60). Blessed is the man who despised everything and gained love. His bribe increases every day; a crown is prepared for him, all the Angels will please him; The Lord never separates from him, because “God is loving, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him” (1 John 4:16). This is said about love, but we will return again to what was assumed and will talk about repentance and the future Judgment. What, beloved, shall we think about day and night, with the last hour before our eyes? Don't forget about the never-quenching fire! Let the psalm be persistent in your mouth, for it drives away demons in the name of God we call upon. Where there is a psalm, there is God, and where there are songs of the devil, there is God’s wrath and grief. Where there are sacred books and readings, there is the joy of the righteous and the salvation of souls, and where there are harps and rejoicings, there is the darkening of husbands and wives and the holiday of the devil. What is the use, brothers, to rejoice and celebrate here for an hour, and then suffer forever? Let us consider that at that hour all the ends of the earth will not bring us the least benefit. Let us be firm in the thought that there no one will be able to help another, but each, bearing his own burden, will stand waiting for the sentence that will come to him. Keeping this in mind, beloved, “let us live chastely and righteously and honorably in this present world,” as the apostle taught (Titus 2:12). “Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit” (2 Cor. 7:1). “Let us therefore put aside dark works” (Rom. 13:12) and pagan deeds, and let us not walk as other nations walk. As we commemorate the saints, we will remember all the sick, widows, orphans, strangers, beggars, those imprisoned, those living in deserts, in mountains, in dens, in the abysses of the earth. Let us honor the holidays by celebrating not magnificently, but divinely, not in a worldly manner, but in a most peaceful and Christian manner. Let us not crown the vestibules, compose choirs (invite choirs), or undead our ears with pipes and harps; Let's not dress up in luxurious clothes. Let us honor the holidays not with the glitter of gold, not with decorations, not with drunkenness, leaving this to the Greeks and Jews, but let us crown our thresholds with the Honest and Life-Giving Cross of the Savior, saying with the Apostle: “Let me not boast except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Gal. 6:14). Let us mark the Life-giving Cross on our doors, and on our foreheads, and on our foreheads, and on our lips, and on every member of ours, and let us arm ourselves with this invincible Christian weapon, the conqueror of death, the hope of the faithful, the light for the ends of the earth, the weapon that opens paradise, overthrows heresies, the affirmation of faith, the great repository and saving praise of the Orthodox. Let us, Christians, carry this weapon with us in every place, day and night, at every hour and at every minute. Don't do anything without it; Whether you are sleeping, getting up from sleep, working, eating, drinking, on the road, sailing on the sea, crossing a river, decorate all your members with the Life-Giving Cross, and “no evil will come to you, and no wound will come near your body” (Ps. 90:10). The opposing forces, seeing the Cross, retreat with trepidation. The cross sanctified the universe; he dispelled darkness and brought back light; he consumed delusion; he gathered peoples from east and west, north and south, and united them with love into one Church, one faith, one Baptism. The cross is an insurmountable stronghold of the Orthodox. What mouth or what tongue will worthily praise the invincible weapon of King Christ? The cross was erected on the place of execution and immediately produced the grapes of our life. With this venerable weapon, Christ our Savior tore apart the all-consuming belly of hell and stopped the evil mouth of the devil. Having seen him, terrible death freed everyone over whom it had prevailed, starting with the ancestor. Armed with them, the blessed apostles trampled all the power of the enemy. With them, as if wearing armor, Christ’s warriors and martyrs turned into nothing all the inventions and insolence of their tormentors. Carrying it, those who have renounced the world with great readiness settle on the mountains and make abodes for themselves in dens and in the abysses of the earth. Oh, how immeasurable is the goodness of God, the Lover of Mankind! How many blessings He bestowed on the human race through the Cross! And at the end of the world, at the Second Coming of the Lord, the First Cross will again appear in heaven with great glory and a numerous Angelic army, terrifying and defeating enemies, while delighting and illuminating the faithful, and announcing the coming of the Great King. This and even more can be said about the Honest Cross. And what then, that is, what will follow (the sign) of the Cross? In consideration of this, I will only say what it is like. Precisely, it is above words and concepts, surpasses every story about it and frightens every ear. Alas for me, my Christ-loving brothers! I remembered that hour and was in awe, and out of great fear I intended to stop speaking here, thinking about what would be revealed after the Honorable Cross. For who will say it, who will dare to speak it out? What lips will speak? What language will speak? Which voice will announce? What kind of hearing can it contain that even heaven cannot tolerate? For such great and terrible miracles have not happened and will not happen in all generations. Nowadays, often, if lightning flashes strongly or thunder roars, we all come to horror and, bowing to the ground, trembling with fear. How then will we bear it, how will we hear the voice of the trumpet, sounding terribly and awakening all the righteous and sinners who have died from time immemorial? Then the bones of the human race in hell, having heard the voice of the trumpet, will flow with diligence, seeking their compositions. As soon as we see that all human nature has risen, and everyone is rising from his place, and from the ends of the earth everyone is being led to Judgment - then what fear, what trembling will embrace us?! For the Great King will command, and immediately with trembling and diligence the earth will give up its dead, and the sea will give up its own dead; and if someone is kidnapped by a beast, or crushed by a fish, or plundered by a bird, everyone will appear in the blink of an eye, and not a single hair will be missing. When we see that the fiery river flows with fury from the east, like a fierce sea, and devours mountains and wilds, burns the whole earth and “the works that are on it,” then, beloved, from that fire the springs will become scarce, the rivers will disappear, the sea will dry up, the air will shake, the stars will fall from the sky, the sun will be eclipsed, the moon will turn into blood, and the sky will “roll like a scroll.” When we see that “Angels are sent” flow with diligence and gather the chosen servants of God “from the end of the heavens to the end of them,” when we see a new heaven and a new earth, when we see the terrible Throne being prepared, when we see the sign of the Son of Man appearing in heaven - the Honest and Life-giving Cross, illuminating all the ends of the earth - then, having seen the royal and terrible scepter, everyone will understand that the King will soon appear after him. Who will meet Christ and be justified? If he has realized his stumblings and falls, then, naked and sorrowful, he will appear awaiting the sentence that will come to him. For everyone will see that his own deeds - both good and bad - stand before his face. Then those who walked the narrow and cramped path, all who sincerely repented, all who were merciful and hospitable to strangers, will appear cheerful, with great joy, “waiting for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13). For He is coming to crown those who labored in vigils, prayers and psalmody. He is coming to please those who mourned over their sins, to rejoice the merciful, to exalt those who were poor for the sake of His name, who did not love the world and everything in the world, but left everything and followed Him alone; coming no longer from the earth, but from heaven, like terrible lightning. Then there will be a great cry: “Behold, the Bridegroom is coming,” - behold, the Judge is approaching, behold, the Judge of judges is revealed, behold, the God of all is coming to judge the universe and reward everyone according to his deeds. Then, my beloved brothers, from this cry the womb of the earth will tremble from its ends to its ends, and the sea and all the deeps. Then, beloved, every person will be seized with fear, trembling and frenzy - from the cry and from the voice of the trumpet, and from the hope of what is coming to the world. Then the Heavenly Forces will move. And so, lightning precedes, the hosts of Angels flow ahead, the faces of the Archangels, Cherubim, Seraphim and the many-readed ones are prepared with strength and loudly cry out: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who is and is and is to come” (Rev. 4:8). And all creation in heaven and on earth cries out with power: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of Lord" (Matthew 21:9). Then the heavens will be torn apart, and the King of kings and the Prince of princes will be revealed, like terrible lightning with great power and incomparable glory, "and every eye will see Him, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn for Him" (Rev. 1:7). “I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose presence heaven and earth fled” (Rev. 20:11). Alas, where will we stand, sinners? Then, as He said, He will “sit” on the Throne of Glory and all nations will be gathered before Him. What soul is there that would be able to endure when the Thrones are set up, the Judge sits, and the books are opened? Then we will see countless Angelic Forces standing around with fear. Then the deeds of each in order will be read and announced before the Angels and people. Then the prophecy of Daniel will be fulfilled, who says: “In vain, Dondezh Thrones have been set up, and the Ancient One is his day, and His clothing is white like snow, and the hair of His head is like pure wave, His Throne is a flame of fire, His wheels are scorching fire. A river of fire flows forth before Him: a thousand thousand serve Him, and ten thousand stand before Him: The judgment is seated, and the books are opened" (Dan. 7:9-10). Great fear, brothers, will be in that hour when the terrible books are opened, where our deeds and our words are written, and what we have done in this life, and what we thought to hide from God, who searches the hearts and wombs! Every deed and every thought of man is written there, everything good and bad. Oh, how many tears are needed for the sake of that hour for which we do not care, although with tears and alms we can blot out the written guilt! Oh, how much we will groan and weep piteously when we see the indescribable Kingdom of Heaven, but also on the other side we will see the terrible torments opening up, in the middle - all human nature: from the progenitor Adam to the one born after all - and everyone will bow down. Then the written word will be fulfilled: “As I live, says the Lord, “For every tribe will worship Me” (Rom. 14:11). And the apostle also says: “At the name of Jesus Christ every knee will bow, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:10–11). Amen". The Christ-loving listeners asked: “Teacher, tell us what will follow and how the people will be interrogated?” Answer: “Then, my Christ-loving brothers, all humanity will stand between the Kingdom and condemnation, between life and death, between joy and sorrow, and everyone, bowing down, will see those standing before the judgment seat and being interrogated, especially those who lived in negligence. And seeing this, they will again bow down and begin to reflect on their deeds. And everyone will see their own deeds standing before them - both good and bad - which someone has predetermined. Then those who have acted badly and have not repented, lamenting, will say: “Oh! Why didn’t we, the poor, strive, but wasted our time in negligence, amusing ourselves and serving others as amusement? Why weren't you vigilant? Why didn't you fast? Why did they not have pity for the poor? Why didn’t they repent when there was time for repentance, but spent their lives laughing, enjoying themselves, and indulging in distraction? And there is no longer time for repentance. What will we do, because a terrible day and hour has befallen us, about which we heard but laughed? What will we do, miserable ones, because the books are unbent and everyone will be condemned?” - Thinking about themselves in this way, they will hear the voice of the Judge, Who will shout fearfully and say: “Show your deeds, and you will receive a reward.” And at this hour all the ranks of Christians, bishops and deacons, and other church ranks will move forward. For, as the apostle says, everyone will arise in his own order to give an answer to God. Then kings and rulers, wise and rich and poor, will rise up, because the hour has come for everyone to reap what he has sowed.” The Christ-loving listeners asked: “Tell us, servant of God, what else will they hear or suffer after that?” Answer: “Woe is me, my Christ-loving brothers! I want to say what will happen after, but fear holds me back, my voice is weakened, tears precede the word, my thoughts are clouded, because the story is scary.” Lovers of Christ: “Say, for the sake of the Lord, for our benefit!” The Teacher says: “Then, lovers of Christ, everyone will have the seal of Christianity, which everyone in the Universal Church took upon themselves with baptism, will be attested to, and they will be required from everyone to have pure faith, an unbroken seal, an undefiled tunic and a good confession, which he gave in front of many witnesses, saying: “I deny Satan and all his works” - not one, or two, or five bad deeds, but all the works of the devil. So, good renunciation will be required from us at that hour, and blessed is he who has kept it, as he promised. For in one word he denies all the works of the devil, the most abominable adulteries, fornication, murder, uncleanness, envy, theft, slander, vexation, irritation, idle talk, drunkenness, memory of malice, rivalry, pride, laziness, laughter, playing songs, dancing, pipes, jumping, shows, demonic songs, covetousness, brotherly hatred and, which is the extreme limit of all evil, sorcery, idolatry, and sorcery. This and similar things are denied by every Christian at the holy font. This renunciation will require an account from us at that hour.” Christ-lovers: “Tell us, what will follow next, and how will they be interrogated?” The teacher says: “I will speak with illness and I will say it with sighs and tears, because it is impossible to talk about this without tears, for it will be the last. Then, lovers of Christ, after the testing and torment of everyone, when the deeds of everyone will be declared before Angels and men, and every principle, authority, and power will be abolished, and all enemies will be placed under His feet, then, finally, as the Lord said, “he will separate them from each other, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep at His right hand" (Matthew 25:32-33). Sheep that have good fruit, sheep that know the Shepherd, sheep sealed (by baptism) that have kept the seal intact, sheep that have followed the Great Shepherd, Who said: “Follow Me!” - sheep that have not defiled the holy faith with heretical blasphemies - these sheep He will place at His right hand. "I'm fucking goats." These “goats” are those who have no fruit, who angered the Shepherd. These are goats who feed with heretics and desecrate the holy faith. They jumped, danced, had fun, rejoiced and, having collected their grief, left life deprived of every good deed, filled with all uncleanness. Seeing them, God will turn His eyes away from them and place them on His side. Then “the King says to those on His right hand: Come, blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you” (Matthew 25:34). Come, sons of My light; come, blessed heirs of my kingdom; Come, for my sake, you who are poor, who have hungered and thirsted, who have not loved the world or all that is in the world. Come, for my sake you have left every worldly realm and joy, relatives and friends, parents and children. Come, you who dwell in the deserts, mountains, dens and abysses of the earth along with the beasts, and dwell with the Angels in heaven. Come, all you merciful and hospitable; Come, all you who have walked along the narrow and straitened path. “Come, blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Then He will also say to those who exist: “Depart from Me, all you who are cursed, into the outer fire. Depart from Me, haters, unmerciful, brother-haters, Christ-haters. You have not shown mercy, and you will not have mercy; you did not listen to My most pure Gospels and My blessed disciples, and I will not hear your cry. You have lived luxuriously on earth and enjoyed the blessings of your life. There I cried daily through the Scriptures, and when you heard, you mocked those who read. And now I say: “We don’t know you. Depart from Me, cursed, into the pitch-black and eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” Then they will go into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” The lovers of Christ asked: “Will everyone undergo the same torment, or are the torments different?” The teacher says: “There are different types of torment, as you heard in the Gospel. Therefore, pitch darkness is in a special country; fiery Gehenna - another place; gnashing of teeth is a special place; a never-ending worm - in one more place; the lake of fire is a different place again; tartar is a special place; unquenchable fire - in a special country; the river of fire is in another place. The unfortunate ones will be divided into these torments, each according to their sins. And just as there is a difference in sins, so there are differences in torment.” Lovers of Christ: “Tell us also about the difference in torment.” The teacher says: “An adulterer suffers differently, a fornicator, another, a murderer, another, a thief, and another a drunkard. Those who have defiled themselves with heresies will hear: “Let the wicked be lifted up, and not see the glory of the Lord” (Is. 26:10). Those who have enmity against each other and happen to leave this life will find themselves inexorably condemned and, like hated ones, will be sent into utter darkness - for they hated Christ, who said: “love one another and forgive one another.” Woe then to the fornicator, woe to the adulterer, woe to the drunkard, woe to sorcerers and fortune-tellers, woe to those who make magical inscriptions, divinations, sorceries, indulge in inquisitiveness and not only do it themselves, but also resort to those who do it! Woe to those who drink wine with timbrels and lyres (music and choirs), woe to those who defile themselves with heretical blasphemies, woe to those who swear at the Divine Scriptures, woe to those who have wasted the time of repentance in laughter and absent-mindedness - because with bitter tears they will seek the time that they wasted badly, and will not find it! Woe to those who justify the evil spirit for the sake of gifts, woe to those who steal the property of others. I will say briefly: woe to all who are destined to stand on their heels when they hear: go away from Me, go away, cursed and hated by your deeds, “we do not know you.” And immediately they will come into confusion, driven out of the judgment seat with great weeping and given over to the hands of death, so that “I may be saved,” as it is written (Ps. 49:15).” Lovers of Christ: “We ask you, God’s servant, to tell us how those unfortunates will go into torment.” The teacher, again crying and striking his chest with his hands, answered them like this: “My Christ-loving brothers, what a sad story do you want to listen to! Oh, terrible and trembling hour! Alas, alas for me, my beloved! Who dares to retell, or who has the strength to listen to that terrible and final story! Whoever has tears, cry, and whoever has no tears, come, listen to what awaits you, so that we do not be careless about our salvation! For then they will be separated from each other by that pitiful separation and will go on a path from which there is no return. Then bishops will be separated from bishops, presbyters from presbyters, deacons from deacons, subdeacons and readers from their fellow servants. Then those who once reigned will be separated, they will cry like children, and they will be expelled as slaves. Then the princes will groan, they will be abandoned by everyone, they will look here and there and will not find help: neither wealth is visible, nor flatterers stand before them. Then the monks who lived in negligence, who loved the world and reasoned in a worldly way will be separated. Then parents and children, father and son, mothers and daughters, friends from friends, relatives from relatives will be separated. Then the spouses who did not keep the bed undefiled will be pitifully separated. But I won’t talk about the rest, because fear overcomes me as I speak. Then, finally, those driven out, forced and scourged by the fierce Angels will flee, gnashing their teeth and turning back more and more often to see the righteous from whom they are separated. And, seeing that joy and that light from which they were separated, they will begin to cry bitterly, and, finally, they will hide, losing the ability to see anything behind them. And they will approach the most terrible place, where they will again be scattered and distributed to all kinds of torment. Then, seeing that the verdict is decisive, that there is no intercessor for them and there will be no pardon to return them back, they will say with bitter sobs: “Oh, how the vain world mocked us! Why did we, seeing that others were struggling, not struggle ourselves, but, hearing the Divine Scriptures, laughed and mocked those reading? There God spoke through the Scriptures, but we did not listen; Now we cry out, and He turns His face away from us. What good has the whole world brought us? Where is the father who gave birth to us? Where is the mother who made us sick? Where are the children? Where are your friends? Where is the wealth? Where are the estates? Where is the noise of others and dinners? Where is the great and useless fussiness of our lives? Where are your family and friends? Where are the kings, rulers and wise men? Why don’t they benefit us at all?” “Then, seeing that they are completely abandoned by God and the saints, crying out with sighs and bitter tears, they will say: “Forgive, saints and righteous, from whom we are separated, forgive, friends and relatives, forgive, fathers and mothers, forgive, sons and daughters, forgive, apostles, forgive, prophets and martyrs of the Lord; forgive also You, Lady Theotokos, who worked hard in prayers for our salvation, but we ourselves did not want to repent and be saved. Forgive you too, Honest and Life-giving Cross, forgive, paradise of sweetness planted by the Lord, forgive heavenly Jerusalem, mother of the firstborn, forgive, Kingdom of Heaven, which will have no end, forgive everything; We will not see any of you again and we are heading towards condemnation, which will have no end and no relief.” And finally, everyone will go to the prepared place, which he has prepared for himself, not wanting to repent in order to get rid of anger in the hour of need. And for this they will suffer for all ages.” Have you heard, my brothers, the verdict? Have you heard what the careless will suffer, have you heard about that terrible day and fierce hour? Let's take care, brothers! This is the hour that will test our entire lives. It is about this that the Divine Scripture in the Holy Churches from east to west cries out, predicts and testifies, so that we will not be put to shame then. The prophet David spoke about that hour: “For You have rewarded everyone according to his deeds” (Ps. 61:13). The apostle cried about him: “Beware how dangerously you walk” (Eph. 5:15). “It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the Living God” (Heb. 10:31). The Lord Christ said about that hour: “Strive to enter through the strait gate” (Luke 13:24). Holding that hour in mind, the saints left all the pleasures of life: houses, wealth, sheep, oxen, horses, friends, brothers, relatives, children, luxury, baths, lands, courts - and, leaving everything, they fled into the desert, into the mountains, into dens and abysses of the earth; “deprived, sorrowful, embittered” so as not to be put to shame at that hour. And not only men, but also wives, having loved the narrow and cramped path, captured the Kingdom of Heaven. For in Christ Jesus the Lord “there is neither male nor female” (Gal. 3:28), but each one will receive his own special reward according to his own labor, as it is written (1 Cor. 3:15). Blessed are those who are diligent, blessed are those who weep, blessed are those who at that hour will turn out to be friends of Christ, blessed are those who remain vigilant in almsgiving, blessed are those who do not fall asleep in prayer, blessed are those who work every day for the salvation of their souls, blessed are those who patiently knock on the door of Christ. Blessed is the man who scattered the burden of his sins while there was still time; Blessed is he who bought oil before the market was over. “Blessed is that servant whose coming,” the Lord, “will find that he does this” (Matthew 24:46). Blessed are we, brothers, if, when we knock on the door, we do not fall into despondency, because He Himself will open to us without deceit, saying: “Press, and it will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7). And again: “He who comes to Me will not be cast out” ( John 6:37) He is our God, to Him be glory forever and ever! You might be interested in: