Слово на Честный и Животворящий Крест и на Второе Пришествие Господа, а также о любви и милостыне

Every holiday and every act of our Lord Jesus Christ is salvation and praise for us, the faithful. But praise of praise is the Cross! But the feast of the holidays is when “Christ our Passover was quickly devoured for us” (1 Cor. 5:7), it is better to say when the Lamb of God rose from the dead “to take away the sins of the world” (John 1:29). Easter is the mistress and queen of the holidays. But all other holidays are holy and worthy, and, differing among themselves in glory, they are illuminated by the splendor of the Divine. A zealot of God’s commandments honors them in a worthy manner and faithfully celebrates them. But the unclean and defiled by sins do not celebrate even on the holiday. A wonderful and godly holiday - repentance with tears, abstinence from sins, knowledge of God and desire for eternal blessings. When they celebrate like this, there is joy in heaven, and the Church rejoices and rejoices and convenes all the righteous, saying: “Rejoice with me, “for this my son was dead” through sins, “and is alive” through repentance (Luke 15:24).” There is a wonderful and godly holiday where Christ is celebrated, where His celebrations are celebrated and the Divine Scriptures are honored. Christ celebrates together where those celebrating are united in His name by love, without any enmity and without any hypocrisy. Christ celebrates where the poor are served, where the orphans are consoled, where strangers are laid to rest. Christ celebrates where God is honored “in psalms and songs and spiritual songs” (Eph. 5:19). Thus those celebrating are united in His name. “In the midst of them,” according to the promise (Matthew 18:20), Christ is found. Since the Lord is “in the midst of them,” no one harms them. So let us celebrate the Lord's holidays not magnificently, but divinely, not in a worldly way, but approximately. Let us not crown vestibules, form faces (choirs), decorate faces, undead the ears with pipes and harps, clothe ourselves in light vestments and the glitter of gold. Let us not celebrate with “goat-singing and drunkenness” (Rom. 13:13). Do not ruin the works of God for the sake of food, do not violate God’s sacred service for the sake of an insatiable belly, working in a cookhouse. But let us leave this to those “whose belly is God and glory” (Phil. 3:19). We all together, small and large, men and wives, and nuns, will celebrate the Lord's holidays, as we have been taught, in a Christian and pious manner, in “psalms and songs and spiritual songs.” Let us crown the vestibule like Christians, and not like the Greeks, who crown the gates with laurel branches and flowers and others, as is the custom of the Greeks and Jews. The canopy of the law has come, but the truth has blossomed, as we hear from the Apostle, who says: “Old past, behold, it was all new” (2 Cor. 5:17). Idol flattery is abolished, death is deprived of its prey, the captives of hell are driven away, the kingdom of polytheism is crushed, man is liberated, God reigns, creation rejoices, the Cross reigns, which is worshiped by all tribes and peoples, tribes and languages, in which we also boast, speaking with blessed Paul: “Let me not boast except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Gal. 6:14). Therefore, on our doors, and on our foreheads, and on our eyes, and on our lips, and on our chest, and on all our members, let us place the Life-Giving Cross. Let us arm ourselves with this invincible weapon of Christians, the light of the meek, the weapon that opens paradise, overthrows heresies, this support of the Orthodox faith, the saving praise of the Church. We, Christians, will not leave it for one hour, not for one moment, carrying it with us everywhere and without it we will not do anything - but whether we sleep, whether we get up, work, eat, drink, go on a journey, sail on the sea, cross rivers - we will decorate all our members with the Life-giving Cross. And we will not be afraid “from the fear of the night, from the arrow that flies during the day: from the thing that passes in darkness, from the debris and the demon of the midday” (Ps. 91:5-6). If, brother, you always take him to help you, “then evil will not come to you, and no wound will come near your body” (Ps. 90:10). The opposing forces, seeing him, tremble and move away. The cross abolished idolatrous flattery. He enlightened the entire universe. He dispersed the darkness and brought back the light. From the west and the north, from the sea and the east, He, having gathered peoples into one Church to one faith and one Baptism, bound them with love. Oh, what lips and what tongue will praise, as it should, this insurmountable wall of the Orthodox, this victorious weapon of the great King Christ! The cross is the resurrection of the dead. The cross is the hope of Christians. The cross is a rod for the lame. The cross is the consolation of the poor. The cross is a bridle for the rich, an overthrow of the proud. The cross is a monument to victory over demons, a mentor to the young. The cross is a marketplace (judicial square) for traders, the hope of the desperate, the helm for swimmers. The cross is a haven for those overwhelmed, a wall for those surrounded by enemies. The cross is the father of orphans, the counselor of the truthful. The cross is a consolation to those who mourn, a guardian of infants, the glory of men, a crown of elders. The cross is light to those sitting in darkness. The cross is the splendor of kings, wisdom for barbarians. The cross is freedom for slaves, wisdom for the ignorant. The cross is the preaching of the prophets, the companion of the apostles, the praise of the martyrs. The cross is the chastity of virgins, the joy of priests. The cross is the destruction of idolatrous churches, a temptation for the Jews. The cross is the strength of the weak, the physician of the sick. The cross is the cleansing of lepers, the restoration of the strength of the paralytic. The cross is the trustworthiness of the monks, the cover of the naked. He was planted in the middle of the universe, planted on the place of execution, and immediately brought forth a cluster of life. With this holy weapon, Christ tore apart the all-consuming womb of hell and stopped the wicked lips of the devil. Seeing this, death came into awe and horror and freed everyone over whom it had dominated since the primordial. Armed with them, the blessed apostles subdued all the power of the enemy and, catching all the nations in their midst, gathered them to worship the Cross. Having put on it, as if in armor, the martyrs and soldiers of Christ trampled all the plans of the tormentors and preached with boldness. Having taken it and carried it on themselves, for the sake of Christ, those who have renounced everything in the world with great joy move into the deserts and mountains, into the caves and abysses of the earth. Oh, the immeasurable and incomparable goodness of God’s bounties! How many blessings God has given through the Cross to the human race! Glory to His love for mankind, and worship, and power forever! Amen. Have you heard, beloved and Christ-loving, what the power of the Cross is, how many successful actions it has, how many benefits it brings! This kind helmsman, having satisfied our entire life and pacified it, became for us the precursor of the future eternal life. For this same first Honest Cross will appear again at the Second Coming of Christ - as the honest, life-giving, venerable and holy scepter of the King Christ, according to the word of the Master, Who says “that the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven” (Matthew 24:30). So, the Cross will first appear in heaven with the entire army of Angels, illuminating the earth from end to end, more than the radiance of the sun, and heralding the coming of the Lord Christ. And enough about the Cross. As for the future, what is it like? It exceeds every word and concept, above every narrative and amazes every ear, my Christ-loving brothers! I remembered that hour and trembled; and out of great fear I would like to stop speaking, thinking about the future that will be revealed after the appearance of the Life-giving Cross. And who will describe it, or who will dare to retell it? What lips will proclaim this? What language will he utter? What voice will declare, or what hearing will accommodate it? For when the Powers of Heaven are moved, who will not be shaken? Who will not be afraid, will not tremble and will not hide at the hour when the King of kings rises from the Throne of His glory and, having descended, will visit the entire universe and begin to “contest His servants for words” in order, as a righteous Judge, to reward the worthy and punish the unworthy? So, thinking about this, I am overcome with fear, my limbs become completely exhausted, my eyes shed tears from fear, my voice becomes impoverished, my lips become numb, my tongue sticks to my larynx, my thoughts become silent. Love forces me to speak for your benefit, but fear holds me back and orders me to remain silent, because my fear is great and immeasurable. Such great and terrible miracles have not happened since the beginning of creation and will not happen throughout all generations. And now, often, if lightning suddenly flashes more strongly or thunder roars, they terrify every person, and everyone bows to the ground. If such unimportant phenomena terrify us, then how can we endure the voice of the trumpet, sounding from heaven louder than any thunder and awakening all who have died from time immemorial - both the righteous and the unrighteous. Then the bones of the human race in hell, having heard the voice of the trumpet, will flow with diligence (move hastily), and each will look for its composition. When we see that all human nature (the human world) is rising, each from his place, and everyone from the ends of the earth will be gathered before the judgment seat, who will endure that fear and trembling? The Great King, who has power over all flesh, will command, and immediately the earth will give up its dead, and hell will give up its dead. And what the beast tore to pieces, the fish devoured, the bird plundered, everything will appear as if in the blink of an eye, and not a single hair will perish. Oh, how will we, brothers, bear it when we see a fiery river, which, like a fierce sea, devours mountains and hills, burns the entire universe and all the affairs in it? Then, beloved, from that fire the rivers will dry up, the springs will disappear, the sea will dry up, the stars will fall from the sky, the sun will darken, the moon will turn into blood, the sky will curl up like a scroll. When we see, brothers, the sent Angels, who flow with diligence, and from the edges of heaven to the edges they gather the chosen servants of God, when we see, according to the promise of the Lord, “new heaven and a new earth” - how will we endure this, lovers of Christ? When we see the terrible Throne prepared, when we see the Son of Man appearing in heaven and the Life-giving Cross illuminating the ends of the earth, when everyone sees His Royal scepter appearing on high, then everyone will know that after this the King of kings will appear. At that hour, everyone will reflect on how to meet with the Judge, and, realizing their sins, will become naked and open, awaiting the verdict that will come to them. Everyone will then see in front of his face his worthwhile deeds, both good and bad. Then those who have walked the strait and narrow path, all who have sincerely repented, all who are merciful and hospitable to strangers, will stand in joy with great joy, “waiting for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of the Great God and our Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13), for He will come to rejoice those who labored in vigils, prayers, fasting and almsgiving. He comes to cheer those who mourn. He comes to rejoice and exalt those who were poor for the sake of His name, who loved neither the world nor worldly pleasures, but who left everything and served and followed Him alone. It comes not from the earth, but from the sky, like terrible lightning. Then there will be a great cry, they will cry out and say: “Behold, the Bridegroom is coming,” - behold, the Judge is approaching, behold, the Judge of judges is being revealed (becomes manifest), behold, the God of all is coming to judge the whole universe and reward each one according to his deeds. Then, my beloved brothers, from that cry the womb of the earth will tremble from end to end, and the sea, and all the deeps. Then there will be fear and distress, and a frenzy will seize every person from the cry and from the sound of trumpets, and from the fear and aspiration of what is coming to the world. Then the Heavenly Forces will move. Then the Angelic armies will flow, and with them the Archangelic faces, the Cherubim and the many-eyed Seraphim will exclaim with strength: “holy, holy, holy... He who is, and who is, and who is to come, the Almighty” (Rev. 4:8.1:8). Then all creation, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, will cry out with power: “Blessed is the King who comes” in the name of the Lord! Then the heavens will open, and the King of kings will be revealed, like terrible lightning, with great power and incomparable glory. And “every eye will see Him, and those who are like Him will give birth, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn for Him” (Rev. 1:7). Then heaven and earth will take flight, as John foretold, saying: “And I saw the throne, great and white, and Him who sat on it, from whose presence heaven and earth fled” (Rev. 20:11). “Then He will sit on the throne of His glory, and all the nations will be gathered before Him” (Matthew 25:31–32). Will there then be any soul that would be strong enough when the Thrones are set, and the Judge sits, and the books are opened? Then we will see countless Angelic Forces approaching around us in fear. Then everyone’s deeds will be read before Angels and people. Then the prophecy of Daniel will be fulfilled, who says: “In vain, Dondezh, the Throne has been set up, and the Old One is gray, 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. The river of fire is constantly flowing before Him: thousands of thousands serve Him, and I stand before Him: the judge is sitting, and the books are opened" (Dan. 7:9-10). Great is the fear, brothers, in that hour, in which our deeds and our words will be written, and everything that we have done in this life, and what we have thought, may be hidden from God, who searches our hearts and wombs; all our deeds and thoughts will be written, both bad and good. Oh, how many tears we need for this. that hour, but we do not rejoice! - For a person can blot out the guilt written in those books with tears; Oh, how we will sigh and weep pitifully then, when with our own eyes we see the ineffable Kingdom of Heaven, when we see the terrible torments revealed! And in the midst of this is the human race: - from the primordial Adam to the one born after all; We will see that everyone worships with their faces to the ground! Then the word that is written will be fulfilled: “As I live, says the Lord: For every knee will worship Me, every tongue will confess to God” (Rom. 14:11). Then, my beloved brothers, all of humanity, standing between the Kingdom and condemnation, between life and death, between joy and need, and all, in vain and not daring to lift up their eyes, will stand before the judgment seat, interrogated and strictly tested, but especially we who lived in negligence. And seeing this, let them reflect on all their deeds! And everyone will see their own deeds, good and bad. Those who have good deeds will joyfully approach the judgment seat in the hope of receiving a crown. If someone, having grave sins on him, departs from life without repenting, then, seeing the righteous standing in front of him, denouncing and condemning him, he will say with illness: “Why did I, poor man, not fight with them, but waste time, amusing myself and serving as amusement? Why didn't you repent? Why didn't you show mercy? Why did he envy his brother, hate him, slander him and not make peace? Hey, hey, I acted like a madman. I also heard about the torment, I also heard about this terrible day! Why didn’t he repent before the One who takes away the sin of the world, but spent his years in deception, and when he saw fasters and prayer books, he mocked? They will come joyful, asking themselves rewards from the Judge. What will I do? The time for repentance is over." Reflecting on this with themselves, they will hear the terrible voice of the Judge, who will exclaim and say: “Show your deeds and accept the reward.” At that hour all the ranks of men will rise, bishops, priests, deacons and all ranks of the church, as the apostle said: “Everyone will stand up in his rank” (1 Cor. 15:23) - to give glory to the Lord. Then the rulers, the wise and the rich, will shake with fear, because the hour has come in which everyone’s work will become known - both to Angels and to men, and everyone will reap what he sows. Alas, my Christ-loving brothers, I want to tell you what will happen after, but I hesitate out of fear, tears flow, and I become dizzy, because the story is terrible. Then, lovers of Christ, each of us will bear the mark of Christianity, which he took upon himself with baptism in the Holy and Universal Church. And everyone will be asked to account for how he kept his faith undefiled, his seal unbroken, his tunic untarnished, and that wonderful confession that he gave in front of many witnesses: “We renounce Satan and all his works”—not one or two or five satanic works, but all the works of the devil. So (reminding us of that wondrous renunciation), they will demand an account from us at that hour. And blessed is he who preserves him as he promised, for then in one word he renounced every evil deed of the devil: adultery, fornication, murder, uncleanness, lying, envy, theft, irritation, resentment, enmity, quarrels, idle talk, foul language, pride, laziness, laughter, playing the harp, playing the harp. pipes), dancing, anger, covetousness, brotherly hatred. Every Christian renounces this and the like in the holy font. It is this renunciation that they will demand from us, brothers, to account for in a terrible hour. But I would like to say something else. True, fear and apprehension hold me back, and I am not able to say it, but I will say it with sighs and tears! For this will be the last, and it is impossible to talk about it without tears. After everyone has been tested before Angels and men, and all authority and power have been abolished, and all the enemies of God have been laid at the feet of God, then, finally, as the Lord said, “he will separate them from each other, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep at His right hand, and the goats at His left” (Matthew 25:32–33). The sheep that have good fruits, that know the good Shepherd, have kept their seal unbroken, have followed their Shepherd, Who said: “Follow me, you have not defiled the faith with heretics,” - such sheep “he will place at his right hand.” And the goats, that is, the barren ones, all those who grieved the Shepherd, grazed with the heretics and desecrated the holy faith, who galloped, luxuriously, rejoiced and, having gathered grief for themselves, moved out of life, deprived of every good deed and filled with every sin - seeing them, the Lord will turn His eyes away from them at that hour. Then “He says to those on His right hand: Come, blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you” (Matthew 25:34). Come, sons of light, heirs of My Kingdom, come for My sake, you who have hungered and thirsted, come for My sake, you who have left the world and everything in the world: relatives, friends, parents and children, come, you who lived in deserts, on mountains, in dens and in the abysses of the earth, now dwell with the Angels in heaven. “Then He also says to those who exist: Depart from Me, cursed men” (Matthew 25:41), hated, merciless brother-haters and Christ-haters, you have not had mercy, and you will not have mercy; you did not listen to My most pure Gospels and blessed disciples, and I will not hear you; you lived luxuriously on earth, having already received “good things... in your belly” (Luke 16:25). Every day I cried out to you in My Holy Scriptures, and you, hearing, laughed at those reading, and now I say, finally: “We do not know you... Depart from Me, cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angel... And these go away into everlasting punishment” (Matthew 25:41, 46). I declare to you, my brothers, the difference in torment, as we heard in the Gospel. So, there is “utter darkness” (Matthew 25:30); from here it is clear that there is also an internal one. “Gehenna of fire” (Matthew 5:22) – another place; “gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 13:42) – special; “a never-ending worm” (Mark 9:48) – another place; “lake of fire” (Apoc.19:20) – again something else; “unquenchable fire” (Mark 9:43) – a special country; The river of fire is a special destiny. The unfortunate ones will be divided into these torments, each according to their sins. And just as there are differences in sins, so there are differences in torment, that is, an adulterer suffers differently, a fornicator suffers differently, a murderer differently, a thief and a drunkard differently. And those who have defiled themselves with heresy will hear: “Let the wicked be lifted up, and not see the glory of the Lord” (Is. 26:10). Those who have enmity among themselves, and have not reconciled in life, will find themselves inexorably condemned. And the brother-haters will be sent away into utter darkness, like those who hated Christ, who said: “Love each other, forgive each other’s sins.” Woe to the lover of fornication, the adulterer, the drunkard! Woe to the magicians and soothsayers, and to those who drink wine “with timbrels and faces!” Woe to those who agree to heretical blasphemies! Woe to those who mock the Divine and Holy Scriptures! Woe to those who have wasted the time of repentance in distraction and laughter! They will search and will not find the time they wasted; They will cry out with tears and great lamentation, and they will not find mercy. Woe to those who justify the wicked “for the sake of gifts!” Woe to those who steal other people's property! And I will say in short: woe to all who are placed on the “backside,” because they will become darkened, tremble and gnash their teeth when they hear: “We don’t know you.” Then, finally, with great fear they will be expelled from the terrifying judgment seat and delivered into the hands of death, so that “I may be saved,” as it is written (Ps. 48:15). The story of that trembling and terrible hour is painful, my Christ-loving brothers! Alas, brothers, who dares to describe this? Or who will patiently listen to that terrible story? Those who want to shed tears, let them come and listen to what awaits us. And let us not help but care about our salvation! Then bishops will be separated from bishops, presbyters from presbyters; then the priests will be separated by that pitiful separation, the priests from the priests, the deacons from the deacons, the subdeacons and readers from those like them; then those who once reigned will be separated and will cry like babies and become like four-legged animals; then the rulers will sigh, look here and there and will not find an assistant, because there will be no gold there, and flatterers will not stand before them. Then the monks who lived in negligence will be separated, although they hated the world, but thought about worldly things. Then parents will be separated from children, father and son, mother and daughter, friends from friends, relatives from relatives. Then the wretched spouses who did not keep their bed clean will be separated. But I will pass over much of the description in silence - fear keeps me from telling about it. Then those expelled will be beaten and pushed by unmerciful Angels, and they, often turning their gaze back, will begin to grind their teeth and approach that terrible place, where they will again be separated for torment of all kinds. Then, seeing the decisive verdict on themselves and the fact that no one intercedes for them, there is no relief for them, no hope of returning back - then, sobbing loudly, they will say: “Oh, how much time we have lost by living in negligence! How the vain world mocked us! Why, seeing others struggling, did we not struggle ourselves? Why, while listening to the Holy Scriptures, did we laugh and mock those who read them? There God spoke in His holy Scriptures, but we did not listen; Now we cry out, and He turns His face away from us. What benefit have worldly pleasures 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 rumors and dinners? Where are the crowded and timeless gatherings (meetings)? Where are your family and friends? Where are the kings and rulers? Where are the sages and vitiy (speakers)? Why is all this of no use to us, the unfortunate?” Then, seeing that they are completely abandoned by both God and the saints, with sighs and bitter tears they will say: “Forgive me, saints and righteous ones, from whom we are separated! Sorry, sons and daughters! Sorry, monastic order! Forgive us too, Lady Theotokos, who interceded a lot for us in order to be saved, but we did not want to repent and be saved! Forgive you too, Honest and Life-Giving Cross! Forgive me, Paradise of sweetness, planted by the Lord! Forgive me, heavenly Jerusalem, mother of the firstborn, who has no end! Sorry, Kingdom of Heaven! Sorry, all together! From now on we will no longer see any of you, because we are leaving for the torment appointed for us, which has no end or relief.” Finally, everyone will go to the place prepared for him, which he has prepared for himself, without wanting to repent and get rid of anger and that need. Have you heard, brothers, what the zealous and ascetic will gain for themselves in their lives, and how the careless and unrepentant will be sent to severe and unbearable torment? Have you heard about that terrible hour! About that hour, the Holy Scriptures from east to west cry out in the churches and say: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). And he also says: “I am the resurrection and the life... and the truth” (John 11:25.14:6). So, brothers, let us love this way and this truth, so that we may inherit eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord, because to Him belongs all glory, honor and worship, together with His Beginning Father and with the Most Holy Good and Life-giving Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. You might be interested in: