Речь, произнесенная по прибытии к епархии, в Ставропольском кафедральном соборе, 5 января 1858 года

Peace to this city! (Matt. X, 12) I pronounce this greeting, beloved brethren, according to the will of my Lord, having come with the shepherd’s staff to the God-saved city of Stavropol, so that I preach and say in this city and in the surrounding cities and villages, “for the kingdom of heaven is drawing near” (Matthew X, 7). The kingdom of heaven, “the kingdom of God is within us” (Luke XVII, 21). The kingdom of heaven is the peace of Christ. In the soul in which passions have subsided through submission to God, God reigns and the peace of Christ reigns. But the world of Christ is by no means the world of this age; The Lord does not give His peace in the same way as peace is provided by the custom of fallen humanity (John XIV, 27). The unity of a vain, even ill-intentioned goal often establishes temporary and soul-destroying harmony between people. The world of Christ is holy! The world of Christ is all in Christ! The peace of Christ is sown in the soul by the Word of God, is born from cultivating the field of the heart with the commandments of Christ, is nourished by this invisible, but not difficult feat, and grows from it. From the action of the Holy Spirit, the peace of Christ embraces the mind, heart and body of a perfect Christian, unites these parts, cut and separated by sin, into one; a person, reconciled in himself and with himself, already constituting one and whole, as he was before the fall, unites with God. I ask for such peace for myself and for you, beloved brethren, from the only Giver of true and holy peace, from our Lord Jesus Christ. “Let the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,” according to the living and precise understanding of the Apostle, “keep our hearts and minds for Christ” (Phil. IV, 7); May He preserve our earthly activity and our eternal destiny, which depends on this activity. Amen. You might be interested in: