Saint John of Damascus, as an Orthodox theologian and church Christian hymnist

The past week 1 in the Orthodox church year was marked by some very significant and dear memories for a Christian. So, on December 6th the memory of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, this great saint, the pillar of the Orthodox faith, protector and patron of all who resort to him. His name is so glorious that it is not only worthily honored by the entire Christian world, but even by some tribes not enlightened by the Christian faith, such as, for example, the Chuvash, Cheremis, and pagan Siberian foreigners. A day earlier, i.e. On December 5, the memory of our apostle, the first enlightener of the faith of Christ in the Kazan country, Saint Guria, was celebrated, whose name alone speaks so much to the minds and hearts of Orthodox Kazan residents: our entire Kazan church, all our enlightenment began from him, and he himself is still among us, resting incorruptibly in our cathedral church. Even a day earlier, on December 4th, we celebrated the memory of the Great Martyr Barbara, this great ascetic of Christ, who, being born and raised in paganism, herself, without any teacher, knew and appreciated the truth of the faith of Christ, was baptized and, despite terrible torment and torture, did not renounce Christ, died a martyr for Him, mercilessly killed by her own father, an inveterate pagan. The Lord was pleased that this glorious ascetic of Christ should remain among us: her most venerable relics, later brought from Greece to our Kyiv, now constitute one of the most precious shrines of this holy city in Russia. The named saints of God, therefore, are especially close to all of us, and we all know them more or less: we constantly turn to them in prayer, many of us bear their names, in their honor churches of God and church altars are often erected among us, and their honorable icons are placed. While so worthily honoring the memory of some saints, unforgettable in Christian history, who pleased God and did good to us, we Christians, to our shame, must admit that we often unforgivably and sinfully forget others. Often through the works of saints, i.e. We constantly use what they did for us and left for us, and, instead of a natural feeling of gratitude, we completely forget the authors of these works, our holy benefactors, we don’t know at all, and it’s as if we don’t even want to know. So, unfairly and sinfully, we, especially Russian Christians, have forgotten one saint, whose works we constantly, daily use, are edified by, spiritually enjoy, this is John of Damascus. In his works, he left us an unforgettable monument: resounding in our mouths or resounding in our ears at every divine service, his works, it would seem, should constantly remind us of him - and yet he, the unforgettable, we consigned to oblivion, we do not know at all... His memory is celebrated by the church on December 4th, i.e. on the same day as the memory of the Great Martyr Barbara; and today, as on the first Sunday after this day, I take the opportunity to devote my conversation to the memory of this great Christian saint. Saint John of Damascus constitutes the true adornment and glory of our Christian church, along with the great saints - Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, John Chrysostom, Nicholas the Wonderworker and others. He was one of the greatest Christian theologians and at the same time our greatest, incomparable Christian church poet and hymnist. Saint John of Damascus is great in the Church of Christ, first of all, for his holy life as the most worthy chosen one of God, who sacrificed the great worldly happiness that befell him for a holy, ascetic, Christian life. He is great, further, as a thoughtful Christian theologian, who has worked hard to reveal and clarify for us, Christians, the most hidden dogmas of our faith. He is great as a selfless, mighty defender of Orthodoxy in faith and word, which at that time was in great danger and extreme oppression: with fiery zeal and irresistible spiritual power of St. John defended Orthodoxy, defended it from all attacks and attacks, and, as a true chosen one of God, raised up in a dangerous time, he contributed greatly to the preservation of our faith in all its holy inviolability and heavenly purity. Finally, St. John is great and should be even more unforgettable for us, as a glorious, inspired Christian hymnist, as the compiler of most of those prayer hymns that we constantly hear and ourselves sing in our churches - hymns that we constantly hear and ourselves sing in our churches - hymns that, of course, will forever be heard in the mouths of Christians, until the end of the world will be heard in our Orthodox churches. Let us transport our thoughts 1200 years ago, to the time when John of Damascus lived and acted; Let's trace his holy life, at least briefly note his theological works, let's see how he boldly and selflessly fought the enemies of Orthodoxy, against which he protected it, what he defended and defended in it; Let us finally remember and list those reverent, inspired hymns that John composed and which are still sung in Christian churches. And before us, in all its worthy grandeur and spiritual beauty, the image of this great saint of Christ, theologian and our glorious hymnist, so unjustly and sinfully forgotten by us, will rise. St. John of Damascus lived in the 8th century, i.e. about 1200 years ago; the exact years of his birth and death are unknown; church historians only believe with probability that he was born around 680 and died in 776. John was born in the city of Damascus, hence his name - Damascus. Damascus was the main city of the Syrian kingdom - it is near Palestine, not far from the Holy Land, from Jerusalem. The Kingdom of Syria belonged to the Saracens, Mohammedans by religion; but there were also many Christians in it. The kingdom was ruled by a Mohammedan caliph, who usually lived in Damascus. John came from Christian and noble parents. His father, named Sergius, was one of the most honorable persons in Damascus. His intelligence and kindness were valued not only by his fellow Christians, but even by his enemies, the Mohammedans: the caliph brought him, a Christian, closer to himself, made him his adviser, even a judge of the city of Damascus. Endowed with such power, Sergius did a lot of good to his co-religionists, protecting and defending them before the caliph: being rich, he often ransomed and freed Christians, whom the Saracens then caught like animals everywhere along the sea shores, along the roads and sold into captivity or simply beat. When Sergius had a son, he immediately baptized him, calling him John, and then made every effort to give him a pious Christian upbringing, to raise his son not according to the fashion of that time - as a secular, elegant baric, but first of all and most importantly - as a kind man and a believing Christian. For a long time, Sergius could not find a reliable person to whom he could entrust the upbringing of his little son. But God Himself, who had chosen John for himself since childhood, unexpectedly sent him a worthy teacher and mentor. It happened like this: one day Sergius went out to the city square and saw a large crowd of people here; coming closer, he learned that the Saracens, having just returned from their usual raids in the surrounding area, had captured many Christians and brought them to the market to sell into slavery and kill those who were not sold. Among the unfortunate captives, one especially attracted the attention of Sergius: it was a monk who was crying inconsolably. Sergius approached him and began to console and encourage him, saying: “Why are you so grieved? Should you be afraid of people when you are a monk, a man of God?! Should you be afraid of your earthly fate when you have renounced the world and sacrificed all earthly joys to God for the sake of eternal joys?!” “The monk answered: “I am not crying for earthly joys: I have long since died for them, I have long been convinced that everything in this world is vanity and perishable; no, I’m crying because I’m leaving this world childless, without leaving myself an heir.” Sergius was surprised by these words: “But you’re a monk,” he said: “How can you cry because you don’t have an heir?!” “You don’t understand me,” the monk meekly told him: “I’m talking about spiritual heritage. As you can see, I am a poor monk, but, by the goodness of God, from a young age I was enriched with much knowledge, studied all the sciences, learned many secrets of nature. And so, having received so much from God, I cannot now pass on to anyone the precious inheritance of my knowledge, and I will appear before the Lord like a barren tree, like a slave who buried a talent given by God in the ground - how can I not cry! Hearing this, Sergius joyfully exclaimed: “Glory to You, God! You are sending me the treasure that I have been looking for for a long time for my son.” He immediately approached the caliph, asked him for a command to release the monk and took him to his house. So unexpectedly, precisely by the miraculous instructions and will of God, a worthy mentor was found for the youth John. Let us not follow the teaching of John; Let’s just say that Kozma (that was the name of the monk-educator) gave all of himself to his pupil: he passed on all his knowledge, and even more importantly, his faith, his piety and, so to speak, instilled it in John’s young soul. The depth and breadth of knowledge acquired by John from Cosmas is evidenced by numerous works written later by John, works not only theological, but also philosophical, grammatical, preaching, and finally, church poetry; The whole holy, godly life of Damascus testifies to the beneficial power of the religious and moral influence of the mentor. When John reached adulthood, his already elderly teacher, the pious Kozma, retired to a monastery, where he remained until his death. John became so addicted to theology and science, to reading divine books, and was so imbued with piety that he did not want to take up any position, and decided to devote his whole life to theology and Christian self-improvement. But soon John was forced to sacrifice, at least for a while, these holy aspirations of his for the good of others. His father, Sergius, died, and the Caliph of Damascus, knowing John’s natural intelligence and his many-sided education, demanded that he take over his father’s position, and even further strengthened his authority and trust in him: he made him his first assistant, judge and ruler of the city of Damascus. John reluctantly accepted this title, although it was too high and honorable, but at the court of a foreign sovereign, and most importantly, it did not correspond to the mood of his soul. But having accepted a new title, with the sole purpose of benefiting oppressed Christians, John, however, did not abandon his favorite activities: he constantly devoted himself to the thought of God, theology, and wrote essays for the benefit and defense of the faith of Christ. In one essay written at that time, Damascene says: “The truth of Christ is dearer to me than everything in the world, dearer than life itself; I am ready to live with her, but with joy I am ready to die for her... In this zeal for the faith of Christ I place the hope of my salvation... No matter what happens to me, I will never abandon the talent of knowledge and words entrusted to me by the Lord.” Following this conviction, John set the main goal of his life - to proclaim the true Christian teaching, i.e. explain it in your writings and expose all lies, delusions, heresies, of which there were many at that time and which worried the world of the Church of Christ. And indeed, John, being then still a secular man and occupying a restless civil service under the caliph, wrote a whole series of theological works, prompted solely by his holy, indomitable zeal for the faith of Christ. But for this holy activity John had to suffer severely. Namely: by the way, John wrote several essays in defense of holy icons, since then a whole heresy arose, the so-called iconoclastic, whose followers overthrew and dishonored holy icons: at the head of these heretics was even the Greek emperor Leo himself. John's writings were so striking and denounced the heretics that Emperor Leo became terribly angry with John and decided to destroy him at any cost. But since John was not his subject and since there was no real crime behind him, Leo decided to godlessly and inhumanly slander John before his ruler, the caliph. For this purpose, Leo himself composed a forged letter, which John allegedly sent to him; in this letter he allegedly promised to betray the caliph and betray the city of Damascus to him, the emperor. It was this forged letter that Leo sent to the caliph as proof that John was a traitor. No matter how much the caliph loved John, he succumbed to deception: without checking the justice of the accusation, the caliph ordered to seize the imaginary traitor, imprison him and cut off his right hand, with which the treacherous letter was supposedly written. But God was pleased to protect his injured righteous man and, to the shame of the slanderer and tormentors, miraculously prove his innocence. At night, the executioner cut off John's hand and threw him, bleeding, into prison; John only asked that the severed hand be given to him for burial, and the hand was thrown to him. All night John, exhausted from terrible pain, prayed to God; and a great miracle happened to him: in the morning, to the greatest amazement and horror of everyone, John came out of prison vigorous, healthy, with both hands intact! Everyone was amazed by this miracle, but most of all - the caliph, who, wanting to atone for his injustice, not only restored his favorite in all the positions with which John had previously been endowed, but showered him with all sorts of honors, favors, and gifts. But now, having experienced the manifestation of the miraculous power of God, John was more than ever burdened by both power and wealth: he decided to leave everything, to withdraw from the world, in order to serve the one Lord in poverty and labor. For a long time the caliph tried to persuade John to abandon his intentions, but finally he had to give in and let him go. Then John distributed all his property, all his enormous riches to the poor and, becoming the last poor man himself, he went first of all to Jerusalem to venerate the Holy Sepulcher and ask for God’s blessing for himself for the feat of a new life. From Jerusalem, John went to the then famous Kidron Lavra (on the banks of the Kidron River, which flows into the Jordan River). Savva. This monastery was famous for its particularly strict monastic life. Here John asked the abbot to accept him into the monastery, but first teach him, as a layman, the rules of monastic life, and assign him some kind of penance, by fulfilling which he would renounce everything worldly and prepare himself for the holy monastic life. The name of John had long been known in the Lavra, because his theological works were then famous throughout the Christian world and he was considered a wonderful and learned man of that time; therefore, none of the monks dared to accept him as their leader, as a novice, considering him incomparably superior to themselves. But then there was one old ascetic, i.e. the most severe monk, a monk of the strictest life, and it was he who agreed to be John’s mentor in monastic life. Considering humility to be the highest Christian virtue and wanting to eradicate all remnants of human pride in John’s soul, the elder demanded from him a complete renunciation of his own will and unconditional obedience. To test his humility and obedience, the elder imposed heavy physical labor on him and assigned him various humiliating tasks; for example, he sent him to Damascus to sell at a high price simple baskets woven by monks, and John, dressed in rags, appeared as a humble servant in that city, which he had previously ruled in wealth and greatness, where everyone knew him, where the unreasonable crowd now mocked him. Not content with this, the elder invented an even more difficult, unbearable test for John: he, already a famous theologian and hymnist, who had also withdrawn from the world in order to sing the Creator without hindrance, the elder ordered him to close his lips, i.e. forbade him to compose compositions and chants. This prohibition was inexpressibly painful for John, the inspired Christian poet and hymnist: but he still submitted. So a long time passed in a painful, painful silence for John, until the flood of religious Christian inspiration that filled his soul burst out. Here's how it happened. One of the monks’ beloved brother died right there in the monastery. In terrible grief, the monk turned to John and persistently asked him to compose a funeral hymn for the burial of his deceased brother, so that, hearing it, the monk could at least shed a tear and so that from this his sorrowful, painful soul would receive at least some relief and calm. In vain did John refuse, remembering the prohibition: the monk’s request was so persistent, his grief was so great that John could not stand it, agreed and composed those deeply touching songs that are still sung at funerals. These are well-known funeral hymns, beginning with the words: What is the sweetness of life... Men, why do we worry in vain... All human vanity... etc. John's strict mentor, hearing his singing, kicked him out of the monastery as a disobedient one. With tears and sobs, John asked for forgiveness; all the monks of the monastery begged the elder for John’s forgiveness; and the elder finally agreed to accept John again, but as punishment he imposed a heavy penance on him, assigned him the most shameful and disgusting task: he forced John to clean out all the impurities, all the waste of the monastery with his own hands. And John resignedly, even with the liveliest joy that he could thereby atone for his guilt, took up the task of performing penance. But God was pleased to end John’s suffering: the elder, John’s mentor, appeared in a vision to the Most Pure Virgin Mary and commanded to remove this penance from John, not to torment him, no longer torment him with the test, and allow him to again compose hymns to the glory of the name of God. Thus ended John's trial. From then on, he freely, unhindered, devoted all his time to composing theological works and Christian chants. - Subsequently, he, as the brightest lamp of the Church of Christ at that time, was called from the monastery to Jerusalem and here he was ordained to the rank of presbyter at the Church of the Resurrection of Christ. But John, even here in the holy city, yearned for the desert; and he soon left Jerusalem and again retired to the Lavra of St. Savva, and here, among his beloved activities of composing essays and chants, John, already in his old age, died a Christian. Soon after his death, his most venerable relics were discovered, which had long been the most precious shrine of the Lavra, but after that they were solemnly transferred to Constantinople, where, along with many other monuments of Christian shrines, they were subsequently burned by the Turks. But Saint John of Damascus left behind him an indestructible, incorruptible monument as a legacy to the entire Christian world, which no amount of malice, neither human nor hellish, can destroy or burn. This monument contains numerous compositions and chants. The theological writings of John of Damascus reveal to us all the greatness of this saint, an unshakable pillar of Orthodoxy, a powerful and zealous defender of the Christian faith. There is, of course, no way in this short conversation to go through all the works of John of Damascus and become familiar with them. If necessary, we will limit ourselves to indicating the most important ones. Saint John of Damascus was the first to compile an Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, i.e. he was the first to compile the first Christian catechism. This is as wonderful as it is a useful, necessary essay. The truths of our holy faith, briefly stated in the Holy Scriptures and supported by sacred tradition, have already been explained and revealed in detail many times and in many ways even before John of Damascus, but they were explained and presented fragmentarily, scatteredly, in many writings of many holy fathers. It was impossible even for rich people to have all these patristic writings - there are so many of them; and to know and remember which holy father, in which work, what is said, where which truth, which dogma was revealed is impossible even for the smartest person - human memory would not be enough. It is clear that there was an urgent need to put all Christian teaching together, to collect it in one code, in one book, where all the dogmas of Christianity would be presented consistently, in order, on the basis of the Holy Scriptures and sacred tradition and on the basis of all the explanations and interpretations of all the holy fathers. And this great and necessary work was accomplished by Saint John of Damascus in his Exposition of the Orthodox Faith. Everything that in the faith of Christ over the course of seven centuries, before John of Damascus, was said, defined in the word of God, by ecumenical and local councils, by famous teachers of the church, he collected everything here together, scattered in many books, put together in one, presented in parts, fragmentarily, sometimes without order and often in inaccessible, sophisticated language, John of Damascus presented it whole, coherently, in a strict system, without unnecessary details, but with observance of everything necessary, and finally, he outlined all this in a clear, simple language, understandable to everyone. In a word, in this work, John of Damascus gave a much-needed handbook to Christians, namely a guide, by considering and consulting with which a Christian can give himself an account of what he believes and how he should unmistakably believe. So, the Exposition of the Orthodox Faith is the most important, useful and remarkable work of John of Damascus; Such capital works are rare, as they say - not for years, but for centuries, centuries, one has to wait for them. But John of Damascus also left us many more theological works. These are for example: A guide to understanding the dogmas of faith, containing an explanation of the most secret dogmatic concepts, such as. about the essence of God, about hypostases, etc. About the Holy Trinity, which sets out the Orthodox Christian teaching about the Holy Trinity and the Divine Persons of Its components, especially about Jesus Christ. Parallel places. This is a demolition of passages of Holy Scripture with the corresponding opinions and interpretations of the most famous church fathers. Interpretations of the Epistles of the Apostle Paul, compiled by John of Damascus based on the interpretation of John Chrysostom. In addition to the listed, actually dogmatic works of John of Damascus, in which he explained and interpreted the Christian doctrine to the Orthodox, an entire section of his moral, edifying, instructive works should be classified as theological works. These are for example: A huge church-historical and instructive study of John of Damascus on heresies. Here all the heresies that came before him are counted, the essence of their errors is indicated, and proper warnings are given to the Orthodox against all of them. About eight evil thoughts and vices and about virtues. Here the most dangerous vices in Christian life and the most important virtues opposite to them are indicated, instructions are offered on counteracting the former and means to achieve the latter are indicated. Letter on the Trisagion - an explanation of prayers to the Holy Trinity. This also includes the oratorical works of John of Damascus, i.e. his sermons, words and speeches delivered from the church pulpit. These are for example: Words - on the Nativity of Christ, the Transfiguration of the Lord, the Nativity and Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, on Holy Saturday, the Glorification of the Cross of Christ, the Word about those who have fallen asleep in faith, Praise to John Chrysostom, St. Barbara the Great Martyr, Conversation about the withered fig tree, etc. 2 We will not speak in detail about all the listed works of St. John of Damascus, dogmatic, moral, edifying and oratorical, solely due to the impossibility of immediately and in a short period of our conversation to consider the whole mass of them. And what has been said, I think, is enough to see how great our Orthodox theologian, interpreter of the Christian law, Saint John of Damascus, is among the saints! Now forgotten by us, just as Saint John himself was criminally forgotten, his works were highly valued by our Orthodox Church. For them he was nicknamed and so known - John Chrysoroas, i.e. John the Gold-Gunner, similar to the name of St. John Chrysostom. At the Seventh Ecumenical Council, which took place shortly after the death of John of Damascus (in 787), all 367 fathers who gathered at the Council recalled with reverent gratitude his labors for the benefit of the Church of Christ and solemnly all proclaimed “eternal memory of John,” which is also recorded in the resolutions of this Council. All subsequent Christian theologians and writers who became acquainted with the writings of Damascus glorify him in the most enthusiastic praise. “When I talk about Damascus,” writes for example. Macarius of Ancyra, “then I mean all teachers and theologians taken together. This is the great herald and interpreter of all theologians... What heights are in his speeches, what a thorough, complete and accurate presentation of dogmas, how glorious he is in everything! Other church writers call him the most learned, the most eloquent, who had no rivals, the most insightful in explaining the mysteries of the faith, etc. Finally, our entire church glorifies John of Damascus to this day, calling him “a true teacher of Orthodoxy, a teacher of piety and purity, a lamp of the universe who flowed around the entire universe with his teaching and enlightened everything” (Words from the troparion and kontakion to John of Damascus). But we have so far named only one half of the theological works of John of Damascus, namely those in which he explained and expounded the Christian doctrine and which never waste their value and significance, will always equally serve for Christian readers as a source of true teaching and Christian enlightenment. In addition, Saint John compiled many more theological works, which were especially necessary, important and precious at that time, in the 8th century; These are polemical works, i.e., which John of Damascus wrote against the enemies of our faith, against various heretics. That was a terrible time, dangerous for our faith, when the enemy of God, one might say, took up arms with all his arrows against the Christian Church, shaking its peace and tranquility with almost all the heresies that had previously arisen and with which now, all at once, it was even more difficult to fight. Almost all the heretics known until then: Manichaeans, Nestorians, Monophysites, Mono-Oelites, then the newly appeared iconoclasts, finally even the Mohammedans - all at once and terribly tormented the church, distorted Orthodoxy, tormented true believers. The danger sometimes intensified to such an extent that even emperors, patriarchs and bishops were inclined to heretical teaching, becoming heretics and persecutors of the Orthodox. These were truly the most evil and extreme efforts of the devil to overthrow the Church of Christ on earth! But the Lord said that His church would exist until the end of the world and that the gates of hell would not prevail against it: in times of danger, the Lord always erected His defense; during the time of greatest, apparently, weakening of the church in the fight against enemies, the Lord erected even greater strength. It was such protection and strength of the church that the great saints appeared in necessary, dangerous times, who with inimitable zeal, persistently, fearlessly rebelled against the enemies of the faith, no matter how strong and powerful these enemies were. By the power of their faith and their word, these defenders of heavenly truth on earth, erected by God, defeated all violence; with the strength of their spirit they weakened the mighty of this world - namely, but with the promise of Christ, with their faith, as if they moved mountains: overcoming and winning everything, they, to the great glorification of the holy faith, saved it, restored it in all its heavenly purity and inviolability. Saint John of Damascus appeared in the 8th century as such a firm, unshakable bulwark of Orthodoxy, its defender from all enemies. And I repeat, there were too many of these enemies then, and each one was stronger and more terrible than the other. Thus, some heretics, the so-called Nestorians, contrary to the words of the Savior Himself and contrary to all our Christian teaching, said that Jesus Christ was only the most perfect man, and not the true God. - A terrible error, for us believers, incomprehensible and, moreover, the most hopeless, bleak, desperate! They overthrew our entire faith, denied our entire salvation, since from this teaching it naturally followed that the Son of God, therefore, did not become incarnate for the salvation of the human race, that He did not suffer, which means that He did not redeem us from eternal sin, curse and death. This heresy appeared back in the 5th century and was already condemned at the Third Ecumenical Council; but it arose again and with unexpected force in the 8th century. And so, Saint John of Damascus writes a whole large Discourse against the Nestorians, where, on the basis of the Holy Scriptures and the teachings of the holy fathers, he refutes false teaching with such strength and thoroughness that, it seems, if nothing had been written against the Nestorians either earlier or later, this book of John of Damascus would have been completely sufficient to finally defeat and destroy the Nestorian heresy. While the Nestorians denied the deity of our Savior, the foolish thought of other heretics, the so-called Monophysites, went to the other extreme: they taught that Jesus Christ was only God, and not a man, that he was only a ghostly man, i.e. He only seemed to be a man, and therefore, He did not really suffer for us, that His suffering was illusory, apparent. This heresy, already condemned by the church at the IV Ecumenical Council, was, however, still alive, even now, in the 8th century. And John of Damascus wrote a special Discourse on the complex nature (i.e. in Christ), where he most clearly proved the truth of our teaching about the Savior - true God and at the same time true man, the God-man. The third heretics, the so-called Monothelites, further distorted Orthodoxy in their own way: recognizing in Jesus Christ two natures, divine and human, they argued that He, however, had only one will, namely the Divine will, and there was no human one - thus they obviously distorted the teaching of Jesus Christ, presenting Him as an incomplete, imperfect man, contrary to the teaching of the entire church, contrary to the clearest places eg. The Holy Gospel, where the Savior, precisely as a man, turns to God the Father with petitions and prayer. And this heresy was already condemned at the VI Ecumenical Council; but it was still very widespread among the people and had many high-ranking defenders. John of Damascus wrote an essay On the Two Wills in Jesus Christ, in which he energetically and most obviously refuted this heresy and thereby put an end to it. There were, further, heretics, the so-called Manichaeans, or Paulicians, who, having rejected the divine truth and condemned it with their darkened human meaning, became so lost that their teaching was small and similar to Christianity, but rather approached paganism. So, for example, they rejected even the doctrine of the one true God, and recognized two gods - dark and light, one Old Testament, and the other New Testament; then, they denied all Christian institutions: faith in saints, churches, sacraments, rituals, hierarchy, etc. And to our great amazement, this heresy - the latest, most extreme invention of the eclipsed and confused human thought - found many adherents, followers, and destroyed many Orthodox Christians who were weak in faith. And John of Damascus writes a large essay: A conversation between an Orthodox Christian and a Manichaean, where, with his characteristic power of speech and persuasion, he proved all the laziness, all the senselessness of this destructive false teaching. But perhaps the most dangerous thing for Orthodoxy at that time was the new, newly emerging heresy - the iconoclast. The iconoclasts, as can be seen from their very name, sacrilegiously rebelled against the honest icons revered by Christians, calling them idols, recklessly forgetting that we do not honor icons, but those saints, dear to Christians, who are depicted on the icons, that we worship icons, kiss, decorate them for the same reason (this is how one can imagine this comparatively), why, for example. we protect, we preserve in every possible way some insignificant piece of paper, if this piece depicts a portrait, a card of our father, mother, brother, in general, a person dear to us. And so, there were rejected people who, not wanting to understand such a simple and obvious truth, trampled underfoot our icons, with the most holy faces of the Savior, the Most Pure Mother of God, and the holy saints of God depicted on them, and cursed them with idols. This heresy was so strong and dangerous that even the Emperor Leo himself and the Patriarch of Constantinople Anastasius were its most zealous adherents, the most evil persecutors of the Orthodox: churches were devastated, icons were thrown away, the Orthodox were persecuted in every possible way, imprisoned, tortured, and starved. The danger to Orthodoxy was thus decisive. And so John of Damascus, inspired by holy zeal, with hope for God’s help, boldly and fearlessly raised his voice in defense of the icons. He writes and sends three letters one after another to the emperor and to all the Christian people, i.e. three special works in which, with an irresistible force of conviction, he defends the veneration of icons, mercilessly refutes and defeats his enemies. And his strong word, supported by other sensible Christians, had a beneficial effect: the heretics also came to their senses, they had to admit themselves defeated, and the holy icons again adorned Christian churches and homes! Finally, in addition to all the listed evils that simultaneously tormented the Church of Christ in the 8th century, the Saracens, having shortly before taken possession of most of the Christian world, like the brightest Mohammedans, for their part also harmed Christianity in every possible way, tried by all means and means to undermine and refute it, disgraced our faith. John of Damascus could not help but see the danger from this side, and so he writes an essay: The competition between the Orthodox and the Saracen, where he responds to all the mockery of the Mohammedans and with the most obvious arguments and considerations proves all the incomparable superiority, the triumph of Christianity, all the greatness of the cross of Christ over the Mohammedan crescent. Thus, defending and defending the faith of Christ from all its enemies and perverters, Saint John of Damascus, above all, wrote one more work, common against all heresies: Confession of Faith. He directs this work against all heretics at once: in the most decisive and definite form, not allowing any misinterpretation, in the strictest Orthodox spirit, he sets out primarily those points of our faith that have been attacked and distorted by all different heresies. So, these are the terrible dangers that threatened our Orthodoxy in the 8th century, and this is what a strong, tireless and selfless defender of the faith St. John of Damascus was! In this dangerous time, Saint John, with the help of God, through his labors contributed more than anyone else to the fact that our Orthodoxy triumphed over all heresies, over all enemies and remained pure, holy, unshakable. So the most obvious was fulfilled at this time, as it was immutably fulfilled before and, without a doubt, will always be fulfilled, the promise of our Savior that the power of God will never fail in His church, that His teaching will forever remain pure and open to everyone who wants to know it and be saved, and that no intrigues and efforts of hell, the very gates of hell, will prevail over Christianity! But St. John of Damascus is not only famous in the Christian Church because he left for the enlightenment and edification of Christians many wonderful theological works that reveal and explain to us our doctrine, and that he defended and defended Orthodoxy from heretical blasphemy and corruption, that he defended holy icons. John of Damascus, and besides this, accomplished another great deed for us Christians, he left us all an eternally living monument, constantly and loudly proclaiming himself a monument. Namely, he composed most of those church hymns that we still listen to in our Orthodox churches. John of Damascus is incomparable, our greatest Christian hymnist. There is no way to survey, even with the most cursory glance, in this conversation all the hymns and chants composed by St. John, because there are too many of them. Of necessity, we will limit ourselves to only a simple list of the most famous and remarkable of them. One of the earliest in time and at the same time the most important in its significance for our worship work of John was the compilation of a special liturgical hymn book, Octoechos. This is a book so well-known and necessary in our worship, in which Saint John of Damascus invented and gave us 8 tunes, voices, on which most of our church hymns are based and which alternate successively every 8 weeks, one after another, one week for each voice. Having identified the melodies themselves with special signs (notes), St. John also composed verses for singing in these voices; at least our Sunday services, i.e. the hymns that are part of the Saturday Supper and Sunday Matins, and bearing different names - stichera, sedalny, antiphons, canons with troparia and irmos, stichera of praise and blessed - were compiled by John of Damascus himself. Subsequently, Octoechos St. John was replenished by the works of other hymn writers who lived later than him, who compiled the everyday services, i.e. for the rest of the week except Sunday. John of Damascus also owns the so-called Paraclitic, i.e. a collection of church hymns composed in praise of the Mother of God and also divided into 8 voices in the likeness of the Octoechos. In other words, these are the canons of the Theotokos, which are read at Compline. There are especially many St. John of Damascus compiled the canons, i.e. large, complex chants, usually representing a harmonious combination of 9 irmos and at each irmos several (2 to 4) troparia. Thus, John compiled most of our holiday canons with their touching and more or less known to all of us, involuntarily sunk into memory from childhood, irmos and troparia. Such, for example, are his canons, beginning with irmos: I will open my mouth... (Canon of the Annunciation), Who taught the Savior God in the sea with wet feet (Ascension), Come, people, let us sing a hymn to Christ God... (Nativity of the Mother of God), I have passed through water like dry land... (Transfiguration). What sincere, heartfelt, deeply touching songs these canons consist of! What kind of heart is not touched by such, for example, irmos: Thou hast cast me away from Thy face, O Light untouched! And you covered me with alien darkness, the accursed one; but turn me, and direct my path to the light of Your commandments, I pray! (5 irmos for the Transfiguration). Or: Cleanse me, Savior! For my iniquities are many, and bring them up from the depths of evil, I pray: for I have cried out to You and I will be heard. God of my salvation! (6 irmos of the same canon). St. John owns the 2nd canon for the Nativity of Christ: O Lord, the miracle-working Savior of the people..., the 2nd canon for the Epiphany: The stormy storm of the sea is marching..., the 2nd canon for the Dormition, which begins, like the Annunciation, with the Irmos: I will open my mouth... Finally, John of Damascus composed and so beloved by Christians, the most joyful and solemn of all our church hymns - the Easter canon: Resurrection day - let us enlighten people!... A great many canons were compiled by Saint John of Damascus to glorify the holy saints of God. These canons are sung by us on the days of remembrance of saints. These are, for example: two canons of St. John the Baptist (September 23 and February 24), St. Cosmas and Damian (November 1), St. Simeon the Stylite (September 1), the First Martyr Stephen (December 26), Venerable. Maximus the Confessor (January 21), Basil the Great (January 1), Ven. Euthymius (January 20), Rev. Theodosius (January 11), two canons of St. Peter and Paul (June 29), two canons to ethereal forces (November 8), on the week of St. Thomas, torment. Euphemia (September 16), righteous Job (May 6), ap. and Evang. John the Theologian (May 8), St. Epiphanius of Cyprus (May 12), for the renovation of the Church of the Resurrection in Jerusalem (September 13), Confessor Chariton (September 28), St. Elisha (June 14), Gregory of Nyssa (January 10), martyr. Sevastian (March 9), torment. Leontius and Julian (June 18 and 21), martyr. Photius and Aniketa (July 12), torment. Thekle (September 24), Rev. Ananias and Andrew (October 1 and November 30), torment. Mina and Victor (November 11), torment. Eustratius (December 13), Paul of Thebes and Cyril of Alexandria (January 15 and 18), St. Vavile (September 4) 3. Saint John of Damascus is credited with compiling the canons known in our liturgical books: 2nd Basil the Great, John Chrysostom, St. Nicholas of Myra, Ap. Peter, canons to the martyrs: George, Blasius, Artemon, Konon, Theophilus, St. Lazarus, St. Theodore Tiron, prophet. Isaiah and some others. In addition to large and complex chants, which are the canons, St. John of Damascus composed a great many individual poems and songs, known in church use under the name stichera and troparions. In them, the singer prayerfully addresses or praises our Savior Jesus Christ, the Most Pure Mother of God, the angelic powers and the holy saints of God. For example, we can point to the well-known troparia of St. John: Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy on us..., Most Pure Ever-Virgin, Mother of Christ God, bring our prayer..., Archangels of the Heavenly Armies..., etc. Saint John of Damascus belongs to the so-called dogmatists, i.e. Evening songs to the Mother of God, composed against the heretical errors that existed at that time. In the dogmatists of John of Damascus, Christians still, in the form of church songs, repeat the Orthodox teaching about the Blessed Virgin Mary and about the incarnation of the Savior of the world. These are, for example: Who will not please You..., Worldwide glory..., etc. Further, Saint John of Damascus composed many so-called self-vocal verses, i.e. stichera with its own special melody, not according to the voices of Octoechos. Such, for example, is a deeply touching song: We worship Your Most Pure Image, O Good One... Here we should also include the 8 self-congratulatory funeral troparions, which were mentioned above, in the remembrance of the life of St. John. In addition to the chants themselves, Saint John of Damascus also composed church prayers; some of them are still read constantly, such as, for example, several of John’s prayers from those that are read before communion: Sovereign Lord, Jesus Christ our God, who alone has the power to forgive man’s sins... Another prayer: I stand before the doors of Your church and do not retreat from evil thoughts... Finally, the crown of all the liturgical poetic works of John of Damascus are the hymns of the bright week: the canon, matins and all the Easter hours. It is difficult to find anything equal in dignity to these chants among all the creations of the human word; Not many hymns can be found in our rich Christian church poetry that would be full of feelings as holy and truly unearthly as these Easter hymns! This is the most solemn outpouring of heavenly delights that are only possible for a Christian on earth, this is inexpressible heartfelt joy about the Conqueror of death and hell. The singer’s thought, inimitably conveying the delight of the Christian soul, filled with the most living joys and inexpressible jubilation, now turns to the risen Savior, glorifying His Divine greatness, now rushes to those living on earth, proclaiming to them great joy, now to the prisoners of hell imprisoned for centuries, preaching to them hellish destruction and another eternal beginning of life, then to the world, to everything visible and invisible, to heaven and earth and the underworld, calling everyone and everything to sacred joy, then he pleases the sacred, all-holiday saving night, the luminous, herald of the luminous day and the most named (i.e., glorious, eminent) and holy day, the only Saturday king and Lord (i.e., the only and most important of all days, the king and lord of all other Saturdays, holidays); then he calls upon the very place of resurrection - Jerusalem and Zion - to participate in universal joy; then, finally, he ascends with reverent prayer to the Almighty for the union of all of us with Christ in eternity - in the non-evening day of His kingdom. In a word, the Easter songs of St. John of Damascus are an inexhaustible, immense wealth of thoughts and feelings, this is the greatest creation of Christian inspiration. There is hardly a human heart that these songs would not touch, would not ignite with sacred fire, in which they would not arouse sacred awe and inexpressible, heavenly delight in any words. Saint John of Damascus did so much for our Christian worship, he gave us so many beautiful, reverently touching and deeply touching hymns, inimitably expressing all the prayers and petitions, delights and contritions of the Christian soul, and - it is so criminal and sinful on our part to forget these great merits of our incomparable Christian hymnist! Even speaking simply as a human being, no one, it seems, should be as close and memorable to us there as this inspired Christian singer. After all, standing in the church, we constantly hear his sacred chants, we pray with his words, we are imbued with his thoughts and feelings, we glorify God in his speeches. His songs arouse a reverent mood in us, dispose us to prayer, touch even the hardest hearts, and are capable of squeezing tears out of the driest eyes, hardened by the vanity of life. In fact, will grief happen to us - we will lose a dear, close person - and here, what sorrow cannot be tempered by these funeral reflections of John of Damascus about the corruption of everything earthly: “What worldly sweetness is not involved in sorrow? What kind of glory is permanent on earth? All are faint shadows, all are more deceptive than sleepy dreams. One moment - and all this is inherited by death! But in the light of Your face, Christ, in the enjoyment of Your beauty, rest, O lover of mankind, the deceased, whom You chose!” etc. Will these Christian thoughts not cause tears, weakening the anguish of the heart, that we all, and everything on earth, is fleeting, that there is nothing lasting, permanent on earth, not even any earthly joy can do without sorrow, that only in heaven and in Christ is all our unclouded joy, our true and boundless pleasure. Or: who has not experienced a highly gratifying, soothing, so to speak, soul-warming feeling when hearing John’s appeals to the Mother of God: Every creature, the angelic council and the human race, rejoices in you, O Gracious One... Most Pure Ever-Virgin, Mother of Christ God! bring our prayer... You are more than the Mother of God in mind and words... Like an animate ark of God..., etc.! What heart would not be touched, for example, by this deeply touching song: Open the doors of mercy to...! In whom will not heartfelt contrition for sins awaken when hearing these, for example, songs: Many are my many, Mother of God, sins; I have come running to You, O Pure One, demanding salvation... I place all my hope in You, Mother of God... From my youth many passions have been fighting me, but intercede and save me Yourself, my Savior...! What Christian, finally, has not felt some kind of unusual joy, unearthly delight when hearing the festive canons, the Irmos of St. John - Trinity, Transfiguration, Dormition, etc., especially Easter?! All Orthodox Christians pray, cry, and rejoice in the words of Saint John of Damascus. And in the magnificent church of the capital, and in the poor church of some abandoned, snow-covered village at the end of the world, the sacred songs of John of Damascus are equally heard. And these songs are equally effective and powerful over every Christian heart; whether this heart is covered with precious clothes or wretched homespun, it is equally touched by the reverent song of John of Damascus, and - tuned by this song, solemn or mournful - it equally begins to beat, either joyfully or contritely. So, this is the unforgettable monument of himself that the holy hymnist John of Damascus left as a legacy to us and the entire Christian world! Meanwhile, I repeat, we have so ungratefully and unjustly forgotten John of Damascus - we have forgotten, although we constantly sing to our God with his words, although to his efforts we largely owe the purity and safety of our most precious wealth - the holy faith that saves us! Every nation usually keeps the names of its smart people, famous for something, great figures, writers. Every nation values ​​these names, remembers them with gratitude, gives them honors, even erects monuments to them. Moreover, we Christians must gratefully and unforgettably remember in our prayers our great Christian saint, theologian and hymnist, Saint John of Damascus, who with his writings clarified our holy faith for us, defended this faith from all intrigues and perversions, and who, with his deeply touching and touching hymns, excites us, scattered, to prayer, makes us, fussed, remember about God, to pray to Him, to confess before Him the weakness of our Christian soul. Exciting us to prayer, touching our hearts hardened in worldly life, Saint John of Damascus at the same time teaches us prayer with his hymns: he puts his songs into our sinful lips, i.e. gives us, the unworthy, worthy words with which we dare to glorify our Creator, ascend in prayer to Him, and converse with Him. In addition to theological ones, John of Damascus has other works that testify to his deep and extensive learning, such as: An exposition of the philosophy of Aristotle, a very remarkable philosophical work - Dialectics, a grammatical work - On the eight parts of the word. Some of the listed canons in church books are inscribed with John Mnich, i.e. The canon was compiled by John Mnich. Church historians and researchers agree that St. is called by this name. John of Damascus.