Discourse about the Canaanite wife, delivered upon the saint's return from exile

“The conversation about the Canaanite wife, spoken upon the saint’s return from exile” (11 chapters) was delivered by St. John Chrysostom, probably in Constantinople, year unknown. At the beginning of his speech, the saint praises the fidelity and zeal of the flock, which, despite the trials, gathered in the church. He speaks about the steadfastness of the Church and the futility of the persecution being waged against it: “Whoever attacks her destroys himself, but the Church shows herself to be the strongest. ...The enemies started persecution in order to scatter the sheep, but the opposite happened: it brought the shepherd.” St. John says that no matter how great a sinner is, he can be saved, as exemplified by the Apostle Paul and the Evangelist Matthew: “The blasphemer did not remain a blasphemer, but became an apostle; and the kidnapper did not remain a kidnapper, but became an evangelist. I mention their former vices and subsequent virtues so that you know what the benefit of repentance is; so that you never despair of your salvation.” The conversation includes a call to imitate the Canaanite woman who confessed the Divinity of Christ and the mystery of the Incarnation. You need to be persistent and constant in prayer. The devil knows that during prayer we make great progress, so then he attacks us: “Often, lying calmly on the bed, we do not think about anything; and when we come to pray, thousands of thoughts appear so that we will go away without benefit.” Praise to the faithfulness of the flock, which, despite the great confusion, diligently gathered into church. – The dispersion of enemies and the steadfastness of the Church. The subject of edification is St. Matthew is a publican who later became an evangelist. -What is a publican? – No matter how great a sinner is, he can be saved, as the tax collector Matthew serves as an example. – The Canaanite woman, having first addressed the apostles, then turns to Jesus Christ himself. – She confesses the Divinity of Christ and the mystery of the Incarnation. “But Jesus doesn’t answer her a single word.” – Christ came to save all people indifferently? - Planted grapes and fenced them off. – Christ fulfilled the law of Moses before abolishing it. – Jesus Christ took into account the prejudices of His people in the main circumstances. – You need to be persistent in prayer. – You can pray anywhere. 1. The storm was great, but it did not hinder the zeal of those who came here; temptations are great, but they have not destroyed your affection. The Church never ceases to be attacked and overcome, tricked and overcome. The more others attack it, the more it multiplies; the waves dissipate, and the stone remains motionless. Teachings during the day, all-night vigils at night; day competes with night; and there are meetings, and there are meetings here; the night turns a market place into a church; zeal is stronger than fire. You do not need admonition, and you yourself show diligence. Who wouldn't be surprised? Who wouldn't be amazed? Not only those who were ours are not absent, but those who were not present are also present. This is the benefit of testing. Just as rain, falling on the ground, awakens seeds, so trials, entering the soul, awaken zeal. According to the word of God, the Church is unshakable: “The gates of hell will not prevail against it” (“the gates of hell will not prevail against it”) (Matthew 16:18). Whoever attacks her destroys himself, but the Church shows herself to be the strongest; whoever attacks her destroys his own strength, and makes our trophy more brilliant. Job was glorious before, but afterward he became even more glorious: he was not as glorious when he had a painless body as he became when he was crowned with pus from his wounds. Never be afraid of trials if your soul is prepared for them. Tribulation does not harm, but “from tribulation comes patience” (“patience makes perfect”) (Rom. 5:3). Just as fire does not spoil gold, so sorrow does not harm valor. What does fire do to gold? Cleans it up. What produces grief in the one who endures it? Patience. It elevates it, drives away laziness, concentrates the soul, and makes the mind more circumspect. The enemies started persecution in order to scatter the sheep, but the opposite happened: it brought in the shepherd. What is the state of our affairs? Prosperous. How are they doing? In inglorious. Where are they doing? They are not visible. I walk around the marketplace and don’t see anyone. There were leaves, but the wind blew and they fell; the chaff was scattered, and the ripe fruit was revealed; there was tin, and it melted, but the gold remained pure. Who is driving them? Nobody; but conscience is their enemy, accompanying sins. They knew what they were doing. So Cain wanted to kill his brother; when he wanted to kill, passion acted, and when he committed the crime, he began to walk “an outcast and a wanderer” (“groaning and shaking”) throughout the entire universe (Gen. 4:14). And if they didn’t actually kill, they killed with intent. The murder was committed to the extent that it depended on their malice; but life was preserved by the grace of God. I say this to arouse your jealousy, so that you will never be afraid of trials. Are you a stone? Do not be afraid of the waves, for “on this rock,” said the Lord, “I will build My Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it” (“on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it”) (Matthew 16:18). There are wars, sometimes outside, sometimes inside; but nothing will sink this ship. 2. However, in order not to spend all the time condemning our enemies, let us leave them to remorse; let this executioner torment their soul and mind with wicked desires, let them run when no one is persecuting, let them be shamed when no one is at enmity against them; and we ourselves will offer the usual meal. It is unfair to waste time denouncing enemies and leave children to starve. So, yesterday Paul offered us a meal, today Matthew; yesterday a tent maker, today a publican; yesterday a detractor, today a thief; yesterday a persecutor, today a covetous man. But the blasphemer did not remain a blasphemer, but became an apostle; and the kidnapper did not remain a kidnapper, but became an evangelist. I mention their former vices and subsequent virtues so that you know what the benefit of repentance is; so that you never despair of your salvation. Our teachers were first known for their sins, but later became famous for their righteousness; the publican and the blasphemer are extreme degrees of wickedness. In fact, what is the title of publican? Legalized predation, daring violence, injustice protected by law; The publican is worse than the robbers. What is the title of publican? Violence hiding under the pretext of the law, turning a doctor into an executioner. Do you understand what I said? Laws are doctors, but here they become executioners, because they do not heal the wound, but increase it. What is the title of publican? Shameless sin, unjustified theft, is worse than robbery. The robber is at least ashamed when he steals; but this one steals with impudence. And such a tax collector suddenly became an evangelist. How and in what way? “Passing from there,” the Gospel says, “Jesus saw a man sitting at the toll booth named Matthew, and said to him: follow Me” (“As Jesus passed... he saw... Matthew sitting at the tollhouse... and said to him: “Come after Me”) (Matthew 9:9). Oh, the power of words! The oud was abandoned, and the captive was made a warrior, the dirt was turned into gold; the oud was thrown, and immediately the publican “rose up and followed Him” (“rising up after Him”). He was in the depths of wickedness, and ascended to the heights of virtue. So, beloved, let no one despair of his salvation. Sin is not in our nature; we are blessed with will and freedom. Are you a publican? You can become an evangelist. Are you a blasphemer? You can become an apostle. Are you a robber? You can buy Paradise. Are you a sorcerer? You can bow to the Lord. There is no sin that cannot be blotted out by repentance. This is why Christ chose the extreme degrees of wickedness, so that at the end no one could justify himself in any way. 3. Don’t tell me: “I am lost, what can I do?” Don’t tell me: “I have sinned; what should I do?” You have a Physician who is above illness; you have a Physician who conquers the power of illness; you have a Doctor who heals with one wave; you have a Doctor who heals with one will, who can and wants to heal. If He created you from non-existence, then all the more can He correct you, who already exists and is damaged. Didn't you hear how He took dust from the ground and formed man? How did you make the earth flesh? How did you arrange the nerves, how the bones, how the skin, how the veins, how the nose, how the eyes, how the eyelashes, how the eyebrows, how the tongue, how the chest, how the arms, how the legs, how everything else? The earth was taken - one substance; creativity appeared and formed a variety of works. Can't you tell me how you were created? In the same way, you cannot say how sins are destroyed. If fire, falling into thorns, destroys them, then the more easily the will of God destroys and uproots our sins and makes the sinner similar to the sinless. Don’t ask how it happens, don’t investigate how it happens, but believe in a miracle. You will say: “I have sinned much, and my sins are great.” But who is without sin? You will say: “I have sinned gravely, more and worse than all people.” But it is enough for you to make such a sacrifice: “Speak thou, that thou mayest be justified” (“Thou hast spoken thy iniquities first, that thou mayest be justified”) (Is. 43:26). Admit that you have sinned, and this will be the beginning of your correction. Lament, mourn, shed tears. Is there anything else that the (gospel) harlot shed? Nothing else but tears of remorse. She took repentance as her guide and came to the Source. 4. But let us listen to what the publican and evangelist say. “And Jesus departed from there and departed into the countries of Tire and Sidon. And behold, a woman..." ("And Jesus departed from there, and went to the countries of Tire and Sidon. And behold, a woman...") (Matthew 15:21-22). The evangelist is surprised: “behold, a woman,” the ancient instrument of the devil, who expelled me from Paradise, the mother of sin, the guide of crime, such a wife, of the same nature, comes to Jesus. A new and extraordinary miracle! The Jews run away, and the wife follows Him. “And behold, a Canaanite woman, coming out of those places, cried out to Him: have mercy on me, O Lord, son of David.” The wife becomes an evangelist, confessing both His Divinity and His economy; with the word “Lord” [confesses] sovereignty; and by the words “son of David” - His taking on flesh. "Have mercy on me". Look at the wise soul. “Have mercy on me,” she says, “I have no good deeds, I have no boldness in my life; I resort to mercy, to the common haven of sinners; I resort to mercy, where there is no judgment, where salvation is given without trial,” - thus, being a sinner and lawless woman, she dared to approach Jesus. Notice also the wisdom of the wife: she does not ask James, does not beg John, does not turn to Peter, does not share their host. “I have no need for a mediator, but, having taken repentance as my intercessor, I approach the Source Itself; This is why He came, this is why He took on flesh, so that I too could talk with Him.” Above the Cherubim are trembling, below the harlot is talking with Him! “Have mercy on me” is a simple word, but in it she finds an inexhaustible sea of ​​salvation. “Have mercy on me: for this you came, for this you took flesh, for this you became what I am.” Trembling in heaven, boldness on earth! “Have mercy on me: I have no need of a mediator; You yourself have mercy on me.” - “What do you need?” - “I’m looking for mercy.” - “What are you suffering from?” - “My daughter is cruelly raging (“My daughter is raging in evil”) (Matthew 15:22): my nature is tormented, pity is aroused.” So she came to intercede for her daughter; I didn’t bring it sick, but I brought faith. He is God and sees everything. “My daughter is cruelly raging. Terrible suffering; a natural feeling of pity, like a sting, torments my womb, outrages my insides. What should I do? I'm dying." - “Why don’t you say: “Have mercy on my daughter,” but: “Have mercy on me?” “She is sick to the point of insensibility, she is not aware of her suffering, she does not feel her pain; lack of consciousness, or better yet, insensibility serves as a veil of unhappiness for her. Have mercy on me, witness of daily suffering; I have a spectacle of misfortune in my house. Where should I go? To the desert? But I don't dare leave her alone. Should I stay at home? But here I find the enemy within, the waves on the dock, the spectacle of misfortune. What should I call her? Dead? But she is moving. Alive? But she doesn't know what she's doing. I can't find words to express this illness. Have mercy on me. If my daughter had died, I would not have suffered so much; I would have betrayed her body into the bowels of the earth, and over time I would have forgotten about the misfortune, and the wound would have healed; now I constantly have a corpse before my eyes, poisoning my wounds and intensifying my suffering. How does it feel for me to look at her rolling eyes, bending arms, loose hair, flowing foam, at this executioner who is inside and cannot be detected, at the tormentor who is invisible, but his blows are visible? I am made a spectator of the misfortunes of others, made by the necessity of nature. Have mercy on me. This storm is terrible - suffering and fear at the same time; suffering of nature and fear from the demon; I can neither approach nor touch her. Compassion motivates me, fear drives me away. Have mercy on me." 5. Imagine your wife’s wisdom. She did not go to the wise men, did not call sorcerers, did not make bindings, did not hire sorcerers - women who summon demons and intensify the wound; but, leaving the works of the devil, she turned to the Savior of our souls. “Have mercy on me, my daughter is cruelly raging.” You understand this suffering - [those of you] who have become fathers, help my word and you who have become mothers; I cannot express in words the distress this woman suffered. “Have mercy on me, my daughter is cruelly raging.” Do you see the wife's wisdom? Do you see her firmness, courage, patience? “But He did not answer her a word” (“He did not answer her a word”) (Matthew 15:23). Strange things! She asks, begs, mourns her misfortune, intensifies her lamentation, expresses her suffering - and the Lover of Humanity does not answer, the Word is silent, the Source does not open, the Doctor does not give medicine. What is this extraordinary thing, what is this strange thing? You yourself come to others, but you drive away this one who came to you? But look at the wisdom of the Doctor: “But He did not answer her a word.” Why? Because he paid attention not to words, but knew secret thoughts. “But He did not answer her a word.” What about the students? Since the wife did not receive an answer, they approached Him and said: “Let her go, because she is crying after us” (“Let her go, because she is crying after us”) (Matthew 15:23). – “But you hear an external voice, and I hear an internal one; Great is the cry of her lips, but greater is the cry of her soul.” “Let her go, because she’s screaming after us.” Another evangelist says: “before us” (Mark 7:25). The words are opposite, but not false, because she did both. At first she screamed from behind; when He did not answer, she came up in front, like a dog licking the feet of its master. “Let her go: she created a spectacle, gathered the people.” They meant human sorrow, and the Lord meant love for mankind and the salvation of his wife. “Let her go, because she’s screaming after us.” What about Christ? “I was sent,” He says, “only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (“I was not sent, but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel”) (Matthew 15:24). With His answer He aggravated the wound even more. He was a Physician, cutting not in order to divide, but in order to unite. 6. Here listen to me with attention and turn your mind to me, because I want to explore a deep subject. “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Is this all? Did You really become a man, take on flesh, perform such works of economy in order to save this one corner (of the earth), and what is more, it is perishing? And the whole universe - the Scythians, Thracians, Indians, Moors, Cilicians, Cappadocians, Syrians, Phoenicians and all the earth that the sun illuminates - will they be deprived of this? Did You come for the Jews alone, and leave the Gentiles in contempt? Don’t You look at the stench, don’t look at the smoke, don’t pay attention to the insult of Your Father, to the worship of idols, to the veneration of demons? Meanwhile, the prophets did not speak like that; and what, for example, does Your forefather according to the flesh say? “Ask of Me, and I will give the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession” (“Ask of Me, and I will give You the tongues of Your inheritance, and Your possession the ends of the earth”) (Ps. 2:8). And Isaiah, who saw the Cherubim: “And it will come to pass in that day that the Gentiles will turn to the root of Jesse, which will stand as a banner for the nations” (“and the root of Jesse will rise up and rule the tongues; in him the nations will trust”) (Is. 11:10). And Jacob: “The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the lawgiver from between his feet, until the Reconciler comes, and to Him is the submission of the nations” (“... the prince will fail from Judah, and the leader from his feet, until the hope of the tongues, which was set aside for Him, will come”) (Gen. 49:10). And Malachi: “It would be better if one of you locked the doors of brass” (“before... the doors will be shut in you”), and what was supposed will not change: “For from the east of the sun to the west my name will be great among the nations, and in every place they will offer incense to my name, a pure sacrifice” (“before from the east of the sun to the west my name will be glorified among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name and sacrifice pure") (Mal.1:10-11). And also David: “Clap your hands, all nations, shout to God with a voice of joy; for the Lord Most High is awesome, the great King over all the earth... God has risen with shouts, the Lord has risen with the sound of a trumpet” (“All nations clasp their hands, shout to God with a voice of joy: for the Lord Most High is awesome, the great King of all the earth... God has risen with a shout, the Lord has risen with the sound of a trumpet”) (Ps. 47:2-3, 6). And another: “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people” (“Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people”) (Deut. 32:43). And You Yourself, having come, did not you immediately call the Magi, this stronghold of the pagans, the power of the devil, the power of demons, and by condescension did not you make them heralds? You call upon the Magi; the prophets speak of the pagans; and after the Resurrection from the dead You say to the disciples: “Go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (“go... teach all languages, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit”) (Matthew 28:19). When this unfortunate, poor thing came, asking for a daughter, begging to ease her misfortune, then You say: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel”? When the centurion came, You said: “I will come and heal him” (“I will come and heal him”) (Matthew 8:7); when the thief spoke, You answer: “Today you will be with Me in Paradise” (“Today you will be with Me in Paradise”) (Luke 23:43); when the paralytic is brought, You say: “Arise, take up your bed, and go” (“Arise, take up your bed and go”) (Matthew 9:6); when Lazarus died, You said: “Lazarus! go out” (“Lazarus, come out”) (John 11:43), and the four-day old man went out. You cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, strengthen the paralytic, heal the blind, save thieves, make a harlot more chaste than a virgin, and yet you give nothing back to this one? What is new, what is extraordinary, what is strange? 7. Listen carefully to know the strength of this woman, and the wisdom and care of the Lord, to see how delay brings profit, to see how refusal brings wealth; so that you, if you pray and do not receive, never give up prayer. Listen with intense attention. When the Jews were delivered from the dominion of the Egyptians and, having escaped the hands of Pharaoh, passed through the desert and intended to enter the land of the Canaanites, idolaters and wicked people who worshiped stones, revered trees and discovered great wickedness in life, then God gave them the following law: “Do not enter into kinship with them: do not give your daughter in marriage to his son, and do not take his daughter for your son ( “Thou shalt do nothing worse than matchmaking with them: thou shalt not give thy daughter to his son, and thou shalt not give his daughter to thy son” (Deut. 7:3); Don’t give them gold, don’t eat with them, don’t live together, and don’t do anything like that, because these nations are wicked, to which I am bringing you in so that you can take possession of them.” Thus, almost the law itself prescribed to the Jews: “Do not buy, do not sell, do not enter into marriages or contracts, but, although close to them in your place of residence, be far away in your lifestyle. You should have nothing in common with them: no contracts, no selling, no buying, no matchmaking, no marriage, so that the necessity of family relations does not involve you in wickedness, so that, by giving and receiving, you do not become their friend; but always be their enemy. You should not have any communication with the Canaanites: do not accept from them gold, silver, clothing, daughter, son, or anything else like that, but live on your own; you have a tongue that distinguishes you from them, and this law I gave you, which is why the law is called a fence.” Just as grapes are surrounded by a fence, so the Jews are surrounded by a law, so that they, having transgressed it, do not mix with the Canaanites. And among them there were illegal mixtures, perversion of the laws of nature, worship of idols, idolization of trees, which offended God, sacrifice of children, humiliation of fathers, dishonor of mothers - everything was perverted, everything was distorted; they lived a demonic life. Therefore, the Jews had no relations with them, no agreements, no trade; the law, under threat of severe punishment, prohibited marriages with them, contracts, matchmaking; the Jews had nothing in common with them. So, the law was forbidden to have intercourse with the Canaanites, to give them gold or anything else, so that a friendly relationship would not serve as a reason for wickedness. The law surrounded the Jews like a fence: “He planted a vineyard,” said the Lord, “and... surrounded it with a fence” (Is. 5:1–2), i.e. a law that did not consist of branches, but of commandments, which protected and separated them. Thus, the Canaanites were an outcast, despised, wicked, depraved, criminal, unclean people; therefore, the Jews, fulfilling their law, did not even want to listen to them. And since this woman was from the Canaanites - “and behold,” says the evangelist, “a Canaanite woman, came out of those places” (Matthew 15:22), - since this woman was from the Canaanites, and came to Christ, He (and acted with her in such a way as to have the right) to say: “Which of you will convict Me of unrighteousness? ("Who of you reproaches Me concerning sin") (John 8:46). Have I broken the law? Having become a man, He performed human affairs. 8. Listen with attention to my words. This woman was a Canaanite, from those regions where debauchery, frenzy, wickedness, the power of the devil, demonic feasts reigned, where they trampled on nature and humiliated themselves to the point of wordless senselessness, to the fury of demons; and the law prescribed: “Have nothing to do with the Canaanites, do not give or receive from them, do not take a wife, do not receive a son, do not enter into any agreements or conditions,” protecting the Jews as if by a fence. And since Christ Himself, having come to earth and putting on human armor, was at one time circumcised, made sacrifices and offerings and everything else, although He had to stop the law, so that they would not say that He abolished the law because He did not have the strength to fulfill it, therefore He first fulfills it, and then stops it; so that you would not think that He was powerless, for this He did everything according to custom, and therefore said: “Which of you will convict Me of unrighteousness?” Since, I say, according to the law he should not have had any communication with the Canaanites, so that the Jews would not accuse Him and say: “We do not believe You because You are a lawless one, You break the law, you went into the Canaanite country, you communicate with the Canaanites, while the law forbids communication with them,” that is why He does not tell her anything at first. Notice how He fulfills the law and does not deprive the wife of salvation, stops the lips of the Jews, and turns her to Himself. “But He,” it is said, “did not answer her a word,” as if instilling the following: “Do not look for pretexts to accuse Me; look: I don’t speak, I don’t enter into conversation; here is misfortune, and I do not show My action; here is a shipwreck, and I, the Helmsman, do not calm the storm because of your recklessness, so that you have no reason to accuse Me; This woman has gathered spectators around Me and does not receive an answer, lest you say: “You surrendered to the Canaanites, broke the law, and on this basis we can not believe You.” Do you see how He does not answer his wife in order to answer the Jews; His silence towards his wife was a voice of denunciation of the folly of the Jews. 9. He did this not out of his own dignity, but out of condescension for the weakness of the Jews. So when He cleansed the leper, He said: “Bring the gift that Moses commanded” (Matthew 8:4). Have you purified it and refer it to the law of Moses? - “Yes.” - "For what?" - “Because of the Jews, so that they would not accuse Me of breaking the law.” Therefore, when He healed the leper, He healed him in an extraordinary way; but how, listen. “And then the leper came up and, bowing to Him, said: Lord! if you want, you can cleanse me. Jesus, stretching out his hand, touched him and said: “I will, be cleansed” (“And behold, the leper came and worshiped him, saying: Lord, if you are willing, you can cleanse me.” And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying: “I am willing, be cleansed.”) (Matthew 8:2-3). But according to the law, it was not allowed to touch a leper. So, when the military commander Naaman, infected with leprosy, came to the prophet Elisha, the disciple said to him: “Behold, the leper military commander is standing outside.” The prophet orders the disciple to go out and tell him: “Go, wash yourself... in the Jordan” (“shed washed... in the Jordan" (2 Kings 5:10); but he himself did not dare to go out, look at the leper and touch him. Since Elisha also cleansed the leper, so that the Jews would not say that Christ cleansed like Elisha, this one does not dare to touch the leper, but Christ touches and says: “I want, be cleansed.” “Stretching out His hand, I touched him” (“And I stretched out my hand... I touched him”). Why did you touch it? To show you that He is not a slave subject to the law, but a Master above the law. How did He fulfill the law? By saying: “I want, cleanse yourself,” and not immediately touching him. The word preceded, drove away the disease, and then He touched the unclean and said: “I want, cleanse yourself.” How? “And he was immediately cleansed from leprosy” (“Abiye be cleansed”). The evangelist did not find an expression, because the word “abie” (“immediately”) does not express a quick action, did not find an expression corresponding to the speed of action. “Immediately,” i.e. how? At the very time the word was pronounced, the disease was destroyed, leprosy passed, and the leper became clean. Then He says: “Show yourself to the priest and bring the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” To whom? “To the Jews, so that they do not say that I have broken the law. I healed, and I said: bring the gift of the law, so that on that day the leper would accuse them, saying: He commanded me to bring the gift of the law.” And just as Christ did a lot for the sake of the Jews in order to make them unrequited in everything, so He did the same here. “Have mercy on me, O Lord, son of David, my daughter is cruelly raging. But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples, approaching, asked Him: let her go, because she is screaming after us." ("Have mercy... my daughter is raging in evil. He did not answer her word, and His disciples came to Him, praying to Him, saying: Let her go, for she is crying after us." What is He? "I was sent," He says, "only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel" ("I am not sent, only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." So that the Jews would not say: “You have left us and gone to strangers, and therefore we do not believe You,” He says: “Behold, they also come from the Gentiles, and I do not accept them; I call on you who are running away from Me: “Come to Me, all you who labor” (Matthew 11:28), and you do not come; but I drive this one away, and yet it remains. “A people whom I did not know,” said the Lord, “serve Me; by one hearing about Me they obey Me" ("People who did not know, who worked for Me, listened to Me in the ear of the ear" (Ps. 17:44-45); and in another place: "I have revealed myself to those who did not ask about Me; those who did not seek Me found Me" ("I was revealed to those who did not seek Me, I was found to those who did not ask about Me") (Is. 65:1). "Let her go, потому что кричит за нами» . Посмотрим же, что отвечает Христос. «Я послан только к погибшим овцам дома Израилева» . Не были ли это слова отказа? Он как бы так говорит: «Отойди; нет ничего общего между тобой и Мной; не для тебя пришел Я, но пришел для иудеев. Я послан только к погибшим овцам дома Израилева» . Услышав это, она сказала: «Господи! помоги мне» ( «ей, Господи, помози ми» ), and bowed to Him, saying this. At first he did not answer her, and then, look what the answer was: “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs” (“it is not good for a child to take away the bread and damage it to the dog”) (Matthew 15:25–26). Oh, the care of the Doctor! In the very refusal, He turns her to Himself. “It is not good to take bread from children.” Which children? Among the Jews. “And throw it to the dogs”, i.e. to you. 10. Truly the Lord said this to shame the Jews, because they, called children, became dogs. That is why Paul says: “Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of circumcision, for we are the circumcision” (Phil. 3:2-3). And the pagans were called dogs, and became children. “My children, for whom I am again in the throes of birth, until Christ is formed in you!” (“My children, even though I am sick, until Christ is imagined in you”) (Gal.4:19). This praise is an accusation for the Jews. “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” What about the wife? "So, Lord." Oh, the firmness of a wife; oh, jealousy of the soul! The doctor says no; and she says: “yes.” The Lord says: “no”; and she says: “yes,” - not accusing or reproaching Him, but expecting salvation. “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” - “Yes, Lord!” You call me dog, and I call You Lord; You humiliate me, and I glorify You. “Yes, Lord! But dogs also eat the crumbs that fall from the table of their masters” (“By the Lord, for even the dogs eat of the crumbs that fall from the table of their masters”) (Matthew 15:27). Oh, the wisdom of a wife! She borrows a decent proof from the same example. “You call me a dog; I will eat like a dog; I do not refuse this humiliation, I do not avoid this name; I will eat the dog's food"; - this is how she points out an ordinary matter. “You stand your ground; You called me a dog, give me a grain; You have become the defender of my request; show leniency when refusing. Yes, Lord! but the dogs also eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” What did the One who refused, rejected, drove away, said: “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs,” also said: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel”? “O woman,” He says, “great is your faith” (“O woman, great is your faith”) (Matthew 15:28). -You suddenly began to praise and glorify your wife? Are you no longer driving her away, not rejecting her? - "Calm down; That's why I hesitated. After all, if I had first let her go, you would not have recognized her faith; if she had received it right away, she would have left immediately, and no one would have seen her treasure. That’s why I delayed giving, so that I could show her faith to everyone.” "Oh, woman!" God says to her: “Oh, woman!” Let those who pray without zeal listen to this. When I tell someone: “Ask God, pray to Him, run to Him in prayer,” he replies: “I asked once, twice, three times, ten, twenty times, and I have not received it yet.” Don't stop asking, brother, until you receive; The end of prayer is receiving what you asked for. Then stop when you receive it, or better yet, and then don’t stop, but even then remain in prayer. If you have not received, then pray that you may receive; if you have received, then give thanks for what you have received. Many come to church, say thousands of verses of prayer, and leave without knowing what they said; their lips move, but their ears hear not. You yourself do not hear your prayer; How do you want God to hear your prayer? You say: “I knelt,” but your mind wandered outside; your body was inside the church, and your thought was outside; the lips uttered a prayer, and the mind calculated income, contracts, conditions, fields, possessions, gatherings of friends. The devil is angry; he knows that during prayer we make great progress; that's why he attacks us then. Often, lying quietly on the bed, we do not think about anything; and when we come to pray, thousands of thoughts appear so that we will go away without benefit. 11. So, beloved, knowing that this happens during prayers, imitate the Canaanite woman; although you are a husband, imitate your wife, a foreigner, weak, rejected and despised. Don't you have a possessed daughter? But you have a sinful soul. What did the Canaanite woman say? “Have mercy on me, my daughter is cruelly raging.” So you say: “Have mercy on me: my soul is cruelly raging.” Sin is a great demon. The possessed person arouses compassion, and the sinner - hatred; he deserves forgiveness, but this one has no excuse. “Have mercy on me” is a short word, but it found a sea of ​​philanthropy, because where there is mercy, there are all blessings. Even when you are outside the church, cry out and say: “have mercy on me”: speak, although without moving your lips, but calling out with your mind; God also hears those who are silent. This requires not a place, but above all a mood. Jeremiah was in a muddy pit, and he drew God to him; Daniel was in the lion's den, and he favored God; the three youths were in the oven, and, chanting, they propitiated God; the thief was nailed to the cross, and the cross did not prevent him, but opened Paradise; Job sat on a dungeon and enjoyed the mercy of God; Jonah was in the belly of the whale, and God listened to him. Will you be at the laver, pray; whether you are on the road or on your bed, and wherever you are, pray. You are the church of God: do not look for a place; All you need is a spiritual disposition. Even if you stand before the judge, pray; when the judge is angry, pray. Once there was the sea in front, the Egyptians behind, and Moses in the middle; There was great difficulty for prayer, but great was also the breadth of prayer. The Egyptians were chasing behind, the sea was ahead, and in the middle it was necessary to pray. Moses did not say anything, but God said to him: “Why are you crying out to Me?” (“Why do you cry to Me”) (Exodus 14:15). His lips did not speak, but his mind cried out. So you, beloved, when you stand before an angry, merciless judge, threatening the greatest punishments, or before other executioners doing the same thing, then pray to God; and while you pray, the waves will subside. Is the judge against you? You run to God. Is your boss attacking you? You call on the Lord. Is He a man, so that you should look for Him in some place? God is always there. If you want to ask a person, then first you ask what he is doing, whether he is sleeping, whether he is busy; and the servant does not answer you. But God has nothing like that: wherever you go and begin to call on Him, He hears; no occupation, no mediator, no servant separates Him from you. Say: “Have mercy on me,” and God instantly becomes present. “You will cry out,” says the prophet, “and He will say: “Here am I!”” (“Even as I speak to you, He says: Behold, I have come.”) (Is. 58:9). Oh, a word filled with goodness! He does not wait for the end of the prayer; even before you finish the prayer, you already receive a gift. "Have mercy on me". Let us, I exhort you, imitate this Canaanite woman. “Have mercy on me, my daughter is cruelly raging,” she said. The Lord says to her: “Oh, woman! Great is your faith; Let it be done to you according to your desire” (Matthew 15:28). Where is the heretic? He did not say: “I will ask My Father”; did not say: “I will pray to Him who gave birth to Me.” Did He need prayer here? No. Why? Because there was great faith, there was a great vessel, and therefore great grace was poured out. Where prayer is still needed, there is a weak vessel. “Oh, woman! Great is your faith! You did not see the dead raised, nor the leper cleansed, you did not listen to the prophets, you did not study the law, you did not see the sea divided, you did not see any other sign performed by Me, but you were even humiliated by Me and embarrassed; I rejected your suffering, and yet you did not leave, but remained; finally receive from Me worthy and proper praise: O woman! Great is your faith." This wife died, but her praise remains, shining brighter than a diadem. Wherever you go, you hear the words of Christ: “Oh, woman! Great is your faith." Enter the Persian church and you will hear Christ saying: “O woman! Great is your faith" ; as well as to the church of the Goths, barbarians, Indians, Moors, and whatever country the sun illuminates. Christ spoke one word, and this word is not silent, but with a loud voice proclaims her faith, crying: “O woman! Great is your faith, may it be done for you as you wish." He did not say: “Let your daughter be healed,” but: “It will be done for you according to your desire.” - “You heal her; you be a doctor; I entrust medicine to you; go and apply it, it will be done for you according to your desire. Let your will heal her.” So the Canaanite woman healed (her daughter) by her own will, and does not the Son of God heal by Himself? “It will be done for you as you wish.” The wife did not command or forbid the demon, but only wanted to, and the wife’s will healed the sick woman and cast out the demons. Where are those who dare to say that the Son performed miracles through prayer? “It will be done for you as you wish.” Look at the greatness of His words, in them He imitates His Father. When God created the sky, he said: “Let there be a sky, let there be a sun, and there was a sun; let there be earth, and there was earth”; by command He brought into being (Gen. 1). So Christ says: “It will be done for you according to your desire.” The similarity of expressions proves the common nature of Theirs. “And her daughter was healed” (“And her daughters were healed”). When? "At that hour" ("From that hour") (Matthew 15:28); not at the time when her mother came home, but even before she came. She came to find her raging - and found her healthy, healed by her desire. Let us thank God for all this: to Him belongs glory forever and ever. Amen.