Слово в день Богоявления

against those who are not present in sacred assemblies, and about the holy saving Baptism of our Savior Jesus Christ, and about those who partake unworthily, and about the fact that those who leave the Divine Liturgy before its end and leave before the concluding prayer are likened to Judas 2 1. All of you are in joy today, but I am the only one in sadness. When I look at this spiritual sea and see the countless wealth of the Church, and then think that, after the holiday, this multitude, having flown away, will again move away from us, then I am tormented and grieved in my soul that the Church, which has given birth to so many children, can be consoled by them not at every meeting, but only on the holiday. What spiritual joy it would be, what joy, what glory to God, what benefit to souls, if at every meeting we saw the walls of the church so filled! Sailors and helmsmen do everything they can to cross the sea and reach the pier, but we are jealous of constantly rushing across the sea, constantly plunging into the waves of everyday affairs, addressing ourselves in squares and courts of justice, and meeting here only once or twice a whole year. Or don’t you know that God built churches in cities, like piers on the sea, so that we, running here from the storm of everyday turmoil, could enjoy the greatest silence? Truly, here there is no need to fear either the stormy movement of waves, or the attack of robbers, or the invasion of villains, or the force of the winds, or the ambush of animals; this is a haven free from all this, this is a spiritual haven of souls. And you yourself are witnesses to what has been said. If any of you were to open your conscience now, you would find great peace within yourself: neither anger disturbs, nor lust inflames, nor envy does not dry up, nor pride does not puff up, nor the passion of vanity consumes, but all these animals are tamed, since listening to the Divine Scriptures, like some divine enchanting song, penetrates through the ear into the soul of everyone and lulls these crazy passions. How can one not feel sorry for those who, having the opportunity to enjoy such wisdom, do not turn and do not constantly come to the common mother of all - the Church? What occupation could you show me that is more necessary than this? Which meeting is more useful? And what prevents you from staying here? You, of course, will tell me that poverty is an obstacle for you to participate in this wonderful meeting; but this is an unfounded pretext. A week has seven days; God divided these seven days with us in such a way that He did not take more for Himself and did not give us less, and did not even divide them equally - He did not take three for Himself and did not give us three, but He separated six days for you and left one for Himself. Even on this whole day you do not want to abstain from everyday affairs, but as the blasphemers do, so you dare to do with this day, stealing it and using it for everyday worries, while it is sanctified and designated for listening to spiritual teachings. But what about the whole day? As the widow did with alms (Mark 12:42), so do you with the time of this day: she gave two mites, and received great favor from God, so you devote two hours to God, and you will bring into your house the profit of countless days. And if you do not abstain, then take care that you, not wanting to renounce earthly acquisitions for a small part of the day, do not lose the work of entire years. God can, when they neglect Him, destroy the collected wealth, as He, threateningly, told the Jews when they neglected the church: “I have brought into your houses, and I have breathed, ... saith the Lord” (Hag. 1:9) 3. If you come to us once or twice a year, then tell me what we can teach you that is necessary - about the soul, about the body, about immortality, about the Kingdom of Heaven, about punishment, about Gehenna, about the long-suffering of God, about forgiveness, about repentance, about baptism, about the remission of sins, about the creatures of heaven and earth, about human nature, about Angels, about the cunning of demons, about the intrigues the devil, about behavior, about dogmas, about right faith, about perverted heresies? This, and much more than this, a Christian should know and give an answer to those who ask you about everything. But you cannot learn even the slightest part of this, gathering here once a year, and, moreover, in passing and according to the custom of the holiday, and not from a pious spiritual disposition - for even then it would be good if someone, being present here at every meeting, could accurately retain all this. Many of you present here have slaves and sons, and when you intend to give them to teachers of the arts whom you choose, you at the same time make your house inaccessible to them once and for all and, having prepared clothing and food and everything else necessary for them, you place them with a teacher, forbidding them to go to your house, so that by constantly staying there and undisturbed by any worries, their teaching will be more successful. But having learned not an ordinary art, but the greatest of all - how to please God and achieve heavenly blessings - do you think that you can do this in passing? Isn't this crazy? And that [this] science is a matter that requires great attention, listen to what [Christ] says: “Learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29); and again the prophet: “Come, children, listen to me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord” (Ps. 33:12); and again: “Be ye undone and understand that I am God” (Ps. 45:11). So, a lot of time needs to be devoted to study for someone who wants to assimilate this philosophy of wisdom. 2. However, so that we do not spend all our time denouncing those who are absent, we, having been content with what has been said to correct their negligence, will now philosophize a little about the real holiday. Many people celebrate holidays and are familiar with their names, but do not know the reasons for which they were established. Thus, everyone knows that the real holiday is called Epiphany; but what Epiphany this is, and whether it is one or two, they do not yet know; Meanwhile, it is extremely shameful and very funny to celebrate this holiday every year and not know the reason for which it was established. Therefore, first of all, it is necessary to tell your love that there is not one Epiphany, but two: one is the present, which has already happened, and the other is the future, which will happen with glory at the end [of the world]. You heard about both of these today from Paul, who, talking with Titus, says this about the present: “He appeared... God's saving grace to all mankind, punishing us, so that, having rejected wickedness and worldly lusts, we may live chastely and righteously and piously in this present age"; and about the future: “waiting for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:11-13). And the prophet said about this latter: “The sun will turn into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and enlightened day of the Lord comes” (Joel 2:31). Why is the Epiphany called not the day on which He was born, but the one on which He was baptized? The present day is the same one on which He was baptized and sanctified the nature of the waters. Therefore, on this holiday at midnight, everyone, having drawn water, brings it home and keeps it all year long, since today the waters are blessed; and a clear sign occurs: this water in its essence does not deteriorate due to the length of time, but, drawn today, it remains intact and fresh for a whole year, and often two and three years, and after such a long time is not inferior to waters just taken from sources. Why is this day called Epiphany? Because Christ became known to everyone not when He was born, but when He was baptized; Until this day He was not known to the people. And that the people did not know Him and did not understand who He was, listen to John the Baptist about this, who says: “In the midst... stands of you, whom you do not know” (John 1:26). And is it surprising that others did not know Him, when the Baptist himself did not know Him until that day? “And I,” he says, “did not know Him: but He who sent me to baptize with water, He said to me: You will see the Spirit descending on the unworthy and remaining on Him, He is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit” (John 1:33). From this it is clear that there are two Epiphanies; and why Christ comes to baptism, this must be said; and also about what kind of baptism He comes to - both of these need to be known. And in advance we must tell your love about the latter, since from this we will learn the first. There was Jewish baptism, which cleansed bodily impurities, but not sins of conscience. Thus, whoever committed adultery, or who decided to steal, or who committed some other lawlessness, it did not free him from guilt. But whoever touched the bones of the dead, whoever ate food prohibited by law, whoever came from [a place of] infection, whoever handled lepers, washed himself, and was unclean until evening, and then he was cleansed. “Let him wash his body with clean water,” says the Scripture, “and be unclean until the evening; and he will be clean” (Lev.15:5, 22:7). These were not actually sins or impurities, but since the Jews were imperfect, God, making them more pious through this, prepared them from the very beginning for the most precise observance of the most important things. 3. So, Jewish cleansing did not liberate from sins, but only from bodily impurities. Ours is not like that: it is much higher and full of great grace, because it frees from sins, cleanses the soul and gives the gift of the Spirit. And John’s baptism was much higher than that of the Jews, but lower than ours; it was like a bridge between both baptisms, leading through itself from the first to the last, since it forced them [the Jews] not to observe bodily cleansings, but instead exhorted and advised them to move from vice to virtue and to place the hope of salvation in the performance of [good] deeds, and not in various washings and cleansings with water. [John] did not say: wash your clothes, wash your body, and you will be clean; but what? “Bring forth...fruit worthy of repentance” (Matthew 3:8). That is why it was higher than the Jewish, but lower than ours, because the baptism of John did not communicate the Holy Spirit and did not deliver grace-filled forgiveness; it commanded to repent, but did not have the power to forgive [sins]. That’s why [John] said: “For I baptize you with water,...And with the same you baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Matthew 3:11). Obviously he did not baptize with the Spirit. What does it mean: “by the Holy Spirit and fire”? Remember that day on which the apostles “appeared... dividing the nations as if they were fire, sitting... on one of them” (Acts 2:3). And that John’s baptism was imperfect, did not impart the Spirit and the remission of sins, is evident from the following: Paul, “he found certain disciples, saying to them: Have you received the Holy Spirit by nature, having believed? They decided to him: but even if the Holy Spirit is there, we hear. I say to them: why are you being baptized? They rekosha: in John's baptism. Paul said: John therefore baptize with the baptism of repentance” - repentance, not remission of sins; Why did he baptize? “He said to the people, that they may believe in Him who comes after him, that is, in Christ Jesus. And when I heard Paul being baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, I laid Paul’s hand on her, and the Holy Spirit came upon her” (Acts 19:1–6). Do you see how imperfect John's baptism was? If it had not been imperfect, Paul would not have baptized them again, nor would he have laid hands on them; having performed both, he showed the superiority of apostolic baptism, and that John's baptism is much lower than it. But from this we learned the difference of baptisms; Now it is necessary to say why Christ was baptized and with what baptism. Neither the former - the Jews, nor the subsequent - ours, because He had no need for remission of sins; and how can He who has no sin need this? “He did not create sin,” says the Scripture, “lest deceit be found in His mouth” (1 Peter 2:22); and again: “Who of you convicts Me of sin” (John 8:46)? And His Flesh was not untouched by the Spirit; and how could it be otherwise, when it was first produced by the Holy Spirit? So, if His Flesh was not alien to the Holy Spirit, and He was not subject to sins, then why was He baptized? But first we need to know with what baptism He was baptized, then even that will be clear to us. With what baptism was He baptized? Not the Jews, and not ours, but John’s. For what? In order for you to know from the very nature of baptism that He was baptized not because of sin and not because he needed the gift of the Spirit; as we have shown, this baptism was alien to both. From this it is clear that He came to the Jordan not for the remission of sins, and not to receive the gift of the Spirit. But lest any of those present then think that He came to repent, like the others, listen to how John warned this too. While he said to others: “Create...fruit worthy of repentance,” listen to what he says to Him: “I demand to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me” (Matthew 3:8, 14)? With these words, he showed that Christ did not come to him out of the same need for which the people came, and that He was all the more far from the need to be baptized for the same reason that He was much higher and incomparably purer than the Baptist himself. Why was He baptized if He did it neither for repentance, nor for the remission of sins, nor to receive the gift of the Spirit? For two other reasons, of which the disciple speaks about one, and He Himself told John about the other. So, what reason did John give for this baptism? That Christ would become known to the people, as Paul said: “John therefore baptized with the baptism of repentance... that they might believe in him who should come after him” (Acts 19:4); this was the completion of baptism. If you go around everyone’s home and, approaching the door, call them outside and, holding Christ, say: this is the Son of God, then this would make the testimony suspicious and would be very difficult; also, if, having taken Christ, you entered the synagogue and showed Him, then this too would again make the testimony suspicious; but when all the people flocked from all the cities to the Jordan and stayed on the banks of the river, the very fact that He Himself came to be baptized, and received confirmation from above by the voice of the Father and the influx of the Spirit in the form of a dove, made John’s testimony about Him undoubted. That is why he says: “And I did not know Him,” presenting his testimony as reliable (John 1:31), since they were relatives in the flesh [“Behold, Elizabeth is your daughter, and she conceived a son,” the Angel said to Mary about the mother of John (Luke 1:36); if the mothers were related, then obviously the children were too]. So, since they were relatives, so that it would not seem that John was testifying about Christ by kinship, the grace of the Spirit arranged it in such a way that John spent his entire early life in the desert, so that it would not seem as if the testimony was being expressed out of friendship or on some similar biased basis; but John, as he was taught by God, proclaimed Him. So he says: “And I did not know Him.” How did you know? “He sent me,” he says, “to baptize with water, that’s what he said to me.” What did He tell you? “Behold the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove, and remaining on Him, He baptizes with the Holy Spirit” (John 1:33). Do you see that the Holy Spirit descended not as it did the first time on Him, but in order to show the Preached One by His influx, as if with a finger, pointing Him out to everyone? For this reason He came to baptism. There was another reason, which He Himself speaks of; which one exactly? When John said: “I demand to be baptized by You, and are You coming to Me,” He answered like this: “Leave it now, for it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:14-15). Do you see the servant's prudence? Do you see the Lord’s humility? What does it mean: “to fulfill all righteousness”? “Truth” is the fulfillment of all commandments, as they say: “besta... both are righteous..., walking in... the commandments...of the Lord without blame” (Luke 1:6). Since all people were supposed to fulfill this truth, but none of them observed or fulfilled it, then Christ, coming, fulfills this truth. 4. What, someone will say, is the truth in being baptized? Obedience to the prophet was true. Just as Christ was circumcised, made a sacrifice, kept the Sabbath and observed the Jewish holidays, so he added this rest - he obeyed the baptizing prophet. It was the will of God that then everyone would be baptized, about which, listen, as John says: “He sent me to baptize with water” (John 1:33); also Christ: “the tax collector and the people justified God by being baptized with the baptism of John; but the Pharisee and the women of the law rejected the counsel of God about themselves, not being baptized by him” (Luke 7:29-30). So, if obedience to God constitutes truth, and God sent John to baptize the people, then Christ, with everything else required by the law, fulfilled this too. Imagine that the commandments of the law are two hundred denarii; this debt had to be paid by our family; but we did not pay, and we, who fell under such guilt, were seized by death. Christ, having come and finding us possessed by her, paid this debt, fulfilled what was due and snatched [from her] those who could not pay. Therefore, He did not say: we must do this and that, but: “fulfill all righteousness.” I, the Lord who has, He says, must pay for those who have not. This is the reason for His Baptism, so that they would see that He fulfilled the whole law; both this reason and the one mentioned before. Therefore, the Spirit descended in the form of a dove: where there is reconciliation with God, there is a dove. So the dove brought an olive branch to Noah’s ark - a sign of God’s love for mankind and the end of the disaster; and now in the form of a dove, and not in a bodily form (this should be especially noted), the Spirit descends, proclaiming the mercy of God to the universe and at the same time showing that a spiritual person must be gentle, simple and innocent, just as Christ says: “Unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 18:3). But that ark, after the end of the disaster, remained on earth; and this Ark, after the cessation of wrath, was taken to Heaven, and now this Immaculate and Imperishable Body is at the right hand of the Father. But since I mentioned the Body of the Lord, it is necessary to tell you a little about this, and then finish the speech. I know that many of us will begin this sacred meal on the occasion of the holiday. So, one must, as I have often said before, not observe the holidays in order to partake, but clear the conscience, and then touch the sacred Sacrifice. The criminal and unclean person does not have the right to partake of this Holy and Terrible Flesh on holiday; and one who is pure and has washed away his sins with sincere repentance has the right both on holiday and at all times to partake of the Divine Mysteries and is worthy to enjoy the Divine Gifts. But since, I don’t know why, some do not pay attention to this, and many, filled with countless sins, seeing the coming holiday, as if prompted by this day itself, begin to study the Holy Mysteries, which those in such a state should not even look at, then those that are known to us, we ourselves will certainly remove, and those unknown to us, we will leave to God, who knows the secrets of everyone’s thoughts; Now let’s try to correct what everyone is clearly sinning. What is this sin? The fact that they approach not with trepidation, but with a stampede, hitting others, burning with anger, shouting, slandering, pushing their neighbors, full of confusion. I have often talked about this and will not stop talking. Don’t you see what kind of decorum there is at the Olympic Games, when the steward walks through the square, with a crown on his head, dressed in a long robe, holding a staff in his hand, and the herald announces that everything should be quiet and decent? Isn’t it absurd that where the devil triumphs there is such calm, but where Christ calls to Himself there is great noise? There is silence in the square, but there is screaming in the church? Is there silence at sea, but excitement at the pier? Why are you, tell me, worried, man? What's driving you? Necessary matters certainly call to you? At this hour, are you especially aware that you have things to do, especially remember that you are on earth, and think that you are dealing with people? But isn’t it natural for a stony soul to think that at such a time you are standing on the earth, and not rejoicing with the Angels, with whom you send up a mysterious song, with which you offer a victorious song to God? This is why Christ called us eagles, saying: “Where... the corpse, there the eagles will gather” (Matthew 24:28), so that we would ascend to Heaven, so that we would soar in height, ascending on the wings of the Spirit; and we, like snakes, crawl in the dust and eat the earth. Do you want me to tell you why this noise and screaming happens? Because we do not lock the doors for you all the time, but allow you to quickly leave and go home before the last Thanksgiving. This in itself expresses great disdain. What are you doing, man? When Christ is present, the Angels are present, this Terrible Table is being presented, and your brothers are still participating in the Sacraments, do you yourself, leaving everything, run away? Having been invited to dinner, even if you are full before others, you do not dare to go out before your friends while others are still reclining; and here, when the Terrible Mysteries of Christ are still being performed, when the sacred rites are still ongoing, do you leave everything in the very middle and go out? And where can this be worthy of forgiveness? What excuse can there be? Do you want me to tell you whose work is done by those who leave before the end and without performing thanksgiving chants at the end of the Meal? Perhaps what will be said will seem cruel, but it must be said because of the negligence of many. Judas, having partaken of the last Supper on that last night, hastily went out, while everyone else was still reclining. This is who those who rush before the last thanksgiving imitate! If he had not left, he would not have become a traitor; If he had not left his fellow practitioners, he would not have died; if he had not separated himself from the herd, the wolf would not have captured him alone and devoured him; If he had not separated himself from the Shepherd, he would not have become the prey of the beast. Therefore he was with the Jews, and they went out with the Lord, singing. Do you see how the last prayer is performed after the sacrifice? Let us, beloved, imagine this, let us think about it, fearing the impending condemnation for this. He [Christ] gives you His Flesh, and you do not repay Him even with words, and do not thank Him for what you have received? When you eat bodily food, then after the meal you turn to prayer; and when you partake of spiritual food that surpasses every creature, visible and invisible, you, a man and lowly by nature, do not remain to thank Him in words and deeds? Isn't this worthy of extreme punishment? I say this not so that you will only praise me, or make noise and shout, but so that you, remembering these words in good time, will show proper decorum. The Sacraments are called and are the Sacraments; and where the Sacraments are, there is great silence. So, let us approach this sacred Sacrifice with deep silence, with great decorum, with due reverence, so that we may earn greater favor from God, purify our souls and achieve eternal blessings, which may we all be worthy of by the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father, with the Holy Spirit, be glory and power and worship, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen. The conversation was delivered, as one can probably think, in 387 on the feast of the Epiphany: therefore, a few days after the previous conversation - on the day of the Nativity of Christ. So in Chrysostom, in the Slavic Bible: “I carried it into the church and breathed.” You might be interested in: