About Susanna

We willingly fulfill our verbal duty to you: although not everything we owe, we will give back as much as we have. Our zeal is ready to give more than what is due, but it encounters an obstacle in the poverty of words, which is why, according to our promise, we give you little instead of much. However, if any of you wants to compare the smallest thing from our conversation with the zeal of our heart, then in comparison with duty there will be no lack here, since our zeal will make up for what is lacking in words. After all, God, when he sees the insignificant sacrifices of the poor man and the generous benefits, accepts them with equal honor, and often even values ​​the offerings of the poor man more highly, because he looks not at the amount of money, but at the zeal of the heart. Proof of this is the story of a poor widow who put two mites into the church treasury: in the eyes of the Lord, her insignificant sacrifice was much more valuable than the sacrifices of the rich who threw gold, since God does not need money, but (seeks) a sincere and pure heart. So we, from the depths of a sincere heart, as if plunging into the living treasuries of God the word given to us from God, will pay you the debt of the word. I remember that I promised to tell you for general edification about the feat of chastity of blessed Susanna, I promised just yesterday, when in front of us Joseph fought with the Egyptian woman and showed us the feat of chastity. So let Susanna perform at this national spectacle, where God, and angels, and husbands, and wives are watching; let him come forward and teach us a lesson, how the youngest of wives must fight to the death for chastity. Of course, this blessed Susanna, being of noble birth, having been in the domestic chambers from her youth, beautiful in beauty and having acquired pure morals, when the beauty of her youth blossomed, was betrothed to a legal marriage. And it was precisely while maintaining the chastity of the secret of marriage for her husband that she did not turn her gaze to the disorderly contemplation of youthful and alien beauty; she did not open her ears in order to perceive the euphony of prodigal songs, did not dilate her nostrils, catching the aromas that permeated the clothes of the young men, did not give free rein to any of her other feelings, so that the chastity kept in her heart, under the influence of powerful spells, would not deviate towards pleasures. After all, most of our sins are generated by the feelings of the soul. Our soul, like a maiden in some palace, calmly resides in the center of the heart, and the five senses look after it like maids. What feelings? Sight, taste, smell, hearing and touch. And so, if no feeling is spoiled or erred, then the soul retains its purity and innocence; if it happens that the sight, left without a helmsman, is wounded by the sight of youthful beauty and a strong impulse of passion penetrates the heart through the eyes, immediately the soul, enveloped in a storm of lust, drowns in sin, its chastity is destroyed with all its consequences. David experienced a similar collapse and depicted it this way: “I entered into the depths of the sea, and the storm drowned me” (Ps. 68:3) **. In the same way, the ear, if it succumbs to the spell of euphony, then, having inclined the thought completely towards it, carried away by prodigal songs, overthrows the soul. Taste, driven by gluttony and much wine toward drunkenness and sensuality, corrupts the soul. The sense of smell, being bound by the excessive perfumes of young men, drags the soul along with it to fall. So, the soul, just as another virgin falls under the influence of stupid maids, is captivated by feelings, indulging in the sin of intemperance. And sin, having taken possession of all the senses, like a thief, secretly penetrates the recesses of the heart, and then, having penetrated, completely strips it of the pledge of chastity and robs it. But of course, that blessed woman guarded her gaze, appearance, gait, hearing, glances, smell, taste, touch and was in the full sense, in the words of wisdom, “a locked garden..., a closed well” (Song. 4:12). It was the vineyard, which no one can rob, that the blessed one resembled, exuding the aromas of chastity, and was like a source, sealed with faith, from which none of the disorderly could steal the beauty of chastity. Two of the people’s elders, “who were supposed to rule” (Dan. 13:5) the flock, were inflamed with passion for her, and each of them, consumed by the flame of passion, was ashamed to reveal to the other the secret fire of their heart. And then one day each of them, secretly from the other, went to spy on Susanna; having met and tested each other, they confessed to each other about the reason why they came here; then, having formed an alliance for a sinful deed, they carefully discussed the evil intent and began to wait for the time when they could catch Susanna alone. It happened that one day Susanna, as usual, went out into her husband’s garden to bathe due to the heat; and when she sent the maids to bring soap, the elders immediately rushed to her, grabbed her like wolves a sheep, wanting to quench the fire of lust, and Susanna found herself alone among two lions, no one could help her: neither a maid, nor a slave, nor a neighbor, nor a friend, nor a neighbor - if God had not been watching this from above, this invisible Witness, Who could, of course, at the very beginning prevent attempt by the elders, but allowed the struggle to be in order to discover the hidden virtue and chastity of Susanna and expose the incontinence of the elders, and at the same time give the wives the greatest lesson in Susanna’s great feat. The battle was great, Susanna faced a great competition, greater than Joseph. After all, he, being a husband, fought with one woman, and this one, being a wife, had two husbands as opponents. It was a great and amazing sight: a woman fighting against two men, but it will seem even more remarkable if you pay attention to where the attack took place: in the garden, where the serpent deceived Eve. So, when everything was ready for the fight, the heavens opened, the trumpet sounded, the arena opened; The director of the struggle from above watched the competition and the faces of the angels, leaning down, watched; the serpent worked in the wicked, and faith in the chaste woman. Both sides were very concerned about victory: the elders were concerned about not being defeated by a woman, and Susanna was concerned about not ruining her chastity; the demons prepared a reward for victory, and for Susanna the angels prepared a reward for chastity. The lawless people hold Susanna and, first of all, compete with her in words. What are they saying? We are the elders of the people, we are entrusted with the law, we have the power to bind and decide. Here no one will see: “Behold, the doors of the garden are locked and no one sees us, and we lust for you, so agree with us and stay with us. If not, then we will testify against you, that there was a young man with you, and that is why you sent your maidservants away from you” (Dan. 13:20-21). And look how many difficulties surrounded Susanna: slander due to intemperance, fear of death, publicity among the whole people, hatred of her husband, hatred of her relatives, annoyance from her family, and, in a word, indignation of the whole house. But none of this could defeat the chaste woman’s reason: hope in God lived in her heart. And she said, moaning: “I’m cramped everywhere; for if I do this, death is mine, and if I do not, I will not escape from your hands. It is better for me not to do this and to fall into your hands than to sin against the Lord” (Dan. 13:22-23). Alas, for me, whom I considered to be shepherds, I see wolves in them; whom I considered a haven for the overwhelmed, they cause me shipwreck. Do not desecrate my chastity, I will not bring shame to my parents, I will not dishonor my family, I will not upset my husband, I will not destroy my marriage with him by unholy conversation with you: I will prefer a lawless death to a lawless bed. For me, a husband exists not only in physical contact, but also in the disposition of the soul, and I always contain the traits of my parents within myself. Fear God, who sees us, be ashamed of the angels present; think about what you are doing; remember the law that you read and which says: “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife” (Deut. 5:21). Having said this, she screamed, calling for witnesses to their violence, and the elders screamed with her; Susanna's slaves and maids came running and saw two elders with her. “And when the elders spoke their words against Susanna, her servants were exceedingly ashamed, for nothing like this had ever been said about Susanna” (Dan. 13:27). The next morning there was a great meeting: there was still a legal contest or victory about the wreath. All the people gathered - men, women, children; the spectacle began again; the people below did not know what they were witnessing, but in heaven the angels knew the very thing. The elders came, full of lawlessness; they call on Susanna, as they thought, to shame and death, but as it was predetermined by the righteous Judge - to life and eternal glory. “And they said before the people, Send for Susanna the daughter of Hilkiah, the wife of Joachim. And they sent it. And she came, and her parents, and her children, and all her relatives” (Dan. 13:29, 30). And Susanna came, as one who had to die for chastity, groaning with great grief and mourning, not because she had to die, but because she was leaving a disgraced name for her parents, because she had to leave a reproach for the family, because she did not have a single witness to what happened in the garden. Many mourned her - friends, acquaintances, parents, neighbors; the husband was sad; her house mourned, and she herself was shocked; gloomy, crying, grieving, in great contrition of heart she stood before the meeting. The spectacle was universal - God, people, and angels (took part in it). Two elders rise up, these wolves in the form of shepherds, lay their hands on her, and the slandering serpent speaks through their mouths. What is he saying? “When we were walking through the garden alone, this one came in with two maids and closed the doors of the garden, and sent the maids away; and the young man who was hiding there came to her and lay with her. We were in the corner of the garden and seeing such lawlessness, we ran at them and saw them copulating, and we could not hold him back, because he was stronger than us and, opening the doors, jumped out. But we grabbed this one and interrogated: who was this young man? but she didn't want to tell us. We bear witness to this. And the congregation believed them, as elders of the people and judges, and they condemned her to death” (Dan. 13:36–41). And they led Susanna to death, and no one stood up for the truth, no one acted as a witness, except God alone. He allowed the former to happen so that both sides would bring their work to the end, the lawless with their malice and slander, and blessed Susanna with her firmness in chastity until death. Do you see how long God allows? He leaves the righteous in temptation, testing them like gold in a crucible, just as He did with Abraham. Isaac was led to the burnt offering, the altar was built, the wood was stacked, but the sheep were nowhere to be found. The father takes the knife, but there is no sheep; raises his hand to strike, and then only God stops his hand with His voice. I said this so that each of you, when he falls into temptation, even if he is already close to death, does not despair of God’s help, but expects it to the end. So Susanna was already being led to her death and there was no help from anywhere. When she saw that help from people was impossible, she turns her thoughts to the faithful Witness in heaven, to the unsleeping Eye, and exclaims: “Eternal God, who knows the unseen and knows everything before his existence! You know that they bore false witness against me, and behold, I am dying without having done anything that these people have maliciously dreamed up against me” (Dan. 13:42–43). And he heard her say: “You will cry, and He will say: Here I am!” (Isa.58:9). “And when she was led to death, God aroused the holy spirit of a young man named Daniel, and he cried out with a loud voice: I am clean from her blood! Then all the people turned to him and said, “What is this word that you have spoken?” Then he stood in the midst of them and said, “Are you so foolish, O children of Israel, that you have condemned the daughter of Israel without examining or knowing the truth?” Return to court, for these have testified falsely against her. And immediately all the people returned, and the elders said to them: Sit down among us and tell us, because God has given you the eldership. And Daniel said to them: Separate them far from each other, and I will question them. When they were separated from one another, he called one of them and said to him: he who has grown old in evil days! Now your sins have been revealed, which you committed before, carrying out unjust judgments, condemning the innocent and justifying the guilty, while the Lord says: “Thou shalt not put to death the innocent and the righteous.” So, if you saw this, tell me, under what tree did you see them talking to each other? He said: under mastic. Daniel said: Surely, you lied on your head; for behold, the Angel of God, having received a decision from God, will cut you in half. Having removed him, he ordered another to be brought and said to him: the tribe of Canaan, not Judah! beauty has deceived you, and lust has corrupted your heart. This is what you did to the daughters of Israel, and they had fellowship with you out of fear; but the daughter of Judah did not tolerate your iniquity. So tell me: under what tree did you find them talking to each other? He said: under the green oak tree. Daniel said to him: Indeed, you have lied on your own head; for the Angel of God with a sword is waiting to cut you in half, to destroy you. Then the whole congregation cried out with a loud voice, and blessed God, who saveth them that trust in Him, and rose up against the two elders, because Daniel through their mouth rebuked them that they had testified falsely; and they dealt with them as they had plotted against their neighbors, according to the law of Moses, and killed them; and innocent blood was saved that day” (Dan. 13:45–62). And what David said on behalf of Susanna was fulfilled: “My soul clings to You, and Your right hand receives me,” i.e. the lawless elders, “and they sought (the destruction) of my soul in vain - they will descend into the underworld of the earth,” because the angel of God with a sword in his hands is waiting for them to cut them, “they will be given over to the sword, they will be prey for foxes. “The king will rejoice in God” - Susanna’s husband; “Whoever swears by Him will be glorified,” that is, who believes in Him, “for the mouths of those who speak lies are stopped,” the unrighteous lips of the wicked elders (Ps. 62:9-12). Then her parents' grief turned into joy; the husband rejoiced, glorifying God; her relatives rejoiced, her neighbors had fun, her whole house celebrated, and - in a word - it was a nationwide holiday for God, and for angels, and for people. Have you seen a man's soul in a woman's body? Have you seen female chastity, the memory of which remains eternal with victory? This woman is glorified before men, exalted before angels, crowned by God; Imitate her, wives, so that with her you too may receive honor from God in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. The paragraphs in the text were arranged by us. – Editorial staff of “ABC of Faith” Translation by P. Yungerov – Editorial office of “The ABC of Faith” You might be interested in: