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Matthew 1:20. “But when he thought this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said: Joseph, son of David! Do not be afraid to receive Mary your wife, for what is born in her is of the Holy Spirit.” “Why are righteous people rewarded with heavenly visions at night, during sleep, and not during the day, while awake? The reason, it seems, should be the following: the Lord, according to the plans of His highest wisdom, reveals His miracles only in cases of extreme need and mostly shows His economy in a natural way. The appearance of celestial beings in a dream to righteous people is a very common and natural thing: the soul of such people communicates with the invisible world in a dream, because its connection with the body at this time is weakest and can comfortably perceive the subtle influence of the spiritual world. Meanwhile, during the day, in a waking state, righteous people are more or less surrounded by the vanity of the world, which does not allow the soul to fully ascend the mountain and converse with the bright spirits of the heavenly world. Only a special, miraculous action of God’s grace can completely direct them into the heavenly region and give them the full opportunity to contemplate the world of spirits! If you want an edifying conversation with the inhabitants of heaven, keep yourself in perfect purity day and night, and, like Joseph and other righteous people, you will be rewarded with the appearance of the inhabitants of the heavenly world, who carefully monitor our life, like brothers, directing it so that we become worthy of their holy community here, but especially there, in heaven” [1, 61]. Matthew 1:21. “She will give birth to a Son, and you will call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” “Christian hope is our hope in Christ and in the eternal bliss promised to us by Christ. He is the end of our desire: He will save His people from their sins [Matt. 1:21]. “I would be glad to go to heaven, but sins are not allowed in,” say many Christians who have no idea about Christian hope, as if sins are some kind of unbreakable wall. No: I will say that our Savior Jesus Christ destroyed it with the cross and death and opened the paradise of God to the repentant. This is where we stand to teach how to hope in Christ, because not every hope is Christian, true, saving. We will show the properties of Christian hope: its solidity, firmness and completeness and those signs by which one can know whether there is Christian hope in us; Let us show that Christian hope breathes through prayer like air, is supported and strengthened by the life-giving Mysteries, reading or listening to the Word of God and the writings of St. fathers, each by his own good deeds. Here we will reveal that since a Christian is a free and rational being, created in the image and likeness of God, but also fallen (by his own will) or removed from God through iniquity, he must himself, through faith, hope and love, approach his Prototype. We advise every Christian to carefully consider what in him actually constitutes a god-like and immortal person; we ask him to pay attention to his heart, listen to its demands, which very often appear before a person’s consciousness, and satisfy them without delay. Our heart requires faith in God and union with Him, in Whom it finds peace and bliss, but it is also seduced, through the action of the dark spirit and innate corruption, by all earthly blessings, which do not constitute its peace, life and bliss, but only sorrow and torment. To unite this heart with faith and hope with Christ - this is our last desire when talking with you about hope; to interrupt your hope for earthly blessings: for people, for honors, for wealth, for the pleasures of sensuality - this is our only desire. We drown in sins and often become discouraged, despair, and perish from their multitude; to turn everyone's eyes to our hope - Christ the Savior - in all sins, in all sorrows, in all the vicissitudes of life, happiness and misfortune, to show that He is the God of the repentant and the Savior of those who sin - this is our desire. To show in Christ our life, our bliss, our light, our wealth, food, drink, everything, and throughout our lives to teach everyone to strive for Him as the end of all our desires - this is what we desire most. Jesus is the Source, always living. I would like to bring you to the point where each of you from the heart calls Jesus your Jesus, your Savior. God forbid that we should have to exclaim: Lord! Who believes our hearing and opens the arm of the Lord to whom? [In. 12 (Isa. 53:1)]” [5, vol. 2, 521]. You might be interested in: