Глава 25

Matthew 25:1. “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.” Matthew 25:2. “Of them, five were wise and five were foolish.” Matthew 25:3. “When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them.” Matthew 25:4. “The wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.” Matthew 25:5. “And as the groom slowed down, everyone dozed off and fell asleep.” Matthew 25:6. “But at midnight a cry was heard: behold, the groom is coming, go out to meet him.” Matthew 25:7. “Then all the virgins stood up and trimmed their lamps.” Matthew 25:8. “The foolish said to the wise, Give us your oil, for our lamps are going out.” Matthew 25:9. “And the wise answered: So that there is no shortage for both us and you, you had better go to those who sell and buy for yourself.” Matthew 25:10. “When they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding, and the door was shut;” Matthew 25:11. “Afterwards the other virgins came and said: God! God! open to us." Matthew 25:12. “And he answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. » Matthew 25:13. “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man will come.” “When the enemy fails to occupy a Christian on the path of salvation with sorrows and hardships, poverty and various misfortunes, he rushes to the other extreme: he fights him with health, peace, tranquility, relaxation of the heart, mental insensibility of spiritual blessings or the richness of external life. Oh, how dangerous is that last state! it is more dangerous than the first state, the state of sorrow and cramped conditions, the state of illness, etc. Here we easily forget God, we cease to feel His mercies, we doze and sleep spiritually. I will touch the bridegroom, take a nap, and fall asleep. At midnight there was a cry: Behold the bridegroom is coming, go ye out to meet him [Matt. 25:5, 6]. And in sorrows, we involuntarily constantly turn to God for salvation, we constantly feel that God is the God of our salvation. God save that He is our belly, our breath, our light, our strength. Thus, it is better for a Christian to live in some kind of sorrow” [5, vol. 1, 192]. “The theater lulls Christian life, destroys it, giving the life of Christians the character of pagan life. I all took a nap and slept [Matt. 25:5 ], by the way, this disastrous dream also produces theater in people. And then what? Sciences taught in a pagan spirit, worldly concerns, extremely intense, covetousness, ambition, voluptuousness. Theater is the school of this world and the prince of this world - the devil; and sometimes he transforms into an angel of light [2 Cor. 11:14 ], in order to more conveniently seduce the short-sighted, sometimes he will apparently turn in a moral play, so that they will repeat and trumpet about the theater that it is a very educational thing and is worth visiting no less than the church, and perhaps even more: because in the church it is the same thing, but in the theater there is a variety of plays, and scenery, and costumes, and characters” [5, vol. 2, 354]. "And spare me the devil's haste. The devil is in a hurry, in an incredible hurry, catching a person in order to destroy him forever, and people doze, are inactive and sleep in their everyday vanity, in their addictions, selfishness, gluttonous, prodigal, gambling (theater and cards), fashionable, literary, sleepy and all kinds, and - they perish in thousands, like flies from fly agarics. Hurry, hurry, Christians, to save your souls, while there is time, while the Lord waits and is patient, until the doors of the Kingdom of Heaven are shut. He is in a hurry to save the faithful, attentive and ready! Every hour, every minute, the Lord, my Shepherd, is in a hurry and I will not need anything: He makes me lie down in green pastures and leads me to still waters, strengthens my soul, guides me on the paths of righteousness for the sake of His Name (Ps. 22:1-31). salvation! [6, 55]. “Do not have any partiality not only for food and drink, for clothing, for a spacious and well-decorated home, for rich household utensils, but also for your health, even for your life, do not have the slightest partiality, having surrendered your whole life to the will of the Lord, saying: For me, if I live, I have Christ, and if I die, I have gain (Phil. 1:21). Hate your soul in this world, but you will keep it for eternity (John 12:25). Addiction to temporary life, to health leads to many deviations from the commandments of God, to indulgence of the flesh, to breaking fasts, to evading the conscientious performance of service duties, to despondency, impatience, and irritability. Never sleep in the evening before the evening rule, lest your heart become white from untimely sleep, and lest the enemy prohibit it with petrified insensibility in prayer. Be sober and watchful (1 Peter 5:8). Watch and pray, so that you do not fall into misfortune (Matthew 26:41). Watch out, for you do not know the hour of the day, in the same day the Son of Man will come (Matthew 25:13). Be on the lookout: you don’t know when the Lord will come home, evening, or midnight, or at the sound of a loop, or morning: lest he come suddenly, he will find you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to everyone: watch (Mark 13:35–37)” [5, vol. 1, 197]. “So, let us strengthen ourselves by the grace of God while we have time and until our sins completely weaken us. For the time will soon come, or perhaps is already coming, when everyone will indulge in drowsiness and sleep, everyone will weaken morally, when faith will become impoverished, and love will dry up, and lawlessness will spill over the earth like a sea. But then it will be too late to improve. For a voice will be heard: Behold, the Bridegroom comes, come ye out to meet Him (Matthew 25:6); The Archangel's trumpet will sound, gathering all people living and resurrected from the dead to the place of the general Last Judgment, at which the final righteous sentence will be pronounced either to eternal life or to eternal torment. Amen" [9, 202]. “But let’s leave them. Let us turn again to ourselves: don’t you and I sometimes all, one way or another, refuse the Great Supper? Are we not resisting the Lord, who calls us into His Kingdom to enjoy spiritual, eternal, perfect blessings? Oh, how often we resist the Lord, who thirsts for our salvation! Which of us keeps His commandments perfectly? Who keeps himself carefully from all sin? Who tries to fulfill every Christian virtue, or which Christian practices even one virtue primarily and diligently? We all slumber and sleep spiritually. When will we wake up? Then, when the voice is heard: Behold, the Bridegroom comes, go ye out to meet Him (Matthew 25:6)? Let us arise, let us arise, my brothers and sisters, from the heavy sleep of sin and let us be awake, sober, constantly testing our faith and our deeds: is faith in Christ alive in us, or has it not died long ago? Are our deeds good, meaningful, Christian? Can we give a good answer to them at the Judgment of Christ? Let us especially beware of being partial to worldly so-called goods, for addiction to them extinguishes the lamps of our souls; cools our hearts towards God and neighbor and is the cause of many sins” [9, 355]. “The enemy, unable to trap a Christian on the path of salvation with sorrows and hardships, poverty and various other deprivations, illnesses and various misfortunes, rushes to the other extreme; he fights it with health, peace, bliss, relaxation of the heart, mental insensibility of spiritual blessings or the wealth and space of external and internal life. ABOUT! How dangerous is this last state! It is more dangerous than the first state, the state of grief and cramped conditions, the state of illness and other things. Here we easily forget God, stop feeling His mercy, doze off and sleep spiritually. I will touch the groom, take a nap and sleep. At midnight there was a cry: Behold, the bridegroom comes, go ye out to meet him (Matthew 25:5-6). And sorrows keep us, so to speak, on a leash from God: we constantly involuntarily turn to Him for salvation and constantly feel that God is the God of our salvation. God saves (Ps. 67:20–21). It is good for a Christian to live in some kind of sorrow: then more often you turn to God with all your heart and more often you experience in Christ the Savior that He is our life, our breath, our light, our strength” [10, 266]. Matthew 25:14. “For He will act like a man who, going to a foreign country, called his servants and entrusted to them his property:” Matthew 25:15. “And to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability; and immediately set off." "Ch. 25, art. 14–15. He will act like a man who, going to a foreign country, called his slaves and entrusted them with his property (land, life, health, abilities); and to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his strength; and immediately set off. The man departing is the Lord, who ascended into heaven and has to come to take an account from His servants - all people - about how they used His property. It is remarkable that the number of talents is adjusted by the Distributor to the forces of those who receive the talents. No one should complain that you have been given little; you have been given according to your strength. If they gave you more, you wouldn’t be able to bear it and would become spoiled” [1, 131]. “Have you heard, beloved brethren, from the Gospel now read, the Savior’s parable about the talents? This parable is very instructive. Everyone needs to know its meaning and remember it always. Incline your ears. This is its meaning. It talks about slaves to whom a master, going to a distant place, entrusted his estate: and to one he gave five talents, to another two, to a third one, to each according to his ability (See: Matt. 25:14-30). Please note. We, the people, are these slaves. This lord is our Lord Jesus Christ, our Creator, the Distributor of talents, who ascended from us into heaven, who sits at the right hand of the Father and who again has to come to earth to judge the living and the dead. Possessions or talents are mental powers and abilities, as well as physical powers, which God has given us and with which in this century we do everything, which we put into circulation and through which, according to our skill and diligence, we increase our spiritual wealth. Talents should also mean that service in society that God has entrusted to each person, depending on his abilities, or the material wealth that someone has. According to the meaning of the parable, whoever has received more talents from the Lord must naturally do more good for others, must improve himself more in the present life, for the future life - and whoever has fewer will be required to give less account. They will demand from an ordinary person: whether he worked conscientiously and conducted his affairs; Did the rich man not accumulate his wealth by deception, cunning, intrigues or games, interest, did he live himself and raise his children in the fear of God? Did you fulfill the Christian duty of prayer, was you sanctified by the Sacraments, did you give alms? Everyone will bear his own burden. The priest will be required to account for his service, teaching and life: whether he taught faith and good life to his flock, whether he raised them for eternal life” [9, 265]. Matthew 25:18. “The one who received one talent went and buried it in the ground and hid his master’s money.” “Remember, brothers, who you are, how insignificant you are. You have only recently existed in the world, and you have been given a very short period of time of existence by the goodness of God the Creator, and you will soon have to leave this world, just as your fathers, brothers, friends and known ones left it: you will not be again. Take advantage of this moment of life given to you by God, use it for what it was given for: preparing yourself for eternal bliss in Jesus Christ. Do not hide the talents entrusted to you by God to increase and increase your future bliss in the earth (cf. Matthew 25:18)" [10, 418]. Matthew 25:21. “His master said to him: Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful in small things, I will put you over many things; enter into the joy of your master." “God sent you such an easy test of your hope - and you couldn’t stand it and fell. How do you insult the Creator God by whom you live, move and have your being? What if He had demanded of you the feat of martyrdom: would you not have completely despaired then, would there have been a measure then for your cowardice and timidity? About a little you were not faithful (Matthew 25:21): how could you endure much? - But look how merciful the Lord is, how He strengthens those who have even faint hope in Him, how He forgives for the sake of His Body and Blood our base cowardice! You took communion, and after communion your mind and your heart were strengthened: you found hope and, out of hope, you successfully completed the unsuccessfully begun and continued service. The Lord even took away fear and torment from your hopeless heart! It’s scary and strange how hope and hopelessness change in me! Why is there such blindness in me, such inconstancy! Apparently, only living faith and hope in God make us constant, courageous, as can be seen in the saints, martyrs, saints and righteous people. – October 19. Look, soon the arrows of God’s wrath will reach you too” [2, 249]. “Our varied earthly service to the Tsar and the Fatherland is an image of the main thing, which must continue forever, of our service to the Heavenly King. First of all, we are obliged to serve Him faithfully, as His true servants through creation, redemption and providence. Do the servants of the earthly fatherland think about this? But you need to think. Earthly service is a testing, preparatory service for service in heaven. For a little while you were faithful: I will set you over many [Matt. 25:21]" [5, vol. 1, 162]. “Why is impatience in a small, insignificant matter, one simple movement of the heart towards impatience, already a sin and is punished internally immediately? Equally, why is every instantaneous movement of the heart towards sin considered a sin and punished immediately? Because impatience in small things is a precondition for impatience in many things, it leads to impatience in great things, for the human soul is a simple being, and one instant movement of the heart towards sin is already sin. So, since every small sin leads to a big one, it is always punished at the very beginning and must be crushed. You have been faithful for a few things, I will set you over many, enter into the joy of your Lord [Matt. 25:21]. How big is this? Eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and the heart of man has not sighed, what God has prepared for those who love Him [1 Cor. 2:9]" [5, vol. 1, 224]. Matthew 25:23. “His master said to him: Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful over a few things; I will make you ruler over many things: enter into the joy of your master.” “But listen further to the parables. He who received five talents (the weight of silver) from the master went and began to work and acquired five more talents with them; the one who received two acquired the other two, and the one who received one took it and buried his master’s talent in the ground, that is, he lived his whole life in reckless, unforgivable laziness, ate, drank, had fun, enriched himself by all possible means, just to live happily here; but I didn’t care about that life, about faith, about prayer, about good deeds. It is clear that his talent is buried in the ground, since our talents, that is, our heart, our mental abilities, are not an earthly treasure, but a spiritual one, and they should not lie in the ground, not only be used for earthly things, but with their help we need to become accustomed to heavenly, holy morals and acquire eternal life. Do not hide for yourselves treasures on earth, where worms and aphids decay, says the Lord, and where they dig up and steal. Hide for yourselves a treasure in heaven, where neither worm nor aphid corrupts, and where things are not broken into nor stolen (Matt. 6:19–20), (that is, do good deeds not for the earth and earthly, worldly benefits, but for heaven, for God, for eternity). So, honor, brethren, to the servants who received five and two talents and increased the master's property; - shame, extreme shame for someone who received one talent and, out of laziness and stubbornness, buried it in the ground. And there are many of these people unworthy of the name of man who bury their talent in the ground, who only drink, eat, have fun, deceive, steal, and so on. But look what awaits these and other slaves: the time is coming to give an account of how the master’s silver was used. The master comes, that is, the Lord, who ascended into heaven, comes to the Last Judgment to demand an account from His servants. His servants appear, to whom talents have been entrusted. The one who received five talents comes up and shows the Master ten talents; then the one who accepted two comes and shows four. The Lord, approving each of them for their increase, says: well, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful in small things, I will put you over many things; enter into the joy of your Master (cf. Matt. 25:23) then the one who accepted one talent comes up, and what? “Having done nothing in the absence of the Master, when this Master came, the lazy servant speaks impudently to Him, calling Him a cruel man, who reaps as if where he did not sow, and gathers where he did not squander. Isn’t that what they say, brethren, all lazy, unkind, unfaithful Christians, who, in excuse of their unforgivable laziness to work for good, to educate themselves in the spirit of the Christian faith, lay their blame on faith, on the Church, on the Lord Himself, calling the precepts of faith difficult, inconvenient to fulfill, and daring to call the good Lord somehow cruel, demanding the almost impossible! O lazy slaves! Look at your brothers who received five and two talents: they will reprove you. How they have multiplied their talents, how they do not say anything like this to their Master” [9, 266]. Matthew 25:24. “The one who had received one talent came up and said: Master! I knew you that you were a cruel man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you did not scatter.” Matthew 25:25. “And being afraid, you went and hid your talent in the ground; Here's yours." Matthew 25:26. “His master answered him: “You wicked and lazy servant!” You knew that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter;" Matthew 25:27. “Therefore you should have given my silver to the merchants, and I, when I came, would have received mine with profit;” “But look, brethren, what the lazy servant next says to the Lord: since You are such and such a Master, he says, I was afraid and went and hid Your talent in the ground: here is Yours. In the ground: where is it? Where, if not in your sinful flesh, having exhausted your strength and ability to satisfy your passions. Come, brothers, to the tomb of the lazy man and sigh heavily, heavily; here you will see his only talent buried in the ground; He did nothing for heaven, he took everything with him to the ground. You said the truth, poor man, a man worthy of eternal tears! But here is the verdict of the righteous Judge for him and those like him: wicked and lazy servant! You knew that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter; Therefore, you should have given My silver to the merchants, and I, having come, would have received Mine with profit (cf. Matthew 25:26–27). How can the Lord not demand from Christians the profit of good deeds, when He gave all the treasures of His helping and all-effective grace to help them? how can He not demand profit from a Christian - for his own eternal bliss, when the Lord’s tree bears abundant fruit every year, when grain brings profit to the field” [9, 268]. “We must remember that the devil has a habit of being very cunning over us when we take food and drink with greed and haste: he always tries to use it as a means to overeating and drunkenness, for where there is addiction and recklessness, it is easy to go beyond the limit and easily bind oneself with the initially pleasant, but then heavy shackles of food and drink. The Lord, who created everything by number, measure and weight (Wed: Wis. 11:21), gave reason to man so that he would do everything judiciously, in number, measure and weight, so that he would always consume food and drink judiciously, in number and measure, and not according to one blind impulse of nature, like animals. Everyone who is greedy must also remember that the body cruelly punishes with illnesses those people who have turned food and drink into the purpose of life, into the enjoyment of life and use it beyond measure: they often become ill in body and soul and die prematurely; and most importantly, even during life, their soul becomes like the souls of dumb animals, turns away from God, for it cleaves to food, and after death, it is condemned to torment as having voluntarily become like dumb animals, having neglected the growth of spiritual talents (See: Matt. 25:24-30) and having mocked the image of God” [10, 109]. “What does the Holy Church instill in us when, both at home prayer and in church, she puts prayers into our mouths on behalf of everyone, and not from one person? – Instills in us unceasing mutual love, so that we always and in everything, in prayer and in everyday life, love each other as ourselves; so that we, imitating God in the Three Persons who make up the Highest Unity, may ourselves be one composed of many. - That they all may be one: as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us (John 17:21). - Prayer is common, on behalf of everyone - and in life it teaches us to share everyday needs with others, so that in life we ​​have everything in common and, as it were, one, so that mutual love is visible in everything, also so that everyone uses his abilities for the benefit of others, whoever he can, and does not hide his talent in the ground (cf. Matthew 25:25) - would not be selfish and lazy. - You are wise - give advice to the unwise; smart, educated - teach the ignorant; strong - help the powerless; rich - help the poor" [11, 29]. Matthew 25:28. “So take his talent and give it to him who has ten talents,” Matthew 25:29. “For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance, but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.” Matthew 25:30. “But throw the worthless slave into outer darkness: there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Having said this, he exclaimed: “Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear!” “Both the mental and physical powers of a person are improved, multiplied and strengthened by their exercise. Exercise your hand often in writing, in sewing, in knitting - you will improve your hand, as they say: you will write, sew, knit well; Practice composing more often - you will compose easily and well; practice doing good deeds or conquering passions and temptations - and over time you will do the deeds of virtue easily and sweetly, you will overcome passions conveniently with the help of the all-pervading grace of God. But if you don’t write, sew, knit, or write, sew, or knit rarely, you will write, sew, and knit poorly; do not compose anything or compose very rarely, live in only the material worries of life - and, perhaps, it will be difficult to put together a few words, especially about something spiritual: the assigned composition will be an Egyptian work; do not pray or pray rarely - prayer will be disgusting and heavy for you, like a five-pound weight; do not fight on passions or fight only occasionally and weakly - and it will be very difficult to fight them, you will often be defeated by them; You will have no peace from them and you will poison your life with them, without learning to defeat these domestic, evil, internal enemies who are always sitting in your heart. So everyone needs work and activity: life without activity is not life, but something ugly, some kind of ghost of life. Therefore, the constant, persistent struggle against the laziness of the flesh is the duty of every person; God forbid every Christian from indulging her. Those who are Christ's are the lazy, evil, sin-loving flesh that has been crucified with its passions and lusts [Gal. 5:24]. To the one who has, there will be given everywhere, and he will have more; but from the one who has not, even though he thinks he has, it will be taken [Matt. 25:29]" [5, vol. 1, 130]. “Human alms are suspicious: they are afraid not to give to someone who has, or not to give much. But the mercy of the Lord is not like this: the Lord is good to everyone, and His compassion is in all His deeds [Ps. 144:9 ]; to the one who has, says the Lord, it will be given, and he will have it in abundance, but from the one who has not, and thinks he has, it will be taken from him [Matt. 25:29]" [5, vol. 2, 414]. “Truly, the Lord requires a worthy profit: and it is a sin, a grave sin for a Christian not to create the fruit of virtue in life and to remain a barren fig tree, only occupying space in vain. Finally, listen to the trial of the lazy slave. The Lord says: therefore, take the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten talents, for to everyone who has it will be given and he will have an abundance, but from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away; but throw the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 25:28–30). Fear, brothers, embraces the soul when you think that among Christians there are many lazy slaves who live carelessly, in pleasure, and do not at all think about this terrible, eternal outer darkness, where incessant weeping and gnashing of teeth awaits them. God! Do Your will with us! We pray to You that all lazy servants may turn to You in repentance and virtue. If not, then they are truly worthy of Your formidable but righteous Judgment. He who has ears to hear, let him hear! (Matthew 25:30) Amen” [9, 269]. Matthew 25:31. “When the Son of Man comes in His glory and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory,” Matthew 25:32. “And all nations will be gathered before Him; and will separate one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats;" Matthew 25:33. “And He will put the sheep on His right hand, and the goats on His left.” Matthew 25:34. “Then the King will say to those on His right hand: Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:” Matthew 25:35. “For I was hungry, and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger and you accepted Me." Matthew 25:36. “I was naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me." Matthew 25:37. “Then the righteous will answer Him: Lord! when did we see you hungry and feed you? or to the thirsty, and gave them something to drink?” Matthew 25:38. “When did we see You as a stranger and accept You? or naked and clothed?” Matthew 25:39. “When did we see You sick, or in prison, and came to You?” Matthew 25:40. “And the King will answer them, “Truly I say to you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did it to Me.” Matthew 25:41. “Then He will also say to those on the left hand: Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:” Matthew 25:42. “For I was hungry, and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty, and you gave Me no drink;" Matthew 25:43. “I was a stranger, and they did not accept Me; I was naked, and they did not clothe Me; sick and in prison, and they did not visit Me.” Matthew 25:44. “Then they too will answer Him: Lord! When did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not serve You? Matthew 25:45. “Then he will answer them, “Truly I say to you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.” Matthew 25:46. “And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into everlasting life.” "Verses 31 and 32. When the Son of Man comes... all nations will be gathered before Him... All nations will be gathered before the Judge of the whole world, that is, all the nations that were from the beginning of the world until the second coming, and all in a changed form, incorruptible, subtle. At this Judgment, works of mercy are justified and bring blessed immortality. Remember this always and do not be lazy in giving alms" [1, 131]. “A malignant and vain blindness covers the heartfelt eyes of Christians, and not Christians especially. What kind of blindness? The one that people forget about the perishability, impermanence and disappearance of all material goods: beauty and physical health; earthly wealth; food and drink that delight the larynx; earthly awards and honors; shows and various games, works of art. People do not think or think very little about eternal life and about the heavenly, incorruptible mansions prepared for those who love God from the creation or before the creation of the world (cf. Matthew 25:34). Only a few out of many strove for this latter with all their souls, for many are called, but few are chosen (cf. Luke 14:24). Be gone, heart blindness; give me, Lord, clear eyes of heart, so that I can clearly see the eternal blessings You have prepared for me” [4, 40]. "Come, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world (Matthew 25:34). What do you say, Lord, come, inherit... Your words are completely true and true. The immeasurable goodness of God has prepared for us an eternal, incorruptible kingdom, where there is no need, sickness, sorrow and sighing, corruption and death, but eternal pleasure, eternal joy and truth. And we of little faith and vain, we are not jealous, we are careless about this kingdom in which the righteous will reign forever with God and in God. Oh, how blind we are, partial to the visible and temporary! How pitiful and stupid we are, senseless! “Do good to the poor willingly, without suspiciousness, doubt and petty inquisitiveness, remembering that in the person of the poor you are doing good to Christ Himself, according to what is written: Since you have made one of these least of my brethren, you have been created by Me [Matt. 25:40]. Know that your alms are always insignificant in comparison with man, this child of God; know that your alms are earth and dust; know that with material mercy, spiritual mercy must certainly go hand in hand: affectionate, brotherly treatment of one’s neighbor with sincere love; Don’t let him notice that you’re favoring him, don’t show him a proud look. Give, it is said, in simplicity, have mercy with good will [Rom. 12:8]. Be careful not to deprive your material alms of value by not giving spiritual ones. Know that the Lord will test good deeds at judgment. Remember that heaven and earth are for man, for to him is preserved an incorruptible inheritance in heaven [1 Pet. 1:4 ]; For man, God the Father did not spare His only begotten Son, but gave him up to death for him. The devil, through our cunning, stumbles us in our good deeds” [5, vol. 2, 413]. “Alms are a seed; if you want it to bear good and a hundredfold fruit, make this seed good, giving in simplicity and from a kind, merciful, compassionate heart, and be sure that you are not losing so much, or, better, not at all, but gaining infinitely more through perishable alms, if you give from a good heart, with faith in the Giver, and not from selfish or selfish types. To me, your Lord, do thou who have shown mercy to the only one of these least of my brethren [Matt. 25:40]" [5, vol. 2, 442]. “The Son of God did not come to be served, but to serve (our salvation) and to give His soul for the ransom of many (believers) (Matthew 20:28). Unbelievers will not be saved; and many of the Orthodox will not be saved for hard-heartedness and unmercifulness. Because you have not made one of these lesser brothers of mine, neither have you made one for Me (cf. Matt. 25:40 There are few who are saved. Many are called, but few are chosen. Not a single man of those called will taste My supper (Luke 14:24) for their addiction to this life and for their unbelief and coldness towards God and the weakness of their hearts (Wed: Isa. 6:10). 8:20)" [4, 37]. “Look, a man who is hard and coarse in soul, carnal, stony, a man with an unrepentant heart: you are heaping trouble on your own head. Sooner or later you will die; after death, the righteous judgment of the greatest Judge immediately awaits you, and then, also, in all likelihood, not after a very long time, the Last General Judgment, the great day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God to the whole world. What will you do then, where will you be? I am afraid for you, unfortunate one: and it’s scary to imagine this greatest day in time. I am horrified at the thought of the final Judgment. Here, with my mind, I contemplate the terrible and radiant Judge, before whom all heaven, all the angelic authorities stand in fear, the omniscient Judge, who does not need to convey who is guilty of what among the defendants, the all-righteous Judge, who will reward everyone according to their deeds and who will say to sinners: “I gave my only begotten, my beloved Son to die for you, to make you a holy people, the royal priesthood, new people, and you were not ashamed to commit lawlessness even when this My Only Begotten Son from the Cross, drenched in blood, tormented, completely exhausted for your sake, called you to put off the old man, which is decaying in the lusts of deceit, and to put on the new man, created by God in the righteousness and honor of the truth. I did everything for your eternal well-being, but you were so tough and unrepentant that you did not want to use the invaluable gifts of My goodness: so go where you have been going all your life - to eternal Tartarus, to eternal torment. I have no place for such worthless creatures. Depart from Me, O curse, into eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41). Tribulation and distress on every soul of a person who does evil" (Rom. 2:9)" [1, 94]. “For the sake of the atoning death of the God-man, the whole world stands for the world and all centuries stand indestructibly, for this hour of innocent, atoning death; The Lord is patient with all the lawless, the blasphemers, the traitors to the faith and the Church during this hour; hell has not yet opened its terrible mouth to swallow the unrepentant, as it is said: Depart from Me, you cursed, into everlasting fire... and these shall go away into everlasting torment... (Matthew 25:41–46)” [6, 61]. “All unbelieving and unrepentant sinners await eternal punishment, eternal torment prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41), and rightly so, because they did evil and fulfilled his evil and destructive will. Each of us experiences within ourselves the punishment for sin: confusion, sorrow and oppression (Rom. 2:9)” [6, 119]. “God gave you His generous gifts in order to send them through your hands to others in need: the gifts of God, and not yours, even when you possess them, having collected them in the service through your labors or having received them as an inheritance. You will say: I worked. What can I say? We are all born to work, and this is not your merit: by the sweat of your brow you shall bear your bread (Gen. 3:19), it is said. But the fact is that you work and receive more than enough for your labors, while others work more than you and are much harder than you, and receive little reward for their labors. Don’t you see how God is righteous in His words and in His deeds and is sufficient, but He will generously punish the stingy for withholding His generous gifts and not giving them to His lesser brethren (cf. Matthew 25:40)? Yes, everything is God’s, and only our self-love and self-interest ascribes to God – he uses it for himself and selfishly and considers it a great favor for his neighbors when he sacrifices something a little for them; Only the devil, the eternal liar and deceiver, blasphemes through us the ever-glorious and glorified name of our God, generous and merciful, through our covetousness, unsociability and stinginess. He, who has nothing, and especially not even a shadow of love or any goodness, always tries to instill in us dislike and unsociability towards each other, he instills in us feelings of poverty, when we are rich, he does not tolerate cordiality and hospitality in us. But you, servant of God, always consider everything to be God’s, not yours, and do not stand when you have to sacrifice the gifts of the Lord to your brethren, lest you stop His bounty on yourself alone, lest you reward yourself beyond measure and beyond your merits, and lest you incur even greater punishment at the Judgment: for judgment is without mercy for him who has not shown mercy (James 2:13)” [8, 663]. “The Liturgy, during which this Sacrament is celebrated, depicts before us the entire life of Jesus Christ from His cradle to His Ascension into heaven; - and the Holy Mysteries reveal His personal presence, the immeasurable love of the Lord for His rational creation; and the sublime appearance of God in the flesh and image of man shows, my brethren, the dignity of human nature, created in the image of God, but humiliated, disfigured, weakened and mortified by sin. It assures us that if a person lives on earth righteously and holy, then he will be equal to the Angels and will live with them forever and rejoice for endless centuries; that with God, after the Mother of God and the holy Angels, there is no one else higher and dearer than man - the man to whom He was likened, for whom He suffered, died and was resurrected; that all heaven and the Kingdom of Heaven is the inheritance of man, and besides him there are no more heirs to whom it would be said: Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world (Matthew 25:34)” [9, 78]. “You must love your neighbor even more when he sins against God or against us, for then he is sick, then he is in spiritual trouble, in danger, then we must have mercy and pray for him and apply a healing plaster to his heart - a word of affection, admonition, reproof, consolation, forgiveness, love. Forgiving one another, as God in Christ also forgave you (cf. Col. 3:13). All sins and passions, fights and quarrels are truly mental illnesses: that’s how you need to look at them. Or all passions - a fire of the soul, a great fire raging inside, a fire emerging from the hellish abyss. It must be extinguished with the water of love, which is powerful to extinguish every hellish flame of anger and other passions. But woe and misfortune to us, to our self-love, when we increase this flame with a new hellish flame - with our own malice and irritability, and will thus be assistants to the spirits of malice (Eph. 6:12), who are intensifying at all times to produce all sorts of spiritual incenses in poor people through various passions. We incur the fire of hell for ourselves, and if we do not repent and continue to be wise in good and simple in evil (Rom. 16:19), then we will be condemned together with the devil and his angels to be tormented in the lake of fire (Cf. Matt. 25:41; Rev. 21:8). So, let us not allow ourselves to be overcome by evil, but let us overcome evil with good (cf. Rom. 12:21). We are damned people (Wed: Rom. 7:24)! How can we not yet learn to consider every sin as a great misfortune of our soul and to sympathize spiritually, sincerely, with love with those who fall into such misfortune! Why don’t we run from it, like from poison, like from a snake? Why are we stuck in it? Why do we not feel sorry for ourselves when we are exposed to any sin? Why do we not cry before the Lord, who created us (Wed: Ps. 95:6)" [10, 422]. “When a parishioner comes to you to call you to a service (especially if to a sick person for a farewell message or to a sick baby for a hasty Baptism), go immediately, complacently and willingly, and do not send him to another priest, although you are not the next one, except in those cases when you are busy with another necessary matter; Consider any service to the good of your neighbor as an acquisition, especially in his spiritual need, knowing firmly that you are serving Christ Himself, who will reward everyone according to his deeds (cf. Rev. 22:12). Since you have created only these least of these brothers of mine, you have created with me (Matthew 25:40), He says, “and if because of serving your neighbors you receive illness or are exposed to adversity, insult or misfortune, sorrow and need, consider this as the great mercy of the Lord, who thus merits you the happiness of having a lot among those who laid down their souls for their friends. (Wed: John 15:13) and the corresponding reward in heaven (Wed: Matt. 5:12)" [10, 170]. “There are strange people who consider it a sacred duty to visit strangers when they are ill, while they do not consider it a duty to visit their own during their illness; they help the poor of strangers and do not help their own; affectionate towards others and cold towards their own. What does it mean? What kind of transformation of the moral order is this? What kind of hypocrisy is this? - The Apostle says: those who are his own, much less provide for those close to them, have rejected the faith to eat, and hate to eat the infidel (1 Tim. 5:8). What does this strange behavior mean? The action of hidden malice, perhaps, towards one’s own? Is it a habit to them and, as a result of habit, neglect of them? – If there is malice, then we must try to immediately eradicate it from the heart, for malice is a property of the devil and no evil man-hater has any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and God. I tell you: evil! Rip out of your heart the malice towards your own or towards your own, you are torn away from them by the devil’s malice and the fear of getting close to them heartily, from the soul, with the voice of the heart, speak to them: do not be afraid, approach them, caress them from the heart with a word, a look, kindness of movements, an offer of services - and you will see in reality how good, peaceful, delightful your soul will be from such a course of action instead of the previous embarrassment, heaviness, the tightness of dissatisfaction with oneself is a clear sign of God’s favor towards you, as well as disfavour. If coldness towards your own people comes from habit and neglect: give up this bad habit, this is the devil’s deception. A Christian man is always the image of God, always a member of Christ, a temple of the Holy Spirit, always a priceless being, worthy of all respect and care. Remember Christ, who said: I was sick, and came to Me (cf. Matthew 25:36). You see: Christ is in every sick person, no matter who he is - one of his own or a stranger. Are you neglecting yours? “It’s a sin to you!” [10, 494]. “But in the name of God I beg you, take care of inheriting the Kingdom of Heaven, prepared for us even before the Creator created this beautiful world, take care with all your might to avoid eternal torment, which was also prepared from the foundation of the world for the devil and his angel (cf. Matthew 25:34, 41), and then for careless and unrepentant sinners. - Yes, we assure you with the Word of God: there will undoubtedly be eternal bliss for the righteous in heaven and eternal torment for unrepentant sinners in hell. Either believe it or don’t believe it: without your faith or disbelief, all this will happen. If you are unfaithful, then God is always true to Himself: He cannot deny Himself (cf. 2 Tim. 2:13) and will fulfill everything that He predicted” [10, 418]. “I thank You, Love for Mankind, for yesterday (May 18) you delivered me, a multi-passionate one, three times from darkness, sorrow, oppression and the burning of anger and contempt: the first time against the archpriest, the second - against the poor, and the third - also against them. With faith I applied the all-saving balm of Your name to my heart: and it cleansed, cooled and pacified my heart; only the first time it happened quickly and easily, the second time it was more difficult, and the third time it was much more difficult, according to what was said: Behold, you were healthy: let no one sin, lest it be worse (John 5:14). - Oh! I am a damned man (Rom. 7:24)! Why does anger still live in me, why hasn’t it died? - From satiety, from pride, from the secret confidence that others are nothing, dirt, that I am better and higher than others, when in fact I am the worst. But why do we despise beggars? They are in poverty because of the hard-heartedness of us rich people, and we also despise them. Do we give pennies and kopecks, and along with them we give them our malice and contempt? We give pennies and pennies, but for these pennies and pennies we are ready to eat them? Why are you hanging out here in front of our eyes, as if they can no longer stand in the church or porch? - Oh, we are damned self-lovers! Do we want food to inhabit the earth alone (cf. Isa. 5:8)? – No: the poor are always needed in society, and the Lord allows poverty. We need them, let us show them our Christian love, meekness, humility and generosity; let us know from bodily poverty our spiritual poverty; let us realize that we ourselves have brought nothing into this world and cannot take anything out (cf. 1 Tim. 6:7) - the poor are needed to expose our luxury and our hardness of heart and, finally, for what? - May we appear unrequited at the Last Judgment of Christ, may we justify God in His words, may He be victorious and never judge us (Compare: Ps. 50:6), and may He say: Depart from Me, curse, into eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angel: for you are hungry, and do not give Me food: you are thirsty, and Don’t give Me a drink: you are strange, and you don’t know Me (Matthew 25:41–43). These are our future judges. Don’t be angry: they are completely human, just like us. We are pleased to despise them, but God is righteously pleased to exalt them. – Why are we proud, earth and ashes (cf. Gen. 18:27)? – May 19, 1864. Tuesday" [11, 168]. “To those who are ashamed of the priestly blessing and the sign of the cross. Whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man will also be ashamed... [Mk. 8:38 ]; he did not want the blessing, and it will move away from him... [Ps. 108:17 ]; I do not want to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world [Gal. 6:14]. Come, ye blessed of My Father... [Matt. 25:34 ]; Depart from Me, you cursed (who have rejected the blessing) [Matt. 25:41]. It's not a blessing, it's an oath. If you don’t want a blessing, then should I give you an oath? Is empty ceremony and form the sign of the cross? Oh no: the power of God is for those who receive it with faith. Demons flee from those who sign the sign of the cross, but in those who do not sign they live as in their own homes” [12, 198]. You might be interested in: