Глава I. Вечная правда православия

I will build My Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against Her (Matthew 16:18) The greatest shrine of the Russian people, the foundation of their entire spiritual and political life is Orthodoxy. At the dawn of its historical existence, the Russian people, in the person of their great and holy prince Vladimir Equal-to-the-Apostles and his grandmother Olga, stood under the holy banner of the Orthodox faith. During the appanage period, Christ's faith softened the enmity of the princes and marked the beginning of their unification under the rule of a single great prince. Monasteries, their founders-ascetics, what kind of venerables are they? Anthony, Rev. Theodosius and Rev. Sergius, selfless preachers of the faith among the pagans, such as St. Isaiah, St. Leontius and St. Stefan, with his labors, tears and prayers, deeply laid the covenants and ideals of a true Christian life in the hearts of the Russian people. The faith of Christ helped to survive the unbearable Tatar yoke. Orthodoxy inspired, and the Orthodox Church blessed to overthrow this yoke. In the troubled years, Russia saved itself by uniting under the banner of Orthodoxy, raised by the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. The faith of Christ helped the people to endure the burden of serfdom. In a word, wherever we look, wherever we look, we see everywhere that Christianity, in its purest expression - Orthodoxy - constitutes the very soul of the life of the Russian people. However, never before, it seems, has Orthodoxy and the Russian Orthodox Church been subjected to so many and such fierce attacks as at the present time. Without examining all these accusations in detail, we will only say that they all contain one basic error - because of the private, temporary and external aspects and conditions of church life, the accusers of the Church do not notice the very content of this life, that life-giving power of God's grace, which invariably abides in the Orthodox Church, and in particular in the Russian Church, and which constitutes its most precious asset for the members of the Church. That this life-giving and saving power of God’s grace abides invariably in the Church, there is no doubt about this for the sole reason that the Church, founded on earth by the Lord Jesus Christ, is called to do on earth not its own work, but the work of God. She is destined to be the keeper of the saving truth of God on earth, the accomplisher of moral renewal and spiritual growth of people. To admit that the Church has betrayed its purpose, that the lamp of truth and holiness, lit not by human but by Divine hand, has gone out on earth - does this not mean to doubt the power of God, to renounce faith in Christ the Son of God? If the Church has lost the truth entrusted to it, if it has lost its way at the crossroads of life and has lost the right path to Christ, then are not the words of the Savior empty words: “I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18)? So, already due to the Divine origin of the Church and the task destined for it from above, Christ cannot leave it, but both in the first times of Christianity and now he invariably shines in it with his quiet heavenly light, and this light internal to the Church is seen by those who have eyes to see. That this is really so can be judged by the fruits of church life. A good tree cannot produce evil fruits, nor an evil tree produce good fruits... Moreover, by their fruit you will know them (Matthew 7:18,20). The fruits of the Universal Church are the following - martyrs, saints, saints, unmercenaries and others, whose exploits are narrated in the history of the Universal Church, and who, like bright stars, shine with their inner moral beauty to all humanity. Our Russian Church bears exactly the same fruits. It is enough to recall the names of the saints - Prince Vladimir, Anthony and Theodosius of Pechersk, Alexander Nevsky, Sergius of Radonezh, Isaiah and Leonty of Rostov, Euphrosyne of Polotsk, Stephen of Perm, Zosima and Savvaty of Solovetsky, Peter, Alexy, Jonah and Philip of Moscow, Demetrius of Rostov, Tikhon of Zadonsk , Seraphim of Sarov, the ever-memorable: Philaret of Moscow, Philaret of Kyiv, John of Kronstadt, Ambrose of Optina and many others to see this. For a whole millennium, the Russian Church has been raising in its depths a host of saints, that is, people filled with the spirit of Christ. Where does she get the strength for this, if Christ does not abide with her, if the power of God’s grace does not rest in her, does not animate her? Our ancestors felt this power of God’s grace that abides in the Russian Church, acting in it at all times - both in the times of metropolitans, and in the times of patriarchs, and in the synodal period, and we all feel it - the faithful children of the Church, for we are all sanctified by it. And if so, if the fruits brought by the Russian Church are identical with the fruits of the Universal Church, if the Russian Church communicates to its members a grace-filled life in the same way as the Ecumenical Church, then it is obvious that neither the Russian nor the Ecumenical Church has become dead, that the spirit and life have not flown away from them, despite these or those apparently unfavorable conditions of their external situation. One of the main centers where the life of the Church is concentrated, where there is a stubborn struggle to preserve living faith in God and to harmonize all life with this faith, or, in other words, where they stubbornly fight sin in the name of holiness and purity of life, are Orthodox monasteries. It is on them that the malice of the unbelief who denies the Church falls with special force. It is impossible to protect churches and monasteries from unfair accusations, to open the eyes of the blind and the ears of the deaf with words alone, with objections alone. The best way to show society the truth of the Church should be to familiarize society with the living fruits of true church life, according to the word of the Gospel, “come and see” (John 1:46), see what the Church gives to society, see its invaluable significance for it! One of these mature fruits of church life is the Optina elder Hieroschemamonk Ambrose, who died 20 years ago, whose biographical sketch we bring to the attention of readers. Let the biography of this wonderful elder that we offer not only bring consolation to believers, but also show non-believers that this wondrous elder developed all the wealth of his spirit, all the power of his mercy and love, all the insight of his mind from the depths of the Russian Church, universal Orthodoxy, ancient and Russian monasticism, to which he belonged with his whole being and under the influence of which he grew and was educated, and may, seeing this, they too feel the truth and power of Orthodoxy, they will feel the truth and beauty of the Russian Church, they will feel in it the power of God’s grace, and with joy in their hearts they will see in the Church the stronghold of God’s truth on earth, a treasury of high grace-filled gifts and the path to heavenly bliss. You might be interested in: