Слово 28. Послание к благоверному царю и великому князю всея России Иоанну Васильевичу

To the most pious and God-loving Tsar and Autocrat of all Russia, the glorious Sovereign and Grand Duke John Vasilyevich, your beggar Sovereign pilgrim Monk Maxim from the Holy Mountain dares to strike low with his forehead. There are many such properties by which those who reign piously on earth are likened to the heavenly Lord, such as meekness and long-suffering, care for subordinates, generous disposition towards their bolyars, mainly truth and mercy, and not despising those who are offended, but with great love for them and divine jealousy inciting oneself to take revenge for them. This makes the rulers like God, and their power not only confirms and preserves in deep peace and silence, but also glorifies them with famous victories, bringing down upon them from above the help of the right hand of the Almighty, which subdues all those who resist them under their feet. Proof of this is the wonderful David the king and prophet in the Old Testament, and Hezekiah and Josiah who came after him; in the new, more perfect testament - Constantine the Great, the first Christian king, also Theodosius the Great and pious, and his grandson Theodosius, called the Youngest, and many other pious and righteous kings, who, with their great righteousness, prudence and diligent care for their subordinates, pleased the King in the highest, always remained in deep peace and silence and received glorious victories in barbarians, being covered and strengthened by the almighty right hand of the Most High. And so it is! Then: in human life there are many different arts, arts and high ranks, and each person constantly cares and tries with all his soul to achieve perfection in what he desires, whether it be art, or art, or a high position, and at the same time sets as an example for himself those who previously once achieved perfection in any of the above, wanting to also be worthy of receiving the same praises, and to be in glory with everyone in subsequent times. But you, the most pious and praiseworthy autocrat of all Russia, to whom the scepter of the glorious kingdom has been entrusted by the Most High Himself, who else can you always set up for yourself as a model, if not Himself who reigns in heaven and the holy commandments of Him Who alone is terrible and omnipotent, Who appoints a king and dismisses him, Who raises up the poor from the earth, and lifts up the poor from the rot make him sit with the mighty people, and give the throne of glory as an inheritance to them (1 Sam. 2:8). If you place all your trust in Him alone and, according to His saving commandments and laws, you build up the kingdom entrusted to you, and you always do justice and righteousness in the midst of the earth, as it is written, then you will be blessed not only in the future, but also in the present century: for you will always be preserved by Him in all security, in peace, in health, in glory, in spiritual intelligence, blessed by all. Do not prefer anything to the truth and judgment of the Heavenly King, Jesus Christ, your Lord and God, for you will not be able to please Him so much and attract His mercy and goodness to your God-protected dominion, as with your righteousness to your subordinates and righteous judgment, as well as with generosity and meekness towards all, in general, the poor. Prayer and fasting are truly good and very saving: for by fasting, carnal passions are extinguished and mortified and the mind is cleansed, while prayer unites the one who soberly prays with God, spiritually appropriates Him and makes him godlike. But if at the same time the above-mentioned virtues are lacking, then these have no significance before the righteous Judge; for it was said by the holy prophet of God Hosea, as if from the person of God: I want mercy, and not sacrifice, and the leading of God, rather than burnt offerings (Hos. 6:6). And again: Not everyone who says to Me: Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but do the will of My Father who is in heaven (Matthew 7:21). Do you see, most pious sovereign, how He clearly does not approve of those who think to please God by prayer alone! Why is this so? - Because He Himself is by nature - all goodness, all truth, all mercy, all generosity towards everyone, in general, living on earth; He wants to be the same in those reigning on earth, for the king is nothing more than a living and visible, that is, an animated image of the Heavenly King Himself, as some Hellenic philosopher said to one king, saying: “Having received a kingdom in control, be worthy of it, for the king is an animated, that is, a living image of God.” There is no prayer more pleasing to Him and no better offering than keeping and fulfilling His holy commandments, for He Himself says: If you have My commandments and keep them, then you love Me; He who does not love Me does not keep My words (John 14:21, 24). And again: You are naturally my friends; if you do, I command you (John 15:14). Try, O most pious Sovereign, to be a friend of the King and Lord of all, Jesus Christ and your God, and with your love for mankind and goodness and justice, glorify Him on earth through this earthly and temporary authority, so that He, accordingly, glorifies you with His divine glory on earth and in heaven, as He Himself promised through the Prophet, saying: Those who glorify Me I will glorify, and those who dishonor Me will be dishonored (1 Samuel 2:30). And how you can glorify Him and please Him in everything, read about this more often the message of Blessed Photius, Patriarch of Constantinople, which he wrote to the Bulgarian Tsar Michael. There you will find great wisdom, and if you listen to him, you will receive great benefit. Most pious sovereign and autocrat! I must express before your kingdom the whole truth, namely, that the kings who have recently been with us, the Greeks, for no other reason were betrayed by the common Lord and Creator of all to destruction and destroyed their power, as soon as for their great pride and exaltation, for the Jewish love of money and covetousness, overcome by which, they unjustly plundered the estates of their subordinates, despised their bolyars living in poverty and deprivation of necessities, and the insult of widows, orphans and beggars was left without revenge. For all this and the like, the wrath of the righteous Judge came upon us, the accursed, and now we wander, abandoned, in hunger and thirst and in nakedness, and are reproached and persecuted by everyone. And we endure this justly, for it is said nowhere in the Holy Scriptures: Moreover, because of their flattery, you brought evil upon them; What about Bysha in desolation? she suddenly disappeared, perishing for her iniquity, like the sleep of one who rises (Ps. 73:18-20). This is what happened to us, the poor, for our iniquities, and this is the end that befell us by the righteous judgment of God. But you, most pious king and sovereign, do not follow this, but, as you were taught by the Most High Himself and His saving law and commandments, so arrange what is necessary and useful for your subordinates, with all truth and goodness, and royal reason. Grant all honor to your Right Reverend Metropolitan and God-loving bishops, and take care of them as intercessors to God and men, constantly praying for your God-protected kingdom and propitiating the heavenly Master with their holy prayers, when we, as people, anger His goodness with our various sins. So honor them and take care, and whatever they advise you for the benefit of your God-protected state, listen to them, for by listening to them, you listen to your Savior Himself and your King Jesus Christ, according to His divine definition: Hear you, He listens to Me, but if you are rejected, Me and Him who sent Me are rejected (Luke 10:16). You see, most pious sovereign, where the honor given to God-loving bishops goes, as well as dishonor! This word is terrible, O most pious sovereign, and worthy of all preservation and observance, if the obedience or disobedience we show to bishops relates to the Most High. Therefore, blessed Paul commands us, saying: Obey your teachers, since they will have to give an answer for you, so that they do this with joy, and not sighing, for it is profitable for you (Heb. 13:17). Also, the noble princes and boyars and famous commanders and brave warriors who are with you - honor and take care and reward them generously, for by enriching them, you protect and strengthen your power on all sides. Do not despise the grievances of widows and orphans and the poor, who sigh and shed bitter tears before the Father of the orphans and the Judge of the widows and the Representative of the poor, for such contempt and negligence for them is not useful for your power. No other sin of ours so angers the innumerable goodness of the Most High, raising Him to take vengeance for the offended, like sighing and tears, as it was written by the holy king and prophet David: Passion for the sake of the poor and the sighing of the needy, now I will rise, says the Lord (Ps. 11:6) and so on. And in another place he says: I knew that the Lord would bring judgment to the poor and vengeance to the needy. And in another place: He will accept the orphan and the widow and the way of destroying sinners (Ps. 145:9), that is, he will protect the offended and deliver them, and destroy those who offend, for the face of the Lord, it is said, is against those who do evil, to consume their memory from the earth; But the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayer (Ps. 33:16-17), that is, what those who do justice on earth ask of Him, He does for them, according to what has been said: The Lord is near to all who call on Him in truth, that is, those who call on Him with an active word, by fulfilling all His holy commandments, for He says: He will do the will of those who fear Him and He will hear their prayer and save I (Ps. 145:19). What could be better than this? For nothing else did the good God exalt the kingdom of Cyrus, king of Persia, although he was a wicked idolater, but for his great truth, for his meekness and mercy towards his subordinates, who therefore called him their father. And God so appropriated him and honored his virtue that he was pleased to call him His anointed one, as we hear in books telling about this. Also: it was not for any other sin that the Lord gave over to ruin the kingdom of Zedekiah and Jehoiachin, the kings of Jerusalem, although they, in part, were pious, but because of their all kinds of lawlessness, satanic pride and godless covetousness. For it is said: The Lord resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. And again: The Lord is righteous and loves righteousness: His face is righteous (Ps. 10:7). Most pious Sovereign! I ask the glorious power of your good faith: forgive me for the fact that I dared to express something useful for the strengthening of your God-protected power and all your glorious nobles. I considered myself obliged to do this - on the one hand, in view of the condemnation of that lazy slave who hid the talent of his master in the ground, and on the other hand, in view of the many benefits and honor that my sovereign, your ever-memorable parent, the Grand Duke and Autocrat of all Russia, Vasily Ioannovich, awarded me over the course of nine years, who in the future would have awarded me even greater honor if, for my sins, Some ill-wishers did not slander me before him, for whom may God be the Judge... Let others bring to your faithful kingdom - whoever can from the valuable treasures of this short-lived and fleeting world. And I, poor one, have acquired the best, that is, the word dissolved with the salt of Scripture, and that is what I bring to you, the great king. You, having accepted it with your usual meekness, reward me, your servant and pilgrim, with a return to the Holy Mountain and, for the sake of the bounty of Christ, let me go from here in peace, so that there, too, with all my soul and a cheerful heart, I may proclaim and magnify the glory of the blessed power of your kingdom and with a pure mind, from a joyful heart, I would offer prayers to the King of Heaven, Jesus Christ, my God, about strengthening your kingdom. The God-protected Russian land no longer needs me for anything: what it needed to get from me, bad and obscene, it has already received. May I also receive from your blessed kingdom what I desire. For many years now I have been indecently kept here, separated from my fathers and brothers, with whom I have labored both physically and spiritually since my youth, in the hope of laying my bones there. Return me, most pious sovereign, to the venerable monastery of the Most Holy Theotokos of Vatopedi; bring joy to the spiritual monks living there, your slaves and constant pilgrims; do not want to upset them anymore. There now, most pious sovereign, there is a great need for everything necessary for the maintenance and organization of that populous monastery, and for them I, the accursed one, am in great need: give me to them, for they have been wanting to have me for many years. Bow down to their tender requests for me, addressed to your God-protected power, fulfill this just request of theirs, and thereby force them to constantly send prayers and petitions for you to the Most High, which may the God and Master who is above all, Jesus Christ, hear and fulfill in practice, and may your blessed kingdom be preserved and strengthened for many years. Amen, amen, amen. Although at first I didn’t dare, I later dared to write this. You might be interested in: