Проповедь о явлении и раздаянии Святого Духа в день Пятидесятницы

A few days ago we saw Christ ascend in body from earth to Heaven. Today we saw Him in the Holy Spirit, whom He sent to His disciples. From this event we can understand where Christ is now and how great dignity He has given to the assumed human nature. The Holy Spirit sent by Him descended from Heaven and was given to the apostles by the good will of the Father, by the ineffable mercy of the Only Begotten Son’s love for mankind. The Lord now sits in the highest places and from there loudly calls out to all of us: “Whoever wants to abide in this glory, who wants to become a partaker of the Heavenly Kingdom, to be called the son of God, to receive immortal life, incorruptible pleasure and inexhaustible wealth, let him hear what I have said to you and let him imitate Me in strength. Let him live the way I lived during My earthly life. Let him do what I did and taught. I have left My life for you as a model to follow.” The descent of the Holy Spirit from Heaven onto Christ's disciples occurred on the fiftieth day after His Resurrection. That day all His disciples were together and with one accord remained in the upper room of Zion. In addition, each of them entered his personal upper room, that is, the upper room of his mind, since each of them remained in silence and devoted himself to prayer and chanting of God. Evangelist Luke writes: “Suddenly a sound like the sound of a strong wind was heard from heaven, which filled the house where the disciples were” (cf. Acts 2:2). This noise was the same noise that Saint Anna, who accepted the promise about Samuel, prophesied, saying that “the Lord ascended into heaven and thundered” (cf. 1 Samuel 2:10). This very sound was also foreshadowed by the vision of the prophet Elijah, when he heard the breath of a quiet wind in which the Lord was (cf. 1 Kings 19:12). This breeze prefigured the strong breath that now loudly and abundantly poured out from Heaven, calling on the whole earth to draw Divine grace. The Lord fills all those who come to Him with faith with this grace. This breath has an irresistible force, it conquers everything, it penetrates beyond any walls built by the evil one. It takes cities, it destroys enemy fortresses. This breath humbles the proud and lifts up the humble in heart. It puts together again what was wantonly destroyed. It destroys those sinful bonds that no one else can destroy. It breaks everything evil. It becomes a spiritual font and fills the house in which the disciples were gathered. Hearing this noise, the disciples of Christ truly became sons of Thunder. The Spirit rested on them in the form of tongues of fire, cleansed out of them everything that needed cleansing and filled them with Himself. But for what reason did the Spirit appear to the apostles in the form of tongues of fire? In order to show His relationship with the Word of God. After all, there is nothing more related to the word than language. But the evangelist of Christ needs not just a language, but a language blessed with grace. But why were the tongues of fire? Just as fire has the properties of shining and scorching, so the sermon of the apostles was supposed to enlighten those who listened, and consign the disobedient to eternal flame. It should also be noted that these tongues were “as if” fiery, that is, they resembled fire in appearance, but in fact did not have the nature of material fire. For what reason did tongues appear divided among the apostles? Because Christ alone is given the Spirit “without measure” from the Father. Christ alone received all the Divine power and energy, including receiving them in His Flesh. It is impossible for anyone else but Christ to perceive the full power of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, everyone except Him received it partially. At the hour of the descent of the Holy Spirit, the apostles began to speak in other languages ​​and dialects with those foreigners who surrounded them at that time. The apostles had already become instruments of the Holy Spirit, acting according to His will and His power. Lamps were lit in them, illuminating the whole world and what lies beyond its borders. The entire Universe is enlightened. From this moment on, the Church, through ordination, transmitting this Light from the apostles to their successors, transmits the grace of the Holy Spirit to all generations and enlightens all who have entrusted themselves to spiritual shepherds and teachers. This grace and gift of God is brought to every city by each of the bishops. Those who reject their bishop deprive themselves of the grace of God, interrupt the Divine succession and separate themselves from God. If Christ had not sent the Holy Spirit, the gospel of grace would not have been preached among all nations. Now the Holy Spirit creates and renews everything, and contains the whole creation. He is omnipresent, He fills everything with Himself, and it will be so until the end of time. So let's hurry up, let's undertake a feat for the sake of our internal cleansing through repentance. Thus the All-Holy Spirit will have compassion on us. Let's return again to unfeigned love among ourselves. If we have fallen into serious sins, let us remove ourselves from them and cleanse ourselves through confession, fasting, tears and prayers. Anyone who steals, takes away someone else's property, or is busy with covetousness, let him stop if he wants to see good days and be saved from the troubles approaching us. Let's get back to the truth. Only by living this way will we be able to celebrate the descent of the All-Holy Spirit on the apostles in the Church of Christ.