Слово в день Успения Богоматери (О предстательстве Богоматери). Святителя Илии Минятия Кефалонитского

Christians! Do you know who is the hope of the desperate? Who is the refuge of sinners? Who is the Mother of Christians? – Mary, Most Pure Lady. Yes. If any sinner comes to such an unhappy state that, on the one hand, he has God angry against him, on the other, he does not have any help in the form of the intercession of the saints, and then, however, the help and intercession of the All-Holy Virgin does not leave him. This is what I want to tell you today, for the consolation of sinners and for the glory of the Mother of God. We see in many examples from Divine Scripture where God truly appeared, as David says, as the God of vengeance. The luminous angel sinned for the first time, and his Lord, becoming angry, cast him out of heaven like lightning, opened an abyss of unquenchable fire and pitch darkness, and imprisoned him there forever along with the retreating angels. Adam sinned, and his Lord, being angry, expelled him from paradise and condemned him to cultivate the land full of thorns and thistles, then to water his face with bread for the rest of his life. People sinned in the time of Noah, and their Lord, being angry, sent a flood of water, forty days of rain, and drowned them. The inhabitants of Pentaipolis sinned, and their Lord, being angry, rained fire on them from heaven and burned them. The Jews sinned and their Lord, becoming angry, handed them over, defeated, robbed and captured, into the hands of enemies, either the Chaldeans or the Assyrians; and to this day they are the reproach of men and the contempt of men. His friend, beloved David, sinned - and, nevertheless, his Lord, being angry, did not forgive him without first inflicting on him the most severe punishment, the death of his children and the pestilence that destroyed almost his entire kingdom. And we see many other similar examples in those ancient times. We, Christians, also sin, and don’t we see how our Lord is angry and punishes us with many different punishments? Of these, we see some because they affect the body, namely: illness, death, ruin, war, captivity, poverty and other countless misfortunes; we do not see others, because they comprehend the soul - when God moves away and takes away His Divine grace, from which comes the darkening of the mind, which does not see the light of truth; that powerlessness of the will in relation to good; either ignorance of the dogmas of faith, lack of reverence for the sacred, persistence in evil, and finally, unrepentance. In a few words: since sin, say the teachers of the Church, is the highest evil, then for God, Who is the highest goodness, there is nothing more hateful than sin, and God’s justice does not punish anything, like sin, this is a daring crime of the Divine commandments. From this you can understand how great the wrath of God must be against a person in sin. He is so great that even the righteous Job fears him more than eternal torment: so that you may preserve me in hell, until your anger ceases! ( Job 14:13 )! John Chrysostom fears it more than the darkness of punishment: “it is not so painful to imagine even thousands of hells, as it is painful to see God’s face turning away and His meek eye not patient to look at us.” When God is so angry with a sinner, can anyone intercede with Him? Will He quench His anger with prayer and turn Him to compassion and mercy? There, in the desert, the Jews committed the greatest lawlessness that a person can commit against God: they fell into idolatry, made themselves a golden calf, worshiped it as God, and rejected the true God, who freed them from the slavery of Egypt. God is very angry and wants to destroy, destroy, wipe them off the face of the earth. Moses intercedes and asks: quench the anger of Your wrath, and be merciful about the malice of Your people, remembering Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Your servants. No,” God answered, “leave Me, and being angry with me, I will consume them (Ex. 32:12, 13, 10). Leave Me: and who holds back God, who hinders Him? His anger flared and his sword was drawn. He Himself is omnipotent and omnipotent. Who has so much strength and boldness to prevent Him from taking vengeance on this ungrateful people? He is restrained, hindered and prevented from execution by the prayer of Moses, who says to Him: quench the anger of Your wrath and be merciful about the malice of Your people, and reminded Him of the ancient patriarchs, His faithful servants and friends: having remembered Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Your servants. And indeed, God stopped his rage, quenched His anger, was appeased, forgave the Jews their terrible iniquity: and the Lord was pleased with the evil that He said He would do to His people (Exodus 32:14). Now I ask: who was Moses before God? - a simple slave. What about Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? - also slaves. And who is the Blessed Virgin before God? – Mother, Mother beloved most of all creation. According to Saint Damascus, there is an infinite difference between the servants of God and the Mother of God, and if the intercession of the servant Moses restrains God's wrath and does not allow it to strike the idolatrous Jews, then the intercession of Mother Mary will even more strongly restrain this Divine wrath and will not allow it to fall on sinful Christians. God, implored by all the saints, sometimes listens to them, but sometimes does not heed; He is the Lord, and they are slaves; they ask for some kind of mercy, which is given or not given - in His free will. Didn't Paul ask God for mercy three times and was not answered? But, implored by the Most Holy Virgin, God always listens to Her; He is Her Son, She is His Mother, and for the Son to fulfill the Mother’s request is not mercy, but a natural duty. When Bathsheba, the mother of King Solomon, entered the royal palace, the king, as the Divine Scripture says, rose from his throne: and the king rose to meet her, and bowed to her, and set another throne for the queen’s mother, and sat at his right hand. And when she told him that she wanted to ask him for one favor, he answered her with deep respect: ask, my mother, that I will not turn away from You (1 Kings 2:19, 20). The wise Solomon understood that, although he was a king, he was obliged to honor his mother as a queen; Although he is a king, he is obliged to fulfill the desire of his mother: ask, my mother, that I will not turn away from You. Likewise, the Most High God, when the Most Holy Virgin reposed from earth to heaven and entered the palace of Divine glory, with what honor do you think Her Only Begotten Son met Her? We cannot comprehend this honor, and we do not imagine anything other than what the Holy Spirit predicted through the mouth of David: the Queen appeared at Your right hand (Ps. 44:10), that is, that above all the faces of the saints and blessed, above all the ranks of angels, Archangels, Cherubim and Seraphim, He seated Her at His right hand on the Divine throne. There He seems to say to Her: ask, My Mother, that I will not turn away from You, that is, My Mother, chosen from all generations, blessed from all other women, just as You are favored, filled with grace on earth, so glorified, filled with glory in paradise. You are My Mother and I am Your Son; It is fitting for the Son to honor the Mother, for the Mother to co-reign with the Son; sit at My right hand and reign in heaven and on earth, and let angels and people worship You as the Queen and Mother of God. I am God, I am the Son; as God, I give You My glory, as the Son, I give You My heart: ask, My Mother, that I will not turn away from You. Ask what you want, and I will fulfill Your desire, and let the world know Whom you have as Son, and Whom I have as Matter in truth; and thus the generations will glorify You. Ask My Mother: ask for healing for that sick person who is lying half-dead on his bed; ask for the release of a captive who has been imprisoned for a long time in chains; (ask) for that poor man who has fallen into so many misfortunes, ask for the salvation of a traveler who is exposed to dangers at sea. Let only the sick call on Your name and heal; captive - and will be freed; a beggar will find food; a sailor - and he will be saved: ask, My Mother. That childless woman begs You to grant her a child, the maiden to preserve Her honor; warrior - give him victory; sailor - bring him to the pier; the farmer - send him the harvest; merchant - to bring him profit, let their desire be fulfilled, only through the intercession of the Mother: ask, My Mother. Do you want that city, country, region where Your name is reverently honored to be preserved from hunger, sea, war, all visible and invisible enemies? So be it. But Do You also want the sinner who has aroused My wrath, an unrepentant sinner worthy of death and eternal torment, to receive the enlightenment of Divine grace and turn to repentance? So that (he) could be saved? - Let the Mother’s wish come true: ask, My Mother, that I will not turn away from You. I am God, I am the Son. I can do everything as You want, out of love for Mother. Let My Mother be glorified by My glory. Let My glory be the glorification of My Mother. So, Christians, I repeat: if God listens to the prayers of other saints, this is His mercy, because He is the Lord of saints; and if he listens to the prayers of the Virgin Mary, this is His duty, for He is the Son of the Virgin. God gave the law that the son should honor his mother; and since God took flesh from the Mother, He has been subject to His own law. This is what George of Nicomedia says in words addressed to the Virgin Herself: “For the Creator, considering, like the Son, Your glory to be His own, as if paying a debt, fulfills Your requests.” Where are you, the (most) sinner, who with your sins surpassed tax collectors, fornicators and robbers? Come out here and I will tell you the happiest news. Was God angry with you as a heartless and ungrateful servant in the Gospel parable, and drove you away from His grace? Have the saints despised you and, instead of interceding, blame you? The debt of your sins is very great and you do not know how to pay Divine justice? Is that why you are afraid and despairing? Oh, unfortunate soul, dare! There is someone who will help you in such misfortune - this is the Blessed Virgin. Let all the wrath of God be (directed) upon you, but if She intercedes, He will have mercy, for He is the Son; Let no one else ask for you, but if She alone begins to ask, she will be heard, for She is the Mother: the prayer of the Mother can do much for the mercy of the Lord. Don't you know, Christian, that one tear of the Mother, this gracious Mother, atones for many sins? One of Her intercession, one word, one wave is enough to transfer all God’s anger and indignation to mercy and compassion. Just resort to Her protection, ask for Her help, hope for Her intercession and be sure that if you hold on to such an anchor, you will not perish. Not a single animal perished in the ark: so none of the Christians perish, running under the protection of the Holy Virgin, Who is the ark of consecration. Therefore, our Church sings: “No one who comes to You is put to shame, pure, Most Holy Theotokos, but asks for mercy and accepts the gift of useful petition.” O Mary, most blessed name, delight of angels and joy of the sorrowful! Oh, Mary, oh, Virgin, oh, Mother of God and Mother of Christians! I am that indecent slave of whom the Gospel speaks, (slave) with whom Your Son was angry and whom the saints despised, (slave) obligated to pay to God's justice the entire debt of my endless sins. What should I do? Who should I resort to? Where can you expect salvation from? I make You My supporter, I resort to You, I rely on You, for You are the hope of the hopeless, the refuge of sinners, the Mother of Christians. My hope, refuge, my Mother, accept, save Your servant, have mercy on Your child! One petition, one word, make one wave for me before Your Son - and I am saved! O Mary, it is impossible for anyone who trusts in You to perish! 189. See Sermons of St. Elijah Minyaty of Cephalonite and Kalavrite, 1902 edition, pp. 349–356. You might be interested in: