Поучение 68 79 . Во святый и великий пяток. О страшных страстях Господа нашего Иисуса Христа.

Brothers and Fathers! Always and at all times, the holy sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ, when they come to the memory of a reverent person, produce tenderness and tears in him, and bring the soul into great humility. They can especially do this now on these holy days, when all this has been accomplished. What is it? The council drawn up about killing Him; binding, when they took Him and bound Him, and when they dragged Him to judgment as a criminal; standing trial before Pilate; torture and interrogation, when they took Him through other courts to Herod, Anna and Caiaphas, and through the whole night of strangulation, spitting, reproach, desecration, going to the cross, nailing of hands and feet, eating bile and otta, perforation of the rib, and others, along with this, it shone and shone, which the whole world cannot contain, and which no one can say, as it should, not only the language of man, but also of all Angels. Let us delve in, brethren, and consider the greatness of this ineffable mystery. The One who announces the advice of the heart, and from Whom not a single thought or human thought is hidden, the advice against Him is to put Him to death. He who contains and governs the whole world by His command and by His Divine power, He surrenders into the hands of sinful men. He who commands the clouds to rain on the earth is dragged bound to judgment. He, “Who measured... the sky in an inch and the whole earth in a handful? Who put the mountains in measure and the hills in weight? (Isaiah 40:12), is choked by a slave. Who adorned the earth with flowers and plants and all kinds of trees and herbs, His head is now crowned with thorns. Whoever planted the tree of life in paradise, they clothed him in scarlet clothing and now hung him on the tree of execution. What a great and supernatural spectacle! The sun saw this and hid its rays; the moon saw and became dark; the earth felt it, and with its fear it all trembled and shook; They saw the stones and disintegrated; the whole world was confused, and all creations were in confusion from the suffering of their Creator. What are we, brothers? If the soulless and insensitive elements, as if animated and alive, were horrified and changed their order from the fear of the Lord and from the vision of the past: then we, reasonable people and who have received from God so many blessings for which Christ died, will we not be touched and weep in these days? Wouldn't we be more dumb and unreasonable than dumb animals and more insensitive than the stones themselves? No, brothers, no. On the contrary, with fear and trembling we will sing and glorify the Divine passions of the Savior Christ our God, changing with a good change, and crucifying with our Master, either by obedience and cutting off our will, or by removing carnal pleasures and bad desires. For this purpose, let us see how much compels and motivates us to the love of God. For which of us, out of love for his friend, was thrown into prison, or wanted to die for his beloved? But our good God deigned to endure not one or two, but many and countless passions for the sake of us, the condemned. Thinking about this, blessed Paul truly said: “I was informed... for neither death itself, nor life, nor angels, nor beginnings, nor the power of all Angels, nor the present time of things, nor the future, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:38, 39). For God showed such love for us, “for He also gave His only begotten Son to eat, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but may have eternal life” (John 3:16). Therefore, the saints also wanted to bring some kind of reward to God for such great love that He has for us; and since they did not have anything to bring, they alone brought their blood, that is, the martyrs; others exhausted and dried up their bodies with fasting and other ascetic labors, that is, the venerable and righteous; and others gave away their property in alms, singing with the Divine David: “What will the Lord repay for all that he has repaid us?” (Ps.115:3). Let us, brethren, always repeat these words, serving Him with insatiable love and desire of our souls, daily applying diligence and diligence in the works of our salvation, so that we and the Saints may become heirs of eternal blessings in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom belongs glory and power with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. See Patrolology, vol. 99, p. 606. You might be interested in: