106. Слово в день празднования Пресвятей Богородице в Страстном монастыре

(Spoken June 2nd; printed in the collections of 1844 and 1848) And a weapon will pierce your very soul. (Luke 2:35). The misfortune of the blameless and good man is one of the difficult riddles that the visible universe offers to the reflective person. Seeing a good sufferer, another good sufferer himself suffers, and therefore feels compassion: and thus from one riddle another will be born: why does this one suffer? The weak in faith sees this, and is tempted in faith. He who is prone to vice sees, and solves the riddle on his own head: what, he says, is the benefit of being virtuous? He who is prone to unbelief sees, and solves an incomprehensible riddle with another, incomparably more incomprehensible one; he says: chance reigns in the world and in human affairs. Blessed in women! Most immaculate of human daughters! And the wise old man Simeon did not hesitate to offer you this formidable riddle: “and a weapon will pierce your very soul.” A deplorable and terrible day, but together the saving one solved the riddle of the prophecy for You. The thorns of Jesus' crown, the nails of His crucifixion, the copy of His perforation, His wounds, His painful cry, His dying gaze - these are the weapons with which Your mother's heart was pierced as unparalleledly deeply as Your love is perfect, as Your innocence is unparalleled. Now, when You abide in the Divine glory of Your Son, the mystery of the extraordinary event has already been solved for You: now You see in the light of God why the weapon and Your pure soul had to pass through, and how this is in accordance with the infinite wisdom, truth, and goodness of Providence, and with Your infinite bliss. Mother of Light! bring down to us a spark of light from the mind of Christ, so that we may understand the mystery of the troubles and sorrows of the earth, not as much as our curiosity would desire, but as much as is necessary for our peace and salvation. There would be no evil on earth, and no disaster among men, if there were no sin. “By one man sin came into the world, and death by sin” (Rom. 5:12), in the name of which lies the reduction of all troubles and evils. For sin, a person is assigned forced and exhausting labor instead of free and easy work: “By the sweat of your face you shall bear your bread” (Gen. 3:19). For the sin of illness: “in illness, give birth to children” (Gen. 3:16). For sin there is death: “if you cut down the day” from a forbidden tree, “you will die by death” (Gen. 2:17). Man, having lost the experience of the original pure existence of himself and the universe, has also lost the concept of it. Just as a fish moving in water does not know the better and more perfect life that animals live in the air, so the poor human soul, immersed in the rough and corruptible elemental world, and living in it, like a fish in water, does not know the subtle and imperishable life of paradise. Hence the bewilderment of the wise mind about whether such a life truly existed and how it could have been. I will now cite only one of these perplexities, as an example of their insignificance. Reason calculates that if people were all born, and not one of them died; then the multiplication of people would finally become incompatible with the space and methods of the inhabited earth; and thus the narrowness of the universe requires the mortality of people, so that those who die clear the place for the overabundant multitude of those who are born. We can also say to such petty life counters that the Lord said to the Sadducees, who from the laws of marriage decided to extract a refutation of the teaching about the future life: “You are deceived, not knowing the scripture, nor the power of God” (Matthew 22:29). Who told you that the earth would be an eternal prison for human immortality? And do you really think that there is no other road from earth to heaven except the one that lies through the coffin and the grave? Do you really also think that the earth, even before its curse in the affairs of man, just as now, should have been measured in tithes for each person, for his habitation and food? “You are deceived, you who do not know.” A person not corrupted by sin was incomparably less dependent in life on the products of the earth than now; and the earth, without his labor, was incomparably more generous for him in its products than it is now. Having completed a certain course on it, he would ascend to heaven as easily as in Jacob’s vision of a ladder reaching to heaven, “The angels of God ascended and descended on it” (Gen. 28:12). The possibility of this transition was partly shown to us in Enoch and Elijah. Don't be afraid! The imperishable life of a sinless person was calculated better by Providence than by you now. Since eternal Providence has foreseen from the ages that the excellent and necessary gift of freedom for bliss will be used by man for evil, and thus the original structure of man and earth will collapse: there is no doubt that he has wisely and beneficently calculated the resulting mixture of good and evil, which amazes and amazes us. After the general question about the misfortunes of mankind, why they exist in the kingdom of Providence, to which the answer already lies in what we have said so far, the searching mind offers two special questions: firstly, why do the innocent suffer, and secondly, why do those who are not innocent suffer not in proportion to their guilt, and often the least guilty suffer the most grievously. Let's answer both of these questions. For this purpose, let us look at humanity not with our superficial gaze, but with the deeply penetrating gaze of people enlightened from above. In what form do they see humanity? “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23), says Saint Paul. “Who will be clean from filth?” Job asks, and he answers: “no one, even if he lived one day on the earth” (Job.14:4-5). “I was conceived in iniquity, and my mother gave birth to me in sins” (Ps. 50:7), David confesses, without fear of violating the commandment of respect for parents with this review. What does this mean? the fact that all people sinned in Adam, who, since he began to give birth to children after sin, could not, without a miracle, convey to them what he no longer had - sinlessness and incorruptibility, but naturally conveyed what he had - sin and corruption. – If any of us dared to ask: what are we guilty of, who unwittingly inherited sin and corruption from Adam? to such a one, if he is at all attentive to himself, his own conscience, which can point out cases in everyone’s life in which we were not faithful to good motives, being quite strong for this even with inherited damage, could answer instead of me and block the murmuring lips. “He is the God of our heart, and that is all the news” (1 John 3:20); and therefore he sees in us those subtle moral impurities that a more or less coarsened conscience does not notice. So, “if the Lord sees our iniquities, the Lord, who can stand” (Ps. 129:3)? With this reflection, the question is: why do the innocent also suffer? not only resolved, but also destroyed; because, according to strict judgment, there are no innocents on earth, and consequently all those in need suffer as more or less guilty, except for the One, “Who has not committed sin” (1 Pet. 2:22) 513, and Whose suffering, most mysterious, has the most blessed explanation for us, for “He was wounded for our sins, and tormented for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace is upon Him: by His stripes we are healed” (Is. 53:5); He lifted and bore the burdens that oppress us, so that at the same time He would raise us up from our fall. As for the question: why do people, although perhaps not sinless, but by all open signs innocent, sometimes suffer excessively severe poverty: who can convict Providence 514 of this excess? If we admit that the needy is not without sin; and if we know that every sin is a departure from the law, consequently a rebellion against the will of God the Lawgiver 515, rebellion in the Kingdom of God, an insult to the eternal majesty of God: then tell me which sin is too small for a temporary disaster, and which temporary disaster is too great for a sin? There is no dispute that not all sins are equally grave, and that there are different degrees of guilt in the same kind of sin: but which of us can fairly accurately weigh this severity, fairly accurately determine this degree? For this, one must put on the scales and put in measure, not only the visible deed, but also the invisible desire, and the hidden intention, and the secret thought, strength and weakness, knowledge and ignorance, aids and obstacles, temptation to evil and encouragement to good, inattention to the unknown and unfaithfulness to what has been proven by experience, obscurity and repentance, bitterness and contrition: but to whom is all this possible, except to one Searching hearts and wombs, all-encompassing and omniscient? Also, in order to weigh the burden of a disaster, one must take into consideration, in addition to its open appearance, the degree of sensitivity of the distressed person, the scarcity and even the absence, or, on the contrary, the abundance of counteracting consolations, and much for which the external viewer has no weight and measure. How can we talk about the excessive severity of the disaster, in comparison with the severity of sin, perhaps by guessing and luck? God acts on the temporary life of a person damaged by sin, not only as a judge, for which there will be a special time at the end of the ages, but also, and primarily, as a doctor, for which there is now time. Therefore, He sometimes determines the measure of disaster and sorrow for a person not as a defended reward for deeds, but as a method of healing that can overcome the power of a sinful illness: and this is a completely different calculation. There are painful conditions that seem unimportant and not threatening, but against which a knowledgeable doctor finds it necessary to use cruel medical remedies. Moreover, the heavenly Physician does not always begin to heal mental illness after it has already opened: His gaze penetrates into the depths of the soul, invisible to this soul itself, and discovering there the subtle germ of sin, passion, self-will, self-indulgence, a subtle admixture of evil and impurity to good inclinations and dispositions, with the instrument of temptation he brings out these painful principles for their healing, and for elevating the soul to a higher state. cleanliness Doesn’t it happen to see that people who are well-established in life, who willingly resort to God, having lost what they loved dearly, for example, children or a spouse, worldly honor and glory, or property, are so given over to grief that they concentrate their lives in it alone, and do not know how to support themselves with sound thinking, in which they previously had no lack; they cannot sufficiently gather themselves 516 into prayer, in which they previously found delight; faith, love for God, devotion to the will of God, are now only familiar names and sounds for them, after before their misfortune they felt the power and effect of them? What does this mean? - that they loved what was dear to them excessively, and more than God, although they themselves did not discern it; that children, spouse, honor, glory, property were the idols of their hearts. What could the Knower of the Heart and the Lover of Souls do, how to take away the idol, to tear out, albeit painfully, the wrong love for the creature 517 from the soul, which He wants to fill with His Divine love? He loves, is merciful, cleanses, heals, prepares for bliss; and we look and say: how hard He visits! Finally, let us agree that there are disasters about which it is absolutely impossible to ask: for what, but perhaps: for what? for which there is no need to blame a person, but for which one must only be able to justify and love Providence. Such are the disasters of Job, the Prophets, the Apostles, and the Blessed Virgin. Having not been to this highest level of spiritual age and life, when we feed on the strong food of the cross, we, in our infancy of Christianity - God grant that, even in infancy! – without a doubt, we can only babble weakly and indistinctly about the paths and exploits of souls of the full stature of Christ. Let us ask better than themselves what they will tell us about their misfortunes. What does Job say? “The Lord gave, the Lord took away: as the Lord willed, so it was. Blessed be the name of the Lord forever” (Job 1:21). What does the Apostle say? – “I rejoice in my sufferings” (Col. 1:24): “just as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds in Christ” (2 Cor. 1:5). Do you see how inopportune it is that we, sinful people, stand up for the Righteous, and attempt to rebel against Providence for their misfortunes? They do not accept our reckless service; they do not complain about their bitter fate; they don’t want it to change; they rejoice; they bless God; they are happy; we do not understand their happiness, and we think that we can grumble for what they are grateful for. If you want to understand at least conjecturally what you have not yet achieved: look at the earthly, and guess about the heavenly and Divine. You love a friend; he loves you; and he will benefit you. In this relationship, is your love completely satisfied if it is complete and pure? I think not. You may be thinking: “Is my friend confident in the sincerity of my love? Doesn’t he suspect that I love his good deeds more than him? Let a case arise when you could endure labor, sorrow, danger for your friend: if you are a noble soul; how willingly you will rush to this occasion! And enduring labor, sorrow, and danger for your friend, how will you rejoice that now he will undoubtedly recognize the sincerity and purity of your love! Apply this example to those who love God in prosperity. They are confident that God knows their heart, which is grateful to Him, but they do not trust themselves. They can, and in some way should carefully think about whether their gratitude to Him is perfect, whether their love is pure, whether their heart is not clinging to a secret passion for good deeds, past the Benefactor, and whether love, nourished by temporary good deeds, will not fade away when this food is exhausted. Temptation appears and invites: sacrifice your beloved Isaac; endure for God the deprivation of that which you love most after God; endure persecution, dishonor, suffering for the name of the beloved Jesus. How the God-loving soul cries out at this! How ready she is to enter the field of suffering, to submit herself to a fiery test! How strong is she in this test? How comforting it is to think that she is finally making a sacrifice to God that is not cheap to her! What a soothing and convincing testimony does her conscience give her when the fire of temptation does not change her gold, when in the crucible of suffering her love for God burns more powerfully, when through the external mortification of nature an inner life of grace shines through, and heaven in man affirms the hope of man in heaven! Believe me, inexperienced ones, that these people are not lying when they talk about their joy in suffering, that in the fire of disaster they sing and glorify God with the same security, freedom and pleasure as the three youths in the cave of Babylon. Christians! Who among us on the path of temporary life does not encounter various disasters more or less often? We would try in vain to avoid all such meetings; at least some of them are inevitable: therefore, you need to train yourself in good time in order to meet them in a decent manner. May the reflections now proposed encourage us to meet disaster not as an enemy and tormentor, but as a just punisher of sins, as a doctor of mental illness, as a messenger of God, as a messenger of grace. “For the Lord loves him and punishes him” (Heb. 12:6). Amen. According to Turk. collection further follows: because although he was born of the seed of Abraham, he was not born by Adam... According to Turk. collection: to expose fate... According to Turk. collection: legislator... According to Turk. collection: get together... According to Turk. collection: created love... You might be interested in: