177. Слово 649 по освящении храма Пресвятыя Богородицы, Взыскательницы Погибших, устроенного при замке пересыльных арестантов

(Said December 23; printed separately and in collections of 1844 and 1848) Put them in the inner prison, and stuff their feet into the treasure. At midnight, Paul and Silas prayed to God: and their captives listened. (Acts 16:24–25). So we “prayingly sing to God,” if not in the prison itself, then near the prison itself, and for the sake of the prison, and the “prisoners” “listen” to us. Thinking about what has happened here today, I want to rejoice, with the joy of love for mankind; but I also fear a little, with the fear of God. If it occurred to someone to build a royal house in the prison courtyard, who would not say that this is incompatible with the dignity of the royal house? How did we dare to build a house in the prison courtyard that was more than a royal one—the house of God? Purity and holiness belong to the house of God above all other places, although they are not devoid of their purity. On the contrary, the prison, and especially the prison of the condemned, is not a place where human society casts moral impurity from itself? So, will the purity be preserved, will the holiness of the house of God not be offended when we place it in contact with the prison of the condemned? The Rules of the Saints remove people burdened with grave sins from the Holy Mysteries of Christ, and barely allow people burdened with grave sins to cross the steps of the holy church until repentance, tears and time, sometimes quite a long time, clear their consciences. And this severity is not surprising when the human law of the same people, for the same sins, which it, having discovered, calls crimes, removes blameless citizens from their homes and villages, even forever. How can now the holy church, with the holy Mysteries, itself come to these people, to whom the strictness of the sacred rules does not give the right to approach the holy Mysteries, and barely allows them to enter the church? Be merciful to the weak servants of Thy shrine, the One Holy One, the One Lord, Jesus Christ, if we do not quite strictly remove from Thy shrine that which is unworthy of it; if, having learned from Your Apostle, “to remember those who are with us, as if we were united with them” (Heb. 13:3), we want to share with them what we know is the most comforting for ourselves - namely, the grace of the holy church, and saving communion, or at least the beneficial proximity of the life-giving mysteries. Was it not to prison, to the condemned, to exiles, not to prisoners, that You Yourself came to earth to found Your living church, Your holy Church! For what is the whole earth, after paradise, if not a spacious prison? What is a person, if not a convicted criminal of the law of paradise, an exile of paradise, a captive of sin, a prisoner of mortal flesh that burdens the soul? And Thy purity was not disdained; Thy holiness was not shunned. You have come; and in this prison, for this criminal, exile, captive, prisoner, Thy Calvary altar of the cross was erected; Through Your suffering and death He performed Your universal Divine Liturgy on him; brought Your eternal sacrifice, which is the same, both here and now, being accomplished. And who were nearest to this altar of Yours? - The thief is at the right hand; robber If this closeness of the Shuyago arouses indignation: then what consolation does the proximity of the right hand provide, who shared Your sacrifice on the cross by faith, and glorified You, and was saved himself, and gave an example and hope of salvation to the most hopeless sinners! And now, Lord Jesus Christ our God! Holy and sanctifying, Bishop and Sacrifice, Savior of sinners, Recoverer of the lost, Giver of grace and glory! Let not Thy holiness be removed from this altar; may Thy grace rest upon him. And if among those approaching him, before Thy eye, which looks upon the hearts, there appear thieves, or those who are no better than thieves: seek and find among them like the prudent thief crucified with Thee. Pierce their souls with the gaze of Your omniscience and justice, so that their hearts may be wounded by the saving sorrow of repentance. And when from a contrite heart they cry out to You: “Remember them in Your kingdom” with the memory of mercy; give them good hope; and soon begin to open for them the secret door of “paradise” - in a peaceful conscience. And you, whom law and justice have made alien to us, but whom Christian love encourages us to still call brethren! Understand this love in its experiences that are before you. Why did these free, wealthy people, people of honor come to you, the prisoners? Just as you would gladly escape from your prison: so they gladly tore themselves away from their affairs and occupations, and hurried to you in prison. Don't they have any need for you? - Without a doubt, none. What force drew them here? – The power of Christian love. Apparently, this force is powerful; Apparently, it’s nice to follow her attraction. According to Christian love, they find the increase in their well-being in sympathizing with your misfortune, in working for your needs, in order, if possible, to alleviate your burdens, and especially in showing you the only sure means for your reconciliation with your lot - in your inner reconciliation with yourself and with God, the Lover of Mankind. Why did the Church Council appear so solemnly among you and place the shrine of the Christian Church so close to you? Why is Church justice not as decisive and inexorable for you as civil justice, although the Church demands not only integrity in external relations, but also in internal holiness, and therefore could judge the guilty more harshly? Why then, just as civil society expels you, the Church seems to be chasing you. One explanation for these surprises is Christian love. Even with the formidable severity of church rules, no one else armed the servants of the faith other than love, as the Apostle said: “Save with fear admiringly from fire”: love also commanded to soften the severity of the rules: “have mercy with reasoning” (Jude 1:22, 23). Love in Christ chose and proclaimed this unexpected way of action: “I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Matthew 9:13). “The Son of Man came to seek and save the lost” (Matthew 18:11). The same love now, from the ninety-nine sheep that did not go astray, goes to seek the one who went astray. Brethren, even in this humble state of yours, beloved to us for Christ’s sake! Do not be inattentive and cold towards this love. If you have some disposition towards gratitude, as there is in our general nature, will you really allow yourself to be unkind to those who are so actively kind to you? Wouldn't you like to bring some comfort to those who care about your comfort? Take some care, too, to give them the consolation they are looking for - in your moral and spiritual improvement. When you notice close to you that Christianity reveals in people the ability to find well-being in going to prison and caring for the condemned; Guess from this that in Christianity there is a power, both in the condemned themselves, and in those imprisoned themselves, or wandering into exile or imprisonment, to discover the ability to well-being, which even the prison will not darken, which, even on the way to exile, will not remain back. The source of this victoriously beneficial power is the grace of God; the repositories of grace are the Word of God, the Church and her Sacraments; The means to attract and acquire it are heartfelt prayer, the teaching of the Word of God, reverent participation in church services and, in the prescribed manner, communion of the sacraments, with faith and love. I would not be surprised if you began to complain how difficult it is for you to lift your spirit from under the weight of disaster. I do not dispute this difficulty: but I affirm that there is a sure possibility of overcoming it; and to prove this with undoubted experiments, I point you to a prison, or, if you wish, to several prisons and exiles, or imprisonments, which are incomparably heavier than your prison and your exile, but which did not prevent the spirit from rising when it desires. The apostles Paul and Silas, in the city of Philippi, for preaching the Gospel and for driving out the spirit of inquisitiveness, were beaten and wounded by the indignant people, and were sent to prison under strong guard. The prison guard, not content with confining them to the inner dungeon, “threw their feet into the treasure.” What do they do - exhausted by the beating, suffering from wounds, unable to give a comfortable position to the body, from the log constricting the legs of both - what do they do then, just as those who are not exhausted yield to the weakness of the body? – “Midnight Paul and Silas praying around God.” Perhaps you think that only the Apostolic spirit could be so exalted and not overcome by either adversity or weakness. Not really. According to the voice of the Apostle’s prayer, the other prisoners in the same prison, not only not the Apostles, but, in all likelihood, not even Christians (because it was in a pagan city), rose in spirit both over disaster and over the weakness of the flesh, did not indulge in sleep at midnight: “their prisoners listened to them.” And it is clear that they were greatly overwhelmed by the delight of the Apostolic prayer: because a miracle happened over them: “everyone’s bonds were weakened.” Who has not heard about the young, innocent Joseph, torn from his father, sold by his brothers into captivity and slavery, carried away to a distant country, to foreigners, slandered, thrown into prison? - Of course, you also know that so many disasters could not humiliate the spirit of the young man, nor shake his virtue, but even in slavery she was free, and in prison she shone. Don't you see that you can be in prison and in captivity without loss of spirit, not without hope, and even with dignity and glory? Examine another prison and bonds, which should show you that prison and bonds not only do not destroy the innocent, but can also contribute to the salvation of the guilty if he uses them wisely. Manasseh, guilty of apostasy from God, and other serious crimes, “was in chains, and bound with foot fetters, and carried him to Babylon. And when he became embittered, he sought the face of the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the face of God his Father, and prayed to him, and obeyed him” (2 Chronicles 33:11-13). And so, if you cannot, like Joseph, make your prison, exile, imprisonment, honorable and glorious through innocence and unshakable virtue: at least, like Manasseh, try to make your disasters and difficulties salutary for you, through repentance, correction of life and resigned submission to the law, authority and destiny of God. What will I finally say to the united ascetics of Christian love for mankind, visitors to prisons, trustees of their inhabitants and prisoners? What is the special thing for the fellow workers of the work of godliness, which grace has now sealed? – Not much is needed to be said where quite a lot of things have already been done or are being done with good intentions. “God will not offend you to forget your deeds and labors of love that you have shown in His name” (Heb. 6:10). May God's love never cease to inspire and delight your work. May the name of the Lord Jesus fulfill with the power the words and actions of your love for mankind. In the successful consolation of the needy, in the conversion of the erring, in the joyful testimony of your conscience about this, may He appear to you even in prison, who took away its reproach, and adorned it, with His assurance that He was in it: “there was no one in prison” (Matthew 25:36). Amen. In the department ed. After this word is placed the following “prayer of a prisoner in prison”: Lord God, my Creator and Savior, blessed be Your holy name! Thanks and glory to You, Lord, for all the good things that I have received from You in this life. Now I have found sorrow and illness, and I call on Your name. The reproaches attacked me. Placing me in the pit of hell, in the dark and shadow of death. I grieve over this, and through this sorrow I understand that I have sinned before You, and because of my sins troubles have come upon me. For Your righteous did not lose heart, and in prison they worshiped You, and in their suffering they rejoiced. And if you see iniquity, Lord, Lord, who will stand? For there is no man who does not sin. But You, Lord, bear the sins of the whole world and cleanse them with repentance. I believe that You will not reject even a sinner from Your presence. For the whole world, Your Only Begotten Son poured out His Divine blood. I believe that he can and wants to wash me from my sins. For this reason I say with David: let me confess my iniquity, but you, who are good, forsake the wickedness of my heart. I am afraid of human judgment and condemnation, but most of all may Thy unwashed judgment and eternal condemnation be in my fear. If unrighteousness arises against me: I dare to pray to You in the word of David: hear, O Lord, my righteousness and attend to my judgment, and deliver me with Your righteousness. If I have committed injustice, heal my iniquity with Your mercy. Do not allow my heart to deviate into words of deceit, to concealing the truth and to false justification. Help me to understand and hate my unrighteousness, to love the truth and in the truth to find relief for my soul. Lighten the burden of my distress. And if I am destined to bear it, let me bear it with patience for the sake of cleansing my sins and for the sake of appeasing Your justice. Even if shame covers me before some people, may I endure with humility, may I appease You, O Lord, may I not be ashamed before the face of the whole world at Your terrible judgment. I come to You mournful and sad, do not deprive me of spiritual consolation. I come to You darkened, show me the light of the hope of salvation. I fall to You, exhausted, raise me up and strengthen me with Your grace. Most of all, grant me the desire and help me, Lord, to do Your will in everything, so that in the peace of conscience I will glorify Your holy name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. You might be interested in: