206. Слово в день Успения Пресвятыя Богородицы

(Said in the Assumption Cathedral, August 15; printed in the Works of the Holy Father, 1846 and in the collection, 1848) In the Exposition of the Orthodox Faith of St. John of Damascus, the following discussion about holy icons is found: “not everyone knows the scriptures, but everyone practices reading: sowing for the sake of guilt, the holy Fathers reasoned, so that this” (even in the incarnation of the Son of God was done), “like a certain glorious deed, is depicted on icons, as soon as possible for the sake of remembrance.” (Book IV. Ch. 16). According to this reasoning, looking with attention at holy icons means the same as reading holy books. And from this it would be fair to conclude that teaching can be gleaned from icons, just like from books. And although Saint Damascene refers this to those who do not know the scriptures, we, who know the scriptures to some extent, will not exalt ourselves above those who do not know, and will not consider it unnecessary for ourselves what is useful for them, “not being exalted in wisdom, but being guided by the humble,” as the humble wisdom of the Apostles teaches (Rom. 12:16). Those who are zealous to learn the mysteries of the Blessed Virgin Mary from the Holy Scriptures know how little is said about Her. And one cannot complain about this: because about the Incarnate Son of God Himself in the sacred books, more is kept silent than what is said, and this is out of necessity, as the last Evangelist, who complemented the others, noted: “even if the One were written in one, I think the whole world could not contain the books that were written” (John 21:25). So we think to be right if, having exercised in other cases, according to our strength, or better, according to our weakness, in testing the scriptures that testify to the Most Holy Virgin, now we want, instead of a book, to read something in the icon of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, of which the oldest example, according to a special dispensation of Providence, was brought from Constantinople to Kyiv, and which St. Peter, with his sacred and holy right hand, depicted here for us, no doubt, not only for sensory vision, but also for spiritual contemplation. The first part of the icon, closest to the viewer, is simple. We see the most pure body of the Blessed Virgin, after the departure of Her most holy soul, resting 673 on her bed. The Cathedral of the Apostles rises and carries it to the place of burial. Saint Peter honors him by burning incense, although it itself filled the inner feelings of those approaching him with faith with an incomparably better and life-giving fragrance. If it were possible to depict sounds with a brush and paints, then we would hear from the icon the Apostolic funeral hymn, in which, as Saint Dionysius the Areopagite says, “who came together to see the life-giving and God-receiving body, God’s brother James, and Peter, and all the priests sang the infinitely strong goodness of God’s infirmity,” that is, the goodness of the Son God in the incarnation took upon Himself the weakness of human nature, except for sin (about the name of God, chapter 3). What does this image remind us of? What does it teach us? – Reminds us of the terrible law of death. It teaches us to think in good time about how we can meet this law. “You are earth, and you will go back to earth”: said the Heavenly Judge in the person of the sinned forefather to the human race (Gen. 3:19). And how inexorably this sentence is carried out! Let “death reign over those who have not sinned in the likeness of Adam’s crime” (Rom. 5:14), but also over those who have sinned in some other way, and over those who have not been cleansed from the sin of their ancestors. But the most blessed Mary, even before she became the Mother of God, according to the explanation of the Church Theologian (John verse on the Annunciation), was “purified by the Spirit” so that She could be a worthy vessel for the incarnation of the Son of God. From the time of the Incarnation, just as Her body is the dwelling place of God, so, without a doubt, Her soul is the dwelling place of God, in the same high sense as she, in dignity of the Mother of the Lord, exceeds the Cherubim and Seraphim. And despite this, She also submits to the law of death, although, however, only in appearance; She also goes into the earth, although only for a short time. How could this be allowed? - It could have been allowed due to Her humility, according to which She would not have wanted to remain completely uninvolved in death, when Her Divine Son tasted death; and indeed it is allowed, according to the dispensation of Providence, for us, the child of earthy Adam, who does not strive to be transformed into the image of Heavenly Adam - for us, the child who has sinned, sinned and is not cleansed, so that we, looking at the tomb of the Most Pure Mother of the Life, and turning to what is below Her, would think with fear how true the judgment of the Apostle is, that “the righteous will barely be saved,” and so that they deeply feel the power of the conclusion that follows: “Even if the righteous are barely saved, where will the wicked and sinner appear” (1 Pet. 4:18)? If even with the grace-filled renewal of life, with high holiness and purity, the arrow of death still finds a more or less vulnerable place in human nature: then what will happen to a person who, without striving for grace-filled renewal, carelessly lives in corrupt nature? What will happen to a soul that, through sinful inclinations and passions, introduces into itself the elements of hell and breeds within itself the seeds of spiritual death? What will happen to the body, which, with its already natural disposition towards corruption, not only does not receive healing from a higher power renewed by the grace of life, but also accepts new and evil seeds of corruption and death from the vicious soul, from its destructive passions, from its unbridled lusts, from various types of intemperance and abuse of sensory abilities? Let us strive carefully and without laziness, brethren, to correct, purify and elevate our activities with the commandments of God and the power of faith, and to ascend from the visible natural life to the hidden life of grace, so that our temporary life may be the beginning of eternal life, may our temporary death not be the threshold of eternal death, may our tomb be the door to heaven! Let us turn again to examining the icon. The second part of it is not as simple as the first. Above the deathbed and above the lifeless body of the Blessed Virgin, the icon represents Christ the Savior Himself, holding Her soul in His arms, in the form of an infant, signifying, without a doubt, the beginning of a new life in heaven. The Scriptures do not say that all who witnessed the dormition and burial of the Mother of God saw this with their bodily eyes. Therefore, it must be assumed that the compiler of the icon presented here visible what belongs to the invisible world, and simply connected the visible with the spiritually contemplated. By depicting the body of the Blessed Virgin, abandoned by Her soul, he seemed to warn the question: what was happening to Her soul at that time? And in response to this, he apparently depicted Her soul, carried by the hands of Her Divine Son. Here a new important question arises: what power does this image have? Is this not a simple representation of the imagination? - No. To think so would be inconsistent with the dignity of the ancient holy icon. The audacity to paint icons according to the imagination of the painter is a product of the self-will of modern times. The ancients depicted on icons what they found in scriptures worthy of faith or in tradition. And the artist of our icon, St. Peter, without a doubt, was not inclined to paint the dreams of the imagination on icons. Let us conclude without hesitation that his icon represents to us not an arbitrary figment of the imagination, but a contemplation consistent with the essence of the subject. Is it necessary, according to the church rule of caution, to show the agreement of this tradition with Holy Scripture? – For this we can point to the words of Christ: “The beggar was to die, and the angels were carried into the bosom of Abraham” (Luke 16:22). The fact that these words belong to a parable should not be a reason to doubt their meaning: because the tributary faces are also depicted as features of real nature. Just as the death and burial of a rich person are features of real nature, so the carrying by angels of a dead beggar, who through patience acquired his soul, is a feature of real contemplation. So compare. If Scripture testifies that the souls of holy men, proceeding from the body, are accepted by Angels: then is it not entirely in accordance with this that tradition, by the way through the icon, testifies that the most holy soul of the Mother of the Lord, the highest of the Angels, proceeding from the body, was received by Her Divine Son Himself? An angel, according to another legend, was sent to Her even earlier on earth in order to warn Her of her approaching repose; and then the assembly of Angels greeted Her with heavenly chants, the echo of which was heard by those worthy during Her burial. You see what varied wisdom our God-wise Fathers contained in the icon image. They presented us not only with an edifying recollection of the visible past, but also with a mysterious contemplation of the invisible in the region of the coming age. What a sweet, although unattainably lofty, contemplation! How brightly the love of the Divine Son for the God-Graceful Mother shines in him! What precision of the Heavenly Judge in rewarding the deeds of earthly life! Because the Ever-Virgin carried the Son of God in her arms during His earthly infancy: then, as reward for this, the Son of God carries Her soul in His arms, in the beginning of Her heavenly life. Whoever you are, a fellow traveler of earthly life, listening to me, soon both your and my soul—I don’t know which is sooner—only surely soon the invisible region of the coming age will open to both your and my soul. Did we think what would meet us there? Who will receive us there? Will the Angels, like the soul of the Gospel beggar, deign to carry our poor soul to some abode of light? Or do you not care about this, and think that you can do without this honor? Don't fool yourself. It is true that this is an honor to the worthy: but is it not also a benefit to the needy? If on the path of the visible world we need the protection and guidance of Angels: then isn’t it even more so when entering the unknown and boundless invisible world? Now the physical world stands before us like a barrier, closing the bright kingdom of heaven from us, but also separating the dark kingdom of hell from us; but even now, more or less, the influences of the underworld of darkness penetrate to us, and all the more beneficial are the assisting influences from the kingdom of light: what will happen when our soul, renouncing the body, crosses the barrier of the physical world and comes into direct contact with the spiritual world? Isn’t she threatened by an open attack of dark forces, while she cannot say about herself, as the only Sinless One could say: “The prince of this world is coming, and in Me he will have nothing” (John 14:30)? Blessed is the one who, looking beyond the tomb, has enough presence of mind to say with David: “Though I walk into the midst of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me" (Ps. 22:4), - You, the light of the world and the conqueror of hell, - You, Who illuminate even the shadow of death with the radiance of Your cross, - You, Who “tasted death for all,” so that death would be swallowed up by life, - You, Who command Your angels to preserve those living with Your help in all ways, visible and invisible, in time and beyond time! But in order to have such presence of spirit, for this it is necessary that Christ be with us, in our faith, in our love, in our activity according to His will and commandments. In the prophet Isaiah, “this saith the Lord: Blessed is he that hath a tribe in Zion, and a tribe in Jerusalem” (Isaiah 31:9). If this saying has a force of meaning in relation to earthly Jerusalem and the Jewish people, then it is incomparably greater in relation to spiritual Israel and heavenly Jerusalem. A Jew, if he cannot come to the house of a relative in earthly Jerusalem, can find an inn for himself there, and for money get what he cannot have due to family affection. But in the heavenly Jerusalem there are no rented dwellings, no money, no buying or selling. Either come there as a fellow tribesman and relative, or you will not be accepted there. “But can we become relatives of heavenly citizens, whom for the most part we don’t even know?” “We can become kinsmen not only to the citizens of heaven, but also to their King himself.” Read in the Gospel His long-read letter for all of you regarding this high kinship. “These are my mother and my brothers, who hear the word of God and do it” (Luke 8:21). So, brethren, be diligent in listening to the word of God, especially as spoken in the Church, be active and faithful in fulfilling Christ’s commandments; and you will enter into heavenly kinship, you will “have a tribe in” the high “Zion, and a tribe in” the “Jerusalem” not made by hands, you will still be on earth, according to the word of the Apostle, “fellows with the saints and dreamers of God” (Eph. 2:19), and finally, they will accept you into the eternal shelters of heaven, into the sacrament of bliss, and into the contemplation of glory Father and Son and Holy Spirit. Amen. In the original manuscript, the author wrote in pencil above the crossed out line: lying. You might be interested in: