217. Слово в день торжественного венчания и помазания на Царство Благочестивейшаго Государя Императора Николая Павловича

(Said in the Assumption Cathedral on August 22; printed in the Works of the Holy Father in 1847 and in the collection of 1861) My eyes are on the faithful lands, plant them with me. (Ps. C. 6). The prophet and king David wants to portray a just and merciful king in the psalm: “I will sing mercy and judgment to You, O Lord” (Ps. 100:1). He does not say directly: I will sing praises to the merciful and just king; because humility does not allow: because he wants to sing about his own dispositions and feelings. But he says: I will sing of mercy and judgment, or justice, as properties considered separately from the person, which he wishes to have and preserve; which he does not dare to decisively attribute to himself, for which he therefore prays to the Lord, which is why he turns to Him: “I will sing to You, O Lord.” Take a closer look at some of the features of the prophetic image. “I walked in the midst of my house in gentleness of heart. - Those who commit crimes begin to hate. - He who slanders his sincere secret, I expel him. My eyes are on the faithful lands, plant them with me” (Ps. 100:2-6). What a beautiful image of the king! In his home, he treats meekly and simply, like a loving father of a family. The sight of a crime, as it were, involuntarily arouses hatred in him, out of a deep sense of rightness. He drives away slander and secret slander from himself like an infection. He constantly extends his penetrating gaze to the court, to the capital, to the kingdom, in order to find the faithful, bring them closer to himself, use them in business, testing them in smaller ministries to prepare for the most important ones, and, according to merit, encourage and console them with his favor. With consolation, presenting to you, Russians, the written, ancient, majestic image of the Tsar, while our hearts are filled with the living image of our Most Pious Autocrat, with care from what the Prophet wrote, I extend my thoughts to what he did not complete. The “eyes” of the King are “on the faithful of the land”: but does He find enough of the faithful of the land? Are they sufficiently consistent with His desires and the good of the kingdom? Are they rewarding Him with enough fruits of fidelity for His royal deeds? I offer this concern for fidelity, as a gift of fidelity, to the King on the day of His glory. Faithful Russians! Let no concern for fidelity offend you. This is not a doubt about fidelity, which would truly offend you, but a desire for perfection in this virtue and a feeling of necessary caution against stumbling, which can be encountered on every path, and not only for the lame or weakened. Let us take care, each for ourselves and for each other, that our loyalty to the Tsar and the law is complete, observed always and in everything, in great and small, so that it is selfless, so that it is ready for self-sacrifice. From the Examining heart and womb we have an observation of the course of moral activity, worthy of deep attention and constant remembrance: “he who is faithful in little is faithful in many; and the unjust is the least, and the unrighteous is the many” (Luke 16:10). Those who are not far-sighted do not notice this. To betray the Tsar and the Fatherland in war, to plunder a state treasure, to condemn an ​​innocent person to heavy punishment - these blatant infidelities against the Tsar, the Fatherland and the law amaze everyone, and the gravity of the crime is among the means that protect against an attempt on it. But not to do things in the royal service, and to take advantage of rewards or rewards for service, to introduce types of personal gain into the disposal of public affairs and funds, to accept a petition in court instead of evidence, and to justify the wrongdoer - these, they say, are not great inaccuracies, sometimes excused by circumstances, and do not interfere with fidelity in the most important matters. Don't flatter yourself. These minor inaccuracies are not very small, especially because they are pregnant with major inaccuracies. This apparently harmless untruth in the small, leads with it a harmful untruth in the large. They will say: is it really impossible for a free being, due to a small stumble, to stop and prevent himself from causing great evil? In terms of freedom, I won’t say that it’s impossible. But one cannot refuse to pay attention to the testimony of experience, which says through the mouth of the wise that “he who despises a little will fall little by little” (Sir. 19:1), and even more the testimony of the Wisdom of God herself, that “he who is unrighteous in a few is also unrighteous in many.” Her words may not be understood, but cannot be doubted. “All justice is to those who understand, and simplicity to those who gain understanding” (Proverbs 8:9). Let us try to gain the understanding of Christ’s words. – Usually, they take more care of clothes that are still clean than those that have already received a stain, which are therefore easily doomed to use, subjecting the stains to multiplying. This happens with the clothing of the soul and with the conscience of what has been done. There is an inner urge to take care of it when it is clean; there is a special pleasure in this storage; there is a special power for this, since the grace of God is close to the pure, strengthening and protecting: but as soon as even one stain of untruth falls on the clothes of a careless soul, the soul no longer has the same vigor as before, nor the same close grace-filled help to protect itself from the second and third moral stain. When repeating acts of untruth, the moral sense becomes dulled; the eye of the soul darkens; the eye for distinguishing between small and large untruths becomes less and less true; an evil habit comes. Now, it seems, it is clear how a moral direction that allows untruth in a small amount has a direct, inherent outcome in untruth in a large number. – It is even more convenient to understand the other part of Christ’s saying: “he who is faithful in little and in many is faithful.” Every force, through constantly repeated experiments, moving from lesser to greater, develops, increases and reaches possible perfection. So, constantly acting fidelity in the small, naturally, finally turns out to be fidelity in the many, which is most visible under circumstances favorable to its manifestation. Faithful lands! Do not consider these reflections unnecessary for yourself. Do not neglect small infidelity: big infidelity is not too far from it. Treasure fidelity in the small: it prepares and ensures fidelity in the multitude. How is loyalty damaged by greed? Is it necessary to explain or prove? Who does not know, for example, that if a judge is unfaithful to law and justice, then the most common explanation for cases of this kind is a passion for selfish interests of various kinds? Therefore, for those who think that selfishness will not burn the conscience, just as selfishness will not burn the hands, I will limit myself to pointing out only one much instructive example. From the many disciples of Christ, twelve Apostles were chosen, without a doubt, giving the primary hope of fidelity to the Divine Mentor. There could be no error in the election: because omniscience chose. But what happened? One of these chosen faithful “had an ark and carried a burden” (John 12:6). He stared at the silver; loved silver; he longed to increase his silver: and his love of money brought him to the most severe infidelity, to betrayal that was both base and destructive - to betray Christ for pieces of silver, and at the same time his apostleship, and his temporal and eternal life. Faithful lands! The example of a traitor to Christ is unique: and may nothing like this ever be found in the human race! But the charm of self-interest is an ordinary charm. If even apostolic fidelity is poisoned by it, then all other fidelity should fearfully turn away from this delusion, under which such a deadly poison may be hidden. An important attribute of true loyalty is the readiness for self-sacrifice. He who is faithful only within the limits of his own safety is completely faithful only to himself. Loyalty that is not disposed to self-sacrifice becomes insignificant in those very cases in which it would be most necessary and beneficial, and in which its beauty and greatness could be revealed with special light. Defending the tsar and fatherland against a warring enemy is obviously not possible without a decisive willingness to sacrifice one’s life for the tsar and fatherland. But even in peaceful relations within the fatherland, loyalty is not guaranteed unless it is strengthened to the point of readiness for self-sacrifice. Is it necessary, for example, in court or in government, to protect the right but weak from the wrong but strong rival or persecutor? Who can do this? Without a doubt, only the one who decided to undergo persecution rather than betray the persecuted innocence. Is it necessary to express before the mighty of the earth a truth that does not agree with their thoughts and desires, but is saving for society? Who can do this? - Without a doubt, only the one who would rather suffer for the truth and the common good than to keep himself in peace at the expense of the public good. Faithful lands! Strengthen and elevate your loyalty with the common rule with the faithful of Heaven: “be faithful until death.” The “eyes” of the King are “on the faithful lands” to illuminate your exploits, to make your sacrifices, like the sacrifice of Isaac, not mortal for you, blessed for you, both for the fatherland and for posterity. If the king of earth cannot do anything for the truly faithful, then the King of heaven will do everything, Who said: “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Rev. 2:10). Amen. You might be interested in: