275. Беседа на освящение храма Святого Апостола Филиппа, на Иерусалимском, в Москве, подворье

(Said Sept. 20; printed in the Works of the Holy Father, 1852 and in the collection, 1861) Those who hold close to their hearts the dedicated name of “the one Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church” should be close to the heart of the celebration of the consecration of the church that took place here today, as one in which one can see the pleasant features of the “union of the Holy Churches of God,” which we daily ask for in prayers. Several decades before this, the Church of Jerusalem wished to have its own church here: and the Russian Church, with the permission of the Most Pious Autocrat, offered it a church here and a place for the clergy to live. The zeal of the Orthodox children of the Russian Church contributed to the improvement of the church that was previously here, and the construction of housing for the Jerusalem clergy with it, and has now added a new church to the ancient one. And His Beatitude the Patriarch of Jerusalem, responding to charitable communion with ecclesiastical and sacred communion, with his message to us expressed a desire for this church to receive consecration from the hierarchy of the Russian Church, which has now been accomplished by the grace of God. It is not untimely to remember that in this God-saved city there has long been a monastery 738 under the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople; that recently the Antioch Patriarchate was given a church 739; that the envoy of the Patriarch of Antioch has been here for several years, taking advantage of the benefits of the children of the Russian Church for his poor Church, and that now the envoy of the Patriarch of Alexandria is on his way here, also with the hope of the charity of the Russians for the needy Church of Alexandria. Let us note here, as I have already said, the pleasant features of the unity and communion of the Churches that make up the Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. But so that there is no doubt whether these are true features of true unity, let us see how the unity and communion of the Churches is defined in the Word of God. The Holy Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Ephesian Church, teaches it to “maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace,” and the basis of this teaching is based on the following reasoning: “There is one body, one spirit, just as there was a calling in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in us all” ( Eph.4:3-6). Thus, the Apostle indicates the inner focus and extreme height of church unity in “one God the Father”: and significantly adds that He is one “above all,” according to His highest power, one “through all,” according to the comprehensive and all-penetrating action of His providence and government, one “in all of us,” according to the internal gracious action of the Holy Spirit. Through this it is made clear that in order to establish and inviolably maintain the unity of the universal Church, this requires Divine perfections, and not human strength and means. A more open source of church unity, according to the teaching of the Apostle, is “one Lord,” Jesus Christ, who is called in the same epistle “the Head of the Church,” accordingly called “His body” (Eph. 1:22–23). Other consistent features in the Apostolic depiction of church unity are: “unity of calling” for salvation and “hope” of future blessings, “unity of the faith” and its dogmas, “unity of baptism” and the sacraments in general, finally “unity in soul” and “union ... of the world.” Is it not these Apostolic features that today’s unity and communion are marked? The churches that make up the Catholic Orthodox Church? They all recognize the only Divine Head of the entire body of the Church - our Lord Jesus Christ. All of them sacredly preserve the “one faith,” as the Apostles preached it, as the three hundred and eighteen Fathers of the first Ecumenical Council, and the one hundred and fifty Fathers of the second Ecumenical Council pronounced it - they preserve it without change, without diminution, without addition. You see the communion of the sacraments between Churches separated by great distances and nationalities in action here today. The Russian Church gives its sanctuary to the Jerusalem Church: and the Jerusalem Church, to perform the sacrament in the sanctuary assigned to it, calls on the hierarchy of the Russian Church. Is it not the “unity of the spirit” and the “union... of peace” between the Churches that is also revealed in the fact that distant, foreign Churches, with trust and hope, send their envoys to the Russian Church to express their needs to her, and the Russian Church accepts their sorrows to the heart, and willingly extends a helping hand to them? Isn’t this a continuation of the original Apostolic communion, about which the Apostle Paul writes: “James and Cephas and John, who were considered pillars, gave fellowship to me and Barnabas as right hands, so that we may be of the tongues, and they of the circumcision, even though we remember the poor, who have labored to do all these things” (Gal. 2:9-10)? that is: James, Peter and John, who were revered as the pillars of the universal Church, predominantly ruling over the Jewish Churches, without violating the unity of the universal Church, gave exactly the same leadership to Paul and Barnabas over the Gentile Churches, so that the Churches suffering from disasters and poverty would be given help by the Church enjoying peace and abundance. Let us glorify, Brethren, God, who has given us the grace to be, albeit small, members of the one great spiritual body of Christ, the one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. And oh, that each of us would be a living member of it, by faith and virtue! Oh, that none of us were in danger of being cut off from this immortal body, as a member fatally infected by unbelief and prevailing sin! Let us think and care about this diligently and unceasingly: it depends on our attention, desire and care; The grace of God is always ready to help with this. Let us seem incomprehensible, but understandably considerate of the fate of God for the universal Church. Meanwhile, the yoke of the infidels was gradually falling on the peoples of the ancient great Churches of the East, and as a result of this, the Churches themselves were subject to difficulties in governance, were deprived of material benefits, were reduced in the number of believers, either by disasters or by rejection of those who were not firm in the faith; and the West was darkened by “smoke from the student of the abyss, opened by a star that fell from heaven to earth” (Rev. 9: 1–3): God planted, increased, strengthened, expanded the Russian Church, and, through the Christ-loving zeal of our Kings, made it the defender of the Orthodox faith in infidel countries, and in the Christian zeal of our people opened it for the needy Churches source of comfort and help. Let us feel, brothers of the Russian Church, the mercy of God’s Providence towards us. Together with the Divine gift of the Orthodox faith, we are given, in the world of the Kingdom, to enjoy the peace of the Church. The God of the new Israel “gave us,” according to the prophetic word of the righteous Zechariah, “without fear, having been delivered from the hand of our enemies, to serve Him in honor and righteousness before Him all the days of our life” (Luke 1:73–75). While other Churches and their children struggle in tribulation, in distress, in deprivation, nothing prevents us from celebrating the triumphs of faith, enjoying open treasures and the consolations of grace, “for those who are in... affliction are able to comfort us with consolation, and with it we ourselves are comforted from God” (2 Cor. 1:4). Let us strive faithfully to use these gifts for good deeds, looking with fear to Him who has the Church in the right hand of His destiny, Who “by keeping His works to the end gives authority to the nations” (Rev. 2:26), and incites those who are imperfect to better deeds with the threat of “moving out of place... a lamp” (Rev. 2:5), which does not shine with the light of living faith and good deeds. Amen. Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker. St. Hieromartyr Hypatius. You might be interested in: