364. Беседа по освящении храма Успения Божией Матери в селе Горбунове

(Said on May 29th; printed in the Works of the Holy Father, 1860 and in the collection, 1861). Another time I come to this place: and, just as twelve years before this, so now, remembering the past, I am comforted by the present. Before these twelve years there was no church of God here. Those who love the house of God, of course, sometimes not without difficulty, could use the church, which was unsatisfactorily close and, perhaps, not roomy for all who came, or, not without sorrow, they were forced to stay at home when their hearts drew them to the house of God, but obstacles did not allow them. People less zealous for the church of God in these obstacles could find some kind of justification for their evasion from it, and were in danger of even more cooling towards it. God found a person disposed to make a voluntary sacrifice, who looked at this with the eye of pious and humane concern. Rightfully taking advantage of the labor of the local population, he did not limit himself to giving the workers a fair material reward and means for temporary life, but wanted to provide them with spiritual benefits - to give them the immediate convenience of using the church of God and its grace-filled means for temporary and eternal life. The desire was so strong that it did not tolerate delay: and therefore, in order to shorten the time of building the church, the church builder created it not from stone, but from wood. The consecration of this church, twelve years before this, you, the brethren of this holy church, celebrated, without a doubt, with complete consolation and joy, and so did I. But then it turned out that the church builder was not completely satisfied. The tree is short-lived, he thought, especially the immature tree of the present time; and when a wooden church falls into disrepair, who knows whether jealousy will then appear and whether means will be found to recreate it? So, isn’t it better that the benefit that, under the protection of God’s Providence, was delivered to the race living here, now be ensured for the future and further race? - And so, the wooden church, still far from dilapidated, gives way to a new stone one: and we, the brethren of this holy church, can now rejoice not only for you, but also for your children and descendants. Be grateful, firstly, to the supreme benefactor God, because everything good and beneficial to the soul is accomplished only through the blessing and help of God; According to God, be grateful to the earthly benefactor who created this church. I do not say: greet him with grateful words; it will be done without me; but a few signs of respect and a few minutes of affectionate speech would not be a reward for an age-old benefit. There is a corresponding spiritual means of giving thanks for a spiritual good deed, namely prayer. Do not forget and teach your children not to forget, so that when you hear in this church from the clergyman a call to prayer for the creators of this holy church, your heart pronounces the name of the servant of God Alexy and his relatives, and calls on the grace of God to him who has made it convenient for you to partake of the grace of the holy church. Once upon a time, the holy Apostle Paul appealed to the Christians of the Corinthian church: “We pray that you do not receive the grace of God in vain” (2 Cor. 6:1). Learning from him, with the same word I appeal to the brethren of the local church: “We pray that you will not receive the grace of God in vain” - the grace of God that sanctified this church, dwelt in it, and is given to you daily through it. Do not leave the grace that has approached you, given to you, as fruitless and alien to you, by your negligence in visiting the house of God, by your inattention to the prayers that are offered in it, and to the mysteries that are performed in it. Encourage yourself with the heartfelt feeling of the ancient lover of the church of God: “we rejoiced at those who said to me: let us go to the house of the Lord” (Ps. 122:1). And when you enter the doors of the church of God: leave behind you everything worldly and earthly. Enter the church of God with reverence, as if you were entering the threshold of heaven. Looking at the holy altar, think - and this is a completely true thought - that heaven is hidden in it, that in it Angels will serve as priests, that in it our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, at certain times, appears as His Divine body, and is constantly present in His spirit. Not only listen to psalms, prayers, sacred hymns in reverent silence, but also try to understand them and be taught by them for your faith and for your life. Do not be lazy about the fact that other things in them are not clear; There is enough in them that is intelligible with which you can feed your souls. Moreover, we know that those who are constantly attentive, even if there is a lack of teaching outside the church, visiting it diligently, by the grace of God, acquire a deep understanding of what is happening in it. When you hear the word of the Gospel, you hear Jesus Christ Himself: and need we remind you that His Divine word must be taken to heart and fulfilled? When, during the Divine Liturgy, the Divine words of Christ are proclaimed: “This is My body” (Matthew 26:26; Mark 14:22; Luke. 22:19); – “this is My blood” (Matthew 26:28; Mark 14:24); when the Holy Spirit descends directly for this reason; in the transubstantiated bread and wine the body of Christ and the blood of Christ appear, a body not separated from the spirit of Christ the God-man; when, consequently, the Son of God Himself, incarnate, suffering for us, resurrected, reigning in heaven and on earth, is truly and truly present on the throne of the church: then I don’t know what the Christian soul, not dead before God, not deprived of life by faith, should feel more, whether to tremble in fear, lest such a close fire of the Divine scorch our unworthiness, or rejoice with trepidation that the Most High descends so wonderfully to our humility, so that our mortality can be imbued with the power of eternal life. And if, consubstantial with God the Father, the incarnate Son of God, all-sufficient, having no need of us, even offended and insulted incessantly by our sins, with such immeasurable love and mercy, gives Himself as a sacrifice for our salvation: then what is more consistent with the mind of truth and righteousness, what is more characteristic of a heart that has not lost the feeling for good, how to surrender all of oneself to the Lord Jesus Christ with inner self-sacrifice, reject for him everything that is displeasing to Him, choose and do what is pleasing to Him, reverence Him and strive for communication and union with Him both in the church, through open public prayer and sacred sacraments, and outside the church through internal movements of pious thought and a believing heart towards Him? “This... let your brethren be wise” (Phil. 2:5), - so let your heart be disposed, so let your life be arranged. “We pray that you will not receive the grace of God in vain,” but actively correspond to it by fulfilling, with its undoubted help, the commandments of God and doing good deeds, for the peace of your souls, for the achievement of salvation and eternal bliss in our Lord Jesus Christ, to Him be glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever. Amen. You might be interested in: