372. Слово на день торжества освобождения обители преподобного Сергия от нашествия врагов *******

(Said to the Trinity Seminary of Greek and Hebrew by teacher Vasily Drozdov in the Trinity Lavra on January 12; printed together with the following word separately with the following approval on the back of the title page: “I have read these works, and I do not find anything questionable in them for printing. Plato, Metropolitan of Moscow.”) In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. There was a time - forgive me that from the bright triumph of Russia, clothed with glory, I glance at the gloomy views of suffering Russia: the shadow exalts the beauty of the light - there was an unhappy time when our Fatherland, tormented by foreigners, betrayed by unworthy sons, was preparing to breathe its last breath. Part of those faithful to him and God, who fled from the devastated cities and villages, then hid in this fence, and the enemies, who seemed to have sworn not to spare anything sacred, exhausted all the efforts of their malice against it. Terrible condition! Two insatiable monsters, war and pestilence, arguing about spoils, agree on the ferocity with which they want to devour this monastery. Death behind the walls, death within the walls; death floats in the air, death sneaks along underground paths. Murderous weapons reach this very sanctuary, and the Saints of God receive wounds in their images. The muscles capable of turning the sword become scarce; There are barely a few weak hands left to raise to the wrathful heavens. Finally, when the orphan children of the Fatherland saw with tearful eyes how vain human salvation is; when everything wavered except trust in the Highest help; when there were almost no other weapons except faith and prayer, the Lord of hosts crowned us with the weapon of favor, and despair, not finding a place among the monuments of piety, rushed into the hordes of villains. Glory to you, planters of this helicopter city, which has grown laurels and olive trees! Glory to you, disembodied leaders of unarmed warriors, reverend Fathers, Sergius and Nikon, founders and patrons of this monastery! Glory to you, defenseless defense of the distressed kingdom! Celebrate your deliverance now, and with all victorious Russia, in imitation of the victorious church, confess that “this is the victory that has overcome the world” (1 John 5:4), and faith in the All-Good and trust in the Almighty has given us peace. “Firmness in faith and piety,” listeners, “is” and always [will be] “the first foundation and the only guarantee of social well-being.” To consider the need for mutual assistance alone as the beginning of community life, and the reason for its expansion is the right of the strongest, is to imagine society as a union of bloodthirsty tigers and pitiful lambs. This is a kind of atheism that takes away from the Almighty the great region of His boundless dominion. To think that many different wills spontaneously united into one, that from countless private benefits a common benefit was accidentally formed - means to produce the entire creation from an accidental confluence of dust particles. Let us not be seduced by deceptive superstition: God is as much the Creator of the collected together and received political formation as of the moral and natural world. From the same wisdom that breathed the breath of life into the dusty image, comes the spirit of improvement to animate the colossal body of the state. The same power that guides the stars in the circles prescribed for them, elevates kings to the heights of glory and greatness. Providence alone watches over the worms that crawl in the dust, and watches over the movements of the restless peoples. Goodness, which gives food to all flesh, nourishes and increases them in peace and silence. The scales of impartial justice, on which the true price of human thoughts and deeds are determined, are not burdened to weigh kingdoms and empires. Good for the good, evil for the evil: this eternal law is indelibly written in the book of our conscience and in the internal composition of all societies. His influence extends no less to everyone in general, as to everyone in particular. The welfare of society cannot exist without the strict fulfillment of the duties assigned to its members, and without their zealous contribution to the good of the whole. The difficulties that are encountered in the performance of these duties, the dangers that are sometimes associated with it, the personal benefit that must often be sacrificed to him - all this makes one look for the strongest, most real incentives to remain faithful. These motives are found only in virtue, supported by faith in God. Honor, presupposed as the only end of services rendered to society, produces vile egoists; rewards, taken as a basis for loyalty, give him mercenaries; fear makes slaves who crave their own benefit at the expense of the common. Daughter of the Most High! You are the best mother of sons, you are the mother of the fathers of the fatherland, who serve him out of conscience, do good out of obedience to the heavenly Father, out of love for all the brothers in the Redeemer. With what caution do rulers, possessed of piety, use their power, considering themselves merely the first slaves before the face of the common Master! How they spare the blood of their subjects, of which every drop, innocently shed, touches their soul! With what reverence then do the rulers see in their rulers the sanctified image of the Ruler of the worlds. With what vigilant care does the judge test the truth, confident that sooner or later its voice will be heard before the judgment seat of eternal truth, and will echo like thunder in the hearts of asps deaf to it! What a gigantic strength is filled with a warrior who thinks more about incorruptible crowns than about fading ones and hopes to capture immortality by feat in the vale of death! With what security does “everyone” rest in his condition, as Israel “in... the days of Solomon under his vine and under his fig tree” (1 Kings 4:25) rests, when the fear of God, or more importantly love, from the throne to the hut, covering everything with its meek canopy, drives out all the horrors of crimes! What can arrogant enemies do here? “They are strong, but why can’t they overcome those who have the Almighty as their champion? They are numerous, but what will He not do in desecration of pride, Whose will and barren fruits are abundant, Who even raises a childless old man “into a great language”? Yes, Great God! - “Thou hast scratched the tongue and the kingdom, that thou mayest build up and destroy us” (Jer. 18:9): “And thy word shall not return unto thee empty” (Is. 55:11). “Through you kings reign and mighty men write righteousness” (Prov. 8:15). You will go forth in our strength and “a thousand and ten thousand will fall from our country,... but it will not come close to us” (Ps. 90:7). And this is when “as the eyes of a servant are in the hand of his masters,... so are our eyes towards You, the Lord our God” (Ps. 122:2). But when the indignant pagans dissolve the bonds of obedience to You and reject Your yoke from themselves, You “shepherded me with a rod of iron, as I crushed the vessels of the wicked” (Ps. 2:9). They forget You - and “I turn away... Your face, they are troubled, they disappear and return to their dust” (Ps. 103:29). It is in vain to say that the body of society is subject to the same destruction as the body of animals; that the fall of states is only a consequence of their composition. It is possible, without boldly appropriating the high gift of prophecy, to say with the Prophet to every Jerusalem that has abandoned its God: “Your apostasy will punish you, and your malice will expose you” (Jer. 2:19). Supernatural vengeance is not always required to accomplish this prediction; The arrows of wickedness, shot into heaven, slowly or quickly fall down with their own weight to strike the corrupt nations. Religion in society is a spring, the weakening of which all the actions of the colossus fall from hour to hour into greater disorder. After this stronghold is overthrown, the flow of lawlessness finds no barrier and spreads disasters and devastation everywhere. Who will not be betrayed by traitors to the Divine? Who will those who do not listen to the voice of reason and nature listen to? What kind of executions will the allies of hell be afraid of?.. If the good yoke of faith, which calms the conscience, alleviating the gravest sorrows, is imagined to be intolerable or useless, then what burden of office will seem pleasant and sacred? What then will the laws be? - a web that catches the weak. What is justice? - the art of entangling the truth and cutting its knots with gold. Oath? - a sound that beats the air and serves to calm frivolous children. Most virtue? - a wonderful name that will pass from mouth to mouth so often that it will never touch the heart. Courage? - blind fury, boiling with Pharaonic heat and extinguishing it in the abyss of despair. If, in the midst of this confusion, an external enemy wishes to add himself to the number of domestic enemies of the unfortunate society, and it does not again resort to the help sent down from above by piety, this will be enough for its destruction! Oh, may this mark not be fulfilled forever in you, dear Fatherland! May faith always reign in you: this is the only thing you need to continue the prosperity that you enjoy under the scepter of the Most Pious Monarch. Let our benefit, listeners, teach us to maintain faith, as the most precious guarantee of a good heaven; or if a past misfortune is a most convincing mentor, a real triumph, an unforgettable triumph, until the love for the Fatherland that produced it fades away - with each return, let it repeat this useful lesson to us. Amen. From 372 to 448 words are words printed during the life of the preacher, but not included in the collections of 1844, 1848 and 1861. You might be interested in: