457. Слово в день собора Святого Архистратига Михаила

(Said in the Archangel Cathedral on November 8). Michael the Archangel, always arguing with the devil, spoke about the body of Moses, not daring to bring blasphemy to judgment, but saying: may the Lord rebuke you. (Jude 1:9). The council of earthly warriors, gathered with their archangel, that is, the military leader, and appearing in orderly order and solemnity, represents to us either the war itself, or, at least, a military game, with which warriors are accustomed to the work of war. The sight of war should excite people to heroic deeds for the security of the Fatherland. The spectacle of a war game should provide examples for those who want to fight, and nourish the hope of the Fatherland. If not: the spectators are frivolous, the spectacle is useless. Now the Church has called us to contemplate the council of the heavenly army with its commander. What will we see, and what should be the consequence of the vision for us if we do not want to be frivolous spectators, if the spectacle should not remain useless for us? Will we see some kind of heavenly war? – We will see if we look through the eyes of the non-viewer John. Look what he sees. “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels made war with the serpent, and the serpent braced himself and his angels. And they were not able, and no place was found for them in heaven. And the great serpent, the ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, who flattered the whole world, was cast down, and he was cast out to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him” (Rev. 12:7-9). Let's not be curious; Let us not dare to enter into a detailed test of what kind of mysterious warfare the seer sees and shows us: but let us be careful; Let's think about our safety. It is dangerous when there is war in the neighborhood; and the region of heaven, in which we see warfare, is adjacent to the region of earthly beings. It is more dangerous when the enemy does not hesitate to attack even a stronger region than ours: and he dared to raise his battle even to heaven, which, without a doubt, is both more impregnable and more powerful than the earth. It is even more dangerous when the war is already within our borders: and the heavenly battle truly continues with the enemy cast down from heaven already within our earthly borders. True, he was cast down to us already defeated in heaven: but that is joy only for heaven; for the earth there is a new horror, as a heavenly voice announces to the seer: “For this reason rejoice, the heavens and those who dwell in them: woe to those who live on the earth and the seas, for the devil has come among you, having great wrath, knowing that time is short” (Rev. 12:12). The war, lost in the highest region, turned the old enmity into fury; the rapid course of destinies taking place above the earth, threatening him with a new overthrow into the underworld, brings his rage to the extreme degree of frenzy. “The devil came, ... having great rage, knowing that time is short.” Look around, you who live on land and sea, and see if you have already noticed this rage in its very action around you; – don’t you notice how the enemy, who has repeatedly brought hellish warfare into the heavenly region of the Church with the weapons of heresies and schisms, false teachings and temptations, superstitions and ignorance, has been reflected so many times by the Angels of the Churches and the host of right and firm believers, could not shake the “solid foundation of God,” which to this day “stands” unshakably, bearing its seal this: “The Lord knows His own beings, and let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from unrighteousness” (2 Tim. 2:19); - how did this enemy descend to earth, rushing to indignation and destruction of earthly societies with various weapons of unbelief, false philosophy, oblivion about the soul and about the future life, unbridled luxury, indomitable self-will, perjured malice, desperate insolence, lawlessness and atrocities, of which pagan citizens would be ashamed and horrified? And what terrible successes he made in a little time! If you do not have enough attention to notice the increasing “increase of lawlessness” (Matt. 24:12), - for people who have known the world for a few days, so as not to have to worry about becoming better than what it is now, willingly assure themselves and each other that it has always been like this - can you ignore at least one thing that should strike the inattentive - can you not notice how clearly before our eyes a crime was committed, which in Christianity could hardly have been realized, namely: in the midst of Christianity itself, the second crucifixion of the Lord ours; for the people called Christian did exactly the same thing with His faith that the Jews, with His face, condemned it, betrayed it, rejected it, scolded it, and would have destroyed it, if it had not been for her, according to her eternal nature, to be resurrected from death itself. Truly, “woe to those who live on earth and sea! ...The devil is down!” So “be careful how dangerously you walk. Be sober, be vigilant, the devil is your adversary, like a roaring lion he walks about, looking for someone to devour” (Eph.5:15; 1Pet.5:8). But, so as not to frighten you more than appropriately by viewing a dangerous battle on the day on which we triumph and rejoice over our heavenly and earthly defenders from enemies visible and invisible, let us turn our gaze to a spectacle that is not so formidable, but also instructive in its own way, in which we will see not the war itself, but a certain experience of military affairs, not a battle, but a duel, not the fury of the enemy, but the art of the winner. “Michael the Archangel, always arguing with the devil, spoke about the body of Moses, not daring to bring blasphemy to judgment, but said: may the Lord rebuke you.” "Don't be funny!" How? Michael doesn't dare? The Archangel of the heavenly powers does not dare? He dare not “argue with the devil?” Doesn’t he even dare to utter a threatening word against the devil? Where is the power of the Archangel, where is the courage of the one who, in the eyes of the mystic, had to win a decisive victory over the devil? This is truly strange and incomprehensible to people who are ignorant of the matter of spiritual warfare, or who are still led by the insolence of the flesh. May they learn from Michael the Archangel, both in exploits against the devil and in dealing with offending or disobedient people, to overcome rage not with the strongest rage, but with perfect meekness, pride with humility, insolence with modesty, injustice with generous patience, in a word, “to overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12:21). “Michael the Archangel always argued with the devil in the verb.” What is the distance between these bickering people? On the one hand, Michael the Archangel is pure, pleasing and beloved to God, and not a simple Angel, but an Archangel, that is, in charge of many Angels; moreover, not from those Archangels who command the rank of Angels closest to people, the lowest of the nine ranks of the heavenly ranks, but one of the seven supreme Angels, who are above all the heavenly ranks, directly before the throne of the Trinitarian Deity. On the other hand, the devil, an unclean spirit who has angered God through sin, is condemned, although the sentence of this judgment has not yet been promulgated throughout the kingdom of God and has not been carried out with all its might. If we imagine one of the first friends of the kings and one of the last slaves, convicted of a crime and condemned, the difference between them is still very small in comparison with the difference between Michael the Archangel and the devil. How much will a nobleman allow a convicted criminal to stand before him? But Michael the Archangel allows the devil to argue with him. When the narrator of this dispute notes that Michael “did not... bring blasphemous judgment”: this makes it clear that the devil even pronounced blasphemous judgment. And Mikhail! He did not dare answer the madman because of his madness. People who accept high titles, which, however, are not higher than earthly ones, would look at this angelic feud, and would remember how they sometimes treat people whom they consider lower than themselves! How often, not even for guilt, and not in strife, they humiliate their own kind with reproachful and blasphemous names! The names of the saints with which the Church adorns each of us at our very birth or baptism are broken and distorted in order to instill contempt for them, for our brothers in Christ. What is he worth? - does the rich man think about the poor, who can value and buy many human bodies, but does not know the price of the Christian soul? What is he worth?.. He costs exactly as much as you and me; he was truly bought at a price that is higher neither on earth nor in heaven - he was bought with the blood of the Son of God. The rebellious diabolical quality is revealed by the one who, not respecting the social order, pronounces a daring or blasphemous judgment on the highest, or, in the words of the Apostle, “I sweep away dominion... but do not tremble at the glory of blasphemy” (Jude 1:8): but even he is not animated by the Angelic or Christian spirit, who harbors in himself, and by deed or word shows pride or contempt for inferior. Let us turn again to Michael and listen as much as possible to what he is arguing about with the devil. “Wrangling with the devil, you spoke about the body of Moses.” The narrator does not explain what exactly the dispute about Moses' body was; and it is difficult to supplement this brevity with a satisfactory guess. They say, writes one of the Orthodox interpreters of the Holy Scriptures: “that Michael the Archangel served the burial of Moses, and the devil opposed it, bringing accusations of killing the Egyptian, believing that Moses was to blame for this, and therefore unworthy of an honest burial.” If anyone asks what benefit it would be for the devil to challenge the burial of Moses: let him think about how often malice in its stubbornness goes crazy; Moreover, if the enemy had managed to show the Jews the body of their leader who had previously worked miracles, defeated, or still damaged, and torn by predatory animals, this could plunge them into extreme despondency and harm their faith and well-being. But no matter how anyone discusses the subject of this dispute, no one will doubt that there was perfect truth on Mikhail’s side, and complete injustice on the side of his opponent. Despite this, the devil argues, but Michael the Archangel does not dare. We, for whom also, and without a doubt, many times our guardian angels bicker and fight with the devil in order to preserve us, not according to our dignity, but according to their heavenly love for mankind, do we imitate in our earthly disputes the patience and meekness of our heavenly defenders? Do we endure even when we are absolutely sure of the injustice of those who argue with us? Do we maintain meekness even against obvious impudence? Isn’t it often the case that, on the contrary, we argue with stubbornness and bitterness for something of which we ourselves are not sure of the justice, and even through court and litigation we seek what we have no legal right to; Do not some, with evil and cunning inventions, try to prolong litigation endlessly, and turn the very sanctuary of justice into dens of robbery and robbery? According to the Apostle, one thing is shameful for Christians, that they have litigation, even if it were the most just. “It’s no longer a shame for you, because you have litigation among yourself. Why are you no more offended, why are you no more deprived” (1 Cor. 6:7)? What would you say, righteous accuser, if you looked at today's Christians and saw that many of them not only have not learned to be offended and deprived, that is, to patiently endure insults and confiscation of property, but are working on the art of offending and depriving; for a careless word against them they are repaid with an insulting word, for an insulting word they are avenged with an offended deed, for an offensive deed they are ready to persecute them even to death? How far all this is from the patience of the Christian and from the meekness of the Angels. We must fear, given the lack of these qualities, that our heavenly guardians do not completely retreat from us, for like is approaching like, and that they do not betray us to their rival, to whom we voluntarily approach with properties and actions similar to him. But perhaps there will be a lover of strife who, instead of condemning his own vice, will dare to blame the very chief of the Angels, from whom we should expect active help, for excessive compliance with their and our unjust rival. “You dare not bring blasphemous judgment.” Let us dare to defend our defender against bold accusers who do not understand the truth of God; or better yet, let us try to understand the power of this truth, hidden in the calm and seemingly inactive acceptance of the attacks of the unrighteous. Why didn’t the Archangel dare? Was it because he did not have enough courage, or enough zeal against injustice, or enough strength in comparison with his opponent? But he proved all this by his perfect victory over the devil, which was mentioned above. Why didn't he dare? This is revealed from His own words: “not laughing, ... but saying: may the Lord forbid you.” He did not dare because he also knew the power of the commandment that was given to us: do not judge, lest you be judged. He did not dare because he knew the decree of the kingdom of God, which was proclaimed among us: “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord” (Rom. 12:19). He did not dare because he, too, honors the authority of our Lord, Who is also the Lord and Judge of the Angels: “For the Father Himself ... judges no one, but gives all judgment to the Sons; that all may honor the Son as they honor the Father” (John 5:22–23). So, not before his enemy, but before God, the faithful servant of God did not dare; in his imaginary inaction against his opponent, there was hidden a deep effect of reverence for God and trust in His truth and power, infallible truth, all-conquering power. This is the highest art of spiritual warfare, putting the power of creation in the power of God! Moses taught this art of war to the Israelites in order to gain victory, for which they had neither strength nor weapons: “The Lord will fight against you, but you will remain silent” (Ex. 14:14). But if the weak need to submit to God judgment and vengeance for the injustice suffered in order to turn the almighty power of God in favor of his cause; then, no less, he who, like the Archangel, is stronger than his rival, must use his strength against unrighteousness only according to the will of God, and according to the duty assigned from above; Otherwise, calmly submit to God a just reprimand: “May the Lord rebuke you!” Vengeance on God: for He is One even with infinite wrath, and is also infinite in love, and the creature, whatever it may be, if it aroused in itself such a fire of vengeance as those who rebel against God deserve, would be in danger of being scorched by its own fire of rage. The entire judgment is on the Son of God, and on us men, because He Himself took upon Himself not only our judgment, but also “the punishment of our peace upon Him” (Is. 53:5), and therefore He alone acquired the power to forgive us; Judgment on the Son of God and on the Angels themselves, so that before the purity of His earthly flesh, the uncleanness of the spirits of wickedness in heavenly places would be unanswerable. For us children of the all-good Father, for us servants of the crucified Lord, patience and long-suffering are more fitting: for anger is not tamed by anger, and malice is not destroyed by malice, just as fire is not extinguished with fire, and poison is not cured with the same poison. To this it is said: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12:21). Christian! like the good warrior Jesus Christ, adopt the high art of saving warfare, of which heaven shows you a perfect example. Learn to constantly overcome the malice and wickedness of the devil through vigilance and caution; the spirit of exaltation and discord that arises in yourself - through meekness and humility, the unrighteousness of men - through patience and trust in God. Do not be afraid of being defeated when you do not defend yourself with earthly weapons and the muscle of flesh. God is the protector of the defenseless: “By His angel a commandment concerning you, keep you in all your ways. They will lift you up in their arms, but not when you dash your foot against a stone” (Ps. 91:11-12). Amen. You might be interested in: