47. Слово в день Святителя Алексия 263

(Printed in the 1844 and 1848 collections) Flowing towards the tomb, he leaned into the sight of the one robe lying. Luke 24:12. The Gospel, narrating about the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, sets out, among other things, these circumstances: that the stone from His tomb was rolled away by an Angel, whose descent from heaven was accompanied by an earthquake; that the wives of the Myrrh-Bearer found this coffin open; that Peter, and after him John, looking into the tomb, saw the vestments of the Lord lying, that is, the shroud with which His body, sir, was entwined during burial, or the cloth that was on His head, and, probably, the girdle that was on Him during His crucifixion. “Peter stood up running to the tomb, and leaned down to the sight of one robe lying” (Luke 24:12). What does it mean that the Gospel narrative is so concerned with the vestments of the Lord, which are no longer needed by the Risen One? What does it mean that the Risen One left and kept His vestments in the tomb so that they could be seen? – This means that the Lord’s vestments should have been among the witnesses of His resurrection. If the Jews say that the body of the Lord was stolen by the disciples; if the disciples themselves thought, as Magdalene thought for a while, that the body of the Lord was carried by someone: His vestments cry out against the slanderers, and admonish those who sin. Is it time for someone who steals a body to develop the shroud and sir from it, and again twist them, and place them separately in order? What need is there for someone carrying a buried body to expose it, when, on the contrary, it was necessary to clothe the naked one, both for the most convenient transfer, and in accordance with the opinion of the Jews about touching the dead? Thus, the lifeless vestments of the Lord preached His resurrection. And we, gathered here now, flocked to the tomb of Christ’s servant and imitator. And this tomb was opened as a result of a shock, which is difficult to imagine coming true without the assistance of the angelic hand: for the ancient church, under which this tomb was hidden for several decades, suddenly fell during a priestly service, but no one was struck by this fall, but only the opportunity was given for the opening of this tomb. And what do we see in this open tomb? - We will not be mistaken if we say that “we see the vestments of the lying person,” not the vestments of the body, but the body itself we see as vestments only, as the vestments of the immortal spirit, which he left here, ascending into heavenly life; we see the vestments lying in order, not thrown down or torn, that is, we see a body not subject to decay and destruction, but not harmed and resting peacefully. What does it mean that an imitator of Christ in life also imitates Him after death in that He presents to us both His open tomb and the incorruptible robe of His flesh visible? – Just as the silent vestments of the Lord announced His resurrection: so the silent, imperishable remains of this imitator of Christ, not as something unknown, but as something often forgotten in the bustle of present life, bring to our memory our future resurrection. About the immortality of the human soul, and about the future resurrection of the human body itself, if it were necessary to speak to those who do not know: then, in order to formulate the concept of immortality, one could pay attention to the very essence and nature of what lives and what dies in a person. What we see when dying is a visible, gross body: and what lives in a person is an invisible, subtle force, which we usually call the soul. The body itself explains its mortality; because it is obviously divided into parts and destroyed: the soul not only does not show in itself any signs of divisibility, destructibility, but shows a completely opposite property in the ability of reasoning, which represents divided concepts of things in an inseparable and unmerged unity, in no way compatible with the properties of divisible substance. The body dies during its life, and of course several times, in parts, daily separating from itself a part of its dead substance; Meanwhile, the soul, throughout its entire life, feels within itself one constant existence. The body participates in life, as if unwillingly, being set in motion by the power of the soul, and always more or less burdening it with its laziness: the soul, even at a time when the activity of the body is suppressed by sleep or illness, continues its life and activity, independent of the body. The best and largest part of the human race, and entire nations, from the most enlightened to the least educated, could be placed as witnesses to the immortality of the human soul, so that in this case the very errors can in some way testify to the truth. No matter how sensual the concepts of the future life among the followers of Mohammed; no matter how crude the stories about it among the pagans; no matter how amazing the power of the spirit of darkness and malice over some of these, who consider it a virtue for the living to give themselves up to be burned for the dead; but even in this transformation and confusion of concepts and feelings, and in this predominance of bestial and bestial properties over human ones, the truth has not yet completely died out, like a spark in a pile of ashes, - the truth that after the present there is a future life for man. If ancient or new Sadducees try to reject this truth, it is only because it prevents them from being Sadducees, that is, from carelessly enjoying sensual pleasures; because the thought of immortality also requires a mortal life, consistent with the immortal future. It would be possible, in order to confirm the future life of a person, to make even wordless and lifeless nature speak. For in the whole world no example, no sign, no proof of the destruction of any insignificant thing can be found; there is no past that does not prepare for the future; there is no end that does not lead to the beginning; Every special life, when it descends into its characteristic coffin, leaves in it only the old, worn-out clothing of physicality, and itself ascends into the great, invisible realm of life, in order to appear again in new, sometimes better and more perfect clothing. The sun sets to rise again; stars die in the morning for the earthly viewer, and are resurrected in the evening; times end and begin; dying sounds are resurrected in echoes; rivers are buried in the sea and resurrected in springs; the whole world of earthly vegetation dies in the fall, and comes to life in the spring; a seed dies in the ground, grass or a tree is resurrected; the creeping worm dies, the winged butterfly is resurrected; The bird's life is buried in a soulless egg, and again rises from it. If creatures of lower degrees are destroyed in order to be recreated, die for a new life: will man, the crown of the earth, and the mirror of the sky, fall into the grave only to crumble into dust, more hopeless than a worm, worse than a grain of mustard? It would also be possible to turn a person from external things to the depths of his heart, and there let him hear the foreshadowing of life after death. Everything living on earth, except man, according to the inspiration of nature, cares only about real life; except for the case when a premonition of a future life operates, as, for example, in a worm that builds a silk or cobweb coffin for itself, in the hope of being resurrected as a butterfly: what causes it that a person, even when he forgets about his own future life, does a lot for the so-called immortality in his offspring? Is this aspiration of the human heart not a branch from the root of true immortality - an incorrect branch, but revealing the power of the root? - Also, every human heart recognizes, and the more noble it is, the more it loves goodness and truth, despite the fact that, in real life, goodness and truth very often suffer from evil and untruth: where does this deep recognition in human nature of the dignity of goodness and truth, or conscience, come from, if not from the deepest, most intimate feeling of the kingdom of goodness and truth, which borders on real life through the tomb? But perhaps I am also mistaken in saying this in passing before Christians, for whom the future resurrection does not require any research and certification, as a matter of true, attested and recognized experience. “If we believe,” says the Apostle Paul, “for Jesus died and rose again, so God will also bring with him those who died in Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 4:14). “Christ has risen from the dead, becoming the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Cor. 15:20). If anyone, having this experience of the resurrection, decides to complicate himself with doubt, how can it happen, when the image of the destruction of many dead bodies, apparently, leaves no room for the thought of their renewal: the same Apostle authorizes me not only to resolve this difficulty by reasoning based on the nature of known things, but, moreover, to express indignation for doubt, which insults faith and does not bring honor to the mind that invented it. “You are foolish, a hedgehog you sown, will not live unless you die: and a hedgehog sesh, not the body of the future sown, but a bare grain, if it happens, of wheat, or something else from the rest: God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed his own body” (1 Cor. 15:36-39). I think that we do not need to explain or prove immortality, the resurrection and the life of the next century: but to remind us of these important subjects, which, as can be noted, for many people, for a long time, occupy less attention than the smallest things. The apostles call themselves “witnesses of the resurrection” (Acts 2:32) of Christ, although their position was to testify not only to the resurrection, but also to His entire teaching. They consider the truth of the resurrection so important. And truly, as quickly as this truth is established, then the truth of everything that our Lord created and taught was thereby confirmed. But just as the truth of the resurrection of Christ is important for faith, so the truth of our resurrection is important for life. As soon as this truth is established, then all the rules of a holy and God-pleasing life are unshakably established. “Let us drink and drink, and in the morning we will die” (1 Cor. 15:32). - This rule, which the Apostle, on behalf of those who do not know, or do not want to know, the resurrection of the dead, pronounced in desecration of them, which would be very suitable for the moral philosophy of the dumb, if they had the advantage of philosophizing, in fact, would constitute all wisdom, all morality, all laws among people, if the thought of a future life were removed from them. Then, do not be angry, neighbor and brother, if you also become food for people who love to eat and drink: for if it is not worth the trouble to establish your own life well, because “in the morning we will die”; then it is also not worth the trouble to spare the life of another, which tomorrow will be completely swallowed up by the grave. Thus, forgetting about the future life leads to forgetting all virtues and duties, and turns a person into cattle or a beast. O man, you are certainly immortal, even if you didn’t think about it, even if you didn’t want it! Beware of forgetting your immortality, so that forgetting about immortality does not become a deadly poison for your mortal life, and so that the immortality you forget does not kill you forever, if it suddenly appears to you, who is not expecting it and is not ready. Do not say desperately: “in the morning we will die,” so that the more unbridled we strive for the pleasures of mortal life: say with hope and fear: in the morning we will die on earth, and we will be born either in heaven or in hell; and so one must hasten in order to lay it down, one must strive in order to nourish and strengthen within oneself the beginning of a heavenly, and not a hellish, birth. What is the beginning to heavenly birth? – The Word and spirit and power of the risen Christ, who is both our resurrection and life. Receive this Divine seed of eternal life by faith; put it in your heart with love; deepen with humility; warm with prayer and thoughts of God; nourish or drink with tears of tenderness; strengthen with deeds of virtue. In order to destroy within yourself the chaff seeds of hellish life, and finally live the pure and full life of the Risen One: die to everything except His life, that is, do not act in any capacity contrary to Him; do not live by the world and the flesh, passions and lusts; do not set your heart on wealth; do not be lifted up by the pride of life. With Paul, “count all the ways of your life, so that you may obtain Christ,” that is, “through the faith of Jesus Christ, the righteousness that comes from God,” or righteousness, “in faith..., understanding Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the communication of His passion, being conformed to His death,” in order to “reach to the resurrection of the dead” (Phil. 3:8-11). If you live and die like this, then you, having left the worn-out garments of the earth in the tomb, will receive new ones in heaven, made white in the blood of the Lamb, and on the day of His marriage you will be clothed “in fine linen, clean and bright: for the fine linen is the justification of the saints” (Rev. 19:8). Amen. According to Jew. collection: “The word on the day of the discovery of the relics of our Holy Father Alexy, Metropolitan of Moscow and All Russia, the Wonderworker, spoken in the Miracle Monastery on May 20th day.” In the meetings of 1844 and 1848. it is listed as pronounced “on the day of the Resurrection and St. Alexis.” But May 20, 1825 was not a Sunday. Wasn't this word repeated later on Holy Day? Did Alexia fall on Sunday? You might be interested in: