73. Слово по случаю возложения на раку мощей иже во Святых Отца нашего Алексия, Митрополита Московского, от Благочестивейшаго Государя Императора Николая Павловича принесенного покрова и медали за персидскую войну

(Said in the cathedral church of the Chudov Monastery on May 28; printed separately and in collections of 1835, 1844 and 1848). Devour the sacrifice of praise to God, and render your prayers to the Most High: and call on Me in the day of your sorrow, and wear you out, and glorify Me. (Psalm 49:14–15) First of all, now a word to You, Saint Alexis, and the word is not mine, but the Tsar’s. I present myself to You as an envoy of the Most Pious Emperor Nikolai Pavlovich, who brought You His gift, as a witness of His reverence for You. Accept, He says to You, this cover of splendor and glory, not because You demanded the cover of material and earthly splendor, being clothed with heavenly light, to be covered with Divine glory, but because the King recognizes over Himself and over His deeds the cover of Your prayers and Your blessing. Accept this silver of memory and honor, this, not only sweat, but also blood-earned “denarius” for the day of the Persian battle: for the Distributor of it believes that you were not an idle spectator of this battle, but although invisibly, nevertheless really fought before God for the faithful sons of Russia against the treacherous followers of the false prophet, just as once upon a time, while still living on earth, obviously You labored for the protection of the Church and the Fatherland from foreigners, sometimes with miraculous prayer, sometimes with a punishing word of conviction. But since even without this audible word, in the light of God You see the heart of the King, and you understand what it especially talks to You about: then, no longer bothering You, I hasten to turn the word to those who require the preacher in order to hear, and the admonisher in order to understand. The work of the King, which before your eyes, pious inhabitants of the ancient Capital, is now sealed with solemn signs, in its essence is the Royal fulfillment of the command that the King of kings spoke through the mouth of His Prophet to kings, as well as to slaves: “Call upon Me in the day of your tribulation, and wear you out, and glorify Me.” There was a day of sorrow, of which a single memory, even after the return of days of peace and joy, still casts a certain darkness on the soul of a Russian - a day that threatened to overshadow the centuries of Russia, if through the cloud of a terrible fate the sublime spirit of Nicholas the First did not shine all the more clearly. Alexander the Blessed passed away, and those who thought evil imagined that there was no blessing left over Russia. The neighbor, who was not feared, in the very fact that he was not feared, decided to find a means of becoming dangerous. To meet our peaceful embassy, ​​he brought an army into our borders and began a devastating war. With the feeling of the sons of the Fatherland, measure, if possible, this new grief of the new Tsar, which struck from the outside at a time when the efforts to overcome and heal the multifarious grief at home could have exhausted the most abundant measure of spiritual strength. The war was not only inflicted on Russia, but also brought into Russia, for no reason, at the very time of friendly relations on the part of Russia, without the usual announcement, consequently with a flagrant violation of people's rights, with an insult to the dignity of the Empire - a war from an enemy who takes pleasure in exploits against the unarmed - a war in a land where it is not easy to deliver defenders, where it turned out to be necessary to send a military leader from the other side of the State: - difficult for a private person retell about this indifferently; What was it like for the Emperor to experience this! So what? At first He did not want to believe what was happening; because a pure soul does not easily believe the possibility of unrighteous deeds; then, with determination and speed, he moved forces against forces; and He Himself calmly turned to God, the Source of strength, to invoke His blessing for the new Reign, and His help against all difficulties. Now notice in the events themselves how “the Lord is faithful in all His words,” and how “close to all who call on Him in truth” (Ps. 144:13, 18). How soon the Most Pious Sovereign, at the Sacrament of His Royal Crowning, “rendered to the Most High” the first special “prayer” (Ps. 49:14) in the rank of the Anointed One, backing it up with the feat of a pious journey into the sacred desert, and communion of faith with the strong man of prayer, St. Sergius; immediately the Most High revealed His salvation to Him, immediately bringing Him the first messenger of the first victory in His Reign. Here He bowed His exalted head and knees before the King of kings, and glorified “He who takes away” from sorrows, having here also this friend Sergius as a co-leader of His thanksgivings, just as there He had Sergius as the representative of His petitions. Apparently, this “conversation” (Ps. 103:35) of the King “delighted the Lord”; Apparently, the King’s heart was delighted by this conversation with God, and with a new strength of hope it was confirmed in the Lord: for from that time on, God gave Him victory after victory, and He sent the signs of these victories to this very church, where He glorified God for the first of them. And behold, when His army, steadfast in fidelity and righteousness of the cause, decisively overcame and defeated by numerous exploits both enemies, and opposing nature, and the speed of rivers, and strongholds of stones, and the Caucasian cold, and the Transcaucasian heat, and the height of impassable mountains, and the depth of impenetrable wilds; when “the enemy’s weapons are exhausted to the end” (Ps. 9:7), and thus not only the broken peace is restored, but also protected by the security of our expanded borders: - giving honor to the valor of His warriors, once again the Most Pious Sovereign takes the opportunity to offer a “sacrifice of praise” (Ps. 49:14, 23) to the Lord of hosts; once again remembers this church, in which His prayer for victory and peace was blessed, and to this chosen Leader of prayers, as an active Companion in a good-victory battle, the victorious one will sing. Sons of Russia! do you not “rejoice in your King,” especially when “the King rejoices in God”? I know that you rejoice; and I rejoice with you in Him, as one of you; and again I rejoice over your joy itself, because in the light of joy about the King, love for the King is visible. But I am not afraid to seem overly demanding if I say that this is not all that the present case calls you to. It is good to look at the pious work of the Tsar with reverent joy: but it is even better to appropriate it for yourself, to make it your own work, not according to visible image and signs, but according to spirit and power; – how? – position ourselves not only as spectators of a pious deed, but also as imitators of a pious example; to have, following the example of the King, written on your hearts this highest command of the King of kings: “Call Me in the day of your sorrow, and destroy you, and glorify Me”; in any sorrow, public or private, do not hesitate to resort to God with prayer, and after being delivered from sorrow, do not forget to return to God with thanksgiving. It would seem that there is no need to remind a beggar to ask for alms, or to remind a person who is all need and poverty to ask for mercy from God. But of course it was necessary to remind about this; and of course, people did not sufficiently remind themselves and each other about this need of each and every one, when God Himself found it necessary to appear in the prophetic word, and, so to speak, with His own face, demand a prayer from a person: “Call upon Me in the day of your sorrow.” There are dull-witted beggars, or those killed by misfortune, who need to be aroused and led to seek help; There are proud beggars who do not want to bow their heads before benefactors, but want benefactors to bow to them with their benefits: such are the people before God who do not know how or do not want to call on God in their sorrows. Others, on the day of their sorrow, only grieve, and from morning to evening they become more and more immersed in grief. - Have mercy on yourself, beloved! If you are drowning, is it really better to voluntarily give up and go to the bottom, rather than try to emerge from the waters and cry out for help? Others are exhausted in the pursuit of human help, and do not remember God, “the helper in the sorrows that have come upon us greatly” (Ps. 45:2). - Think about it, if you are not completely unreasonable: is it better for you to chase a person who so often tells you: don’t ask me; - I have no time for you; come after; - go to another; – I can’t help you; - or he will say: I will help, - but then he does not want to, or cannot fulfill his promises - is it better, I say, for you to chase after a person than to resort to God, Who does not send you to another helper, does not delay His help, does not betray His promises; Who is constantly near you, and, if you are attentive, in your very heart speaks to you, invites you to prayer and reassures you with His omnipotent help: “Call Me in the day of your sorrow, and I will destroy you.” God knows my needs without me, says another, and therefore does not want to pray. Here is an example, if anyone has not happened to notice this strange phenomenon, of how a healthy thought can turn an infected heart into poison. This is Christ’s thought: “the message of your Father, which you require before you ask” (Matthew 6:8): but, having uttered this thought to the Apostles, He immediately continued: “Herefore ye pray”; and then offered them a model of prayer, known to every Christian under the name of the “Lord’s Prayer” (Matthew 6:9–13). Thus, according to the mind of Jesus Christ Himself, from this thought that God knows our needs, it follows not that there is no need to pray at all, but that one should pray to God as the Father, with confidence, with devotion to His will, in simplicity, without pagan verbosity. God knows our needs; and therefore there is nothing to pray for - this reasoning is like a beggar covered in rags saying: the rich man sees my poverty, and therefore there is no need to utter pleading words or stretch out a begging hand. O you, too poor in understanding and too rich in pride! Do you really want a rich man to come, scatter his treasures before you and throw on the ground the bread with which he wants to feed you? Is it not even more foolish and bold to demand that God scatter the Divine treasures of His grace and cast heavenly bread to the ground, before people who do not think or care at all about accepting His gifts? God, out of boundless goodness and mercy, is always ready to give everything to man, but man is not always ready to accept anything from Him. In order for a beggar to accept alms, he must extend his hand; in order for a baby to accept food, he must open his mouth; similarly, a person must reach out to God in order to achieve His grace, he must have an open soul in order to accept His gifts. Prayer is an outstretched hand to receive the grace of God, an open mouth to partake of heavenly food. In this mind, God said to Israel: “Enlarge your mouth, and I will do it” (Psalm 80:11). Grace is purely spiritual; and therefore requires a pure spirit to receive it; prayer cleanses the spirit, and its powers, and actions, and tools. Therefore, pray with your spirit that you may receive the Spirit of God; pray with your mind, so that you may be intoxicated with the Spirit of your mind; pray with your heart so that you may be filled with the Spirit of piety; Turn all the forces of soul and body into instruments of prayer, so that all of them turn into blessed instruments of grace, for the correction and blessing of damaged and distressed nature. When you notice from external events, or feel internally, that the prayer of the mourner is not despised or rejected; that God takes you away from sorrow, or at least reduces and eases it: then do not forget, “man of desires” (Dan. 9:23), that you must also be a man of thanksgiving; and just as you find God faithful in the fulfillment of His promises, so present yourself to Him as faithful in the fulfillment of His command: “You will destroy you and glorify me” (Ps. 49:15). Loyalty in small things acquires trust in many things. The faithful, in giving thanks for the small gift of God, gains boldness to ask for great things. In fact, from your own feeling, Christian, you can know that a heart that gives thanks opens more freely and opens more widely than a heart that asks: consequently, it is all the more capable of receiving abundant grace. Where they do not call upon God in sorrows, where they do not glorify Him for His good deeds, man’s communication with God, the Source of all good and all wisdom, is cut off; Consequently, only evil and madness remain for man. Why are people not only not content in difficult circumstances, but also afraid when there is nothing to be afraid of? - This is why the soul tested in troubles testifies that they do not call on the Lord. “You did not call on the Lord, but you were afraid of fear, where there was no fear” (Ps. 13:4-5). How is it that the whole pagan world is “given over to an unskilled mind to create inappropriate things,” overshadowed by absurdities, mired in abominations? - “Before”, this is how the Apostle explains the origin of this pitiful state of the human race, - “before I was tempted to have God in my mind; - not knowing God without glorifying God or giving thanks” (Rom. 1:21, 28). Beware, enlightened Christian of faith, of returning to pagan unbelief and error; Do not hesitate to call on God in the day of your sorrow, or, moreover, do not give up diligently calling on Him every day, especially since on this earth, condemned for the fall of man, until the days of heaven descend upon it again, every day is a day of sorrow for one or another, here or there - sorrow, if not from the disaster itself, then from sensitive deprivation, or from a concern close to the heart. And now, for example, here we have fun, seeing the signs of victories, tasting the sweetness of peace and security: and there - the victorious army is again on the battlefield; Tsar outside the Fatherland; The Queen wanders, drawn by love into closeness to her Spouse; The Queen Mother would have been alone among the Royal Infants if the faithful Daughter, foreseeing this loneliness, had not come from afar to the sacred guard of love with the best of Mothers: - aren’t the most tender worries already enough for the hearts of the Russians? What else is next? The son of the slave Hagar is furious, as if hastening to seal his predestination: “his hand is against all, and the hands of all against him” (Gen. 16:12). The people from whom Holy Rus' inherited the holy faith are almost disappearing in troubles from the enemies of the faith. Priests are crucified or burned. Christians, husbands and wives, elders and children, are dragged into slavery, or perish with hunger, or, most terrible of all, are forced to renounce the name of Christ. Russian Church! call upon God the Savior in these days of sorrow for your mother, the Greek Church. Russia! day and night call on God to help the Most Pious Emperor and His army, the defenders of Christianity and humanity. "God! save the King, and if we are heard, we will call on You when it is day” (Psalm 19:10). “Let Thy hand be found against all Thy enemies; let Thy right hand find all those who hate Thee. Be exalted, O Lord, in Thy strength: let us sing and sing of Thy strength” (Psalm 20:9, 14)! Amen. You might be interested in: