Words and conversations for the feasts of the Virgin Mary

Contents Word for the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Word for the day of the Entry into the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary Word for the day of the Entry into the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary Word for the day of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Word for the day of the Annunciation and the week of the Worship of the Cross Word for the day of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Word for the day of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Word for the day of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Word for the day of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Word on the day of the pre-feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God Word on the day of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary Word on the day of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary Word on the day of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary Word on the day of the Feast of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary Conversation on the day of the Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary Word on the day of the Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary Word on the day of the Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary Word on the day Kazan Icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary Word for the day of the Kazan Icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary Word for the day of the Kazan Icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary Word for the day of the appearance of the Akhtyrka Icon of the Mother of God Word for the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary “This is the day... of the Lord... rejoice, ye people!” (Stichera 2 at the liturgy) This is how the Holy Church now cries out, as if fearing that any of us, due to inattention or other reasons, will be left without participating in the joy of this day. What does she find especially joyful in this day?.. That it is the Day of the Lord! Truly, brothers, the Lord Himself created this day, “let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Ps. 117:24). Without His almighty power, Joachim and Anna would not have grown the fruit from which the whole universe now feeds. If we cannot say that the Savior of the world would not have appeared in the world whenever Mary had not been, then we can and must confess that He appeared in the world not before Mary came into the world, and appeared from Mary. Therefore, the Nativity of God the Son alone exceeds in importance the Nativity of the Mother of God. Humanity, having gone through a long series of purification and sanctification in the host of the patriarchs and all the saints of the Old Testament, finally appeared in Mary at that degree of purity and perfection at which it could become the receptacle of God the Word. Thus, the birth of Mary resolved the infertility not only of Joachim and Anna, but of the entire human race, and therefore it is a truly universal triumph: “This day... of the Lord... rejoice, people!” Rejoice in the appearance of the One whose Son will truly “erase the head of the serpent” (Gen. 3:15), Who will have so much faith and love that she will not hesitate to say to the Archangel: “Behold, the Servant of the Lord, be unto me according to thy word” (Luke 1:38), Who with Her flesh and blood will feed that Flesh and Blood, without eating which there is no life for us eternal, Who will be able to stand on Calvary and hear from the cross: “...Woman, behold Your son” (John 19:26), Who, having become more honorable than the Cherub, will not cease to extend Her grace-filled cover over the human race: “Rejoice, people!” Truly, brethren, there are now many reasons for us to rejoice, but all of them will remain without a lasting effect on us, unless one more reason for spiritual joy is added. This is participation in those benefits that flowed for the human race from the birth of the Mother of God, more clearly, participation in the merits of Her Son, our Savior and Lord, that is, in sanctification by His grace, in the enjoyment of peace, truth and joy in the Holy Spirit, which He acquired for us. He who truly knew his Savior, surrendered himself to Him forever and united with Him in spirit, received from Him light for the mind, peace for the heart, found eternal life in Him, he cannot but revere at the very name of His Mother, he, even without alien reminders, now plays in the spirit, triumphs and sings, “rejoicing, these are miracles,” for he knows that where the Son is, there is the Mother, and where the Mother is, there and Son. And whoever is a Christian by one name, breathes the spirit of the world, and not Christ, works for the flesh and passions, does not know from experience what it means to be saved from sins, and how dear the Redeemer is to a person, and how much, for that very reason, we owe to those people who were honored to serve in the closest way the mystery of the Incarnation, and among whom the first is the Mother of Jesus, no matter how much you talk about the importance of this day, he will remain cold and not can feel true joy, because in his heart there is no union with the Savior and His Mother. For such a person it would be all the same if there were no Savior Himself. All the power, I say, lies in active Christianity—in living according to the teachings of faith. This life alone produces in us true participation in the Sacraments of our salvation, and makes all the holidays of God truly important and joyful for us. Without this, you can have the appearance of joy, you can indulge in the noise and fun of the world, but you cannot have true Christian joy. For without this - without life by faith, we are strangers to Christ, and Christ to us; Even we are in a state of enmity with Him, but what joy do those who are at enmity have? So, do not be surprised if I, having begun by inviting everyone on behalf of the Church to joy, end by inviting some to contrition for their sins. What to do when many are unable to rejoice in the spirit!.. It is better to grieve in the flesh in order to later gain the joy of the spirit, than to lose it forever, constantly rejoicing in the joy of the flesh and feelings. Whoever turns to repentance will suddenly feel the importance of this day, and how joyful it is for sinners! For for a truly repentant there is nothing more precious than the Savior, and where the Savior is, there is His Mother! Amen. Word for the Day of the Entry of the Blessed Virgin Mary into the Church The ancient Jews, brothers, were in the habit that parents, in the event of any special circumstances, dedicated their children to God. Those initiated in this way were brought to the church, received a blessing from the priest, were sanctified by sacrifice, and then remained until they came of age to live at the church, practicing under the supervision of the priests in serving God and in other activities appropriate to their age and gender. In accordance with this pious custom, the Most Holy Virgin has now been brought into the church. Her parents, Joachim and Anna, having long suffered from infertility - the most painful disadvantage in the Old Testament, where the blessing of many children was the first of the blessings (Gen. 1:28) - made a vow to dedicate the future fruit of their womb to God. This fruit was Mary. And so, when She was three years old—that is, as soon as She could leave her mother’s womb and her parents’ roof—Joachim and Anna now bring Her to the church to “be educated,” as it is often said in church hymns, “before the Lord.” The high priest who accepted such a rich gift to God was, according to tradition, Zechariah, the father of the Forerunner. The same legend says that the Holy Virgin, during Her stay at the church, was allowed to enter for prayer in such sections of the church, which were inaccessible to other young women, even husbands, that for the purity of her heart She was honored with a conversation with the Angels, that, however, despite the height of spiritual perfection, she did not cease to practice in activities befitting Her sex, the fruit of which was, by the way, the precious tunic of the Savior, spared by the crucifiers themselves. This is what is known from legend about the sacred event now celebrated! One has only to look at it on the icon, brothers, to feel how touching it is! The first persons who come to attention are the holy duo - Joachim and Anna. They ask God to resolve the bonds of their natural childlessness - to give them a child (this prayer alone does honor to their faith), but at the same time they promise God the very thing they ask for! The gift of God turns into a sacrifice of gratitude even before it is received! Who after this will doubt the purity of their desire, that they want the resolution of infertility solely because of the reproach that followed childlessness, in order to be sure that they are not under the wrath of God!.. You can imagine how dear the child was to the parent’s heart, given by God, worth so many expectations, prayers, and tears! Without a doubt, Joachim and Anna would give their very lives for him. But it is promised to God, and all the feelings of the heart are silent before this holy vow; it is fulfilled at the very first opportunity. Neither the desire to witness the first development of the mind and feelings in an infant, accompanied by so many consolations for the parents, nor the presentation of the dangers of an extremely young age, nor the thought that in their old age they could depart to the Lord without fixing their last gaze on their Mary - nothing could force Joachim and Anna to do what was very easy to do - to delay the fulfillment of the vow. No law required such speed of execution, but a grateful heart demanded it - and here is the three-year-old Yunitsa in the church! Isn’t it obvious that God was in this heart and filled it with Himself? That Joachim and Anna had already fulfilled the commandment of the Gospel, commanding them not to love either son or daughter, or anyone more than God? This is how those who were chosen to the high title of parents of the Bride of God should have been, and for this very reason they were chosen, otherwise the Lord would not have chosen them; He has no respect for persons! After this, isn’t it a shame for Christian fathers and mothers not to be able to rise out of love for God above affection for their children? Especially not being able to bear their losses in a Christian way, even when the Lord Himself apparently takes them to Himself - I mean, through death! Meanwhile, how much non-Christian crying and tears there is here! How much pagan despondency and murmuring!.. This is not how a Christian should act. He loves his children in God and for God, therefore, without grumbling, he is deprived of them when it pleases the Lord. But for the most part, we do not have Christian self-sacrifice in relation to children in our parents, and yet there is a custom that is apparently pious on the outside and similar to the act of Joachim and Anna, but in fact is contrary to the spirit of Christianity. I mean the custom of dooming one’s children before birth, or shortly after it, to a certain state. How much evil comes from this! The conscience of parents is bound, and the conscience of children is not free. A vow being fulfilled brings with it grumbling and displeasure. If not fulfilled, it disturbs the soul. What is this custom based on? Where is the law? Where is the example? This is not how Joachim and Anna should imitate, they did not act this way, they did not bind their daughter’s freedom: She herself, as we will see, had already pronounced a vow of virginity, and, according to the power of her parents’ vow, she only had to “be brought up before the Lord.” But it’s time to turn to the Bride of God Herself. Mary's infancy did not yet allow Her to have Her will. She thought with the mind of her parents, lived by their will and life, and therefore was more a sacrifice to God than a priestess. But if you are allowed to use pious fortune-telling, probably the parental eye, and even more so the heart, noticed in the young Maiden the ability to exchange her parents’ shelter for the house of God. Otherwise - I’m not talking about the parental heart, which, being imbued with love for God, could forget itself, but - prudence itself would force us not to rush into fulfilling the vow - for nothing, as we saw, prevented us from postponing it, except the desire to fulfill it as soon as possible. To what should we attribute such an early revelation in the Most Holy Virgin of the feeling of piety and love for the church of God, which is amazingly noticed in many other holy people of God? God's providence? Thus, he is especially vigilant over them, but, of course, without violating the great law of gradualism, as a result of which the Savior Himself increased “in wisdom and stature and grace with God and men” (Luke 2:52). Happy nature? But why did this nature, always more inclined towards evil, in these holy souls perceive such an early, preceding summer, soaring towards good? The reason for this comforting and instructive phenomenon, brothers, is closer to us than is usually thought - it is in the parents, in their piety and purity! For as far as history knows, young heroes of the faith came from the most pious parents. Is this not a new encouragement for parents to behave in a Christian manner, when their virtues convey a holy predisposition even to their children, just as their vices often echo the vices and misfortunes of their descendants during the birth? If introduction to the church and dedication to God depended more on those introduced than on the One being introduced, then the manner of staying at the church largely depended on the will of the latter. You can live in a church, and not only not be a temple of the Holy Spirit, but also earn the wrath of God. The children of the high priest Elijah spent their entire lives at the Tabernacle of Meeting, but by their wickedness they destroyed themselves, their fatherland and the tabernacle (1 Sam. 2:22). That at the Jerusalem Temple, during the stay of the Holy Virgin there, there were many things unworthy of the name of the God of Israel, this is vouched for by the terrible reviews that the Lord of the Church Himself gave about this church (Matthew 21:13). But the Holy Virgin, staying at the Jerusalem Temple, became a source of blessing for the entire human race. She became the one who stayed at the church not only in body, but also in spirit, raised the mountain to God not only with her eyes, but also with her heart, spent Her time exactly in what it should be spent, being near the place of the dwelling of the glory of God, such as: in prayer, contemplation of God, reading the Holy Scripture, silence, fasting, vigil, work and other virtues. Tradition says that the Mother of God was allowed to enter for prayer in those sections of the church that were inaccessible to everyone else. Such a great, unheard-of advantage was, without a doubt, a consequence of Her special virtues. Her future great dignity was not yet known; they looked at the present alone. Therefore, only the special piety of the one entering could justify in the eyes of everyone where She was entering, otherwise this advantage would have created a temptation. This means that Mary not only justified, but also exceeded the hopes of Her parents! In addition, as soon as her own arbitrariness was established in Her and She could dispose of Herself, she immediately turned from a victim into a priestess, who forever offered Herself as a gift to the God of the Fathers. Her parents brought Her “to be educated before the Lord,” and She, as legend tells (Cheti Menaion, March 25, November 21), made a vow to devote Her entire life to this education, never to know a husband, and to belong to the only Lord. An act that, after a long-term heartfelt engagement with sacred objects, was almost a matter of necessity. Whose heart is filled with God even once, for that the whole world is already small and low, he cannot belong to anyone here! It is not surprising if later, for the extraordinary purity of her soul, Mary was awarded, as legend says, the conversation and food of the Angels. The time of revelations was coming, and She Herself was destined for the greatest of miracles. Was it possible after this for the ark of the universal covenant to remain for a long time without the Cherubim overshadowing it? Much more surprising is another feature in the upbringing of the Holy Virgin. Having received the revelations and nourishment of the Angels, having risen to such a height, She did not abandon, as legend tells, the occupations appropriate to her sex, continuing to work, working with Her hands. Reproof, and a very necessary one for those who, having devoted themselves to the pursuits of piety, then drive away all labor, especially bodily labor. On the contrary, this work, at times, is especially necessary for such people: it cools their imagination, which often becomes more heated than it should be, does not allow thoughts to rush around too much and be scattered across the immensity of the invisible world, does not allow them to forget the needs of the body, and at the same time - humility, and with its heaviness it gives, as it were, a certain weight to the contemplative life. On the contrary, the lack of bodily labor during spiritual achievements allows fruitless thoughts to proliferate, which greatly harms the purity of the heart, gives rise to doubts, questions, the desire to judge others, to know the future, to be distinguished by revelations, and so on. That is why the true ascetics of piety themselves loved a lot, and often commanded others to love bodily labor. But enough details. Let us take another mental look at the totality of the sacred event that we remember. How touching it is in all its simplicity! Elderly parents bringing their only three-year-old daughter to the church and betraying Her to the God of their fathers! The venerable high priest, accepting this gift on behalf of the Lord of the church, and blessing in the Daughter of Joachim the future Mother of the Savior of the human race! A three-year-old Youth, leaving her mother's womb and entering the gates of the house of the Lord - to be raised before the Lord in the dwelling of the Holy Spirit! And all this done in the silence of the church, in the presence, perhaps, of only Angels! How well, brothers, our ancestors did in decorating the walls of their houses with such sacred images! And how badly many people act today, replacing these holy images with views that are not only worldly, but often completely seductive! What we often look at, what we are always surrounded by, involuntarily enters the soul, is imprinted in the heart, and then in actions. After this, how can the owner of such a house, especially his children, have a pure soul? Will a daughter be chaste, accustomed from the cradle to constantly look at temptation? Let us not conform in this, as in other cases, to the customs of the evil and corrupt age!.. Let the holy images of the holidays and saints of God become the decoration of our homes! Amen. “Angels, seeing the entry of the Most Pure One, were amazed” (Magnification, Canto 9) What should we do, remembering the entry of the Most Pure One? Marvel with the Angels? Few. The Most Holy Virgin was chosen from among us and belongs more to us than to the Angels, and therefore we should not be surprised only by Her, but also imitate - not by entering the Temple of Jerusalem, which no longer exists, and if it existed, then, belonging to the Old Testament, it would be needed for the Jews, and not for us - but by frequent and reverent visits to Christian churches, of which the very last contains more than the Temple of Jerusalem. In fact, brethren, if for Her, who from childhood was Herself the temple of the Holy Spirit, and for the purity of soul and body was honored to be chosen into the village of God the Word, if for Her, for Her perfection, a long stay in the church was necessary, then for us, for whom from childhood “the thought of evil is attached” (Gen. 8:21), who are surrounded by so many dangers, subject to such weaknesses, for us a visit the churches of God should be one of the main means to our sanctification. There is, firstly, a divinely established universal school of piety. Earthly wisdom is not a necessity for everyone; for many it would even constitute an overwhelming burden. But there are subjects about which it is necessary for everyone to have clear and firm knowledge. This is God, our Creator and Provider, and our relationship to Him in our conscience and our deeds. This is the Redeemer, the Lord Jesus with His death on the cross for the sins of the world, and it is our duty to believe in Him and fulfill His commandments. This is the grace of the Holy Spirit that sanctifies us, and the way in which we must acquire it, store it and use it. This is, finally, the expectation of the future age, where it must give an account of deeds and perceive according to deeds. Who will proclaim these important truths in the hearing of those who are completely removed from any type of science? Where is the school for everyone? In the Church. The doors are open here for everyone, no preliminary tests are needed, come, listen and learn! While in this school, you will not learn how far the earth is from the sun, and how to deflect thunder strikes, but you will learn how far fallen man is from God, how to escape from the blows of heavenly justice; you will not learn to delve into the hearts of mountains and into the depths of the seas to extract jewelry, but you will learn to delve into your own heart to find there the gold of pure love for God and the pearls of holy prayers; You will not be able to speak in different languages, but you will wean yourself from the language of lies and deceit, you will completely understand the language of conscience, and you will become able to converse with God. And how many have already come out of this school - the Church of God - of the most excellent students of piety, who, not being familiar with any worldly enlightenment, their lives and virtues, and some with miracles, proved that they “were given to know the very secrets of the Kingdom of God” (Matthew 13:11), that “they knew everything” (1 John 2:20) necessary for salvation! What is a church? There is a divinely established spiritual clinic. Everyone knows from his own experience that our soul, like our body, is subject to various ailments, and that these ailments, although they seem unimportant to many, are extremely dangerous, for, unhealed, they cause eternal death to the soul. Many means have been invented for healing from bodily diseases; no one could invent a means for healing the soul from the poison of sin except God Himself. And it was invented by the goodness of God and, as necessary for everyone, is taught free of charge to everyone. Where and how? In churches. Here the source of spiritual health always flows - the all-reviving Blood of the God-Man and the grace of the Holy Spirit. No matter how great your sins are, no matter what ulcers your conscience suffers from, by drinking from this source with faith and love, you will become healthy in your soul. There is no shortage in the Church of special cures for special diseases. The intemperate is prescribed fasting, vigil, and prayer; the sufferer is proudly proclaimed where we were taken from and what we are turning into, how we are all humiliated by sin and deprived of primitive nobility; the one who suffers from envy is reminded that all the differences between people that flatter the eye exist for a while, that with death only one difference will remain - good from evil; to those who wallow in voluptuousness, eternity, judgment and the wrath of God are indicated for those who indulge in “unskilled minds to do things that are not like them” (Rom. 1:28). You can neglect the means indicated by the Church for healing mental illnesses, but you cannot say that they are invalid: otherwise, the hosts of the righteous will expose you to lies, who, using them, restored their mental health, and from people dead by sins they became living churches of God. The church is a divinely established worldwide spiritual judgment seat. A person who has some important matter to deal with, who has fallen under the court and wrath of the Tsarev, really needs to know what awaits him in the future, what sentence will befall him. But we all have the most important thing to do with heaven - we all have a long-standing unfortunate relationship with our Creator. Sooner or later there must be an end to this Edenian enmity. What will it consist of and what sentence will they pronounce on us? What exactly will happen to you, to him or to me? Where can I find out about this? In the church. Here “judgment has already been written” (Ps. 149:9): glory to all the saints, grief and destruction to all who are unlike! Do you want to know more clearly the definition of the Supreme Judge? Listen with attention when the Gospel of the Last Judgment is read. It outlines in detail those virtues for which there will be a reward, and those vices for which they will go to Gehenna. Or rather, you will not hear from the Judge Himself. What He says now in His word, He will say then. Do you have the required virtues? You will stand on the right side. Don't you? You will go, whoever you are, to hell. “Heaven and earth will pass away,” but from the words of the Gospel, “not one line will pass away” (Matthew 24:35). The church is a place of constant meeting with higher beings. The spiritual world is closed from us by an impenetrable curtain, but everything is precious there for us: there is our Lord and Savior, there are the apostles, martyrs, shepherds and teachers of the Church and all the saints, there are our ancestors, most of our known, relatives and friends. Is there really no place on earth where one can truly and constantly communicate with them? There are – in churches! The prayers that are constantly offered here bring two worlds closer together - the visible and the invisible. Through them, our hearts are lifted up, the spirit of the celestials is brought down, we are given the ability to foreknow our future state, and for them it becomes more convenient to remember the past and see our needs. That is why in the biographies of holy people we find that nowhere were there so many revelations, there were not so many visions for them, as in churches, among worship services. And if the godly compilers of the liturgy wrote that the King of glory, sacrificed at the holy meal, is “carried up by angelic ranks,” that we ourselves secretly form Cherubim at this time, then they wrote, without a doubt, not on the basis of imagination, but according to the testimony of spiritual experiences. However, even for the most sensual person, isn’t the veil of the spiritual world apparently lifted every time in the Sacrament of the Eucharist? What is this if not a sign and a gift from another world? How is this not a guarantee of immortality? If not the covenant of eternal life, in which the living and the dead are apparently united? Finally, the church is a place for seeing God and worshiping the Creator, a place that is therefore sacred and most pleasant for the pious spirit. In fact, brothers, will needs alone move and govern us in matters of worship? Is there really no other most sublime motivation for a person to appear before the Face of his Creator as often as possible, for example, to enjoy His presence and contemplation? But the place of constant presence and vision of God is in churches. Therefore, he must appear in churches to testify to the Creator of his love and submission. It is true that true worshipers everywhere worship the Lord “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). But it is also undeniable that in some places the Lord reveals His special presence for them. The church is the first of such places - it is a permanent, visible place of residence of His glory: here is His word and Sacraments, here is His Throne and the altar on which the Body and Blood of His Only Begotten Son is offered. Therefore, even those people who themselves were living churches of God did not stop going to churches, they went to them often, with special reverence and joy, and considered the minutes spent at the Throne of God to be the best in life. After such a concept about churches, and such an effect on the mind and heart of a person, you, brothers, will still be surprised if I say that he is a non-Christian who, having the opportunity to often visit the churches of God, does not visit them. Only staying in churches, in order to be beneficial, requires certain good qualities from those entering the church, without which it does not bring the expected benefit, and can even turn into harm. What are these qualities? Listen! The church is a school of piety: so, be attentive to what you hear - it is not man who speaks here, but God Himself, who desires your salvation. Above all, try to implement what you have learned in practice. What is fulfilled, even small things, will bear fruit a hundredfold; what is not fulfilled, even great things, will not only not justify, but will even condemn. Someday they will demand a strict account of the science taught. And here lazy students lose a lot: what a shame there will be there! The church is a physician's office: so, boldly demand healing. Never despair of healing. For our Doctor there are no incurable patients. Just don’t stop using the remedies prescribed to you. Don't listen to your mind when it tells you that this or that remedy is apparently useless. Our Savior knows more than all of us, both our illnesses and ourselves. Do not listen to the flesh when it attracts you to something forbidden, even if it seems innocent. And physical doctors deprive us of much, even much more. Without abstinence, spiritual healings remain as ineffective as physical ones. What is the benefit, for example, if here you partake of the “Lord’s table”, and when you leave the threshold of the house of God you sit down “at the demonic table”? (1 Cor. 10:21). The church is a spiritual judgment seat: so, “make peace with your heavenly rival... as long as you are on the way...” (Matthew 5:25) sowing life. Push at the doors of mercy before the hour of judgment and punishment comes. Do not neglect the power of the Church: it is from God. What is permitted here will be forgiven there also, what is bound here will be bound there also. Accept the mercy given, without being surprised by the excess in giving: much is given to everyone because much has been acquired for all of us, and very much has been paid for us all. Just be careful not to abuse forgiveness. May the Redeemer's love for you be your Guardian Angel from new iniquities. Otherwise, you will ruin everything, and you will be exacted for the very favors you abused. The church is a meeting place with unearthly beings: so, you, who have lost those close to your heart, instead of fruitless lamentations and tears, hurry more often to the foot of the altars of the Lord. Here, in the face of the God of love, Who has no dead, your spirit will find peace. You yourself will approach in spirit the limits of the heavenly world, you will foresee the power of the coming age, and with this foreshadowing, real life will cease to be so precious for you, and you will not inconsolably complain about the temporary separation from those dear to you, but will make the decision to follow in their footsteps with faith and love to the same place where they are. The church is a place of the presence and vision of God. So, stand in the church, before God, even as you would stand before the king of the earth. Leave all worldly cares outside the threshold of God’s house. “The wickedness of the world is sufficient” (Matthew 6:34): why bring it here too? There is “quarrel” day and night (Ps. 55:10): let there be peace and quiet here. Six days are given over to the earth and the flesh: let at least the seventh be entirely devoted to the Lord. Stand in the church as if you were standing in heaven, for, standing in the church, you are really standing in heaven, before God! Amen. Homily on the Day of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary “The day of our salvation is the main thing and the manifestation of the sacrament from time immemorial” (Troparion of the Feast). This is how the Holy Church sang many times, yesterday and now. I don’t know if any of you paid special attention to these words, but they seem to me to be worth all the attention for all of us, and not just for this day, but for the rest of our lives. “The day of our salvation is the most important,” we exclaim: therefore, the salvation of both yours and mine, listener, therefore, you and I are saved, reconciled with God and conscience, cleansed, justified and sanctified, therefore, for us “the crown of righteousness is preserved, which... God has prepared for all who love Him!” (2 Tim. 4:8; 1 Cor. 2:9). Do you see what this is about? Not about something small, but about everything. After this, how can one not ask: is this really true? Are all of us present here really among the saved? Ah, salvation has been revealed to everyone, but the Savior Himself also noted that there are not many being saved. It may indeed belong to everyone, but you and I, listener, may not participate in it. When for everyone else the beginning of salvation is, for us, perhaps, the beginning, or continuation, or even the end of condemnation. For this very reason, it is very necessary to find out whose salvation is now beginning, and whether we belong to the number of the saved? Salvation, brethren, is not something consisting of mere words and concepts, or any particular actions and things, about which it is enough to just know, or to which it is enough to just agree. No, salvation, as its very name shows, consists of liberation from disasters and evils. We say: the patient is saved when the danger of death has passed and his strength has begun to improve. We say: a captured person is saved when he receives freedom and is returned from the hands of the enemy. We say: the traveler is saved when the robbers who attacked him are driven away, and he continues his journey in peace. If you ask each of these people: are you saved? Everyone will immediately answer that he is saved, indicate when, how and from what he was saved. This, I say, is how salvation happens from temporary disasters - visible, tangible, unforgettable! Moreover, such must be salvation from eternal disasters - those disasters from which no one can save us except God Himself, and for the destruction of which the Son of God Himself has now descended to earth. Anyone who has received such salvation must certainly know what they have received. Even one who has begun to receive cannot but know that he has begun to receive. The saved person, therefore, must feel a great and important change for the better, must feel, if not complete liberation, then more and more increasing relief from all the disasters and evils that oppress all the unsaved. If you, brothers, have delved into your condition, then you should know what kind of disasters these are. This, firstly, is the darkness of our mind, which, after the fall, having lost the illumination from above, has fallen into such darkness that “what is on earth... we find with difficulty: but what is in heaven” (Wis. 9:16), or beyond the grave, cannot be known by itself, as it should be. In such darkness live the pagans, who therefore worship stone and trees, and those Christians also live who, having rejected the light of the word of God, indulge in the guidance of their poor reason. Our second misfortune is the corruption of our will, which, after falling, is naturally inclined towards evil. Having been torn away from the will of God, she now rushes through the abyss of creation, not knowing where to stop: she would like to subjugate everything to herself, and in return, she herself submits to everything, goes against the order of nature, and therefore acts to the destruction of herself and others. Under the weight of this disaster, all sinners groan, representing themselves as miserable slaves of passions and feelings. The third universal misfortune of humanity is the depravity of our hearts and feelings, which, having deviated from the source of all goods - God, and clinging to perishable sensory goods, spins and crashes with them, is seduced, and is never satisfied, languishing in boredom among the very pleasures. This disaster is especially visible among the fortunate people of the world, who, standing among the ocean of earthly pleasures, constantly yearn for something better. The last disaster from which everyone suffers is the extreme frailty of our nature and its dependence on external nature: being born in illness, eking out a life among ailments and deprivations, we then turn into the earth, like the last insect. No matter how weak this description of our misfortunes is, it is also very convenient for everyone to know in what state they are - among those being saved or among those perishing. And, first of all, look, is your mind saved? Do you have a clear knowledge of God and the Savior, of the grace of the Holy Spirit, without which salvation is impossible, of your responsibilities and your destiny, of the means to achieve eternal life and get rid of the temptations of the world? Is your will saved? Is she freed from the inclination towards evil, the predominance of feelings and passions over it? Is it contained in the law of the Lord, as in its natural repository? Is she endowed with that strength so that, in case of need, she can stand up for the purity of her conscience against everything deceiving and terrible? Is your heart saved? Does the joy of the Holy Spirit know - has one been freed from the ruin that suffers the greatest lucky people of the world? Is there a presentiment in him of something that the eye has not seen, the ear has not heard, and that has not come to the heart of a carnal man and cannot come? Is your whole being saved? Is the seed of natural aphids suppressed in it? Has the seed of a life of grace been planted? Is the weakening and putting away of the old man, the revival, strengthening and predominance of the new man noticeable? Whoever feels in himself the absence of these evils that oppress all humanity, he, and only he alone, can rightly say that he is saved. And such a one, without a doubt, also knows that this salvation begins now. For if the Light of the world had not now appeared, the Healer of souls and hearts, the Giver of peace and life, then we would all remain in the old world, with the same sins and weakness for good, with the same collapse of the spirit and insatiability of the heart, with the same frailty and corruption. So, once again, brothers, I ask you, are you saved? The sign and proof of salvation is one: freedom from evil and disaster. So, are you feeling this precious freedom? If you don’t feel it, then salvation is not yours, Christ is not yours yet, you are not Christians yet! For what kind of salvation is this when you are surrounded by the same disasters, just as blind in matters of faith, just as bound by sins, just as evil, unpeaceful, sad, perishable, perishable? What kind of beginning of salvation is this when there is not only an end, not even a continuation within us? And if so, then what does your Christianity mean, brothers? What does it consist of? What does it give you? What does it promise? Have you found another Christ, Who does not save those who believe in Him? It’s hard, brothers, to hear such questions on such a joyful day. But what should we do? Is it possible to say that you are saved when we see that you are perishing? Is it possible to sing and delight your ears when you sleep over the abyss? No, we must cry out to you, thunder with everything we can, in order to awaken you, force you to move away from the abyss, and begin the work of your salvation. This is not enough: we pray, and must constantly pray to the Lord, that He Himself would thunder over you with His omnipotent voice and awaken you, so that if necessary, He would not spare either His anger or arrows. For it is better, a hundred times better, for each of us to suffer, if necessary, here, temporarily, than to go uncorrected to where we must suffer forever. And if ever we, brethren, need to speak to you in such a language, then on this day, for this day is the most capable of beginning, who has not begun, the work of his salvation. It is not in vain that the Church proclaims: “The day of our salvation is the greatest!” Decide from now on to leave sin, free yourself from the bonds of the passion that dominates you, begin to live for God, believe with all your heart in the Redeemer, walk and act as the Gospel and the Church teach: and this day will become for you the true beginning of your salvation. Every time he returns, you will exclaim from the fullness of your heart: today, truly the day of my salvation is the greatest! After this, both for me and for you this day will be the day of the annunciation: for me - because I announced it, and for you - because you accepted the good news of salvation. Oh, where will this news not spread! The Angels will rejoice over her, and the Heavenly Father Himself will rejoice over her! Amen. Homily on the Day of the Annunciation and the Week of the Worship of the Cross On this day, dedicated to the worship of the Cross of the Lord and to the remembrance of the sufferings of Christ, the most appropriate thing for us would be spiritual lamentation and contrition for our sins: but now, with this lamentation, the good news of the Archangel about the salvation of the whole world is met. What to choose: tears or joy? Cross or branch of heaven? For sinners who need constant cleansing, it is more necessary than tears and safer to hold on to the cross. But it would be indecent for pardoned sinners, honored by the coming to them of the King of Glory Himself, to mourn joylessly in His very presence. So, we must look for ways to reconcile lamentation with joy. And is it difficult to find it?.. Let us take a closer look at the essence and spirit of both real celebrations, and many of us will involuntarily, perhaps, feel joy in our hearts and tears in our eyes. The descent to earth of the Son of God, which we remember, is the most joyful event for us, for in it, as the Church wisely proclaims, and only in it alone, “the main thing of our salvation” is the beginning, foundation and reason. If the Son of God had not descended to earth, then none of us earth-born would have ascended to heaven. But what was the incarnation of the Son of God like for Himself? Is it the beginning of joy or perfection? No, for Himself the incarnation was the main point of humiliation, the beginning of deprivation and suffering. For what did He find on earth, having taken on human flesh? He found a cross, which he wore all his life until he himself was ascended to the cross. After this, can a soul who loves the Lord, with the very good news of the Archangel, now indulge in joy so as to forget what this joy cost her beloved Savior, and not dissolve it with lamentation about her unworthiness? You, she would say to the Archangel himself, you preach to us the joy of salvation. Thanks be to the Lord, who visited us in the darkness and shadow of death! Now there is no room for despair even for the first of sinners. But I cannot completely surrender to this joy and completely abandon lamentation. This joy is not mine! Let those of my brothers who have already reached their fatherland and united forever with the Savior rejoice in this way. And yet, in the midst of the vale of tears, in the midst of the sea of ​​temptations, I can still a hundred times offend the Lord, who came down to earth for me, betray Him, even lift Him to the Cross with my sins. Should I indulge in joy alone? Leave, Archangel, leave some of the tears with which I could mourn my Savior when He is crucified, to wash away my own impurities. I know that they are washed only by the Blood of the Divine Lamb, but can I, washing myself with this Blood, not mix my own tears with it? This is how the soul that loves the Lord thinks and feels now! In the Archangel's good news of salvation there is a new call to repentance for her. She clearly sees that the salvation they proclaim all lies in the death of the incarnate Lord for our sins, and therefore joyfully turns to the cross. What does this cross produce in her? In people devoted to the world, it produces only despondency; not so in souls who love their salvation and their Savior. And he produces tears in them - for is it possible not to shed tears over the instrument of the suffering and death of his Lord? But these tears are dissolved by spiritual consolation. For the tree of the cross, having been watered with the Blood of the Son of God, blossomed so that its canopy is more majestic than the canopy of all the trees of paradise, and its fruits are more life-giving than the fruits of the tree of life. Will the believing soul look at its Savior at the same time - it sees that the cross served as a ladder for Him to ascend back to the throne of Heavenly glory, that He was exalted above all and received the name “... above any name”, precisely because “he humbled himself... to the death of the cross” (Phil. 2:8-9). Will he look at the host of the saints of God, enjoying bliss in the Kingdom of the Heavenly Father, and see that they all ascended to heaven with the cross, came to the marriage of the Lamb from the “great tribulation” (Rev. 7:14), were awarded eternal rest because on earth, except for the cross, they had no place to bow their heads. If he turns his gaze around himself, he finds that where the cross is, there is grace, virtue, and salvation, that the more one of the Christians humbles himself, is exposed to hardships and sorrows, the more he strengthens in the “inner man” (Eph. 3:16), becomes freer from the world, closer to heaven and his Savior. After this, what should the Savior’s Cross seem to a true Christian if not a kind instrument of salvation, a precious guarantee of eternal bliss, a joyful sign of victory? With one glance at the cross, a Christian already feels in himself a new strength to defeat opposing forces; with one reminder of the cross, a Christian is filled with some kind of holy consolation, in the midst of the most severe misfortunes. That is why the Holy Church established its worship among the Holy Pentecost due to the life-giving property of the Cross of Christ. “Just as one goes through a long and sorrowful path,” reads the synaxarion for this day, “and is burdened with labor, even if they find a blessed-leaved tree where they find it, they rest a little and, as if they were young, they leave the rest of the way, so now, in the time of fasting and in the sorrowful path and feat, the Father of the Life-Giving Cross is planted in the midst of the saints, weakened and giving us refreshment, those who have labored toil and return to their former labors are virtuous and easy.” Thus, brethren, the real celebrations are not only not alien to each other, but also forward one to the other: the paradise branch of the Archangel points directly to the cross, and the cross serves as a ladder to the lost paradise of sweetness. Therefore, if anyone’s heart is now filled with joy, let him not be embarrassed or ashamed of this joy; it is the Lord’s, to bring it to all of us, the Son of God ascended to the cross. If anyone feels contrition in his heart, and tears in his eyes about his sins, let him not be embarrassed and let him not hide these tears, they are the Lord’s, the Archangel himself, if he finds them clean, will collect them and present them as a gift to the Lord descending to earth. But what should we do, brothers, with those of us who, due to the hardness of our hearts, now feel neither spiritual joy nor sadness for God? “To whom will I liken this generation?” the Savior Himself once asked about such people. “To whom shall I liken this generation? It is like children...to those who trade...saying: You squeak and do not dance; you weep...and do not mourn” (Matthew 11:16-17). What to do with this insensitivity? What Archangel will descend to earth to stir up these people to joy? Which Savior will ascend again to the cross to make them cry for His sins? Lord, You Yourself speak to these people and awaken them from this deathly insensibility. For we can all only, like Martha and Mary, cry over the tomb of our own or someone else’s Lazarus - our inner man, but we cannot say to him: “Lazarus, come out!” (John 11:43). Amen. Word for the Day of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Why is today called the day of the Annunciation? Obviously, for some good news for all of us. What kind of news is this? The news is that to us, the poor, the Only Begotten Son of God, the eternal Word, by whom everything visible and invisible was created and is held in existence, has now descended to earth, descended to the point that he was clothed with our nature, became in everything except sin, like us as a Man, and this is not just for a time, small or great, but for all eternity. The news is that this incarnate Son of God will do everything that is necessary for our salvation: he will illuminate us with the light of truth and show us the path to eternal life, will take upon ourselves our sins and atone for them with His suffering, will descend into the tomb and with His resurrection will dispel for us the darkness of the tomb and the fear of death, will give us the Holy Spirit and with Him all the fullness of the gifts of grace, and having been cleansed from all defilement, we will become capable of cohabitation in heaven with the Angels. The news is that through this unparalleled condescension to us and the union of the Son of God with us, from enemies of God we have become close and again our own to God, from exiles of paradise, aliens of the earth - heirs of heaven and eternal blessings, that all the disasters with which the world surrounding us is filled will pass irrevocably, everything will return to primitive perfection, so that the very inanimate creation, sighing now with us, will be freed from the hard work of incorruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. You see how much joy and hope this day has brought us! Compare all the joyful news that we can receive from anyone, and they will all turn out to be small and insignificant. There is a joyful day on which a doctor will say to someone suffering from a serious illness and who has lost hope: “Calm down, a beneficial revolution has taken place in your illness, and you will certainly be healthy.” We have now all been told much more, for it is said that not only all diseases of body and soul, from which the entire human race has suffered hopelessly, will finally disappear forever, but that death itself, this irresistible enemy, will be defeated and destroyed, and we will again become pure, bright and immortal. It is a joyful day when those who are under siege from enemies and driven to the last extreme learn that the enemy who besieged their city has lost strength, that he has been driven out and scattered, that all they can do is enjoy the fruits of victory. Now more has been announced to all of us, for it has been announced that our ancient and implacable enemy, who expelled us from paradise with flattery and dragged us into hell with all his might, has been struck at the head, that he is bound by the great Leader and Victor, that from now on he has no power over us, so that each of the believers can trample this hellish dragon harmlessly. It is a joyful day when a son, who has lost all his father’s love, was expelled from his home, deprived of all rights of birth and inheritance, hears that his father, in his generosity, has forgiven him, is ready to accept him into his love and give him everything he has. More has happened to us: we, rejected for sin and under anger and curse, are now reconciled with the Heavenly Father, become again His beloved sons, enter into all the rights of children and are destined to possess the Kingdom of Heaven. Imagine any joyful news you like, and they will all be found in the good news brought to us today from the Archangel. Worthy and righteously the present day is called the day of the Annunciation; worthy and righteously heaven and earth are now called to the joy and glorification of the Lord, for heaven and earth will truly participate in His mercy and our triumph. But, my brethren, while we rejoice and glorify the Lord for His great and boundless mercy, let us not forget that the good news is then completely valid and achieves its goal when, having received it, they conform to it and act exactly as its essence requires. No matter how much you notify a son wandering through foreign homes and countries that he has been forgiven by his father, but if this son does not leave his wanderings, does not go to his father, and does not begin to behave as befits the heir of a king, then the good news will remain without effect and will not bring him joy. No matter how much you inform those kept under siege about the powerlessness of their enemy, about the opportunity to defeat him and take advantage of freedom, but if, forgetting their woeful situation, instead of fighting and resisting, they open the gates to their enemy and allow him to do whatever he wants with them, then the good news about his exhaustion will remain in vain, the enemy will gather strength and enslave them again. No matter how much you reassure a desperately sick person that his serious illness can pass, that the danger of death has passed, but if he does not listen to you and does not do what is necessary for his recovery, especially if he does the opposite and indulges in harmful intemperance, then the good news of healing will remain without fruit, and the disease will return with death. It’s the same with the good news that has now been brought to us. Everything - the descent to earth of the Son of God, and His incarnation for us, and His death and resurrection for us, all this will remain in vain if we do not leave our sinful life and begin to behave as our new, great and holy destiny requires. In this case, true Christians, following the Savior who descended from heaven and doing His will, will accept everything that He brought and acquired for them, will achieve eternal blessings and dwell with Him in the Kingdom of His Father, and we, who are careless about our salvation, who do not follow His commandments and footsteps, we who continue to walk through the wilds of sin and lusts, we are with the good news brought to us, as if to no one. What we are unable to do, we will remain in our sins and appear in the end as having nothing. Let us not stop, my brethren, like little children, at the good news of our salvation, no matter how great and joyful it is, let us try to find out what it requires of us and what we must do for our salvation, then let us do everything required, so that in this way the good news turns into a good deed: then, and only then, will this day truly be the day of the Annunciation for us, may the grace of the Lord come true over us all! Amen. “And the man said to his sincere: This is not what we do: this day, the day of the annunciation, is, but we remain silent and tarry until the morning light, and we will find iniquity: and now we will come and look in, and tell it in the house of the King” (2 Kings 7:9) The Israelites once had a fierce war with the Syrians. The successes of the latter reached the point that the very capital of Israel, Samaria, being surrounded on all sides by the Syrians, was dying of hunger. In the midst of this extremity, at the city gates, there were four people stricken with leprosy, who, as a result of the law on lepers, were excommunicated from all human community. Exposed to visible death from famine, these unfortunates decided to go to the enemy’s camp, in the hope that perhaps the enemies would be more generous than their compatriots. They enter, and instead of weapons and warriors they find only war tents filled with trash and treasures. For last night, as Elisha prophesied, such horror fell upon the Syrians from the extraordinary noise of the weapons they heard that they, leaving everything for the sake of their one soul, as the sacred historian puts it, fled headlong from the borders of the land of Israel. Having thus become the owners of an entire rich camp, the lepers at first indulged in unpraiseworthy thoughts and actions: having satisfied their hunger, they began to collect treasures and bury them in the ground. But then their conscience awoke, they remembered their brethren in the city, dying of hunger and thirst, and were ashamed of the very good deed of God, which apparently followed not only for them: “and the man said to his sincere: this is not what we do: this day, the day of the Annunciation, is, but we are silent and delay until the morning light, and we will find iniquity: and now we will come and see, and we will proclaim it in the king’s house.” That's what the lepers did! Although not suddenly, they understood the meaning and purpose of the miraculous event, they realized that then it was not a time of selfish actions and calculations, but a day of general joy and annunciation. This event and example are very instructive, brothers, for us in this present day. Since the time when we were removed from the fruits of the tree of life and expelled from the paradise of sweets for disobeying the commandment, the entire human race was under a cruel siege from the enemy of God and ours: everyone suffered a spiritual famine, and no one could put an end to it. But now, on this day, apparently the bread of eternal life descended from heaven, the hypostatic Word itself appeared for our salvation, by whose power all our enemies were scattered and overthrown, so that we can now freely go to the work of our salvation, collect as much manna from heaven as we like to feed our spirit and heart. What then? Have we taken advantage of this extraordinary blessing of God? Did they, like these lepers, enter the city of our souls, did they announce “in the king’s house,” to our inner man, about the end of our spiritual siege, about the return to us of all the means to fulfill God’s commandments, about deliverance from all the evils that surround us? Oh, how many, like the lepers of Samaria, indulge in vanity even on the day of the Annunciation, forgetting what the Lord has done for us and what we, as a result, must do! For how should we act after this? It would be necessary to use all the time, to direct all our strength and abilities, to take advantage of the omnipotence of our Redeemer, who has now taken flesh for us, to cast off all the bonds of sin and passions, to restore in ourselves all the primitive splendor and dignity of our nature, to acquire and strengthen for ourselves all the rights to eternal bliss given to us as an inheritance. What about us? We, having forgotten what has been done for us and what greatness and bliss awaits us in heaven, turn again to the earth, bury our soul and heart in the collection of the blessings of worldly and perishable treasures, chase after honors and amusements, drown in luxury and voluptuousness, while within us “the hunger is strong” (1 Kings 18:2), while our conscience and heart groan from the wounds of sin. Is it not sufficient, therefore, for us, like those lepers, to say: “This is not what we do: this day, the day of the Annunciation, is, but we remain silent and delay until the morning light” - until our death. By doing this, we too “will find iniquity: and now we will come and go in and tell it in the house of the King.” Let us then, my brethren, let us also enter into the city of our souls and tell our minds to hasten for the knowledge of the truth to the incarnate Savior of the world and His Gospel: in it will be found in abundance everything that we need to know and do on earth, everything that we should believe in and that we can hope for. Let us enter the city of our souls and proclaim to our will that they hasten for freedom and spiritual power to the great Resolver of all bonds and all infirmities. Having been clothed with His power, she will have the opportunity to victoriously fight against all the temptations and seductions of the world, to be firm and persistent in the Law of God. Let us enter the city of our souls, and let us tell our hearts that He has finally appeared, from Whom all those who suffer and are burdened can find peace and joy. Let us enter into the city of our soul and proclaim to our entire inner man that the time of his bondage is over, that the day of resurrection has arrived, that he can raise his head, take into his hands the scepter snatched from him by the enemy, and begin to live and act in the image of the One who created him. Amen. Bring great joy to the earth! Praise, O heavens, God's glory! (Chorus of the holiday according to the 8th song) What are these, words of delight or an expression of real truth? No matter how anyone explains them, for us there is nothing exaggerated in these words, for what is said in them was said long ago by Saint David, who also in one of his psalms calls on all the elements to glorify the name of the Lord, and not only the elements, but also what seems to us in them as some kind of confusion and evil. “Praise,” he exclaims, “the Lord from the earth, the serpent, and all the deeps: fire, hail, snow, golot, stormy spirit, who does His word!” (Ps. 149:7–8). You see that David praises the Lord - even hail and a stormy spirit, from which we do not know where to hide. But David, you say, in his holy delight personifies the inanimate creature, so that it is not the elements that praise the Lord, but he himself in the elements. Okay, let's turn to another witness. Saint Paul, when he wrote the Epistle to the Romans, did not have the lyre of David in his hands, but only the simple book reed of the apostle, but listen to what he says about all the so-called unreasonable and insensitive nature. “We know that all creation sighs and suffers with us even to this day. The creatures long for the revelation of the sons of God. For I obey the vanity of the creature not by will, but for the sake of him who obeyed in hope. For the creation itself will be freed from the work of corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Rom. 8:19–22). You see how he looks at the whole of creation, exactly at all, not excluding anything! In it, as the apostle noted, it is the same as in people: suffering and hope for liberation. If, however, all creation, as Saint Paul reveals, sympathizes with our poverty and frailty, because it shares them with us, if, moreover, all creation expects with us liberation from the evils that oppress us and it, then doesn’t it naturally follow that all creation should feel when in this pitiful situation some change for the better occurs? Isn’t it natural to conclude that her groans subsided, and the place of expectation was filled with joy when she saw that He had finally appeared on earth among men, who would lift the burden of the curse from everyone and everything, bring peace and blessing to the earthly people and the earth, and thus “restore by Himself all things”? (Eph. 1:10). Since this beneficial change in our destiny took place on this day, it is not at all surprising that this day is a day of joy not only for people, but for all creation, and the Church, inviting the earth to the gospel, and the heavens to praise, thereby expresses only what really is. So, my brothers, when you hear from the lips of a commoner that the sun is playing now, do not rush to let him know with your smile that he is mistaken. No, in his simple language he expresses the same thing that the most sublime Christian wisdom tells us about this subject. Instead of mocking in this case the so-called popular prejudices, remember the apostle’s thought about the groaning of all creation as a result of our fall - and you yourself, perhaps, will now look for signs of joy both in heaven and on earth. Poor wisdom that thinks to limit both our misfortunes and our joys to us alone, no, in the world, as it is not in vain that they say, everything is connected with each other, especially everything is connected with man, although due to mental myopia we do not see the details of this connection. It is true that man is above everything visible, it is true that, due to the freedom granted to him, he constitutes a great peculiarity among beings, and even something opposite to all so-called unreasonable nature, but with all this we are only a part, although the most important, of the whole, and we can neither suffer nor rejoice alone. On the contrary, since man is, as it were, the focus of all, at least visible, creation, what happens to him therefore cannot but be reflected at all ends of the circle he occupies. And here is wisdom, as gratifying as it is completely worthy of the human mind, depicted not by Plato or Aristotle, but by Paul and Peter, or, more precisely, by the Holy Spirit! But whether the sun is playing or not playing now is not so important for the work of our salvation with you, beloved listener, but what is extremely important is this: is it playing now or not playing, that is, does our own heart feel or does not feel the joy of salvation? Oh, how joyful this day should be for those who, living according to the rules of the Gospel, managed to free themselves from the bonds of sin and passions by the grace of God and were deemed worthy to receive within themselves the pledge of the Holy Spirit! We will not sin against the truth if we say that they are now experiencing something similar to what happened to Saint Elizabeth when she met the Mother of God, after the Annunciation of the Angels. Just as Elizabeth felt at this the leaping of the baby in her womb, so they, with the voice of the Archangel to the Virgin, feel within themselves the spiritual leaping of the “hidden man of the heart” (1 Pet. 3:4), who, according to his inner essence, is the same Word who is now flesh, who must, according to the assurance of the Apostle, “dwell by faith” (Eph. 3:17) in each of us. No matter what external misfortunes now surround such Christ-bearers, even if they were in poverty and embitterment, even if they were sitting in chains and prison, even if they were suffering from illness and torment, nothing can take away from them that joy of spirit and that joy in God, which replaces everything for them. And you, unrepentant sinner, no matter how much you seem to be rejoicing on this day, no matter how much you rejoice or triumph, there is and cannot be any peace or joy within you, for where would you get it from? It can only be given by the Savior Himself, and you have no living union with Him, except in words. It can only be accepted and accommodated by a clear and peaceful conscience, but with you it is dark, indignant, and painful. If you come now (and God grant that you come!) to yourself and feel bitter in sin, then instead of joy you should be filled with despondency and fear. For what will you see in that case? You will see the Son of God Himself descending to earth for your salvation, and you will see yourself, like a madman, running away from this Savior and despising the work of your salvation! You will see heaven and earth, all unreasonable creation responding with joy to the voice of the almighty Redeemer, and yourself, a rational being, like a dead man, not heeding this voice and resting on the bed of passions in the sleep of death! What could be more criminal and crazier than such behavior? Let us stop, fellow perishing in sins, from deceiving ourselves. There is and cannot be a union between Jehovah and Baal, between the Savior and sin. So, one of two things: either we will leave vice forever and begin to live as holy faith and conscience commands, or we will stop bearing the name of a Christian and participating in the Sacraments and festivities of the Holy Church. Amen. We intended, my brothers, to now talk with you spiritually about our present celebration and learn as much as possible from the Gospel story of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin from the Archangel, but the Lord wanted something else. At the end of the service itself, when we were about to go out before you to this sacred place, the cry of the Bulgarian Church suddenly reached our ears from across the Danube... With great joy she greeted our victorious army, as they crossed the Danube, she greeted them as her brothers in faith and language, as her defenders and liberators! But, alas, in what condition she appeared to our Orthodox army! She appeared humiliated, desecrated, naked, ulcerated! And firstly, in Bulgaria there is nothing to publicly announce the time and hours of worship, because the hard-hearted admirers of Mohammed could not bear the sound of church bells, as if foreseeing in it a sign of a general national awakening and the end of their unrighteous rule over this once glorious country. Secondly, on Bulgarian churches there is also no what, according to the simplest concept, is the main difference between churches and ordinary buildings - no, that is, the sign of the holy cross, for the Mohammedans also do not like to see it anywhere, as an exposer of their wickedness, and therefore Christians are prohibited from using it publicly. In the very Bulgarian churches there is extreme poverty in everything due to constant oppression: there are not enough church books, according to which divine services should be performed, or sacred clothes for the altar servers, or even any decent vessels for the celebration of the Sacrament of the Most Pure Body and Blood of Christ. And now the ill-fated Bulgarian Church, after the bonds and chains have been removed from it by our Christ-loving troops, stretches out its freed hands to the All-Russian Church, begging it first of all to help its poor churches!.. Due to the proximity of the place and distance, this cry reached us first, my brothers, and we hasten to turn to your ears and hearts on this blessed day of celebration. If the Son of God left the glory that he had from eternity with the Father, and came down to earth for the sake of our salvation, for this purpose he entered into the womb of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, and thus took on the face of a slave - and why did he come, why did he become incarnate? So that, having received our flesh, he would give it for us to the cross as a sacrifice of heavenly justice, irritated by human sins. Can there be greater condescension, deeper humility, higher and stronger love? Let us show, my brothers, on our part, that we truly love our Savior and know how to appreciate His priceless merits. And for this we will choose the suffering Bulgarian Church, for what we do for it in the name of our common Savior will be accepted and adopted by Him Himself. Let us show, I say, our love for Him. Behold, He will soon go to suffering and the cross for us! And we will go in hasty steps in order to acquire and arrange something, in His name, for our suffering brethren in faith. He who can do much, do much: everything will be rewarded a hundredfold! Whoever is not able to do a lot, do a little, for the Lord does not look at the quantity and price of what is offered, but at the heart of the offerer. The widow mentioned in the Gospel contributed not thousands and hundreds, but only two mites to the church corvana (church treasury); and the Lord magnified her offering above all others, because out of love for the Lord and His church she did everything possible for her. Let's do the same. Let our brethren not say that, being under a cruel yoke, they cried out to us for help and were not heard! May our Lord Himself not one day say at His Judgment: “naked... beh... and you will not clothe Me!” (Matthew 25:43). Amen. Sermon on the day of the pre-celebration of the Dormition of the Mother of God Yesterday, following the instructions of the Holy Church, we left Tabor, illuminated by the last rays of light from the face of the transfigured Lord. Now, following the same leadership of the Church, we must go to Gethsemane - to the tomb of the Mother of God, so that we may see “the final sacrament upon Her” (At the litia, the stichera are self-concordant, voice 1). Tabor is God-pleasing, and Gethsemane is soul-satisfying! There the face of the Son shines with the non-evening light of the Divine, here the Mother’s coffin looks like a ladder to heaven. There Moses and Elijah appear in glory and talk about His exodus, - let them point out in the person of Jesus the One who “has not only the living, but also the dead” (Rom. 14:9); here the servant of miracles Gabriel appears with a branch of paradise, - let him preach to the earthly people that the one descending into the grave is the most honorable Cherub and the most glorious without comparison, the Seraphim. There the Divinity shines before the disciples from under the veil of flesh, so that “when they see him crucified, they will understand free suffering” (Kontakion of the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord); here, before the advancing heavenly glory of the Ever-Virgin, the weakness of Her humanity is revealed, and when we see Her at the right hand of the Throne of the Son and God, we will recognize that this greatness is not the action of the Mother’s nature, but the grace of the Son. In Gethsemane the highest degree of human weakness of the Son was destined to be revealed; there He sweated blood, there He was strengthened by the Angel; in Gethsemane, the human infirmities of the Mother were destined to finally appear: here Her eyes, lips and hands closed, here Her most holy soul was released, albeit for a short time, from the purest body. After this, do we now need to think about any other subject for our teaching, except for all of us to be transported in thought to the deathbed of the Most Blessed One, who now has all the apostles except one? Let us briefly repeat in words what they saw with their own eyes. After the Lord’s ascension into heaven and after the descent of the Comforter Spirit on the apostles in the form of fiery tongues, the place of residence of the Mother of God for some time was not Jerusalem, but the city from which Saint John came and lived, to whom She was given from the Cross instead of her mother. “From that hour,” the Gospel reads, “the disciple gave drink to himself” (John 19:27). No matter how serene this refuge was and no matter how tender and holy care She was surrounded by in the house of Jesus’ beloved disciple, her motherly heart drew Her back to Jerusalem, to where almost every path was marked by the feet of Her Son and God, and where every place brought with it a memory or glory, or His suffering. Upon returning to this city, Her most beloved occupation, as legend tells, was to walk in the precious footsteps of Her beloved Son, to pray where He prayed, to take rest where He calmed down. Therefore, Golgotha, Olivet, and Gethsemane enjoyed the sight of the Divine Grace more often than other places. Gethsemane even finally became Her permanent last refuge on earth. Like Her Son, who prayed here three times until she sweated blood, She spent whole days and nights in prayer in the middle of the olive city. What did She pray for? She also prayed, without a doubt, for the speedy spread of saving faith in Her Son throughout the entire face of the earth; prayed for a conversion to faith and knowledge of the truth of the Jewish people who were perishing in unbelief and bitterness; she prayed for new Churches, which were planted by the apostles in different countries and among different peoples; she prayed, without a doubt, for all future Churches that were to be planted by their disciples and successors; therefore, she also prayed for us, who in due time were honored to be enlightened by the light of the Gospel faith; but all Her prayers ended with a request for Her speedy release from the bonds of the flesh - so that She might see Him face to face, Who, after His Ascension into heaven, as a demonstration of the dispassion of His Divinity, no longer appeared to Her. Is such a pure and holy prayer, it would seem, not to be heard soon and not to be satisfied immediately? But She was not soon, very soon, heard and satisfied - let us learn by the example of the Mother of God not to become exhausted in our prayers, not to consider it a sign of inattention from above if something happens to us that is contrary to our prayers and desires. For the Ever-Virgin Herself, of course, it was better to go quickly to the Son into heaven, and, instead of the bonds of the flesh, begin to enjoy the heavenly greatness; but for the consolation of the apostles of Christ, so that they, deprived of the visible presence of their Teacher and Lord, could find for themselves a common refuge with His Most Holy Mother according to the flesh, the Most Blessed Virgin had to remain on earth, and remained for a considerable time - more than two decades. But finally, the long-awaited hour of exodus arrived. Fourty days before her death, during fiery prayers to her Son for her acceleration, the Mother of God saw before her the Archangel, the same one who had once preached to Her the joy of unartful conception. Having foreshadowed the time of departure, the heavenly messenger handed Her a branch of paradise on behalf of the Son and God - may it become at Her tomb a sign of victory over death. For She Who had long lived in spirit and heart with the Son in heaven, there were no desires left on earth except one - to see the apostles at Her bedside once again before her death, to be comforted by their faith and love, to pronounce upon them the last blessing of the Mother of God, to encourage and inspire with the hope of Her intercession at the throne of the Son. But it was completely impossible to achieve this in the usual way, for the apostles had long been scattered to preach across the face of the whole earth. The single power of God could do this directly, and it did not hesitate to exert its effect. Worn, as legend says, “on the clouds,” all the apostles, with the exception of Thomas, flocked to Gethsemane on the day of the Dormition of the Ever-Virgin. Surrounded by this holy face, comforted by their love, in the midst of Her and their prayers, the Mother of God in peace gave up Her spirit in the hands of Her Son and God. When the Most Pure Body was interred and hidden in the den of Gethsemane, on the third day Saint Thomas also appeared; God arranged it this way, so that the same apostle, who through unbelief in the resurrection of the Son served to reveal His Divinity, will also be an instrument for the revelation of the glory of His Mother. Deprived of the consolation of seeing the Mother of God still alive, Saint Thomas prayed to his co-apostles that they would grant him the grace to see even Her dead body, to be sanctified by kissing it and worshiping it, like the ark of a shrine and the dwelling place of the glory of the Lord. But when, wanting to satisfy this pure desire, the apostles opened the coffin in the den, it turned out to be completely empty. The holy body was reposed where the glorified soul was, so that, like the Son, the Mother will not see incorruption in Her body. Then everyone understood that the very slowing down of Thomas was not an act of chance, but of God’s Providence, so that through this the repose of the Mother of God along with her body into heaven would be revealed to the whole world. Behold, the holy story of the Dormition of the Mother of God, as it was transmitted to us by the ancient God-bearing fathers! Diven was Her entrance into this world; marvelous is the exodus from the world! She who in her womb and in her arms bore Him who carried everything, could not, like ordinary daughters of men, become the food of the grave. The tribute to nature has been paid; like an earth-born, She died in the flesh; but grace also revealed itself in all its power: like the Mother of the Belly, She apparently, along the path of the grave, ascended to the belly and glory. Let us revere these mysteries and miracles! Let us bless and glorify the One who ascended into heaven with flesh for this purpose—may she be a protection and intercession for the whole world. But at the same time, we will not leave the tomb of Her body (without benefit) - without spiritual edification. It was not in vain that the Savior said that those who faithfully fulfill the will of His Father are like His Mother and brothers. This means that if we, like the Mother of God, walk immaculately in the law of the Lord, then, like Her, we will become partakers of the Lord’s grace unenviously (generously). This grace, nourishing, strengthening, illuminating and sanctifying us throughout our lives, cannot but be reflected at the hour of our death. How? Not, of course, by transferring our mortal flesh to heaven (why is it there, with its uncleanness?), but by making our death such as the Church wishes for all of us in its prayers, that is, shameless, peaceful and painless. This gift is enough for us, less than perfect ones, if only the Lord would deign to bestow it on each of us! Amen. Word on the Day of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary It would seem that if it was possible and decent for anyone not to die, like Enoch and Elijah, then it was the Mother of the Son of God. And yet, She rested in the sleep of death! This means death is inevitable! On the other hand, if there were significant evil in death for a person, then if anyone, then the Mother of the Son of God would not be subjected to this evil; and yet She suffered death. This means that death is not evil and harm for a person! Death is inevitable, death is harmless; Here are two truths that naturally come to mind on the day of the Dormition of the Mother of God. Does a person need to remember them? It's absolutely necessary. For if death is inevitable, then everyone should prepare for it in advance. If death in itself is harmless, then there is no reason to fear or tremble at it. Do we, however, remember these truths? On the contrary, it seems that nothing is forgotten as much as they are. We live as if we would never die, because we are not at all preparing for death; but we die as if we would never be resurrected, for we fear death beyond measure. We think little about our death, for show me a person who would devote at least a few minutes every day to this; Meanwhile, death can come to us not only every day, but every minute. We prepare even less for death, for point out where and what is this preparation? Is this preparation for death, when we hunger for reward after reward, build buildings after buildings, move from pleasures and amusement to new pleasures and amusement? You have lived, for example, for more than half a century, you yourself feel that it is long past noon, the evening is not far off, and it is almost night: tell me, what have you prepared for an underground overnight stay? And such inattention to death among the oldest people. What can we say about people of male age? What can I say about the young men? You would put a smile on their lips, reminding them of the need to prepare for death, while how many young men descend to the grave every year! After this, one might think that we consider any preparation for death completely unnecessary. But how can we consider this unnecessary? When setting off on a short journey, we worry about what to take with us, where to stop, what to do; and when entering the gates of eternity, we imagine that it doesn’t matter how you enter them, what you take with you, how you position yourself! Could there be greater inattention to oneself and one's eternal destiny? Or do we not love ourselves and therefore decide to do whatever happens to us after death? But we don’t have that kind of self-hatred; we live like this to please ourselves; We try to remove the slightest sorrow of the soul, and heal the slightest ulcer of the body. Sorrow and illness concern us, but death does not, and eternity does not! Incomprehensible blindness! Extreme self-pity! One thing that could be assumed in explanation is that we consider death to be the end of everything; then there is nothing to prepare for, nothing to worry about in the future. But we have not reached this depth of wickedness: we hope for eternal life, we believe in the resurrection of the dead. We drink tea and don’t prepare for this life; We believe - and we do not try to achieve resurrection in our lives. We drink and believe, but we live like sheep of the slaughter! Is it possible to act more harmfully and recklessly? It is not difficult, however, to guess what brings death into oblivion among us and does not allow us to prepare for it. We are too devoted to carnal life and its vanities; and the nature of worldly vanities is such that they, like dust on the path, blind the eyes and do not allow them to see what lies ahead. Being in the midst of this cloud, and sometimes a whirlwind of dust, we are not able to look into the future; We look only around ourselves and get caught up in the present. When, for example, should an ambitious person think about death if vanity has blinded him to the point that all his thoughts and soul are directed toward a certain reward and distinction? It’s enough to think and change your mind, lest someone overtake him on the way, how to humiliate his opponent, become equal to his superiors, show his dignity, hide his shortcomings, flatter a powerful boss. When should a rich person, or someone starting to get rich, think about death? His whole mind is already occupied with accounts and calculations; goods have been released there, and goods are expected from there; there the clerk is faulty, here things are going badly; how to support or correct the loan, is there a chance to lend or borrow money; Not only days, but even nights are not enough to change your mind about all this. When should a scientist think about death? He has not yet found out everything, he has not doubted everything; you can make such and such a discovery, cast suspicion on this and that, surpass your predecessors, attract the attention of your contemporaries, become known as the luminary of the century, immortalize your name. So vanity in different forms blinds the eyes! And who is free from this blindness? On the other hand, the image of death is so terrible that it is scary to even think about it. This can only be done during Lent alone, on Holy Week, on Great Friday... At another time, this would mean disrupting your thoughts for at least a whole week, stopping your work, and possibly even damaging your health. How to decide on this before the doctor says that there is no longer hope, before the confessor appears with a prayer book and a cross, before the last illness intensifies to the last degree? Then let's think about it; and until that time, why bother in vain and confuse yourself with ghosts? Is this not, my brothers, the story of our lives? Isn't this the way we act? Tell me: where is reason, where is calculation, where is self-love? If the enemy, who seeks our eternal destruction, were left to control our actions, could he destroy us more reliably? Let us come to our senses, whoever can, from this negligence!.. Death is inevitable. So, let us always remember her; Remembering, let us prepare ourselves for it; As we prepare, let us not allow ourselves to be blinded by temporary blessings and amusements. This is the first lesson from the tomb of Our Lady; Let's turn our hearing and attention to the second. Her Dormition teaches us that death is inevitable, but at the same time shows that death, in itself, is not evil for man. For, if she were evil, then the Mother of the Son of God would therefore be exempt from the need to die. Her example should therefore serve as a consolation to all of us and elevate us above the fear of death and the grave. Meanwhile, we look at death as the greatest evil, we fear the coffin like nothing else in the world. How many sobs and tears there are, how much screaming and fainting! How much grumbling and despair! Others cannot even bear the death of their neighbors, and they themselves follow them to the grave. Is this how a Christian should look at death? It is true that death is a sad tribute to sin, a consequence of our ill-fated fall in Eden, but by the grace of Christ this punishment is turned into a means to our reward. Now death for a true Christian is not a deprivation, but a gain; for we, leaving this vain and evil-laden world, move from it into a higher and better world; throwing off the mortal cover of our bodies, we go and put on new clothing, incorruptible and glorified; Separating for a short time from our neighbors who remain here, we enter the circle of our neighbors who have gone before us, and, more importantly, into the closest community of Angels and our Lord and Savior Himself. What is there to be afraid of, what to complain about? But we tremble, weep, we give in to despair: why? Because they have never delved into the truths of the Gospel, as they should, and are alien to the light with which it illuminates the afterlife for us; because they are too attached to the earthly and perishable; because we never prepared for death. For all this, death necessarily seems to us an extreme evil; whereas, with the proper mood of our spirit and heart, with a Christian way of thinking and deeds, she could serve us, as she served for all true Christians, even as joy and consolation. Let us stop being like senseless children. Let us take from the tomb of the Mother of God a lesson not to regard death in itself as evil, for if it becomes such, it is through our own fault, that is, when we depart from this life burdened with sins, without true repentance and faith. But with such a course of action, life is an even greater evil than death, for death, at least, ends the continuous series of those sins and iniquities for which life was used. Amen. “And there is a coffin on the ladder to heaven!” (First stichera at Vespers) Sometimes it goes to heaven, sometimes it goes to hell! How many people pass this staircase every day and every hour! But how many of them are there about whom we can say with firm certainty that they are in heaven? After this, it would be necessary to think that passing through the coffin - to heaven or to hell, does not depend on the transients themselves, that this is in the will of some being, not equally benevolent to everyone, who, to please his arbitrariness, appoints some to ascend through the coffin to heaven, and others to descend through it to hell. And yet, brethren, this important matter depends entirely on man! It is his full will to turn the ladder of the coffin anywhere, up or down, to heaven or to hell! And we ourselves turn it to hell, for ourselves, for all eternity... Who would believe this if constant experience did not testify to this in the most indisputable way! How does this, one might say without exaggeration, miracle happen? How does a person, a creature so self-loving, who lives in order to always feel good, how does he come to such oblivion of his benefits that he turns the ladder given to him to ascend to heaven irrevocably to hell? All this happens, brothers, in the most inconspicuous way, and this inconspicuousness is partly the reason that a person acts contrary to his own good. The coffin turns out to be a ladder at the moment of death itself, but it remains a ladder throughout life, and becomes unnoticeable. A person lives without thinking about his coffin, but the coffin, on the contrary, always remembers it, each of his actions turns into a step of the ladder: good - to heaven, and evil - to hell. Thus, when dying, a person finds the coffin ladder already ready, imperceptibly made by himself during his life; He often sees with horror that she is all turned down to hell, but is no longer able to turn her to heaven; the next time they do not live, and the unfortunate soul goes where the terrible ladder leads her! So, brothers, as life is, so is death! The ladder is not actually the coffin, but our deeds. He who lived in love for God and his neighbors will find the love of God and his neighbors in death. And whoever spent his life in the mire of sin, was cold to goodness and did not have time to wash away his corruption with tears of repentance, will find nothing in death except darkness, coldness and decay. The coffin of such a person, lowered into the ground, will not rest in peace in her mother’s embrace, but will descend to the very depths of hell. This is the law of our existence: what is good here produces good there too, what is evil here leads to evil there too. Shall we complain that our salvation is thus transferred into our own hands and made dependent on our deeds? But this is precisely the high advantage of our nature, this very thing equates us, earthly beings, with the Angels. The wisdom and omnipotence of God made the impossible possible: the tomb, built by our sins and, in essence, the dwelling of one corruption, turned into a ladder along which one can ascend from earth to heaven. But where to turn this ladder should remain in our power: without this we would cease to be human. Keeping this in mind, let us live with death in mind, so that, while dying, we may experience life. Let us not be lazy about constantly doing good deeds, even if they involve difficulty, in the firm confidence that each of them will one day serve as a step to heaven for us, and the more difficult it is, the greater the height it will lead us to. Let us carefully avoid every vice, no matter how beautiful it may seem, remembering that over time it will turn into a step to hell. If we, like the Most Holy Virgin, whose all-honorable Dormition we now honor, spend our lives in keeping the commandments of God, in purity of spirit and body, or if we manage to regain lost purity through faith in the Redeemer and heartfelt contrition for sins, then on the day of our Dormition a wondrous miracle will happen over us - and our tomb will be for us a ladder to heaven. Amen. Word for the Day of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary Honoring the Dormition of the Mother of God on this day, the Holy Church calls this Dormition “the final sacrament that rests upon Her.” Since the final or final sacrament necessarily presupposes the preceding and initial sacraments, then, probably, more than one listener of church psalmody comes to the thought of the question: what sacraments are these? It is our duty to give an answer to this: and we are all the more willing to do this with great pleasure because consideration of the sacraments performed over the Mother of God during the continuation of Her life, on the one hand, can serve to glorify Her in the present day, “the final sacrament that rests on Her,” on the other hand, can be a rich source of edifying thoughts and comforting feelings. One thing could stop us in this case - that every sacrament loves inviolability and does not tolerate cold research; but we will touch the sacraments in the life of the Mother of God not with dry questions and cold bewilderment, but with faith and love for Her all-honorable memory. The first sacrament in the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary was revealed with Her birth. For from whom did She come? From elderly parents, as holy tradition tells us, as a result of special prayer and vow. The wisdom of God willed that she who had to give birth without artifice would herself be the fruit not so much of the forces of nature as of the influx of grace. And so, Joachim and Anna reach those years in which all hope of being a father or mother is lost. But this holy duo has faith that overcomes the laws of nature; and as a result of this faith, accompanied by fervent prayer, Mary appears, a pure gift from heaven, and therefore capable of being an inexhaustible source of blessings for the earth. This is how the first mystery of the birth of the Most Blessed One was accomplished. The second sacrament appeared over Her when She was introduced into the church, at the age of three. This very introduction at such an age was extraordinary, as a consequence of a special extraordinary vow - to dedicate the fruit of one’s prayers to the Lord. Meanwhile, this introduction into the church opened up the opportunity for the future Mother of the Son of God to receive an upbringing at the church, and thus from a very young age become united in spirit and heart with all that is holy. But even while at the church, the Daughter of Joachim, according to the usual order of things, had to remain in the threshold of it. Instead, as tradition testifies, She was given permission by the high priests to penetrate the inner veil, to enter the Holy of Holies, where only one great high priest had the right to enter once a year. We do not know for certain as a result of what extraordinary events or revelations She received this extraordinary and unprecedented advantage, but we immediately see that this mystery of entering the Holy of Holies was extremely befitting of the future Mother of the Son of God. The animate Ark of God had to appear, at least from time to time, where its symbol and prototype had once been constantly kept - the ark of the covenant with manna and tablets. The third secret followed when the Holy Virgin reached adulthood. The Old Testament, as we know, did not know the state of virginity, dedicated to God and sanctified by the law. Therefore, when the Daughter of Joachim and Anna reached adulthood at the temple in Jerusalem, the high priests wanted to remove Her from the church so that she, following the example of the other virgins of Israel, would choose a spouse for herself. But the Holy Virgin resolutely declared that She had firmly decided throughout her life not to belong to anyone other than the one God. The high priests did not know what to do; and after consultations and prayers, they decided to betroth Her to such a person who would agree to bear the name of her husband without taking advantage of his rights. The lot fell on Elder Joseph; and so Mary becomes a wife, without ceasing to be a virgin, and thus combines virginity and marriage, the blessing of the Old Testament and the grace of the New Testament. Meanwhile, this mystery of betrothal, this marriage by name serves for the time being as a cover necessary for the great mystery of the incarnation of the Son of God, protecting the Holy Virgin from all suspicions, both on the part of the Jews, who otherwise would not hesitate to consider Her a criminal, and on the part of that primordial enemy, who, waiting for the Seed of the woman who would erase his head, would have outraged heaven and earth if he had seen that The virgin virgin conceived a Son in her womb. How the most glorious mystery of the incarnation of the Son of God took place is known to everyone from the Gospel. The Archangel preached the gospel; The Virgin humbly said: “Behold, the handmaid of the Lord” (Luke 1:38); the power of the Most High dawned, and “the Word became flesh!” (John 1:14). This is the height of the mysteries performed on the Most Holy Virgin; but this height of mysteries was not the end of them; no, the mysteries continued, but only deepened, became more invisible, without ceasing to be instructive and comforting. Do you want to know what these secrets are? First, the mystery of the crucifixion. Whose? Son? No, Mother. Yes, my brothers, there was not just one Son on the cross, there was also a Mother. When? And throughout life, but especially on Calvary. For didn’t the Divine Son Himself say: “Whoever does not accept his cross and comes after Me is not worthy of Me!” (Matthew 10:38). Who could be more worthy of the Son as a Mother? Therefore, no one has ever worn such a cross throughout his life as the Most Blessed Virgin Mary. This cross was composed not of wood or substance, but of the greatness befitting the Mother of God, and of the humiliation in which This Mother remained until her death. Consider: the Archangel himself calls Her grace-filled and invites her to joy; She already bears in her womb the Son of God; and at the same time must suffer from suspicion before the guardian of Her virginity - and what suspicion! That she is a marriage thief!.. Isn’t this a cross? The time is approaching for her to give birth to the One whose “kingdom will have no end” (Luke 1:33); and for Her “there is no place in the inns” of Bethlehem (Luke 2:7); She must give birth to Him in a den and lay Him in a manger!.. Isn’t this a cross?.. The angels sing: “Glory to God in the highest” (Lk. 2:14); the Magi bow and bring gifts; and immediately after this, fleeing from Herod, one must flee at night to Egypt along a path that is barely passable in the middle of the day! Isn't this a cross? And on Golgotha ​​- what do you think the Mother’s heart felt when the Son cried out in agony: “God, My God... you have forsaken Me!” (Ps. 21:2). Here, without a doubt, Simeon’s terrible prediction was fulfilled in full force: “And to you... A weapon will pierce your very soul!” (Luke 2:35). When the weapon passed through the very soul, there was no need to pierce the hands and feet: the mystery of the spiritual crucifixion was completed!.. With the end of this mystery, it seemed that everything funeral would be removed from the Mother, just as it was removed from the Son, that She, after the resurrection, would begin to visibly shine throughout the whole world with the glory of the Risen One. On the contrary, Mary will remain in obscurity until the end of her life, among the humblest lot. Why is this so? Because the mystery of the co-crucifixion of the Son on Golgotha ​​was immediately followed by another mystery - the adoption of sons by John, a mystery that few people notice, but no less amazing and abundant in spiritual edification. Indeed, brothers, have you ever thought about this wondrous adoption that followed on Calvary? Have you delved into the purpose and spirit of this action? Why is the Mother of the Son of God given here in the Mother to the disciple, and thus, as it were, brought down for a time from the height of Her unparalleled greatness? Is it really so that She can have shelter in the house of John? But who of the believers, after the resurrection of the Son, could refuse refuge to His Mother?.. And can such earthly, unimportant orders come from the cross? No, the mysterious words: “Woman, behold, Thy son!” (John 19:26) have a deeper meaning: they determine the character of the rest of the life of the Mother of God; here is the key to explaining all further events with Her. Listen! When the Divinity of the Son, with His resurrection and ascension into heaven, was revealed in all its power, when the whole world began to bow before the name of the Crucified One, at that time the Mother of Jesus naturally had the greatest honor and glory due to the Mother of the Son of God, the Savior of men. No one, without a doubt, could be more worthy of Mary of this honor and this glory; and no one, without a doubt, would have used them as sacredly and divinely as the Most Blessed Virgin, but glory during earthly life, besides depriving Her of the most exact resemblance to the Divine Son, Who until the end of His life had no place to lay His head, would be accompanied by the important inconvenience that the enemies of Christianity would not fail in this case to find the Person of its Founder and turn it into a reproach to the successes of the Gospel; the great and wonderful work of turning the whole world to God would not be free from connections and relationships, although completely pure, but still earthly and human; It would be difficult for even preachers of the Gospel to place themselves in proper relation to the glorified Mother of Him whose manger and cross they preach. And now, by the adoption of the Blessed Virgin Mary to John on Golgotha, all these inconveniences are eliminated; at the very pinnacle of spiritual greatness, at the very moment of the greatest sacrifice, from which the glory of Mary should begin, She with the mysterious words: “Behold, Thy son!” relegated, as it were, to the circle of ordinary mothers; The adoption of John Her is indicated for the rest of her life, for the simple share of the first Christian. And look how deeply this mystery of adoption is understood by the Servant of the Lord! How faithful She remains throughout her life to the instructions from the Cross! For what do we see next in this life? A decisive removal from all glory, despite all the wonderful spread of Christianity. The Book of the Acts of the Holy Apostles tells in detail about the structure of the first Christian churches; denotes the actions of the chief apostles; represents the various conversions of Jews and Gentiles to Christ: but Mary you do not see. Only once, and then in passing, is it mentioned that She was with the disciples in the upper room of Zion on the day of Pentecost. (For how could there not be, at the descent of the Spirit, the One who conceived and gave birth from the Spirit?) But then not a word about the rest of Her life, not a word about her death itself. Tell yourself: this silence is not a secret? And what does it mean if not that Mary, by removing herself from every form of glory, revealed a new experience of humility, the deepest, and thus became even more worthy of that crown of glory, which long ago, by all rights, belonged to her? But it was necessary, sooner or later, for this crown to finally descend on the head of the Most Honest Cherubim and Seraphim - and it descended - during Her Dormition. But life, full of sacraments, did not remain without mystery here. What would be surprising if the Mother of the Son of God was taken to heaven without experiencing death? Didn’t decency even require this in some way when Enoch and Elijah were already awarded this high lot? But Mary is destined for something else. As if for consolation and tranquility for all of us who have to pass through the gates of death, the Mother of God dies; and thus shares the duty of nature with all earthly creatures. But as the Mother of the Son of God, the One who said about Himself: “I am the resurrection and the life, who believes in Me, even if he dies, he will live” (John 11:25), Mary, like Her Divine Son, is not held back by the bonds of death; Her body does not see incorruption even in the tomb, and after three days it is taken up, animated, with glory into heaven. From now on, all the veils have been taken away; the animated Tabernacle of God appears in all its glory; the most holy Icon of the New Testament has been placed in its place; The most honorable of the Cherubim is exalted above all heavens; and the whole universe begins to please the One Who has become a source of blessings for the entire human race. Contemplating such mysteries (and we have indicated only the most important) in the life of the Most Blessed Virgin, who would not now joyfully exclaim to Her together with the Church: “Wonderful are Your mysteries, O Theotokos!” Marvelous in Your gracious conception and birth, marvelous in Your wonderful entry into the church, and even more wonderful entry into the Holy of Holies; marvelous in the unprecedented betrothal of Saint Joseph and bearing the name of a wife, without knowing the husband; wondrous in the seedless conception and birth from the Holy Spirit of the Eternal Son of God; wondrous in the constant, following the example of the Son and God, suffering and enduring many different crosses and temptations; wondrous in the mysterious adoption of John, and the rejection of all earthly glory; marvelous, finally, in the Dormition itself and the subsequent taking of the Most Pure Body with glory to heaven! But, my brethren, reverently marveling at the holy mysteries of God’s Providence in the life of the Most Blessed Virgin and sacredly pleasing the memory of Her Dormition on this day with the contemplation of their memory, let us not forget that our life is not without sacraments, that these mysteries of our life are similar to the mysteries in the life of the Mother of God, as the model of all our lives; Let us especially not forget that some of the mysteries of our life happen to us without us, and some, and the most important ones, on which our eternal destiny depends, certainly require our participation, and due to the lack of it, without being accomplished over us, they can subject us to terrible condemnation. What secrets of God's Providence are performed on us without us and our participation? These are mainly two mysteries - our entry into this world and our exit from it, that is, the mystery of our birth and death. Who could determine their origin in the world? Nobody. Who can determine their own demise? Also no one. Both are in the hands of God; and since it is in the hands of God, we can be calm regarding these mysteries of our lives, firmly believing that the omnipotence and wisdom of God have done and will do, if we surrender ourselves to the will of God, for us and for us everything that is necessary and useful to us will be done so successfully as we would never have done on our own. But other mysteries, and moreover, as I said, the most important ones, although they must certainly happen to us during the course of our lives for our eternal happiness, cannot happen in us without us, without our will and assistance. This is the mystery of the gracious indwelling of the Lord Jesus in us, and the mystery of our co-crucifixion with Him in spirit and truth. For why did the Son of God leave heaven and, having entered the womb of the Most Blessed Virgin, appear as a Man like us? In order to, having completed the work of our redemption, freeing us by His death from sin and curse, then to dwell in each of the believers in His name with His grace, to dwell so that we form one spirit with Him and, as it were, one person. Without this mysterious infusion of Him in us and our union with Him, the mystery of our salvation cannot be accomplished in us, and we, despite all our participation in the Christian faith and its very Sacraments, will once appear alien to Christ and the Kingdom of Heaven, acquired by Him for us. But the mystery of our union with our Savior cannot be accomplished without the preliminary cleansing of our sinful and unclean nature, without the mortification of our sin and sensuality, without self-denial of our will corrupted by self-love and passions, in short, without co-crucifixion with Him in our spirit and heart. Who can do all this in us without us? Apparently no one. If we do not decide to die to sin in order to come to life with Christ with a new grace-filled life, then we will remain alive to the world, but dead to God; if we remain dead to God and a righteous life, then our Savior, like the Most Holy of Holies, will not dwell in us, unclean and unrepentant, and will not become in us the beginning and source of eternal life; and without this, we, serving the world, working our entire life in the flesh, will die in sins and will be rejected from the face of God. Therefore, seeing how these great mysteries were accomplished over the Mother of God Herself, how She, through purity of life and humility, achieved the grace of being the receptacle of the Son of God in the flesh, how she later nourished and preserved this grace through deeds of pure love and self-sacrifice, let us pay attention to our life and actions in order to see whether there is at least the beginning of these mysteries in us, whether we are trying to bring our grace-filled approach in spirit to the Savior ours, about the mysterious union with Him - with our whole being, and for this, do we gradually cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, do we conclude our will more and more in His most holy will, do we love His Cross and graciously endure the temptations He sends to us for our purification and to attract us to Him. Good for him who has long been familiar with these great and holy mysteries and sees them performed upon himself! All that remains for such a person is to strive and remain faithful to the end. It is also good for him who, although he learned the importance of these mysteries for himself late, but, having learned, was not slow in using everything so that they began to happen to him too! But what will happen to those who do not think at all about their salvation and their Savior? The time of the last sacrament in life, the time of death, will come for him; but how terrible will this secret be for him in itself, and even more so in its consequences? For if the death of a sinner, according to the testimony of the word of God, is cruel, then the immortality of sinners is even crueler and more terrible. Amen. How many deaths does a person have? One, they usually say, which no one can escape. Exactly, a person has one bodily death, which cannot be avoided, but there are two other deaths, which can and should be avoided. since these two deaths depend on us, and, if avoided, put a person in the most blissful state, and if not avoided, make him ill-fated for all eternity, then it would seem that we should not think about anything so often, nor care about anything so much as avoiding these deaths. But here is our concern! Many don't even know they exist! The first of these deaths is spiritual death, which consists in the death of the soul for life in God. It is produced by sin and iniquity. Every sin is a disease of the soul, a wound of the heart. But if these ailments, these wounds multiply, become poisonous, then finally the death of the soul follows; it becomes dead for God, for eternity, for virtue, for the law. Such a person, like a dead person, has eyes of understanding, but does not see the light of God, has hearing, but does not heed either the cry of poverty or the voice of justice; has hands, but does not stretch them out to do good deeds; has legs, but cannot take a single step on the path of repentance and correction. And our eye sometimes sees this inner death, sees in what position the soul is. We say: “this is a soulless person”; “he has no conscience”, “he has no heart”. But all our expressions are far from expressing the matter. No, this is a spiritual dead man. Inside such a person, as in a grave, there is death and corruption, corruption of thoughts, desires, lusts! And perhaps, if we could see the soul in its inner form, we would run from it in horror, as we would run from a dead man in the night. Why doesn’t such a person himself feel his pitiful situation? Because he lost his most spiritual feeling. This is what serves as a sign of spiritual death, for a dead person is insensitive. “But there is, however, feeling in him, for he thinks, desires, acts, enjoys, suffers.” Of course there is, but this feeling is not of the spirit, but of the flesh, this feeling is all aimed at the exchange (exchange) of eternity; This feeling is not of a person, but of animals, for they too understand, desire, enjoy and suffer. Moreover, this feeling, or, if you like, the remainder of the feeling, is all occupied with carnal vanity, everything is aimed at the exchange of eternity: some for honors, some for wealth, some for sensual pleasures. This feeling does not care about the spirit and conscience. There are moments when this spiritual dead man - since grace never leaves the least of sinners, and grace is omnipotent - seems to be resurrected in these moments. He himself feels his terrible situation and does not hide it from others. Hence the expressions: I have hell in my soul, I am a man of destruction! These moments are extraordinary in life. Here the sinner, by the power of grace, one might say, rises from the depths of hell, ascends to the middle between it and heaven and is given the opportunity to choose this or that. Such moments are moments of conversion and spiritual resurrection, as soon as the sinner, having felt himself, surrenders to holy faith and repentance; just as these moments are moments of despair and suicide, when a dark force takes precedence in the soul of a sinner over an awakened conscience. Such is the death of the soul! It does not frighten us because it is not so visible and is hidden under the cover of bodily life, but it is the most terrible, for it only makes bodily death an essential evil for him. Without mental death, physical death is even a great blessing, for it frees a person from the sorrows of this life, and introduces him to a land of peace and bliss. Spiritual death is terrible because it (and it alone) produces eternal death. Homily on the day of the Feast of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary On this day, the Holy Church commemorates the Feast of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary. No matter how small and unworthy we are in comparison with Her, our dormition will probably be followed by a kind of giving; that is, even after our death, according to the Charter of the Holy Church, they will commemorate us in prayer on the third, ninth and fortieth day, proclaiming eternal memory to us each time. When and how soon will this happen? Nobody knows. Maybe very soon. But in any case, the most distant death is only a few dozen years away, no more. So, a little time will pass, and we will not be on earth! A little time will pass, and the real world, with all its blessings, with all its sorrows, will cease to exist for us! Where will we be then? We will be where all our ancestors are now and where all our descendants will go after us. We will be where none of us enters alive and where no one returns dead. We will be where for some there is neither sadness nor sighing, and for others there is neither joy nor peace. We will be where, not like in this world, everything that begins ends, but where, no matter what begins, exists without end. This is where we will all be in a few years!.. Are we thinking about this, brethren, are we preparing for a new dwelling in heaven, for a higher and infinite way of being? So little that this subject does not belong at all to the ordinary circle of our thoughts. The strangeness is incomprehensible! The carelessness is amazing! What kind of journey to a distant country lies ahead - how many gatherings and preparations! We try to find out in advance the place we are going to, who lives there, what the customs are, what the nature is like, what the comforts and inconveniences of life are; We try to have in stock everything that may be suitable for us, and first establish connections and acquaintances there. And enter into eternity! And stock up on what we need there! And free yourself in advance from what is intolerable there! We have neither thought nor concern about this... What does this mean? Isn't it unbelief in the future life? But how can we not believe this, when our very life here is clearly only the beginning, which necessarily requires continuation? How can one not believe in life beyond the grave, when in the best moments of our lives we ourselves not only feel that within us there is something not of this world, but, one might say, we are already anticipating the life that awaits us in eternity? Or maybe someone else thinks that it’s all the same how to enter eternity - having prepared for it or not having prepared at all? But to reason in this way is to be less meaningful than a child. For it is clear that future life must consist in a close and immediate connection with the present, like a fruit with a flower, like a flower with a stem. What is sown here will be reaped there. “Whoever sows to the flesh...,” let us say in the words of St. Paul, “from the flesh will reap corruption; but whoever sows to the Spirit, from the Spirit he will reap eternal life” (Gal. 6:8). To hope for the opposite would mean to transform in one’s thoughts the charter of the wisdom and truth of God, the order of all nature. Well, let us ask again, what does our carelessness mean in relation to the eternity that awaits us? This means that we, like small children, staring at toys, forget everything, even ourselves; it means that the world has so blinded and tied us to itself that we do not dare to think about anything other than satisfying our sensuality, our whims and passions. For one of our greatest misfortunes is that we have the ability to occupy ourselves with little things and at the same time ignore the most important things. As a result of this, we so unreasonably value earthly gains or losses, and are so inattentive to what awaits us in eternity! Shall we always remain in this strange and destructive carelessness about eternity? An immortal soul, a soul destined to be with God Himself! How long will you remain as if you were dead and senseless? Get up, write what? You sleep and indulge in the dreams of your imagination, and death is already preparing to snatch you from among the living. Arise, while there is time; Rise up, survey your dangerous situation, and, like the wanderer sleeping on the way, taking the scepter of faith, rush along the path of virtue to where there is neither sorrow nor sighing! Amen. Conversation on the Day of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary That the present celebration is one of the most joyful, for it shows the intercession of the Mother of God for us before God, that for this very reason this very day must be spent in deeds of piety and Christian love, in order to be worthy of the protection of the Most Blessed One, that all those who are careless about their salvation, until they correct themselves, cannot have a fair hope for Her intercession before God - these important and necessary truths, without a doubt, are more or less known to each of us. Therefore, let us turn our attention to something else: let’s look at the very image of the Mother of God, to see if there is any new teaching for us in it. Do you remember, brethren, how the wondrous event that we remember happened?.. In the Blachernae Church of Constantinople, on the eve of the week, an ordinary all-night service was held, at which, among others, was Saint Andrew, the Fool for Christ. Among the chants and prayers, this man of God, at four o'clock in the morning, suddenly saw in the air the Mother of God with the Forerunner of Christ and John the Theologian, with many Angels and saints, praying for the human race, and covering the people in the church with Her most pure omophorion. Full of spiritual joy, the seer turned to his friend and disciple in spirit, Saint Epiphanius, and asked him if he saw a miracle? “I see, father,” answered Epiphanius, “and I am horrified.” When others who were in the church learned about such a miracle, everyone was overcome with joyful trepidation; in the tenderness of their hearts they began to thank God and glorify the universal Intercessor, and the pious Tsar Leo and the holy Patriarch Tarasius decided to remember this comforting event annually. The first thing that our attention should focus on here is the very appearance of the Mother of God with the faces of Angels and saints. So, it is not in vain that we believe that the inhabitants of heaven take great part in the events of the human world, that our elder brothers in heaven are concerned about the salvation of us, minors, on earth! Why should they use their power and their proximity to the throne of grace, if not to help us, who are floating (worried) in the sea of ​​everyday misfortunes and worries? And we, with all the coldness of our earthly hearts, cannot look at the unfortunate without sympathy, and often provide them with help; Should heavenly beings remain idle spectators of our spiritual and physical poverty and not spread their blessed cover over us! It is not in vain that we believe that the Heavenly Powers are present with us in churches! Where can they be more constant, if not where their King and Lord are especially present? We do not see them, because the radiance of heavenly glory is unbearable for the mortal eye, but they see us and everything that is ours, our very thoughts and desires. The time will come when we will see them; Let us enter, if we are worthy, into their most blessed circle; and until that time we must believe in their invisible presence and, believing, visit the churches of God as often as possible. Only if you want to be in churches with the Angels, you must, brethren, stand in churches like angels, putting aside “all worldly cares.” Otherwise, the tempter may appear in paradise, and in paradise you may deserve this terrible thing: “You will die!” (Gen. 2:17). The second subject that deserves pious attention in the appearance of the Mother of God is the form in which She presented herself to the seers in the air. As the Mother of the Heavenly King, She could appear sitting on the Throne and from its height sending down blessings on the human race; but she appears - praying! Why is this so? Let us understand that there is one supreme Ruler of all, in heaven and on earth, in time and eternity - God the Father! There is only one Redeemer, the Herald of the will of God, “the Lawgiver and the Judge, able to save and destroy” (James 4:12), - God the Son! There is only one Comforter and Giver of gifts of grace, Sanctifier of repentant sinners - God the Holy Spirit! What about the Blessed Virgin? The first successor of grace and the first intercessor at His Throne for the human race. Whoever sends prayers to Her in this spirit will act in accordance with Her wishes. On the contrary, the honoring of Her name, extended to the point of excess, to the point of comparing it with the name of God, to the detriment of the respect we owe to our Creator and Redeemer, will constitute not an honor, but an insult to She who, calling Herself on earth “the servant of the Lord” (Lk. 1:38), without a doubt, did not leave this humility in heaven. “Neither,” the Angel once said to the Apostle John, who probably took him for the God-man and wanted to honor him with divine respect, “nor: for I am your slander... Worship God” (Rev. 22:9). The Most Holy Virgin will say the same thing with even greater force to those who, through foolishness, would begin to render Her worship equal to that of the Divine. But how much need now be feared for excessive zeal for the Blessed Virgin? Alas, in our time we must fear for the lack of it! The Mother Herself will reward the Son for us with what belongs to Him. Let us learn from Her better what we most need - prayer. If nothing can be done in heaven without prayer, if prayer is needed for the most honest of the Cherubim and the most glorious without comparison of the Seraphim, then how necessary, brethren, is prayer for us! And how much therefore those who neglect this gift of God lose! But many people are careless! There are people who do not pray at all. Others pray, but with compulsion, with difficulty. Prayer seems to them like a heavy tribute - work for the master. And in fact, praying without feeling the need for prayer, without knowing why and for what to pray, is difficult. But who is to blame for the fact that manna from heaven turns into bitterness in our mouths? True prayer is sweet and nourishing, and there is not a person who prays who has not ever experienced this sweetness. If prayer becomes bitter, it is because our spiritual taste is spoiled. It is difficult for us to raise our eyes to heaven because they are covered with the dust of earthly worries. He who is dying of hunger will scream for food as soon as he sees a person; a drowning man stretches out his hands to inanimate things; equally, whoever feels spiritual hunger, his lips will naturally open to prayer; whoever sees himself in the abyss of sin, his eyes and hands will involuntarily rise to heaven. “How can one arouse in oneself the feeling of this hunger, this danger? How can I force myself to see the need for God?” By paying strict attention to yourself and your life. Try to think for several hours, not to mention days, about how we came into the world, why we come into this world, what awaits us where we will go after. It is impossible that such reflection does not end with turning the eyes to heaven, with a heartfelt sigh before the Omniscient, in whose right hand is our being and life. The more often you repeat this good experience and think about your destiny for eternity, consider your life and see your sins and impurity, the more you will feel the need for heavenly help and mercy; prayer will become more necessary and pleasant, and over time you will also achieve that holy disposition - to always be in the presence of God, which the Apostle calls “unceasing prayer” (1 Thess. 5:17). Let us now look at those people who were honored to contemplate the Veil of the Blessed Virgin. There were many people in the Blachernae church; there was a king who was called wise for his knowledge; there was a patriarch, who was later canonized for the holiness of his life; there were famous and rich people, but none of them saw what was happening in the air; only Andrei and Epiphanius were honored to witness the miracle, the very last people, and during their earthly life despised by many. So heaven is close and open to everyone worthy, even if he is nothing among people! From the circumstances of the phenomenon it is not even clear that it was indicated to the holy seers in any way from above, or that by the special power of God a spiritual eye was opened for this occasion. Their ascetic life and constant self-sacrifice refined their spiritual feelings to such an extent that the presence of heavenly beings could not hide from them. This usually happens with great ascetics: rare among them does not have the gift of spiritual insight, which belongs to all people, but among unregenerate people it is suppressed by the weight of the flesh. A particularly remarkable feature in the character of Saint Andrew is that he was a holy fool; that is, for the sake of Christ he seemed devoid of intelligence. And so, this one devoid of intelligence is the first to see what is above all intelligence! Let us not deduce from this anything that is reprehensible to the human mind, as an ability given by God and constituting the adornment of our soul; Let us not draw from this any unfavorable consequences for human knowledge, which also comes from God and, sanctified by grace, not only serves earthly prosperity, but will also help on the path to heaven. How, however, can one not notice what has been noticed so many times and is suggested with such force in the word of God, that is, that human wisdom, for its almost ever-present errors, is recognized by God as “riotousness” (1 Cor. 1:20), and therefore condemned to “destruction” (1 Cor. 1:19)!.. There is something in earthly wisdom that makes it incapable of accepting insights from above; There is in the fallen human mind some dark side, hostile to heaven. What is this?.. What makes earthly wisdom, which in itself should be praiseworthy, ungodly? Why does the human mind, which in itself is godlike, become unlikeable? Where is the beginning of evil? In what the apostle calls “puffiness of mind” (1 Cor. 8:1) or arrogance. Filled with the light of knowledge, the mind naturally begins to shine; but this radiance, due to the morbidity of the mental eyes in fallen man, mostly blinds him; and he, instead of seeing with gratitude and humility the light in the light of God, begins to think that the radiance he emits is his own. Hence the dangerous feeling of complacency and oblivion of one’s own poverty; then an attack on omniscience and opposition to Divine revelations and secrets; then oblivion of God, contempt for the Church, and disrespect for the social order; then weakening of conscience, slavery to sensuality; and there is doubt about sacred objects, even about what constitutes the intrinsic dignity of human nature; and people who began by knowing everything, that they are above everything, often end up doubting their own existence, placing themselves alongside the dumb! Thus, earthly wisdom becomes a fool and destroys itself before it is destroyed by the “God of understanding” (1 Samuel 2:3). Is it surprising then that such wisdom is condemned to destruction? Although such a move from knowledge to ungodliness is in itself unnatural, for the earthly light should lead to the Heavenly Light, the human mind should turn a person to the mind of God, but since, due to the corruption of people, the opposite of this almost always happens, so as not to be bothered, so to speak, by a fruitless analysis of what in human wisdom is worth mercy and what is not worth it, God has accepted it as a rule that everyone who desires salvation should refuse earthly wisdom, and became foolish for Christ's sake. “If anyone thinks that he will be wise in you in this world, let him be, for he will be wise” (1 Cor. 3:18). Agreeing or disagreeing with the rejection of one’s wisdom, being a condition of salvation, is also an undoubted sign of whether someone had true or false wisdom. He who has true wisdom will immediately exchange it for grace-filled wisdom, and is always ready to captivate his mind into obedience to the mind of God; and whose wisdom was in the disease of arrogance, it is very difficult for him to leave it. This abandonment can be either obvious or secret. We see something obvious in the holy fools for Christ's sake: they have a complete renunciation of the mind - a high feat and accessible to few, not only because it is extremely difficult for our self-loving heart to arbitrarily appear devoid of intelligence, but also because in such a feat a person constantly oscillates between two dangers: to betray the holy vow of violence for Christ's sake, and to violate the duty of love for one's neighbor - by seducing him, or by not giving him the necessary advice, or by something else. to others. But one can be wild for Christ’s sake without seeming devoid of intelligence, even taking advantage of all the riches of human wisdom. The Apostle Paul was a “buy for Christ’s sake” (1 Cor. 4:10), but he taught philosophers in the Areopagus! Saints Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, John Chrysostom were the luminaries of their age, and, however, they were not alien to the violence of Christ. All this happens through humility for the sake of Christ; humility reconciles earthly wisdom with the violence of Christ. He who is led by humility looks at all his knowledge, firstly, as an undeserved gift of God, therefore he has no reason to be arrogant. And at the same time, earthly wisdom itself, going right with him, soon brings him to the boundaries of human knowledge, and, not being able to transgress them, but feeling the need to go further, she herself hands over her pet to faith, that is, she gives way to the holy “wildness of God” (1 Cor. 1:25). Before those who were wise in the eyes of the world and at the same time powerful in the eyes of God, the secrets of the spiritual world were revealed, as their biographies testify, with the same convenience as before those who, for the sake of Christ, seemed to the world to be completely devoid of intelligence. We could also touch upon some circumstances in the miraculous appearance of the Blessed Virgin, which we now remember: for example, why was the vision not noticed by such a person as Patriarch Tarasius was? Why was Saint Andrew, contemplating the vision, filled with more joy, and Saint Epiphanius - more with fear? But each of you must leave something for your own reflection. The purpose of Christian teachings should not be to convey everything possible regarding the subject under consideration, but also to arouse their own reflection in the listeners. He who adds his own reflection to what he hears gets a lot out of little; and whoever only listens, and does not reflect at all, for him much is useless. So, instead of concluding the word, accept my request to extend it with your own reflection. For what a good deed may the blessing of the Lord be with you all! Amen. Homily on the Day of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary For those who solemnly commemorate the miraculous appearance of the Intercession of the Mother of God, nothing could be more joyful than if someone announced to them that this blessed Intercession was spread over them as well. But who could be such a messenger? Whose eye is capable of seeing the Most Holy Intercessor, “in the air praying to Christ for us?” Among us there are no obvious seers like Blessed Andrew and Epiphanius; and the hidden ones are known to the only Lord and guard their spiritual contemplations for eternity. And yet we, and it is we, who are now standing in this church, are not without a witness, and, moreover, the most faithful one, that the cover of the Most Blessed Virgin is spread over us too. Who is this witness? Not any earthly person, and not even an Angel, but She Herself, our Patroness! I say this with boldness and confidence on Her behalf, for what does Her holy and miraculous icon standing in this church mean, if not a constant, visible guarantee of Her invisible Cover?.. We know from the history of miraculous icons that in the event of heavenly wrath for human sins, these icons suddenly hid themselves and revealed themselves in another place, or completely disappeared. Therefore, as long as our Patroness does not leave Her place here, does not deprive Her image of the gracious power of miracles, as long as she accepts our prayers and gives us timely help, until then we, despite all our uncleanness, can be firmly confident that we are under Her gracious Protection. And can the Most Blessed Virgin not heed the prayers of those who resort to Her with true faith and love? Again I dare to say on Her behalf: it cannot! And this impossibility constitutes Her glory. Heavenly patrons, by the way, differ from earthly patrons in that earthly ones may or may not patronize, even if the person asking is worthy of protection; and heavenly patrons cannot help but patronize the worthy: where there is sincere prayer, there is their help; where there is faith and love for them, there they are; This is a sacred necessity for them. Moreover, the Mother of God cannot help but hear pure prayers, she cannot help but provide timely help, Who, as a special reward for Her greatest and unparalleled service to human salvation, has been given the right to be the first Intercessor for all those in need, the joy and protection of all those who mourn. What should this precious confidence in the protection of the Mother of God produce in us? Carelessness in the matter of our salvation? Fearlessness in breaking God's law? Postponing from day to day repentance? No, brothers, this would mean abusing heavenly mercy and insulting our most holy Patroness to the face. The purest of the Virgins cannot patronize sins; She patronizes only sinners, and those who repent. Whoever wants to constantly be under Her grace-filled Cover must constantly move away from all sin, for every sin dissolves the union with Her. She prays for you, and you pray down for yourself; She covers you with the merits of Her Son, and you clothe yourself in them with faith and love. Otherwise, if we indulge in sin, the same thing will happen as happened to the Israelites. Moses received the law from God for them on Mount Sinai, and they, bored in his absence, cast a golden calf under the mountain and began to worship it and commit outrages. Seeing this, the Lord immediately stopped His conversation with Moses and said: “Get out of here, for your wicked people... and now leave Me, and being angry with me, I will consume them” (Ex. 32:7, 10). Will not Her venerable Son and God say the same to our most holy Intercessor if we, like the Israelites, begin to indulge in lawlessness? “You pray and intercede for them, and I am ready to show all mercy to those for whom I suffered death. But look what they do! When you pray, they worship the golden calf, sacrifice to the idols of their passions and trample My laws. Where is there room for mercy? They create anger at themselves. They need an awakening and admonishing execution, and not a comforting mercy. “Leave Me, and enraged with anger”, the images kindled by ourselves, “I will consume them.” A terrible and at the same time instructive example of this, brothers, is the same Greece, in which followed the miraculous appearance of the Protection of the Mother of God, which we now remember. What signs of special protection did She not show over this people? How many times under the walls of Constantinople were both the Scythians and Hagarians defeated by the Mounted Voivode? But when the Mother of God saw that Her protection did not make those protected better, that they needed not mercy, but admonishing punishment, then she took away Her Cover; and three centuries of slavery of the Mohammedans, combined with all types of humiliation, was barely enough for Greece to return the Cover of the Mother of God, which is now again apparently beginning to extend over the Greek people. The same, brethren, may be with every soul that does not care about its salvation in the hope of the intercession of the Mother of God. The judgments of God are the same in both small and great: “glory... and honor and peace to everyone who does good,” and to the one who repents of evil, “grief and distress on every soul of a person who does evil,” and who remains in evil! (Rom. 2:9–10). Knowing this, we will undoubtedly resort to the shelter of the Most Blessed Virgin, but we will not bring our sins under this cover without washing them with tears of repentance. The Mother of God heals all infirmities, quenches all sorrows, covers even sins, as long as they are combined with contrition of the heart for them, but does not and cannot cover bitterness in sins! Amen. A person who is weak in soul and body and exposed to danger (like each of us) needs help and protection; and the more powerful, wiser, and more compassionate the patron, the safer and more comforting it is for the person being protected. But earthly patrons, no matter how perfect they may seem, are often fickle in their favor, short-sighted in their choice of benefits and, despite their power, they themselves are subject to weaknesses and shortcomings. It would be incomparably better if someone found himself a patron in heaven, a helper not only in body, but also in soul, a representative not only before people, but also before God, a perfect benefactor, who himself would not need anything. If, moreover, such a benefactor took under his roof not just any person and people unknown only, but everyone who needed his help, he accepted not temporarily, but forever, and if it was undoubtedly that he had great boldness before God, then the joy of gaining such a patron would be the joy of the entire human race, the memory of the union with him should be the subject of the brightest triumph. This is exactly, brethren, the triumph of this day, on which apparently once upon a time, as holy history tells, the Cover of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, hitherto invisibly spread over all of us, was spread over the faithful. Even if we ourselves were left to choose our patron in heaven, would it be possible to find a more powerful, holier, more loving Mother of God? Who is further than Her from all imperfections? Who sees our needs more clearly, who is more zealous for our good? Who is closer to the throne of grace, to the heart of Her son and God? If Moses, who with all his dignity was only a faithful servant (Heb. 3:5) in the house of God, could through his intercession save the entire Jewish people from destruction (Exod. 32:11-14), then from what danger he cannot save us, what good cannot the intercession of the Mother of God bring us, who, for that very reason, became the animated dwelling of God the Word, which, more than all, “gained grace" from the Lord? (Luke 1:30). But, brethren, the higher and more holy the person who patronizes us, the more careful those being patronized must be, so that by their imprudence they do not alienate the help from themselves, or make it useless. We would insult our most holy Patroness if we thought that She patronizes everyone equally. There are people to whom She cannot provide any help. On the other hand, we are all by nature inclined to abuse the benefits provided to us. And isn’t there really an abuse of trust in the Protection of the Mother of God? Unfortunately, quite a lot and quite often. Therefore, our own good requires us to delve into these shortcomings and find out with all accuracy about what, how and in what spirit we should pray to the Mother of God? “Hope... will not put you to shame” (Rom. 5:5), according to the word of the apostle; but what hope? reasonable; for hope is part of our worship of God, which, according to the admonition of the same apostle, should be “reasonable” (Rom. 12:1). But would it be reasonable, brethren, to trust in the Mother of God if someone turned to Her with such a petition, with which it is impossible to appear before a virtuous person, for example, with a petition for something unjust, or for unclean purposes? Such a request, you say, would not be a request, but an insult to the most honest Cherubim; One should send pure prayers to Her. So, brethren, truly. Marvel at the corruption of our nature, which reaches the oblivion of the very first principles of sound faith and common sense, for the ear of the Mother of God is sometimes amazed by such petitions that would be difficult for the pure ear of man. Isn’t it really hard to hear (and She hears!) how someone offended by someone, instead of asking himself, according to the Savior’s commandment, for love for the offender, asks for revenge and destruction? Isn’t it hard to hear (and the Mother of God hears!) how someone who has stolen or unjustly appropriated someone else’s property, instead of asking for the goodwill of “returning in fours” (Luke 19:8) what was unjustly acquired, asks for success in hiding his untruth from the eyes of justice? I know that for many of us such requests may even seem impossible; and thanks to Providence that they are indeed rare, but nevertheless they actually happen; and a teacher of the faith must not pass by in silence such shortcomings, no matter how condemned they themselves are by their rudeness. To admonish such petitioners, we must, albeit briefly, note that in heaven there is no partiality, that only truth or sincere repentance is accepted there, that the will of the Mother of God and Her Son is one and the same - our holiness, that the Mother cannot ask for what the Son cannot give without violating His truth, because therefore those who ask unrighteousness pronounce upon themselves not only refusal, but also condemnation. Let us also note that all those who ask the Mother of God for even permissible things, but with unclean intentions, are also subject to this condemnation. So, for example, if someone asks for wealth, having a strong desire to begin to lead a luxurious and voluptuous life; if anyone prays for the return of health, so that, having received what he asks, he immediately returns to bad habits and deeds. Let all these and similar petitioners know once and for all that they will not accept what they ask, for “they ask evilly” (James 4:3). Any decision about the unrighteous, or for a lawless purpose, is an insult to the Mother of God and is addressed to the head of the person asking. Let us turn to other petitions, which seem innocent and pure, but in fact are subject to condemnation and are also unworthy of our Heavenly Patroness. Our first shortcoming in this regard is the desire for extraordinary and miraculous help, which, having come to us, would serve us as a kind of difference from other people. The consequence of this is a weakening in one’s own activities and criminal negligence. Hoping for supernatural benefits, they stop using natural means. So, for example, a patient rejects the art of a doctor when undertaking some difficult task - a conference with the wisest and most experienced people. Is such behavior reasonable, brethren, and can it be pleasing to the Mother of God? At first glance, such trust in Her cover and neglect of all other means may seem to elevate our faith and its dignity; but in fact, such an idle hope, such an inactive hope, such an unreasonable faith is a criminal temptation of Her power, an attack on the power of God unworthy of a Christian. For the Mother of God received power not in order to squander it unnecessarily - according to our whims, but in order to constantly turn it against the laws of nature, outlined by the wisdom of God, from the frequent abandonment of which in action the order of the world visible to us would inevitably be disturbed. As the first Mystery of God's Providence for people, She acts in the same way as Providence Itself, using an endless variety of natural means for our good, and turning to Her immediate power only in those cases when this is necessary. Therefore, he alone has the right to Her omnipotent intercession before God who, before petitioning Her, has used, and after petitioning, does not cease to use everything that is possible for him to achieve his goal, meaning by possible only permissible and legal. But in this case, they will say, why pray, and how to know the help of the Mother of God? Because all our means are only such that they leave behind a lot of room for higher help, for each of the natural means, as experience proves, can remain without action. You will recognize the highest help by the fact that you prayed for it, if you prayed from the heart. The same heart will tell you whose and where the gift you received came from. However, how many searches are needed here, and what are they for? Does not every good gift come from the Father of lights? Is it not He who kills and gives life, who brings him down to hell and who again raises him up? Is it not about Him that we “live and move and are?” (Acts 17:28); Is it not “from Him and in Him all things”? (Rom. 11:36). Why doubt? Having received benefits, one should not search for them, but pray and give thanks. The second and most general drawback of our petitions to the Mother of God is that they are almost always limited to sensory goods. In fact, brothers, if by some miracle the totality of petitions sent to Her in this one church were revealed to us, what do you think we would see? We would, of course, see a considerable number of such petitions, which we spoke about at the beginning, and from which we would involuntarily turn our eyes away. Along with this, they would see a countless number of petitions for temporary benefits, for deliverance from various diseases, from enemies, from slander and persecution, for success in trade, in travel, in marriage, and the like. But do you think there would be many requests for spiritual blessings, for healing from various diseases of the soul and conscience, for conquering bad habits and passions, for acquiring one or another virtue, for performing difficult feats of love for God and neighbor? Ah, and without any special revelation of the secrets of the heart, one can unmistakably say that there are very few petitions for spiritual benefits to the Mother of God. Why is this so, beloved? Do we have one body, but no soul and conscience? Doesn’t our soul and conscience have some kind of illnesses and needs? Can the Mother of God give both the temporary and the perishable? Or do we love our body alone, but value our soul at nothing? or do we not believe in another life, in judgment and reward after death? But no one among the most depraved people will say this. Not just in words, but in deeds, almost all of us speak constantly. Everyone’s only concern is about earthly and perishable things, about food, clothing, fun, but about the state of our soul, whether our conscience is intact, whether we are faithful to Christ, with whom we were united at baptism, whether we have deviated from the right path, about how we can leave this vain life and appear before our Creator, whether our sins have been washed away by repentance, whether we have even a small germ for eternal life in God, If we even think about this extremely important matter, it is very rarely, superficially, as if it were something alien and unimportant. And in such an unhappy state of mind we appear in the very churches of God! With such disregard for our salvation, we are not ashamed to appear before our Redeemer and His Most Pure Mother! Can She listen to such unreasonable petitioners? To bestow the blessings we ask for would mean on Her part to give us an opportunity to cleave even more closely to the earthly and sensual, to plunge even deeper into carnal pleasures, to lose the last memory of the soul, conscience and future life. But heavenly patrons are unlike earthly ones, who often, out of bias, do more harm to those being protected, pouring out benefits on them without measure or consideration; There is no way they will give earthly blessings from heaven, as long as they see (and the gaze of the celestials is much purer than ours) that these blessings will turn to the detriment of the petitioners. Therefore, it is not at all surprising if the Most Holy Virgin, out of Her true love for us, does not hear many of our petitions; even if she gives us something completely opposite to what we pray to Her for. We, for example, ask for wealth, which would make us voluptuous, and thus remove us forever from God, but She can give us poverty, which can bring us to our senses and make us true Christians; we asked for honor, with which we would inevitably fall into ungodly pride, but She can send us humiliation, which will keep us within the bounds of humility and save us from many evils; we were looking for the favor of some person, thinking to find our happiness in that, and She would turn him away from us, seeing that this was necessary for our well-being. All this, I say, the Mother of God can do despite our prayers, and must do, loving us truly, and do without a doubt. Any one of us would be completely unreasonable who would wish that the Mother of God would not act in this way, but would always satisfy our requests. This would mean wanting Her to contribute to our destruction. From here comes a new, necessary rule for our prayers to the Most Holy Virgin, which, however, is very often forgotten: I mean the need to conclude all petitions to Her by betraying them and ourselves into Her holy will. This is required by our own benefit, for, due to the short-sightedness of our minds, due to the impurity of our hearts, we can pray to the Lord and His saints for what seems useful to us, but in itself is harmful, or is useful in itself, but is harmful to us. From the sky we are all more visible, and all our past, present and future; Therefore, it is more convenient for the celestials to decide our fate. It is our duty, remembering this, not to annoy them with unconditional requests, not to become discouraged if we do not see the fulfillment of what we asked, not to be sad if the opposite of this comes true for us. This apparent inattention to our prayers may be the true fruit of our prayers. In this case, it is best to turn to your conscience without grumbling, consider your life, delve into your abilities, your character, your relationships, remember that we were created not for earth, but for heaven, that not today, but tomorrow we will be called to the fatherland; then you can see for yourself why the Mother of God did not fulfill any of your requests. And even if, despite all this, I did not see the reason for this, then even then I should not be discouraged and grumble, remembering that here we do not understand much about our fate. The time will come when everything will be revealed. Then let us thank the saints of God for not listening to many of our prayers and acting contrary to our desires. Let us condense everything said into a few words for the sake of memory. What and how should one ask the Mother of God? One must ask Her only for that which is pure and righteous in itself. And one must ask for what is permissible with the intention of using it in a lawful manner. One should not look for miracles and, in the hope of them, neglect natural means and indulge in inaction. One must ask for benefits that are more spiritual and eternal than temporary and physical. And one must ask for sensual benefits not to satisfy the flesh, but to improve oneself through them in virtue. Finally, one must conclude all petitions by surrendering oneself to the will of the Mother of God and not be upset by the imaginary non-fulfillment of petitions, but consider this as an incentive for oneself to repent. Whoever thus places his trust in the Protection of the Most Holy Virgin, his hope will be “reasonable” (Rom. 12:1), and he will not be ashamed either in this age or in the future. Mother of God! not only cover, but also enlighten us with Your Protection: for we ourselves “about what... let us pray, as we should, do not know!” (Rom. 8:26). Amen. Word for the day of the Kazan Icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary Three weeks before this, we celebrated a festival in honor of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos: a very joyful event in itself, but to us Russians, in some respects, it seemed alien, for it followed in Greece a whole millennium before our time. Celebrating in honor of the Protection of the Mounted Voivode over Byzantium, it was very natural to think: is the Most Holy Virgin as merciful to us as to the Byzantines of the same faith? Is it possible in the history of our Fatherland to point out any case similar to the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos over Constantinople? This day, brothers, is the answer to this, and the most joyful answer. For we are celebrating today on such an occasion, which most clearly shows that the Protection of the Mother of God is extended over our Fatherland. For the glory of the Blessed Virgin and to increase spiritual joy about this, allow me, brethren, to present this event to you, albeit in its main features. Two centuries before this, our Fatherland was beset by one of the greatest misfortunes: the line of kings of the Rurik house was extinguished on the Russian throne. What is easier, apparently, than out of many millions to elect one to the kingdom? But experience has shown that there is nothing more difficult than electing a king from among his subjects. The throne did not remain idle for long; but whoever ascended could not sit on it. In vain Godunov strained all the powers of his mind and art, exhausted all the means of love and fear: nothing could replace the lack of hereditary rights. Stained by suspicion of the extermination of the last branch of the Royal House, he soon fell, one might say, before the name of the holy youth he had slain, which was opposed to him by the impostor. There is no need to say that this monster could not replace anyone on the throne. It was a different matter with his deposition by Shuisky. Everything seemed to call him to the throne: the celebrity of the family, and the numerous connections, and long-standing exploits, and the recent experience of courage and love for the Fatherland; but not called by heaven, he betrayed the truth as many times as he testified for the truth, and he ascended to the throne only to descend from its height into captivity and the grave. Finally, the times of complete interregnum come, those times of which the example is in hell, for there is an eternal interregnum. But for our enemy neighbors this was the most favorable opportunity for triumph over us. Region after region is being torn away from Russia in the south and north: Poland wants to give us its own, Sweden - its own king. We ourselves, exhausted by anarchy and civil strife, are beginning to think that to stop domestic sedition and rivalry, and to reject external battles, there is no other better way than to elevate one of the Jagiellonian descendants to the throne of Russia. Already in Moscow churches the name of Vladislav is being proclaimed... already half of Russia is behind him... “But is it possible for a foreign, forcibly installed head to be at peace with the Russian heart?.. Should a person of different faiths sit on the throne of St. Vladimir and adorn himself with the barmas of Monomakh?” This is how those in whom the Russian spirit had not yet been suppressed by domestic turmoil and foreign intrigues thought. “Let us stand for Holy Rus', for the house of the Most Holy Theotokos, for the miracle workers Alexy, Photius and Philip; We’ll sell our wives and children, but we’ll liberate the Fatherland!” - exclaimed the true son of the Fatherland on the banks of the Volga; and his voice, like the voice of the Resurrection Archangel, awakens deadened minds and hearts. Monk Palitsyn, citizen Minin, boyar Pozharsky, as if chosen by heaven itself, representatives of all classes, rise up to fight against enemies, gather a militia, and are coming to liberate the heart of the Fatherland - Moscow - from the hands of enemies. A sacred army, the like of which has never existed before or since; but how much she lacks! She must take strongholds defended by an enemy both numerous and stubborn, who knows for sure that with victory over her the entire Russian Kingdom will remain behind him, and with the loss of the battle his rule over him must end in the most deplorable way; and yet this army lacks the means to support itself, lacks the weapons themselves, and, most importantly, lacks unanimity among both the warriors and the leaders. Now the last means of maintenance, which the holy monastery of Sergius provided, have already been exhausted; Now, a significant part of the army, worried by the machinations of selfish people, has already left the domestic camp, and is ready to stand for the enemies. The spirit of courage that ignited the Orthodox warriors is falling. It's time to help the enemies; autumn bad weather sets in, so favorable for the besieged, and so destructive for the besiegers. One more unsuccessful attack, one internecine dispute, and the first winter blizzard will scatter the last remnants of the sacred army. “Forgive me, freedom of the Fatherland! Sorry, sacred Kremlin! - this is probably how more than one son of the Fatherland thought and spoke. – We did everything to free you; but, truly, God is not pleased to accept our sacrifice and bless our weapons with victory.” Meanwhile, this pure sacrifice had long been accepted into the stench of fragrance. And how could she not be accepted when, as we will see later, she was ascended to the throne of grace by the Most Graceful Virgin Herself? Providence was slow to bless the weapons of the Orthodox army with victory, so that the successes of the battle would not be attributed to their own courage. Therefore, when all earthly hopes had fallen, when there was only one step left to despair, heavenly help was revealed in all its indisputable evidence. How? Hear and revere the Heavenly Intercessor! In the midst of the besieged capital, between enemies, in grave captivity and an even graver illness, one of the venerable high priests languished, who, having arrived from the East, found a second Fatherland in Moscow. Close to heaven in his rank, he was even closer to him in his virtues; Therefore, he was honored to be a mediator between heaven and earth. In the midst of midnight silence, suddenly his cell is filled with extraordinary light, and he sees Saint Sergius of Radonezh before him. “Arseny,” the Reverend said to the sick man, “your and our prayers have been heard; through the intercession of the Mother of God, the Judgment of God for the Fatherland was transferred to mercy; in the morning Moscow will be in the hands of the besiegers, and Russia will be saved.” As if to confirm the prophecy, the sick old man suddenly regains health and strength. The joyful news of this, passing from mouth to mouth, immediately penetrates beyond the walls of the city - to the Orthodox army, and inflames it with irresistible courage. Daring in the name of the Ascended Voivode, the Christ-loving army no longer sees any insurmountable obstacles before them; The enemies, despite their bitterness, can no longer stand on their strongholds - the Kremlin is in the hands of the Russians. In awe of heavenly help, the grateful army on the next Sunday makes a solemn prayerful entry into the returned capital; the same saint who was honored to receive the news of help from above comes out to meet him. The miraculous icon of the Mother of God he carried seemed to everyone looking at it not a dead icon, but a living image - the Mounted Voivode, in whose name the victory was won. Falling to the ground and shedding tears, everyone sought to sanctify themselves by touching the miraculous face. And so that the memory of such a miraculous appearance of the Protection of the Blessed Virgin over the Fatherland does not weaken with time, it is necessary to unanimously create an annual solemn remembrance of it on this day. Judge for yourself after this how important this day is for the Fatherland! This is the day of the miraculous liberation of Russia from foreign slavery and internal sedition, the day of the restoration of the Russian land. If the throne city had remained in the hands of the enemies, then, in all likelihood, all of Russia would have remained in their hands; but Moscow would have remained in captivity if the intercession of the Blessed Virgin had not come to the rescue, for all earthly resources had been exhausted. Therefore, the present day is the true day of the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos over our Fatherland. After this, one cannot help but ask: what drew the maternal gaze of the Heavenly Patroness to our ancestors and brought Her wondrous help closer to them? Of course, most of all, the prayers of the saints of God were addressed, such as Saints Sergius, Alexy, Peter, Photius, Cyprian and other Russian wonderworkers, who, during the disaster of their earthly Fatherland, did not cease to pray to the Lord for his salvation and moved His Mother Herself to intercede for him. But the Israeli people once had no less intercessors for themselves before God in the person of their deceased forefathers and prophets, but they were betrayed into the hands of enemies and, finally, completely rejected. And the Lord Himself previously announced through the prophet: “...if Moses and Samuel stand before Me, My soul will not be with this people” (Jer. 15:1). This means that the prayers of saints for earth multipliers are not always heard. Why were the prayers of the saints for Russia heard? Because when the saints prayed for Israel, Israel itself did not pray to the God of the fathers, but worshiped other gods; and our ancestors did not know other gods, and both in happiness and in misfortune they turned for help to the same God of their fathers, to His Most Pure Mother and the saints. But we also note that our enemies of that time, who owned Moscow and wanted to take possession of Russia, also turned to the Mother of God, for they too were Christians; Why did She heed the prayers not of them, but of the Russians, and provide such wonderful help to our Fatherland? Firstly, because the religion of our enemies of that time, although Christian, was not completely pure, suffering from a confusion of heavenly dogmas with human traditions; secondly, because our enemies, by their deeds, overthrew what they believed in with their lips, for they did not spare not only peaceful huts, but also the very churches of God, boldly swearing at the shrine; because, finally, they illegally tried to take possession of Russia and, going against our tsar, did not show due obedience to their monarch, which subsequently humiliated and destroyed their fatherland. Of course, our ancestors were not without weaknesses and shortcomings, for which they were subjected to great disasters and reached the last extreme; but even among the most severe disasters, in the most extreme circumstances, they knew how to maintain faith in the King of Heaven and loyalty to the kings of the earth; a witness to this is their unparalleled zeal, with which they willingly gave everything for the house of the Blessed Virgin, for the throne city and the Fatherland. And so the Mother of God, seeing their repentance, humility, zeal for sacred things and self-sacrifice, bowed to mercy, and, bowing Herself, bowed Her Son to help us. Behold the mystery of Her saving Veil over Russia! What does this mystery teach us? Firstly, to never lose faith in the salvation of the Fatherland, no matter what temptations and disasters the fate of the Almighty may choose to subject it to. The wisdom of God loves peoples who are pleasing to her, as well as tempting people who are dear to her with disasters, in order all the more to purify, strengthen and exalt them. The Russian people, as its history shows, are one of such peoples. How many times did he apparently approach the end of his existence, and always rose again with glory! And always at this resurrection the holy Russian wonderworkers appeared with their intercession, like the Angels of God; appeared - the Mother of God Herself. After this, is it possible to ever lose hope of saving the Fatherland? Secondly, this day teaches us all the power of fervent prayers before God, and especially the prayers of the saints for us. It was not in vain that Saint Sergius said to Arseny: “Your and our prayers have been heard.” This means that without earthly prayers, heavenly prayers would not be heard; just as without heavenly ones, earthly prayers would, of course, not be accepted. Therefore, in all difficult circumstances of our Fatherland, or our own, prayer must be the first and last means to salvation: praying ourselves, we must raise up the saints of God to prayer, remembering that ... “the prayer of the righteous can do much” (James 5:16). All the more must we resort to the shelter of the Most Blessed Virgin, Who has always been and will remain the comforter of all who flow with faith to Her intercession and who act according to this faith. I say: those who work by faith. For I will repeat: our enemies of that time also offered prayers to the Mother of God, but did not receive help from Her, because they did not act in accordance with their faith, but indulged in all uncleanness and insulted the sacred. Therefore, whoever wishes to be rewarded with Her grace-filled Protection must offer up to Her, together with prayer, if not his good deeds, then at least living faith, humility and repentance. This is the last lesson for all of us from our real celebration! Amen. Where we stand now and pray, in this very place, several centuries before this there was a sea; and the waves rose and sea animals and ships swam; Storms raged and shipwrecks occurred. Who could stand against the sea?.. But where did the sand come from and begin to argue with the sea? Grain by grain, grain of sand by grain of sand, and among the sea abysses, land was formed, which, at first barely visible, for a long time served as a haven for only the chicks of the sky and the fish of the sea; but then fishermen's fields spread out along it, then their huts were visible on it, to which, although not suddenly, a path ran that eventually led to buying and selling. And when the population multiplied in the new place, when, after satisfying material needs, spiritual hunger began to be felt - not of bread and water, but of the word of God and public prayer, then, like a crown in the building of human community, this church arose in this place, in which, on the occasion of its annual festival, we now stand and pray. So the face of the earth has changed here! The impenetrable abyss of the sea gave way to weak sand, as if in a new confirmation of the ancient word of Scripture about the omnipotence of God: “thou hast fenced the sea with sand”; that is, not with iron and copper, not with marble or granite, but with sand, the most unstable substance and tossed by every wind - so that the power of the One who, according to the words of the same Scripture, “only truly rules over land and sea,” will always be visible to everyone. Just as the face of the earth changes, my brethren, so does the face of the human race; but, alas, in what a pitiful and terrible way sometimes! How long ago was the entire expanse of our sea shores covered with peaceful workers, working to cultivate their fields or hurrying to our city with the fruits of their labors? How long ago were all our piers covered with flocks of ships, which, torn (pushed) by the shortcomings of our native land, from all countries of the world flew to us on the wings of the wind for the products of our blessed country, which more than once saved them from famine and death? And so, all this changed in the most unexpected way, changed not in centuries and centuries, like the sea with its local shores, but in a few months and weeks! Now, as you can see for yourself, our entire seaside, instead of peaceful oratai, is covered with warriors and war chariots; Our waters either represent a desert, or bring fire-breathing masses hostile to us on their ridges. How did all this happen?.. From envy and malice, like once in Eden... Our unreasonable, fanatical Muslim neighbor, contrary to ancient conditions and recent vows, inhumanly burdened his yoke over our fellow believers; we, of necessity, had to stand for their rights and for the truth of the matter itself, for the blood and tears of the unfortunate victims of fanaticism; We amicably demanded from this neighbor, whom we had saved more than once from extreme destruction, that such violence, harmful to himself, be put to an end forever, and that our holy faith would not henceforth be the cause of humiliation and deprivation for those who profess it in the East, just as among us the fans of Mohammed do not tolerate oppression and deprivation in any way for their faith, with all its unworthiness in comparison with Christianity. What could be simpler and more natural than such requirements? And they, with all the waywardness and tenacity of the Muslims, would have been satisfied, since this had happened more than once before, and, satisfied, they would not only have not harmed the Ottoman state, but would have saved it for a long time from the final decline and destruction. But was it possible, at such an opportunity, not to raise the head of the primordial enmity and hereditary envy of the Western powers towards the power of Russia? And so, this anger and envy awoke first secretly, and then openly, with all its strength and bitterness, in the person of the frivolous Gauls and self-interested Britons... Then, still peaceful until then, our dispute with the moon worshipers could no longer help but assume a huge scale of enmity, not just neighboring, but almost universal. A war flared up, unparalleled in the annals of the world in its monstrosity, for the Christian West stood up in it against the Christian North and East, stood up for nothing other than the domination of Mohammed’s Al-Koran over Orthodox Christianity. But war can also be waged in different ways. From educated peoples, as our Western opponents call themselves, a war was expected, not a barbaric one, but an educated one, in which no blood would be shed, no destruction would be carried out without purpose and benefit, where, in the midst of the storm and the whirlwind of war, respect for that which should be equally bowed down by both friends and enemies would not be violated. This is what our enemies promised loudly to the whole world; but alas, how shamefully they betrayed their word! The last days of Holy Week are approaching, the days of universal redemption by the death of the God-man; the great holiday of Easter is approaching, when, according to the Church, heaven, earth and the very underworld come together in triumph and joy; and so, in these very days, the united fleets of two Christian powers hostile to us appear on our waters. One might think that, despite their enmity, they bowed before the common sign of salvation with us, and came to share with us in a brotherly way the joy of the upcoming Feast of Feasts... No, they, under the most insignificant pretext, get Prue with us; and then they open a whole hell of fire and bogeymen against us on that very day and those very hours when the Church at the Holy Sepulcher solemnly proclaimed: “Today the wall of hell cries out: my power is destroyed!” (Stichera at Vespers on Holy Saturday). And this still could not satisfy their anger; blinded by wickedness, they continue the hellish work of destroying our city on the very day of the Resurrection of the Lord, as if in order to show that for them, who stood under the banner of Mohammed, carried away by self-interest and hatred of us, there is nothing sacred left on earth anymore... Eternal thanksgiving to the Lord of hosts, who covered us and our city with His grace from the kindled arrows of our enemies, and turned all their rage and efforts into nothing! But, my brothers, how can we not look back with deep pity at our very opponents? The two great Christian powers should openly stand under the ungodly and always destructive banner of Mohammed to Christianity, stand for nothing else, but directly to confirm the power of the dominion of the soul-crushing Al-Koran over the Orthodox East, to fasten the Muslim shackles, which have decayed from time itself, on the necks and hands of many millions of Eastern Christians... Who could have expected such madness and wickedness from the Christian powers, boasting of enlightenment and love for humanity?.. For tell me, what remains after this to humiliate and desecrate the name of Christ from Christians themselves? If at any, then at similar events, you can exclaim together with the king the prophet: “It’s time for the Lord to act, - the Lord Himself, - for they have destroyed His law!” (Ps. 119:126). And rest assured, my brethren, that the Lord, now, as always, “will not be mocked with impunity” (Gal. 6:7). Like the Almighty, He will allow all the blindness of the West, overcome by unbelief and self-interest, to be revealed; will not prevent the traitors to the faith of their fathers and the detractors of Mohammedanism from revealing all the wickedness of their hearts; but when the hour of judgment and retribution comes, He, the Almighty, will menacingly and fearfully show in the face of the whole world that there is God, “the judge of all the earth” (Ps. 93:2), there is a difference between serving Jehovah and Baal, between love for Christ and zeal for Mohammed... These are the thoughts and feelings we came to here, my brothers, on the day of our real holiday! They did not come arbitrarily, but guided, one might say, by your very church, in which we now stand and pray. By its location, it aroused in us thoughts about the depths of the sea, which once covered this entire expanse of earth; and with his peak and head he involuntarily brought to our memory what we suffered from our enemies on the past Holy Saturday, when this church also received at its head from the fires of the enemy that ulcer, which for all future times is marked on it with a black spot. It is with this ulcer and stain that I finally want to finish my word, bringing them to the constant attention of you and your descendants. When you pass by this church and see this black spot on its upper roof (dome), then, having crossed yourself with the sign of the cross, remember that over Odessa, especially over this part of the city, this year a terrible cloud of troubles and sorrows hung, and that if it did not burst into complete destruction of this place, then because of the special invisible cover and protection from above, remember and thank the Lord for this, with a vow to serve in glory to His name through good works. Likewise, when your growing children ask you what the black spot on the roof of your church means, tell them that this is a sign and trace of the barbaric attack on Odessa by the Gauls and the British, on the days of Holy Saturday and the Resurrection of Christ, tell them and, having explained this attack to them, inspire them so that after this they do not believe in the empty grandeur of these peoples about love for humanity, in their imaginary education and gentleness of morals, that these are peoples who do not know another God, except their proud self, no other higher laws, except their pride and benefits, and that to imitate them slavishly in their way of thoughts, feelings and actions, as some began to do, means to decide, sooner or later, to betray the faith of their fathers, to deviate from the morals of their ancestors and to renounce the Russian land itself, from which may the Lord save us all! Amen. This day, my brothers, is ever-memorable for the Church and the Fatherland both for the extreme danger that once befell us, and for the extraordinary goodness of God that was then revealed to us. It was like this. Four centuries before this, in the southeast, in Asia, a terrible storm occurred, which overturned not only cities, but entire kingdoms, and killed many millions of people. This storm was Tamerlane or, as our chronicles call him, Timur-Aksak. From a simple poor man, having become the leader of a countless army, seizing half of Asia into his power, crossing the Caucasus, this terrible conqueror finally rushed to our poor Fatherland, which at that time had barely begun to recover from Batu’s storm. Voronezh, Livny, Yelets fell before him like weak blades of grass before a whirlwind. Ryazan, Tula, Moscow itself awaited the same fate in trepidation, because we had few military forces and did not have time to gather them as they should; the spirit itself was lacking from the long-term exhaustion of all classes under the cruel Mongol yoke. Thus, not seeing any sufficient means for the defense of the Fatherland on earth, the Christ-loving Prince Vasily Dimitrievich, following the example of his pious ancestors, turned to the Heavenly King for help. From the banks of the Oka, where the Russian army was gathered, he gave the order to bring to Moscow from Vladimir the icon of the Mother of God, painted by the Evangelist Luke, and pray before it for three days for the salvation of the Fatherland from the enemy. The army with the king also spent these three days in fasting and prayer, crying out for help to the all-powerful Intercessor. You can judge how fiery this prayer was, when everyone prayed not only for their own lives, but at the same time for the existence of the entire Fatherland, for the salvation of the faith itself and the Orthodox Church. And the hope of faith was not put to shame! One morning (it was on this day), Tamerlane, rising from sleep, gathers his generals and orders them to immediately begin a retreat, because the further path is blocked and completely imprisoned (closed). “Who could turn him on?” - ask the Tamerlanov leaders. “The sky,” responds Tamerlane. – Last night in a dream I imagined a Woman coming from the heights of heaven, accompanied by the darkness of those invincible warriors. Her menacing appearance showed that She was very angry with me, and her outstretched right hand apparently sanctified the path to Moscow. “Don’t blame me for lack of faith,” the warrior continued, “I myself believed the vision not before it was repeated three times. Now there is no doubt: the will of heaven must be accomplished.” And it was done. The cloud of barbarians disappeared from the face of the Russian land even more quickly than it appeared on it. Persecuted by no one, for no apparent reason, the formidable conqueror rushed back to new battles and conquests in Asia. Everyone in the camp, from the king to the last warrior, was perplexed about what had happened, but this surprise turned into universal joy and gratitude when they learned about Tamerlane’s wondrous vision. The icon of the Vladimir Mother of God has since remained in the throne city, as a guarantee of peace and security of the Fatherland, and this day has become a day of national triumph for all centuries. Yes, brothers, one cannot help but fall to the ground in a grateful spirit before the Mother of God, thinking about what would have happened to our Fatherland if Tamerlane’s terrible cloud had not been turned away from it by Her wondrous intercession. The current prosperity of Russia would still be delayed for centuries; and who knows?.. Maybe the sword of the conqueror would have put an end to our very existence as a state. Therefore, it is worthwhile and righteous to sing and magnify our Heavenly Intercessor, especially since this is not the only time She has revealed herself to be the patroness of our Fatherland. For always, as soon as our natural strength and means abandoned us, as soon as we approached the very edge of disasters and lost all hope except hope for help from above, the Mother of God showed Her wondrous help, so that the story of the past fate of our Fatherland is at the same time an image of the miracles created for it by the Mother of God. And our country, as you know, is spiritually adorned with more than one of the wondrous images of Her face. Who has not worshiped, for example, the Mother of God of Akhtyrskaya?.. Some of you, perhaps, have even seen beneficial signs from Her miraculous face, which, without a doubt, appeared among our country, so that we could more conveniently resort to the Heavenly Intercessor for help in all our troubles and circumstances. Isn’t it a sin after this that some of us sometimes become too despondent during difficult circumstances and think that they are left in this life to chance? How are they abandoned when the Mother of God Herself so visibly approaches us, when she leaves, so to speak, heaven, in order to live among us, accept our prayers and give us help and consolation? If She does not deliver us from all evils and disasters, it is because for many of us, disasters and sorrows are much more useful than the joys and pleasures of earthly things. Yes, my brothers, everyone should firmly remember this truth, that the spirit of piety, the spirit of faith and virtue grows in us and is strengthened not by worldly riches and sweets, but by tears and patience for God. That is why the Lord allows only a few of us to have much, while the majority are destined to spend their lives in labor and hardship. Couldn't He make everyone rich and famous? Maybe, no doubt, but he doesn't want to. Why doesn't he want to? Is it really due to lack of love for us? But is it possible to assume a lack of love for us in the One who laid down His soul for us all on the cross? No, having destined us not for earth, but for heaven, He sees that earthly happiness would be ruinous for us; some would be delayed on the way to the Heavenly Fatherland, others would be completely blinded and seduced from this path; That’s why it leaves us in need and poverty, which, like strict guards, guard us from worldly temptations. Now we are burdened by this condition, and would gladly exchange it for luxury and contentment in everything; but when we are there, when we return to Him, to the Father’s house, then we will understand how well the Wisdom of God did in not allowing us to enjoy happiness on earth; let us understand and thank the Lord for the very thing that makes us cry and sigh now. Amen. Word on the day of the appearance of the Akhtyrka Icon of the Mother of God For more than a century now, this day has become sacred and joyful not only for this city, but also for our entire country. We do not know what attracted the Queen of Heaven to dwell in this wondrous face; whether the misfortunes of the country, which was then still open to the wild Tatar hordes, or the simple and pure morals of our ancestors; Only She apparently established Her settlement here, and with it a refuge for all the mourning and burdened. What a large gathering it would be if everyone were now to appear here, having received help from the wondrous face of the Lady! What a majestic word would come out of itself in praise of Her if each of them told only how he suffered in soul and body, and how he found an end to his suffering here! Let us thank our Heavenly Benefactor not only for Her signs and wonders revealed in this place, but also for Her long-suffering towards our spiritual ailments. For what does She see, being between us for such a long time? Does she even see part of that purity, that faith and love with which She is surrounded in Heaven - with the Son and Her God? Ah, with Her presence among us, it would be fitting for us to be like the inhabitants of heaven! But we are as if She were not among us at all. The same coldness towards sacred objects, the same negligence about the salvation of one’s soul, the same blind attachment to worldly vanity, the same intemperance and pride. The Most Pure One sees all this, suffers from our impurities and untruths, but does not leave Her place; He sees how one approaches Her with unbelief, another with carnal impurity, a third with a soul insatiable for the offense of his neighbor, and allows everyone to kiss His most pure face. Would She not have enough means to repel the unworthy, to defeat the hard-hearted, to cast down the unrepentant?.. But She covers everything with Her love, endures everything and benefits everyone. Why?.. Because he expects our repentance and correction. Like Her Son and Her God, She came to us in Her visible face not to judge, but to save us; therefore, he does not use any other means to attract us, except grace and mercy. Shall we, my brothers, abuse this love and this long-suffering? Whoever did not now know how to bring purity of heart and life as a gift to the Lady for the sake of Her celebration, take this purity from Her face. Whoever came to this church, bound hand and foot by some passion - love of money, carnality or enmity, now break these bonds in Her presence. Our Lady Herself will give him the strength of spirit; If only we had the determination to do so. Other miracles, for example, healing from illnesses, can be performed by Her through our prayers, but they may not be performed - for our own good, for sometimes illness is more beneficial for us than health. And this miracle, that is, the healing of the soul from sinful passion, whatever it may be, is such that the Mother of God, if we pray to Her for it, cannot help but perform it, for this is necessary for our salvation. But, alas, we usually worry only about what concerns our body and our power, and we place our passions and sins at nothing! Prayers to the Mother of God for deliverance from troubles are constantly heard here - but what kind?.. Bodily and sensory. They ask for health, they ask for success in enterprises, they ask for earthly blessings, but does anyone ask for liberation from sin? Do they ask for faith, repentance, humility, love for enemies? These petitions would gladden the heart of the Mother of God, but She does not hear them from us!.. Let's stop being like children. We have a suffering body, but we also have a soul that suffers from sins. We have a need for earthly blessings, but even more - for Heavenly blessings. Let us not be so devoted to the physical and temporal that we do not remember the spiritual and eternal. Let us give the Mother of God the joy of healing our soul along with our body, which is too cheap only for us foolish ones, but for Her and Her Son a hundred times more valuable than all our offerings and gifts. Amen. You might be interested in: