Беседа XLIV

“And Abraham rose up in the morning and went to the place where he stood before God 420” (Gen. 19:27). 1. Yesterday’s conversation 421 about the Samaritan woman sufficiently showed us the inexpressible long-suffering of the Lord, and His special care for her, and her gratitude. You saw how she, having come to draw sensual water, was filled with Divine streams from a spiritual source, and thus returned home, having fulfilled the saying of the Lord on herself: “The water that I will give him, there will be in him a fountain of water flowing into an eternal belly” (John 4:14). Filled with this Divine and spiritual source, she did not restrain the flows within herself, but from her excess, so to speak, she poured out the grace of the gift given to her onto the inhabitants of the city; and the wife, a Samaritan, a foreigner, suddenly became a preacher. You have seen how important spiritual gratitude is, you have also seen the Lord’s love for mankind, how He does not despise anyone, but even in a woman, even in a poor person, in whom He finds a wakeful and ardent soul, He immediately communicates His grace to him. Therefore, I urge you that we too will imitate this woman and accept with full attention the promptings of the Spirit, because the teaching we set forth does not belong to us and our tongue does not speak from itself what we say, but through us the Lord’s love for mankind works for your benefit and for the building of the Church of God. So, beloved, do not look at me speaking, and at my poverty, but since I offer the words of the Lord, then, directing your mind to the One who sent me, thus accept my words with attention. After all, in human affairs, when a king, wearing a diadem, sends a letter, then, even though the person bringing it in himself had no importance, he was an insignificant person, and sometimes one who cannot count any (important) of his ancestors, himself unknown and of unknown origin - however, those who receive the letter do not pay attention to it, and, for the sake of the royal letter, they give him great honor, and accept the letter from him with great fear and reverence. So, if someone who brings a letter from a person, and, moreover, a simple charter, is accepted from everyone in this way, then all the more in justice you need to accept with full attention the sayings of the Spirit transmitted to you through us, in order to receive your reward for the good disposition of your heart. And the Lord of all, as soon as he sees the readiness of your soul, will send us the most abundant gifts for your edification, and will give you greater understanding so that you can understand the instructions. The grace of the Spirit is abundant and, pouring out on everyone, does not suffer any diminution in itself, but multiplies even more in the very division between many, and the more of those who partake of grace, the more abundant its gifts become. So, if you like, let us turn today to the order of our previous conversations and see where we stopped the word, and where we need to start it today. To what extent did we first bring the word and where did we stop the teaching? We talked with you about Lot and the burning of Sodom, and we stopped talking about how this righteous man was saved in Zoar. “The sun rose upon the earth,” says Scripture, “and Lot went down to Zoar,” and then the wrath of God befell the inhabitants of Sodom and destroyed that land; and the wife of the righteous man, forgetting what the Angels told her and looking back, turned into a pillar of salt and for subsequent generations became forever a monument to her inattention. Today, continuing further, it is necessary for us to talk with your love about something from which you can again see the compassion and love of the forefather (Abraham) and God’s favor towards him. When, at sunrise, the righteous Lot was saved in Zoar, and the inhabitants of Sodom were executed, the forefather, at the same time regretting their destruction, which they suffered for their own iniquities, and being very concerned about the righteous (Lot), went out early in the morning to see what had happened. “And Abraham got up in the morning,” says the Scripture, “and went to the place where he stood before God and looked at the face of Sodom and Gomorrah, and at the face of the surrounding countries, and saw: and behold, a fire rose up from the earth, like the smoke of a furnace” (Gen. 19:27-28). From the place where he had a conversation with the Lord and interceded for the inhabitants of Sodom, he saw traces of this terrible execution and wanted to find out something about Lot. This is the property of holy men that they are always loving and compassionate. And the Divine Scripture, in order to show us how the grace of the Spirit immediately informed him of what he wanted to know about and freed the righteous man from the care that he had about Lot, says: “When the Lord transformed 422 the cities of that country, God will remember Abraham and remove Lot from the midst of the transformation” (Gen. 19:29). What does it mean: “God will remember Abraham”? Of course, the intercession that he expressed with the words: “Do not destroy the righteous with the wicked” (Gen. 18:23). How is it, someone will ask, that the righteous man (Lot) was saved through the intercession of his forefather, and not for his own righteousness? Yes, and at the request of the forefather. When we ourselves deserve it, then the intercession of the righteous brings us great benefit. On the contrary, if we ourselves do not seek, but place all the hope of our salvation on them alone (the righteous), then it will not be better for us, not because the righteous are powerless, but because we are destroying ourselves through our own negligence. 2. And so that you know that when we ourselves do not give, then, even if the righteous or prophets were our intercessors, there is no benefit to us (their virtue is revealed, of course, in this case, but there will be no benefit to us because of our own bad life), listen to how the God of all speaks to the prophet Jeremiah, sanctified from the womb (mother): “You did not pray for these people... for I will not hear you” (Jer. 7:16). Notice the Lord’s love for mankind: He warns the prophet about this so that he, not being heard in his prayers, would not think that this happened because of his own guilt. That is why he reveals to him in advance the wickedness of the people and forbids him to pray (for them), so that the prophet himself would know their extreme wickedness, and they would learn that the prophet will not help them at all if they themselves do not want to do their job. Knowing this, beloved, we will certainly resort to the intercession of the saints and ask them to pray for us, but we will not rely only on their intercession, but we ourselves will properly fulfill our duties and take care of our correction, so that the intercessions (of the saints) for us do not lose their power. Also in another place, the Lord says to the prophet: “You do not see what these people do,... they burn the fat and make unleavened bread 425 for the army of heaven” (Jer. 7:17–18); as if God were saying this: do you pray to Me for such people, who do not lag behind their wickedness, who do not at all feel the illness that overcomes them and live so carefree? Don't you see their extreme negligence? Don't you see their great madness? How are they not yet fed up with wickedness and, like pigs in a swamp, wallowed in their iniquities? If they were disposed to convert, did they not hear constant admonitions? Am I not calling to them through the prophets and saying: “And I commanded her to commit adultery, and yet all 426 of them should return to me, and not return” (Jer. 3:7)? Isn’t that all I demand: that they give up wickedness and stop evil? Do I demand an account for previous deeds; How soon do I see that people want to repent of them? Don’t I cry out every day and say: “I delight in the sinner’s death by will... and not by turning to him... and I will live to be him” (Ezek. 18:23)? Is it not with this goal that I do everything, to deliver those who are carried away by error from destruction? Do I hesitate when I see their appeal? Was it not I who said: “Again I say to you, the river 427: behold, I have come” (Is. 58:9). Do they themselves desire salvation for themselves as much as I care that all people will be saved and come “to the understanding of truth” (1 Tim. 2:4)? Is it really for this reason that I brought you out of non-existence, in order to destroy you? Was it in vain that he prepared the Kingdom (of Heaven) and countless, ineffable blessings? Wasn’t that why he threatened Gehenna, so that at least by this means he could encourage everyone to strive for the Kingdom (Heavenly)? So, blessed prophet, leave them and do not offer prayers to Me for them, but only care about healing their illness, in order to bring them to a sense of their weakness and return them to health; then I will do everything that depends on Me. I do not hesitate or put off when I see a well-disposed soul; I only demand one thing - confession of sins, and after that I no longer subject them to trial. Is this My demand difficult and burdensome? If I did not know that they are becoming worse precisely because they do not confess their previous sins, then I would not have demanded this either. But I know that the human race is very prone to sin; That’s why I want them to confess their previous falls, so that such confession will keep them from falling into the same sins again. Reflecting on this, beloved, and imagining the love of our Lord, let us not be negligent, but first of all and most of all, let us take care of ourselves, cleanse the filth of sin, and then turn to the intercession of the saints. However, if we want to be sober and awake, then our own prayers for ourselves will bring us the greatest benefit. Our Lord loves mankind, and he does not listen so much when others pray to Him for us, as when we ourselves (pray for ourselves). Pay attention to the greatness of His goodness. He sees that we have fallen, been dishonored, and have no boldness (before Him); but when we rebel even a little and decide to resort to the riches of His love for mankind, He immediately heeds our petitions, stretches out His hand to us, the prostrate ones, lifts up the fallen and cries out: “The food that falls does not rise” (Jer. 8:4)? But in order to prove to you from experience that many were more likely to get what they wanted through their own prayers than through the petitions of others, you need to present examples of those who were worthy of this. These examples can also excite us to imitation and competition. Let us listen to how the Canaanite wife, a foreigner, who suffered in spiritual sorrow, when she saw the Physician of souls and the Sun of righteousness shining sitting in the darkness, how, with what zeal, with what fiery zeal she approached Him; and neither the fact that she was a woman, nor the fact that she was a foreigner held her back, but, despising all these obstacles, she approached and said: “Have mercy on me, Lord... my daughter is raging in evil” (Matthew 15:22). But He who knows the innermost thoughts is silent and does not answer, does not honor her words and does not show compassion for a woman’s weakness, seeing her come to Him with such a cry. He hesitates, wanting to reveal the hidden treasure in her to everyone. He saw the hidden treasure (in her) and did not want it to remain unknown to us; That is why he hesitates and does not deign to answer her, so that the great firmness of this woman becomes a lesson for all subsequent births. And look how inexpressible the goodness of God is. “But he,” says Scripture, “did not answer her” (Matthew 15:23). But the disciples, thinking to be more compassionate and more humane than Him, do not dare to say directly: fulfill her request, have mercy on her, have pity on her; but what do they say? “Let her go, as she is crying after us” (Matthew 15:23), as if to say: deliver us from this bother, free us from her cries. What about the Lord? Do you really think, He says, that I am silent for no reason and have not deigned to answer her? Listen: “I was not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 15:24). Don't you know that this woman is a foreigner? Do you not know that I also commanded you not to follow the path of the pagans? Why do you want to show her such compassion without testing? Look at the providential wisdom of God: and then, as He had already deigned to answer (to the woman’s cries), He, with His answer, strikes her even more powerfully than with silence and, as it were, deals a mortal blow to her, wanting little by little to force her to speak out so that the disciples who did not know her would see the faith hidden in her. She did not lose heart, did not weaken in zeal even after she saw that the disciples had not managed to do more than she did, and did not say to herself: if they could not bend (the Lord) with their intercession for me, then why should I use vain efforts? On the contrary, as if burning in fire, with her soul inflamed and her heart torn, she approaches, bowing and saying: “Lord, help me” (Matthew 15:25). But even after that He does not bow to the woman’s prayer, but gives an answer even more cruelly than before: “It is not good,” he says, “to take away the bread of a child and damage it with a dog” (Matthew 15:26). Think, beloved, and marvel here at the strength of this soul and her extraordinary faith: having heard the name of the dog, she was not offended, did not retreat, but with great kindness said: “By the Lord: for even the dogs eat of the grains that fall from the table of their masters” (Matthew 15:27). I confess that I am a dog; honor me, like a dog, with even a grain of the meal. Do you see the woman’s faith and complacency? She took upon herself what was said (by the Lord), and immediately received what she wanted and, moreover, received it with great praise. What did Christ say to her? “O woman, great is your faith: let it be as you wish” (Matthew 15:28). “Oh, woman” - this saying expresses surprise and contains great praise. “You have shown great faith,” he says; and you will have what you desire. See how abundant the mercy of the Lord is and marvel at His wisdom. Could we not have thought at first that He was not compassionate when He rejected her so much and at first did not even deign to answer this woman, and then with His first and second answer He seemed to only drive away from Himself and reject the woman who came to Him with such zeal? But at the end (of the matter) judge the goodness of God. He wanted to glorify that woman, which is why he hesitated to fulfill her request. After all, if He had immediately listened to her, we would not have recognized all the virtue of this woman; and since He hesitated a little, we saw both the inexpressible love of the Lord and her wondrous faith. 4. We considered it necessary to present this entire story so that you know that we manage to get what we want not so much through the intercession of others, but by ourselves, if only we approach with diligence and intense attention. This woman, even having the disciples (of the Lord) as intercessors for herself, could not receive any success until she herself, with her patience, attracted the Lord’s love for mankind. Also, the well-known parable about a friend who came at an untimely night and asked for three loaves of bread suggests the same thing. It says here: “If he rises up and does not give it to him, his friend is not his friend; but because of his recklessness, he rises up and gives it to him, demanding it” (Luke 11:8). So, knowing the ineffable love of our Lord, let us turn to Him, revealing and, as if before our own eyes, presenting each of our sins separately, at the same time asking forgiveness for previous sins, so that, henceforth, showing greater diligence (in good deeds), we will be rewarded with greater His favor. Then let us return, if you like, to the order of our reading. “And Lot went up 428,” says the Scripture, “from Zoar, and sat in the mountain himself, and the two daughters with him: fearing 429 for living in Zoar: and he and his daughters with him dwelt in a cave” (Gen. 19:30). The righteous man, still in great fear of the execution that befell the inhabitants of Sodom, goes far away and settles “in the mountain,” as it is said, with his daughters. He thus remained in complete desert and solitude with only two daughters, settling on a mountain. “Then the oldest said to the youngest: “Our father is old, and there is no one on the earth who will come to us, as the whole earth usually does: Come, let us make our father drunk with wine and sleep with him, and we will raise up seed from our father” (Gen. 19:31-32). With reverence and great fear, beloved, let us listen to the stories of the Divine Scripture. Nothing is written in it without purpose and in vain, but everything is useful and for our good, although we do not understand otherwise, because we cannot know everything exactly, and although we try, as much as we can, to set forth the reasons for some (the stories of Scripture), however, even then there is still much hidden in it, treasures hidden from us and unsearchable. So, see how the Scripture, telling everything with clarity and allowing us to understand the intention of the daughters of the righteous, provides a sufficient justification for them and for the righteous man, so that on the occasion of such an event no one condemns either the righteous man or his daughters, as if such incest occurred from intemperance. How does Scripture justify the daughters of a righteous man? “The speech,” he says, “is from the oldest to the youngest: our father is old, and there is no one on earth who will come to us, as usual throughout the entire earth.” Put your attention to the goal and you will free them from all condemnation. They thought that everything in the world had completely perished and there were no more people left; Moreover, they also saw my father’s old age. So, they say: so that our race does not end and we are not left without a name (and the ancients were most concerned about continuing our family through the succession of generations), - so that we, they say, do not undergo complete destruction, since our father is already inclined to old age, and we have no one to marry, to spread our family and leave behind us a seed - “come then,” one says to the other, so that this does not happen, “let us drink our father wine"; since our father himself will never tolerate even hearing about this 430, we will use deception through wine. “And she made her father drunk with wine that night: and the elder went in, and slept with her father that night: and he knew not when he slept, and when he arose” (Gen. 19:33). Do you see how the Divine Scripture justifies the righteous, and not just once, but also at other times? Firstly, by the fact that the daughters deceived him with the help of wine, it shows that otherwise they could not have persuaded the father to be inclined to such an act; and then what happened, as I think, was arranged from above in such a way that due to deep sleep and darkness from wine, he did not even know what had happened. Thus, he was not condemned. Only those sins subject us to condemnation and punishment that we commit consciously and voluntarily; and about the righteous man, as you see, Scripture testifies that he was completely “ignorant” of what happened. But here again another question arises - regarding intoxication. And everything must be examined so that no pretext (for slander) is left to the unreasonable and shameless. What can we say about this? The fact that he became intoxicated not so much from intemperance as from mental grief. 5. So, let no one dare to condemn the righteous man or his daughters. And wouldn’t it be extreme recklessness and unreasonableness to condemn those whom the Divine Scripture frees from all condemnation and even offers such justification for them, burdened with the immeasurable weight of sins, without listening to the words of the Apostle Paul, who says: “God justifies the one who condemns” (Rom. 8:33-34)? And that this did not happen simply and not without a reason, but the excessive grief of the soul, through the use of wine, brought him to complete insensibility, listen to what (Scripture) further says: “And it came to pass in the morning, and the elder spoke to the youngest: Behold, I slept yesterday with our father: let us make him drunk with wine this night, and go in and sleep with him, and we will raise up seed from our father” ( Gen.19:34). Do you see with what right thought they did this? “And she made her father drunk that night with wine: and the young one went in and slept with her father: and he was foolish, when he slept and when he arose” (Gen. 19:35). Look, beloved, how this whole incident was a work of Divine providence, just as it was with the primordial man. Just as then, during his sleep, God, taking a part from his rib, did it completely insensitively for him and, having created a wife from this rib, brought her to Adam - in the same way it happened this time. And if the taking of the rib was done insensitively (for Adam), since God brought a frenzy into him, then even more so it could be in the present case. And what the Divine Scripture instills there, saying: “And God brought confusion upon Adam, and he succeeded” (Gen. 2:21), the same means here with the words: “And he was foolish, when he slept and when he arose. And the cup,” he goes on to say, “from his father 431.” And the eldest mother gave birth to a son, and called his name Moab, saying, From my father. This father is a Moabite... And the youngest one gave birth to a son, and called his name Ammon, saying: The son of my family. This father is an Ammonite” (Gen. 19:35–38). Do you see that what happened was not the result of intemperance? And they gave names to those born that indicated the event itself, and in the names of the children, as if on some monuments, they inscribed the memory of what happened, and then they foreshadowed that from them and from those born by them nations and numerous descendants would arise. One is said to be the father of the Moabites, and the other the father of the Ammonites. 6. However, then it was still the initial and primitive time (of humanity), and since everyone wanted to preserve the memory of themselves through the continuation of their family, the daughters of the righteous put so much care into this. But now, when by the grace of God the state of faith has risen and, in the words of Blessed Paul, “the form of this world is already passing away” (1 Cor. 7:31), we must leave a memory of ourselves with good deeds, so that even after our departure from here, the excellence of our virtuous life will be a reminder and edification for those who look at us. Those who are virtuous and celibate, not only in this life can bring very great benefit to those who look at them, but also after it. To be convinced of this, look at how many centuries have passed until now, and every time we want to arouse in someone a zeal for chastity, we present as an example the handsome, beautiful, young Joseph, who at his most flourishing age showed such firmness in maintaining chastity, and thus try to encourage listeners to imitate this righteous man. Is it possible, tell me, to be quite amazed at this blessed (husband), who, being in slavery, at the most flourishing age, when the fire of desires is most ignited, and seeing his mistress attacking him in the fury of passion, showed such courage and so firmly decided on the feat of chastity that he ran away from an intemperate woman, having lost his clothes, but retaining the clothes of chastity? And something new and unusual was visible here: the lamb fell into the claws of a wolf, or, better said, a lioness, and was able to escape from her. And just as if a dove escaped death from a hawk, so the righteous man escaped from the hands of that woman. It seems to me not so much surprising that the three youths in the Babylonian cave emerged as conquerors of the fire and that their bodies were not damaged in the least, but rather it is marvelous and extraordinary that this righteous man, thrown into a cave more terrible than the Babylonian one - I’m talking about the lewdness of the Egyptian woman - remained untouched and came out of it, keeping the robe of chastity clean. However, don’t be surprised, beloved; since he, on his part, used all his strength to do this, he had help from above, which assisted him, extinguished that flame and, in the midst of the furnace, gave him dew from the Holy Spirit. Do you see how virtuous people, both while here and after leaving here, are examples for us for our benefit? Now, for this reason, we cited this righteous man (Joseph) as an example, so that everyone would follow him. So, let us all compete with him, we will rise above sensual deceptions and, knowing that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, and against the authorities, and against the rulers of the darkness of this world” (Eph. 6:12), we will arm ourselves in this way. Imagining that we, clothed with a body, are forced to fight with incorporeal forces, we will protect ourselves with spiritual weapons. Since we are clothed with flesh, but we are in battle with invisible forces, the Lord, the Lover of Mankind, has prepared invisible weapons for us, so that with the power of this weapon we can overcome the nature of our opponents. So, trusting in the power of this weapon, let us, on our part, use everything that is necessary: ​​then we will be able, protected by this spiritual armor, to hit the devil in the very face. He cannot endure the lightning emanating from such a weapon, and even if he tries to resist it, his vision is immediately blinded. The grace of the Spirit is sent down in abundance where chastity, honesty and other virtues are combined; That’s why Paul said: “Have peace and holiness with everyone” (Rom.12:18; Heb.12:14). So, I exhort you, let us cleanse our conscience and mind, so that, having freed ourselves from every unclean thought, we may attract the grace of the Spirit to ourselves, defeat the wiles of the devil and be rewarded with the enjoyment of eternal, ineffable blessings, of which may we all be worthy, by the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father, with the Holy Spirit, be glory now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. Zlat. ἐναντίον τοῦ Θεοῦ according to sp. Dorothea; in other Greek sp. according to Heb. t. – Κυρίου – “by the Lord” (Slav. B.) In the previous conversation on the book of Genesis, nothing was said about the Samaritan woman. One must think that between 43 and 44 the conversation on the book of Genesis by St. Chrysostom gave a special discourse about the Samaritan. Zlat.: Κύριον agrees with Alex. and other Greek sp.; in Lucian, according to Heb. t., – τὸν Θέον – “God” (Slav. B.) Zlat.: τὰς πόλεις with the omission πάσας - “all” according to Hebrew. t. and Arab. translation; In Lucian. πάσας is read. Zlat.: θυμιῶσι στέαρ καὶ χαυῶνας ποιοῦσι, expressing the thought of God. words briefly and not entirely in the words of the text, where .. καίουσι πῦρ – “light a fire”... τρίβουσι σταῖς τοῦ ποιῆσαι χαυῶνας – “knead the flour, yes They will make unleavened bread.” Zlat.: Καὶ εῖπον μετὰ τὸ πορνεῦσαι αὐτὴν: Μετὰ ταῦτα πάντα πρός με ἀνάστρεψον; here the saint has a slightly different division of words into sentences than in other editions of the Greek. translations in which the words: μετὰ ταῦτά πάντα are attributed, in accordance with Hebrew. t., to πορνεῦσαι, which is why in the Slavs. B. reads: “and I again ordered him to commit adultery in all of these: turn to Me.” Zlat.: ἐρῶ instead of ἐρεῖ – “speaks”; this change is explained by the fact that Zlat. These words are cited as spoken by God Himself, and in the Bible. text - a prophet. Zlat.: ᾿Ανέβη according to Bodleian., Tsittav. and some other sp. (de Lagarde Gen. gr.); in Alex., Lucian. and many more other sp. – ἐξῆλθε – “from” (Slav. B.) Zlat.: ἐφωβήθησαν according to sp. Dorotheus and others, in Alex., Lucian. and other sp. – ἐφωβήθησαν according to sp. Dorotheus and others, in Alex., Lucian. and other sp. – ἐφωβήθη – “being afraid” (Slav. B.) That is about the intention of the daughters, which is revealed from the subsequent words of Holy Scripture. αί δύο θυγατέρες Λὼτ – “both daughters of Lot” is not read in Zlata. You might be interested in: