Беседа 1. Похвала тем, которые пришли в церковь; о благочинии при славословиях, и на слова пророка Исаии: «Видел я Господа, сидящего на престоле высоком и превознесенном» (Ис.6:1)

1. I see that you are trying with great zeal to put into practice what was said to you before. That is why I, without laziness, sow the seeds of teaching, feeding on good hope. A farmer, even with difficulty in sowing seeds, when he sees the land fruitful and the harvest abundant, forgets about previous labors and is encouraged to further cultivate and preserve (the fruits) the expected benefits. But how much more fruitful and useful this agriculture is! That, producing an abundance of sensual fruits, supplies food to the bodies; and this, sowing verbal teaching and multiplying the gifts of the Spirit, collects spiritual wealth, food that is not destroyed, does not decay, is not destroyed, does not spoil over time, but is preserved by ineffable Providence and contains spiritual pleasure. This is the fruit of my labors; this is wealth reserved for your love. Seeing it multiply in you, I constantly rejoice, as one who sows seeds not in vain, as one who bears labors not in vain, as one who sows on fruitful, fat land capable of bearing fruit. How do I conclude that there is such benefit? How do I see that my words are applied to action? From this very real meeting, from the fact that you diligently attend the mother of all - the church, from this all-night and continuous standing, from the fact that you, imitating the faces of angels, bring constant praise to the Creator. O gifts of Christ! In heaven the angelic hosts praise; on earth, people, forming faces in churches, imitate their doxology; in heaven the Seraphim cry out the Trisagion hymn; on earth many people sing the same song; a common triumph of heavenly and earthly beings is formed, one gratitude, one delight, one joyful rejoicing. It was arranged by the ineffable condescension of the Lord; it was composed by the Holy Spirit; the harmony of its sounds is coordinated by the favor of the Father; from above it has the rhythm of its members and, moved by the Trinity, as if by some kind of plectrum (a plectrum was an instrument made of gold, silver or ivory, with which, while playing a stringed musical instrument, the player struck the strings), produces a sweet and blissful melody, an angelic song, unceasing harmony. This is the consequence of the local zeal; This is the fruit of our meeting! That is why I rejoice when I see such splendor; I rejoice, seeing joy in your souls, spiritual joy, joy in God. Nothing makes our life more joyful than having fun in church. In the church there is joy preserved for those who rejoice, in the church there is consolation for those who are sad, in the church there is joy for those who mourn, in the church there is rest for the weary, in the church there is rest for the weary. “Come to Me,” said the Lord, “all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). What could be more desirable than this appeal? What's nicer than this invitation? The Lord who calls you in church calls you to a feast, invites you to rest instead of work, returns you to peace after sorrow, easing the burden of sins, healing despondency with pleasure and sadness with joy. Oh, ineffable care, heavenly calling! Let us hasten, beloved, both to show zeal and to fulfill it with proper decorum and disposition. About this I now want to tell you a word, apparently hard, but truly not hard and useful. This is what child-loving fathers do: they offer their children not only what brings joy for a short time, but also what causes sorrow, and they instill in them not only what is immediately beneficial, but also what seems difficult, but turns out to be salutary in execution, and this latter is taught with special zeal and persistently demanded of them to observe. We offer such a word so that we do not work here in vain, so that, having accepted the need for vigil, we do not struggle without reason, so that the sounds scattered in the air do not sound more harmful than beneficial. And a merchant, carrying out distant trade and exposed to strong currents of winds and disturbances of waves, would not endure such difficulties in vain and without benefit; but for this reason he cuts the seas, and ventures into danger, and moves from place to place, and spends whole nights without sleep, in order to gain profit from his trade. And if this had not been the case, but instead of profit his capital would have been spent, then he would neither leave his place nor expose himself to such various dangers. 2. Knowing this, let us come here with proper reverence, so that instead of remission of sins we do not multiply them and thereby return home. What do we want and demand? So that when you offer up divine chants, you will be imbued with great fear and adorned with reverence, and thus offer them up. Among those present here there are people whom, I think, your love does not know, who, not honoring God and considering the sayings of the Spirit to be ordinary, make discordant sounds and behave no better than those who are raging, hesitating and moving their whole body and showing morals that are alien to spiritual vigilance. Pathetic and unfortunate! You must offer up the angelic praise with amazement and awe, make a confession before the Creator with fear, and through this ask for forgiveness of sins; and you bring here the customs of jesters and dancers, uglyly stretching out their arms, jumping with their legs and making faces with their whole body. How are you not afraid and trembling when you boldly listen to such sayings? Don't you know that the Lord himself is invisibly present here, measuring everyone's movements and testing conscience? Don't you know that Angels stand before this Terrible Table and surround it with fear? But you do not understand this, because what you heard and saw at the spectacles has darkened your mind, and what is done there you bring into church rituals, revealing the disorder of your soul with meaningless cries. How will you ask for forgiveness of your sins? How can you bow to the mercy of the Lord by offering prayer so casually? You say: “Have mercy on me, O God,” but you yourself reveal a disposition that is contrary to mercy. You cry out: “Save me,” but you yourself take on an appearance that is alien to salvation. Will hands constantly raised upward and moving randomly, and a strong cry produced by a tense breath of air, but having no meaning, help prayer at all? Are such actions not typical of dissolute women encountered at crossroads or shouting at spectacles? How dare you mix demonic jokes with the angelic praise? How are you not ashamed of the saying that you pronounce here: “Work for the Lord with fear and rejoice in Him with trembling” (Ps. 2:11)? Does this mean: “working with fear” in order to act unbridled and with tension and not know what you are talking about with the random sounds of your voice? This is a sign of contempt, not fear, insolence, not humility; This is more characteristic of those who utter jokes than those who glorify. What does it mean: “Work for the Lord with fear”? This means: fulfilling every commandment, do it with fear and trembling, offer prayers with a contrite heart and a humble mind. And not only “work with fear,” but also “rejoice with trembling,” the Holy Spirit commands through the prophet. Since fulfilling a commandment usually brings joy to those who practice virtue, then, he says, it is necessary to indulge in it with fear and trembling, so that we, forgetting from fearlessness, do not ruin our works and offend God. But how is it possible, you say, to rejoice with trepidation? These two feelings cannot be together at the same time, being very different from each other. Joy is the satisfaction of desires, enjoyment of the pleasant, oblivion of the unpleasant; and fear is an exaggeration of expected disasters and occurs in a despairing conscience. How can one “rejoice... with fear,” and not just with fear, but also “with trembling,” which is increased fear and a sign of great anxiety? How do you say this can be? This is taught to you by the Seraphim, who actually perform such service. They enjoy the ineffable glory of the Creator and contemplate the incomprehensible beauty - I don’t say what it is in its very essence (because it is incomprehensible, invisible, unimaginable, and it would be absurd to think about it like that), but as much as they can, as much as they are able to be enlightened by these rays. They constantly serve around the Royal Throne, are in constant joy, in eternal joy, in unceasing pleasure, admiring, rejoicing, incessantly praising. To stand in the face of this glory and be enlightened by the light that comes from it is their joy, delight, joy, glory. Perhaps you too felt some pleasure and a desire for this glory awoke in you. 3. If you want to obey the admonitions and perform real doxology with reverence, then you will not be deprived of this joy, because it is one and the same Lord, glorified in heaven and on earth. “The whole earth is full of His glory!” (Isa.6:3). How do the Seraphim, enjoying such joy, combine it with fear? Listen to what the prophet says: “I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up.” Why did he, having said: “high,” add: “and exalted”? Wasn’t it enough to use the word “high” to explain everything and show the superiority of dignity? Why did he add: “and exalted”? In order to show the incomprehensibility of the seat. Since among us the word “high” inspires the idea of comparing something with distant and low objects - for example, mountains are called high in relation to the plains and valleys of the earth, and the sky is called high because it exceeds everything on earth - and the word: “exalted” and exalted refers only to one incomprehensible Being, Whom cannot be comprehended or explained, then he said: “I saw the Lord sitting on a throne high and exalted." And what else have you seen, prophet? What did you see around Him? “Around Him,” he says, “stood the Seraphim” (Is. 6:2). What did they do and what did they say? What boldness did they have? They did not have, he says, any boldness, but were filled with fear and amazement, and by their very appearance they showed inexpressible awe. “Everyone covered his face with two (wings)” both to protect himself from the light emanating from the Throne, because they could not bear His unbearable glory, and to express the reverence that they had for the Lord. They rejoice in such joy, they admire such joy, and yet they cover not only their faces, but also their feet. Why do they do this? They rightly cover their faces because of the terrible sight, because they cannot look at the inaccessible glory; but why do they cover their legs? I would like to leave it to you to try to decide this for yourself and awaken to the study of spiritual things; but so that leaving your mind occupied with such research does not cause you to be inattentive to the admonition, I consider it necessary to explain this myself. Why do they cover their legs? They try to express their boundless reverence for the Creator, wanting to show great embarrassment with their appearance, their voice, their gaze, and their very position. But since they do not achieve what they want and need in this way, then, closing themselves on all sides, they cover up the rest. Did you understand what was said, or do you need to repeat it again? However, for greater clarity, I will try to illustrate this with examples that happen in our country. Whoever stands before the earthly king tries by all means to express his great respect to him in order to thereby gain greater favor from him. For this purpose, he tries to show such respect by the appearance of his head, and his voice, and the folding of his hands, and the positioning of his legs, and the position of his entire body. The same thing happens with those ethereal forces. Feeding great reverence for the Creator and trying to express it in everything, but not achieving what they want, they cover what does not correspond to their desire with a veil. That is why it is said that they cover their faces and their feet. Another more mysterious view regarding this can be presented: this is said not because they really have legs and faces (they are incorporeal, like the Divine), but in order to show that they serve the Lord with all humility, fear and reverence. This is how we should stand, bringing praise to Him with fear and trembling and, as it were, contemplating Him with the eyes of our minds. Truly, He himself is present here, indescribable by any place, and notes the voices of everyone. Then, sending up praise to Him with a contrite and humble heart, we will make it favorable and lift it to heaven like fragrant incense. “A broken and humble heart,” says Scripture, “God will not despise” (Ps. 50:19). But, you will say, the prophet commands to perform praise with an exclamation: “Shout,” he says, “to the Lord, all the earth” (Ps. 65:1). And we prohibit not such an exclamation, but a senseless cry, not a voice of praise, but a voice of outrage, amplified shouts in front of each other, vain and vain raising of hands in the air, stamping of feet, ugly and obscene customs that are characteristic of those engaged in jokes at spectacles and lists. From there these bad habits are brought to us, from there these irreverent and common cries, from there obscene hand movements, quarrels, competitions, disorderly morals. 4. Indeed, nothing produces inattention to the sayings of God more than admiration for the ideas there. Therefore, I often suggested that none of those who come here, listen to the Divine teaching and partake of the Terrible and Mysterious Sacrifice, should go to those spectacles and not confuse the Divine sacraments with the demonic. But some are so distraught that, even having a reverent appearance and having lived to deep gray hair, they still run there, not paying attention to our words and not ashamed of their own age. And when we show them this and convince them to be ashamed of their gray hair and reverence, then what empty and ridiculous answer do they give? There, they say, is an example of future victory and crowns; and from there we receive very great benefit. What are you saying, man? This is an old and deceptive speech. What do you benefit from there? Is it from the countless quarrels and vain and useless curses that turn to the detriment of the speakers, or from the insults, slander and ridicule that the spectators of these performances shower each other with? But, of course, not from them. Or do you benefit from the unruly shouting, the senseless screaming, the rising dust and people pushing, crowding and disingenuous in front of women? But here all the prophets and teachers represent the Lord of the Angels himself, sitting on a high and exalted Throne, dividing rewards and crowns to the worthy and assigning Gehenna and fire to the unworthy; and the Lord himself confirms this. How do you despise that which is fear for conscience, the exposure of deeds, the torment of judgment and the inevitability of punishment, and yet, to recklessly justify your spectacles, you point out the benefits of something from which you suffer irreparable harm? No, I ask and implore you, let us not present excuses for our sins; it is a pretext and a deception that causes harm to ourselves. However, enough about this; It’s time to turn to the previous admonition and, having stated it briefly, put a decent end to the word. Truly, there is not only disorder here, but some other serious illness also prevails. Which one exactly? Those who intend to talk with God and offer praise to Him, then, leaving Him, each chooses a neighbor and begins to talk about the affairs that are happening at home, in the marketplaces, among the people, at spectacles, in the army, how this is arranged and how this is omitted, what is unnecessary in the orders and what is lacking in them, and generally talks here about all public and private affairs. Does this deserve forgiveness? The one talking with the earthly king speaks only about what he would like to hear about and about which he himself proposes questions, but if he dares to mention anything else against his desire, he is subject to severe punishment; and you, talking with the King of kings, Whom the Angels serve with trepidation, leaving the conversation with Him, talk about dirt, about dust, about cobwebs? These are the real things. How will you bear the punishment for such neglect? Who will deliver you from this punishment? But, you say, affairs and management are in a bad situation; We talk a lot about them and worry a lot. What is the reason? Imprudence, you say, of the rulers? It is not the indiscretion of the rulers, but our sinfulness, the consequence of the crime. She ruined things, she brought all disasters, she armed the enemies, she brought us defeat. A series of disasters befell us not from anything else but from this cause. Even if our ruler were some Abraham, even Moses, even David, even the wisest Solomon, even the most righteous of all people, but if we live badly, it is indifferent in relation to the cause of evil. How and in what way? If he were one of the most lawless people and acted recklessly and disorderly, then our own recklessness and disorderliness produced such a ruler, our sins brought such a blow on you. To receive rulers according to our hearts means something other than the fact that we, having sinned in advance, receive such a primate, whether he be from a church person or from a secular rank. On the other hand, even though he was very righteous, and so righteous that he would be equal to the virtue of Moses, his righteousness alone cannot cover the immeasurable sins of his subordinates. This can be clearly seen in the example of Moses himself, who suffered a lot for the Israelites and fervently prayed to God for them so that they would inherit the Promised Land; but since by their own sins they had made themselves unworthy of this promise, his prayer could not change the righteous decree of God, according to which all the people perished in the desert. Meanwhile, who is more righteous than Moses? Or who has more boldness before God? Although the Scripture says that “the prayer of a righteous man accomplishes much” (James 5:16), it is “made with haste,” i.e. facilitated by the repentance and correction of those for whom it is exalted. And for those who have an unrepentant and incorrigible lifestyle, how can it bring help when they themselves hinder this with their actions? 5. But what are we saying about the fact that this happens with the sins of an entire people, when the sin of a few subordinates and often even one exceeds the merits of just rulers? This can also be seen in the people of Israel, who, under the leadership of Moses, entered the land of foreigners and started a war with them, and were subjected to general defeat and extermination when some of them were seduced by those wives. And we see an example of how this happened regarding one thing in Achar, who, having withheld beautiful clothes from what was dedicated to God, brought the wrath of God upon the people. However, perhaps some of those present do not know this event, so it is necessary to briefly talk about it in order to remind those who know and teach those who do not know. This Ahar was one of the men who crossed the Jordan together with Joshua, with that Jesus, who, by the definition of God, was chosen as the successor of Moses and was the likeness and prototype of our true Savior Jesus Christ: just as he led the people of Israel through the Jordan from the desert to the promised land, so our Savior led through holy and saving baptism from the desert of ignorance and idolatry to the Heavenly Jerusalem, to his mother the firstborn, where the abodes of true peace are prepared, where there is a serene and peaceful life. Thus, having led the people through the power of the Commander, he moved towards Jericho and, carrying out this wondrous siege, when the walls were ready to fall, what did he say to the people? “The city will be under a curse, and everything in it will be to the Lord [of hosts]; Only let Rahab the harlot live, she and everyone who is in her house; because she hid the messengers whom we sent; but beware of the accursed, lest you yourself be cursed if you take anything from the accursed, and lest you bring a curse upon the camp of the [sons of] Israel and cause harm to it” (Josh. 6:16-17). Everything that is in the city, he says, is dedicated to God - this precisely means: “cursed” - and therefore let no one steal for himself from what is assigned to the Lord God and destroy us on earth. Such a commandment was dangerous; Great is the severity of God who commanded and of Jesus. How could this law not be violated among so many people, when many circumstances favored it? The inconstancy and greed of the people, or the fact that not everyone heard about the prescribed commandment, or the preciousness of the spoils, which served as a bait and seduced the covetous, could easily prompt them to break the law. And yet such a law was given, and the danger of breaking it hung overhead. What then? The walls fell, and everything that was in the city fell into the hands of the besiegers. But while the whole people kept this commandment, the crime of one brought the wrath of God upon the whole people. “But the children of Israel,” says the Scripture, “committed a [great] crime [and took] from the accursed thing. Achan the son of Charmiah the son of Zabdi the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took from the accursed thing, and the wrath of the Lord was kindled against the children of Israel” (Joshua 7:1). There was only one sinner: how did the children of Israel sin and the Lord was angry with the children of Israel? Do you see how the sin of one brought punishment on the whole people, how it restored God against their entire multitude? So, when a crime was committed and no one knew about it, except God alone, who knows the unseen, then punishment had to follow, and the one who committed the crime, although it seemed to be hiding, was burned by conscience like fire. Finally, the time has come for vengeance and the discovery of sin. “Jesus from Jericho,” says the Scripture, “sent people to Ai, which is near Beth-aven, on the east side of Bethel, and said to them: Go, look around the land. They went and examined Ai. And they returned to Jesus and said to him, “Let not all the people go, but let about two thousand or about three thousand men go and smite Ai; Do not bother the whole people there, for they are few [there]. So about three thousand people went there from the people, but they fled from the inhabitants of Ai; the inhabitants of Ai killed up to thirty-six of them, and pursued them from the gate to Sevarim and defeated them on the descent from the mountain; wherefore the heart of the people melted and became like water” (Joshua 7:2–5). 6. Look at the consequences of one sin, look at the unhealed wound. One sinned, but death and horror strike the whole people. What is this, Good Lord? You alone are righteous and Your judgments are righteous; You reward everyone according to his own deeds; You said, O Lover of Mankind, that everyone will die for his own sin, and the other will not be punished instead of the one. What does this righteous decree of Yours mean? All Your works, O Lord, are good and very good and work out for our benefit. Sin, He answers, is a kind of infection; Therefore, let him be put to shame through the punishment of all, so that they, having learned what harm one crime caused, will avoid eternal punishment for greater sins. So, Jesus, seeing the incomprehensible flight, tore his clothes, fell to the ground and uttered those mournful words that the Divine Scripture sets forth. What does the Lord say to him? “The Lord said to Jesus: Arise, why did you fall on your face? Israel has sinned, and they have transgressed My covenant which I commanded them; and they took from the accursed thing, and stole, and hid, and put it among their things; therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies and turned their backs to their enemies, for they fell under the spell; I will no longer be with you, unless you destroy the accursed thing from among you” (Joshua 7:10–12). This was announced to the people; the criminal is identified by God and confesses. “In answer to Joshua,” says the Scripture, “Achan said: Indeed, I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel and have done this and that: among the spoils I saw one beautiful Shinarite robe and two hundred shekels of silver and an ingot of gold weighing fifty shekels; I liked it and took it; and behold, it is hidden in the ground in the midst of my tent, and the silver is [hidden] under it” (Joshua 7:20–21). So he revealed everything when he saw that the Witness who pointed this out was not false and that the Witness who exposed him was strong; then look - his shameful and terrible death. “Joshua and all the Israelites with him,” says the Scripture, “took Achan the son of Zarin, and the silver, and the garment, and the ingot of gold, and his sons and his daughters, and his oxen and his donkeys, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had, and they brought them [with everything] to the valley of Achor. And Jesus said, Because you have brought trouble upon us, the Lord will bring trouble upon you this day. And all Israel stoned him, and burned them with fire, and threw stones at them” (Joshua 7:24-25). This is the punishment for the crime; such is the inexorable judgment of God. Knowing this, we will consider the onset of sorrows to be a consequence of our sins, and, daily considering our misdeeds, we will blame not others, but ourselves. It is not only the inattention of rulers, but much more our misdeeds that bring disaster upon us. So, everyone who comes here, let him think about his own sins, and not blame others, and thus, with proper decorum, let him offer real praise. And the decency required of us is, firstly, to approach God with a contrite heart, then to express this disposition of the heart in appearance, standing, decent position of the hands, and a meek and restrained voice. It is easy and possible for anyone. How can this be accomplished by everyone? Let us make it a law for ourselves and say: a generally beneficial commandment is prescribed, and we all must participate in this benefit. Therefore, let us stop the disorderly screams and correct the position of our hands, folding them when lifting up to God, and not raising them with obscene movements. God does not love and rejects this, just as He loves and accepts a meek person. “But this is whom I will look upon,” He says, “the one who is humble and contrite in spirit and who trembles at My word” (Isaiah 66:2)? Let us tell each other: God does not want us to talk with Him and talk together with each other, so that, leaving the conversation with Him, we would talk about real things and desecrate pearls with dirt. He considers this an insult to Himself, and not a praise. If anyone begins to violate this commandment, then we will stop his mouth, pursue him as an enemy of our salvation, and drive him out of the fence of the Holy Church. By doing this, we will easily atone for our previous sins, and the Lord himself will rejoice among us with the holy Angels and distribute crowns to everyone for their deanery. He is philanthropic and generous and rejoices in our salvation; therefore, delighting in our good deeds, He promised the Kingdom of Heaven and participation in eternal life and prepared all blessings, wanting us to inherit them; why may we all be worthy of the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom glory, power, honor and worship are due to the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. You might be interested in: