Беседа 6. О Серафимах

1. As soon as we swam across the sea of ​​conversation about Uzziah, we barely swam across, not because of the length of the journey, but because of your curiosity, sailing with us. Likewise, the helmsman, having curious companions who want to see foreign cities, does not make the journey in one day, even if the distance is only one day, but is forced to spend more time on this, sailing to each pier, allowing him to enter each city in order to somehow satisfy the desires of those sailing with him. We did the same, sailing not near the islands, showing not the shores, piers and cities, but the virtues of righteous men and the carelessness of sinners, the shamelessness of the king and the boldness of the priest, the wrath of God and His love for mankind, of which both served to correct. But since we have finally reached the royal city, we will no longer hesitate, but having arranged ourselves as intending to enter the city, we will thus ascend to the mountain capital, Jerusalem, the mother of us all, the free city, where are the Seraphim, where are the Cherubim, where are thousands of Archangels, where are thousands of thousands of Angels, where is the Royal Throne. Let none of the uninitiated and wicked be present here, because we intend to begin the mysterious narratives, let none of the unclean and unworthy to hear about this; or better - let everyone be present, both the uninitiated and the wicked, only let them leave all uncleanness and depravity outside and thus enter here. So the man who had unclean clothes was thrown out of the wedding house and the sacred chamber by the groom's father, not because he had unclean clothes, but because he entered having them; He did not say to him, “Why don’t you have a wedding garment?” but, “How did you come here not wearing a wedding garment?” (Matthew 22:12). You stood, he says, at the crossroads, asking for alms, and I was not ashamed of your poverty and did not turn away from your despicable state, but, having saved you from all humiliation, brought you into the sacred chamber, honored you with a royal supper and showed the highest honor to you, worthy of extreme punishment; and you did not become better because of your good deeds, but remained with the usual vice, dishonoring the marriage, insulting the groom; go away now and suffer due punishment for such insensitivity. So let each of us be careful not to hear the same words, and, abandoning all thoughts unworthy of spiritual teaching, let him thus participate in the Holy Meal. “In the year of the death of King Uzziah,” says the prophet, “I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and exalted.” How he saw, I don’t know; what he saw he said; but when he saw it, he kept silent about it; I accept what is said, but I am not curious to know what is not said; I understand what is revealed, but I do not examine what is hidden; That is why it is hidden. The explanation of the Scriptures is a cloth of gold, its warp is gold, its thread is gold; I do not mix arachnoid tissues; I know the weakness of my thoughts. “Do not move,” says the Wise One, “the old boundary that your fathers set” (Proverbs 22:28). It is not safe to rearrange the limits; and how do we rearrange what God has assigned to us? Do you want to know how the prophet saw God? Be a prophet yourself. But how, you say, is this possible for me, who has a wife and cares about raising children? Perhaps, if you want, beloved. And this prophet had a wife and was the father of two children, but nothing like that was an obstacle for him. Truly, marriage does not serve as an obstacle to the procession to heaven. If he were an obstacle and the wife were the cause of our misfortunes, then God, having first created her, would not have called her a helper. I wanted to say what it means to be “grayed” by God. God does not sit, because this is the position of the body, and the Divine is incorporeal. 2. I wanted to say what the “Throne” of God means. God is not encompassed by the Throne, because the Divinity is unlimited. But I am afraid that, by talking about this in conversation, I will not be slowed down in paying my debt. I see that everyone wants to hear about the Seraphim, and not just today, but from the first day; therefore my word, passing, as it were, through a crowd of people, through a multitude of thoughts that meet it with great aspiration, hurries towards this narrative. “The Seraphim stood around Him,” says the prophet (Is. 6:2). Here are the Seraphim whom you all have long wanted to see. Look, satisfy your desire, but without confusion and without haste, as happens during royal exits. There it happens out of necessity; the spearmen do not wait until the spectators have seen enough, but before they have a good look at everything, they force them to leave; but here it is not so, but the word presents us with a spectacle until you consider everything that can be considered. "The Seraphim stood around Him". Before the dignity of their nature, the prophet showed us their dignity by the proximity of their location. He did not say before what the Seraphim were, but he said where they stood. The latter shows their dignity greater than the former. Why? Because the greatness of these forces is not so much proven by the fact that they are Seraphim, but by the fact that they stand near the Royal Throne. And we consider those of the spearmen to be the most famous, whom we see walking near the royal chariot itself. So, of the incorporeal forces, those are lighter that are located near the Throne itself. Therefore, the prophet, not speaking about the dignity of their nature, tells us in advance about the advantage of their location, knowing that this is their highest decoration, that this is the beauty of those creatures. Truly, this is glory, and honor, and all security, to appear near this Throne. The same can be seen regarding Angels. Christ, wanting to show their greatness, did not say that they were Angels, and then fell silent, but said: “Their angels in heaven always see the face of My Heavenly Father” (Matthew 18:10). Just as there the highest sign of the dignity of the angels is that they see the face of the Heavenly Father, so here the highest sign of the dignity of the Seraphim is that they stand around the Throne, and he is in the midst of them. But this is a great dignity and you can get it if you want. The Lord is in the midst not only of the Seraphim, but also of ourselves, if we want. “For where two or three,” He says, “are gathered in My name, there I am in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20); and it is also said: “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and will save the humble in spirit” (Ps. 33:19). That is why Paul cries: “Set your mind on things above,... where Christ sits at the right hand of God” (Col. 3:1-2). Do you see how he placed us together with the Seraphim, bringing us close to the Royal Throne? The prophet further says: “Each of them has six wings.” What do these six wings show us? The height, sublimity, lightness and speed of these creatures. That is why Gabriel descends with wings, not because this incorporeal force had wings, but as a sign that he descended from the highest regions, leaving the heavenly abodes. What does the number of wings mean? There is no need for our interpretation here, because the word itself has explained itself by describing to us their use. “With two,” he says, “everyone covered his face,” and rightly so: with them, as if with some kind of double fence, they blocked their views, because they could not stand the brilliance emanating from this glory. “And he covered his feet with two,” perhaps because of the same amazingness. Likewise, we usually, when overwhelmed by some kind of horror, cover our body on all sides. What am I saying about the body, when the soul itself, having felt the same during extraordinary phenomena and concentrating its activity, flees into the depths, protecting itself on all sides with the body, as if with some kind of cover? However, when hearing about amazement and horror, let no one think that they are in some kind of unpleasant fear; with this amazement there is also a certain immeasurable pleasure. “And I flew with two.” And this serves as a sign that they constantly strive for high things and never look down. “And they called to one another and said, Holy, Holy, Holy” (Isaiah 6:3). And their appeal also serves as the greatest sign of their surprise for us; they not only chant, but very loudly, and not only loudly, but they do it constantly. Light bodies, even if they are extremely light, usually strike us only when we turn our gaze to them for the first time; and when we look at them longer, out of habit we cease to be surprised, since our eyes take a closer look at these bodies. Therefore, seeing the royal image, just exposed and shining with bright colors, we are surprised; but after one or two days we are no longer surprised. What am I saying about the royal image, when we experience the same thing in relation to the sun's rays, brighter than which there is no body? Thus habit destroys wonder towards all bodies; but in relation to the glory of God this is not the case, but quite the opposite. The more those powers contemplate this glory, the more they are amazed and the more amazed; therefore, from the very time they began to exist, until now, contemplating this glory, they have never ceased to exclaim in amazement; what we experience for a short time when lightning flashes before our eyes, they experience this constantly, and incessantly feel surprise with some pleasure. Moreover, they not only call out, but do it mutually to each other, which serves as a sign of extreme amazement. So we, when thunder roars or the earth shakes, not only jump up and exclaim, but also run to each other’s houses. The Seraphim do the same; That’s why they cry to each other: “Holy, holy, holy.” 3. Did you recognize this appeal? Is it ours, or the seraphim? Both ours and the seraphim’s, because Christ destroyed the mediastinum of the fence, reconciled the heavenly and earthly, and “made both one” (Eph. 2:14). Previously this song was sung only in heaven; but when the Lord deigned to descend to earth, he brought this chant to us. Therefore, this great high priest, appearing before the Holy Table, performing verbal service, offering the Bloodless Sacrifice, not only calls us to this doxology, but having said the Cherubic hymn in advance and mentioning the Seraphim, he thus commands everyone to raise this terrible proclamation, so that by reminding us of the creatures singing with us, we can raise our minds from the earth, and, as it were, calls out to each of us: you sing with the Seraphim; stand with the Seraphim, spread your wings with them, fly with them near the Royal Throne. And is it surprising that you stand together with the Seraphim, when God has allowed you to approach safely what the Seraphim do not dare to touch? “Then,” says the prophet, “one of the Seraphim came to me, and in his hand he had a burning coal, which he took with tongs from the altar” (Is. 6:6). That altar is the image and likeness of this altar, that fire is of this spiritual fire. But Seraphim did not dare to touch him with his hand, but touched him with tongs; you accept it with your hand. So, if you look at the dignity of the gifts offered, they are much higher than the touch of the Seraphim; and if you imagine the humanity of your Master, then the grace offered is not ashamed to descend to our humble state. Therefore, imagining this and thinking about the greatness of the gift, man, rise someday, retreat from the earth, ascend to heaven. But, you say, the body attracts and pulls down? But the days of fasting come, which give light wings to the soul and make the burden of the flesh light, even if they find the body heavier than any lead. However, let’s talk about fasting later, and now let’s talk about the sacraments for which fasts are established. Just as in the Olympic Games the goal of wrestling is the crown, so the goal of fasting is pure communion; and if during such days we do not fulfill this, then, having exhausted ourselves in vain and in vain, we will leave the field of fasting without crowns and rewards. For this reason, the fathers extended the field of fasting and gave us a time of repentance, so that we, having cleansed and washed ourselves, would thus proceed to the sacrament. That is why I now, with a loud voice, cry out, testify, ask and beg - not with impurity, not with a vicious conscience, to approach this Sacred Meal, because otherwise it will not be an approach and communion, even if we touch the Holy Body a thousand times, but condemnation, torment and increased punishment. So, let no sinner approach, or better, I will not say: no sinner, because in this case I excommunicate myself first from the Divine Table, but let no one approach while remaining a sinner. For this reason, I am now already saying this in advance, so that when the royal feast comes and that sacred supper comes, no one can say: I came unprepared and naked; it was necessary to say this first; If I had heard about this before, then, of course, I would have changed, of course I would have purified myself, and thus would have begun. Therefore, so that no one can refer to such an excuse, I now testify in advance and urge them to show great repentance. I know that we are all guilty, and no one can boast that he has a pure heart. But it’s not that it’s hard that we don’t have a pure heart, but that, not having a pure heart, we don’t resort to the One who can make it pure. He can, if he wants, or better - He wants us to be pure much more than we do, but he expects at least a small reason from us in order to crown us more reliably. Who was more sinful than the publican? But only because he said: “God, be merciful to me a sinner,” he came out justified more than the Pharisee (Luke 18:13). What power could these words have? But it was not the words that purified him, but the disposition with which he said these words, or better, not only the disposition, but even before that, God’s love for mankind. 4. What great work, tell me, what work, what feat for a sinner to convince himself that he is a sinner and say this before God? Do you see how it was not in vain that I said that God wants to get at least a small reason from us, and then He Himself does everything for our salvation? Let us repent, let us grieve, let us cry. When someone loses his daughter, he often spends most of his life in tears and sobs; but we have lost our souls and do not cry; have we lost our salvation, and we do not lament? What am I saying about the soul and salvation? We have irritated the Lord, so Meek and Good, and are not hiding in the ground? Truly, with His care for us He surpasses all benevolence of not only a caring ruler, but also a loving father and a child-loving mother. “Will a woman forget her suckling child,” says the prophet, “so as not to have compassion on the son of her womb? But even if she forgot, I will not forget you” (Is. 49:15). This saying is true even without proof, because it is God’s; however, we will now present evidence from cases. Rebekah once ordered her son to anticipate the blessing with a feigned image, dressed him well from all sides and gave him the appearance of a brother; but seeing that he was not encouraged at the same time, and wanting to destroy all fear in her son, she said: “Let there be a curse on me” (Gen. 27:13); words truly characteristic of a mother, flaming with love for her son. But Christ not only said, but also did it, not only promised, but also showed in practice, as Paul clearly says: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us” (Gal. 3:13). And we irritate Him? Isn’t this more unbearable, tell me, than Gehenna itself, the undying worm and the unquenchable fire? So, when you intend to approach the Sacred Meal, then keep in mind that the King of all is also present there, because He is truly present, knowing the thoughts of everyone, and sees who approaches with proper holiness and who with a vicious conscience, with unclean and nasty thoughts, with lawless deeds. If He finds someone like this, He first submits him to the judgment of conscience; then, if he comes to his senses through his own reflections and becomes better, He accepts him again; if he remains incorrigible, he finally falls into His hands, like an ungrateful and unappreciative one. And what does it feel like - listen to Paul, who says: “It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb. 10:31). I know that these words are unpleasant; but what should I do? If I do not apply bitter medicine, the wounds will not be eradicated; and when I apply something bitter, you cannot bear the pain. I feel cramped on all sides. However, it is necessary to hold your hand; What has been said is enough to correct those who are attentive. And so that it benefits not only you, but also others through you, let us now repeat this briefly. We talked about Seraphim; showed how great the dignity is to stand near the Royal Throne; also that people can acquire this dignity; they talked about their wings, about the unapproachable power of God and about His condescension towards us; they also talked about the reason for their proclamation and constant surprise and about how, with unceasing contemplation, the praise of the Seraphim is unceasing; reminded you in which choir we are included and with whom we sing together the common Master; they added a few words about repentance, and finally showed how great an evil it is to approach the sacraments with a corrupt conscience, and how impossible it is to avoid punishment for someone who remains incorrigible. Let the wife learn this from her husband, and the son from the father, and the servant from the master, and the neighbor from the neighbor, and from each other, and let us even talk about this with our enemies, because we will have to give account for their salvation. If we are commanded even to raise their fallen animals and save and return those who have gone astray (Ex. 23:5), then how much more must we convert their lost soul and restore their fallen soul. If in this way we arrange the affairs of ourselves and our neighbors, then we will be able to stand with boldness before the judgment seat of Christ, with whom to the Father, with the Holy and Life-giving Spirit, be glory, honor, power, now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen. You might be interested in: