Слово в день Успения Пресвятыя Богородицы, произнесенное в Саровской пустыни 15 августа 1857 года.

The day of a person’s death is usually a day of deep sorrow and lamentation. The dying person grieves, being separated from life and from everything that was dear in life. Those around him mourn and lament, saying goodbye to those they knew, whom they loved, and, perhaps, remembering their inevitable fate - there is no time to die. And now, what do we see? Nowadays, the day of the death or dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, serves as the subject of the greatest and most joyful celebration. She triumphs, most blessed among women: on the day of her Dormition, the period of severe earthly suffering ended for Her, when a “weapon” passed through Her very “soul” (Luke 2:35), the time of Her separation from Her beloved Son and Lord ended; from now on She enters into her glory in heaven, which from all eternity no one created has been worthy of—the glory of the Mother of God; from now on She will again behold her Divine Son face to face, behold incessantly, and no longer in extreme humiliation, not on the cross, but in all the majesty of the Divine, on the throne above, at the right hand of God the Father. The whole world, above and below, also triumphs. The one on high meets the One whom he had previously only marveled at from afar, who has become more honorable than the cherub and more glorious than the seraphim without comparison, and from now on will become the Queen of heaven and earth. Dolny accompanies Her with the most joyful hope that “in her dormition” She will not leave the earthly “world”; on the contrary, having ascended to heaven, she will receive an even greater opportunity to see our needs, hear our prayers, and greater boldness and strength to intercede before her Son and God for all earthly beings. Oh, who among us would not wish, brothers, that the day of our death would be like the day of the Dormition of the Mother of God, a day not of sorrow, but of joy and triumph! But in order to become like the Mother of God in death, one must first become like Her in life, one must imitate Her. And, above all, try to imitate Her, you, humble monks, inhabitants of the pious desert! The life of the Mother of God first presents you with a worthy example. You left the world, your relatives and everything that you had in the world, you came to this desert to devote yourself entirely to the Lord, to visit His holy church every day, to strive in fasting, vigil, and prayers. Walk firmly on the path you have chosen, constantly remembering how the Most Holy Virgin, from the age of four, left the world and the shelter of her parents, from the age of four she settled at the Jerusalem temple and there, in complete solitude, spent her days in the sole service of God, in visiting His Holy One. church and prayers, in reading holy books, contemplation of God and other holy activities. Upon entering the monastery, you took a vow of virginity and chastity, physical and spiritual: this very vow was pronounced even before you by She, the Most Pure One, and you know with what accuracy she kept it throughout her entire life! You took a vow of humility and perfect obedience: the extent to which Her humility extended is evident from the fact that even in the moments of the angel’s gospel to Her about the conception of the Son of God from Her, She said: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be unto me according to thy word,” and even after the conception of the God-man, she glorified the Lord solely for this, “because she looked upon the humility of her handmaid” (Luke 1, 38. 46–55). You took a vow of non-covetousness and voluntary poverty: in the midst of poverty, having nothing of your own, the Blessed Virgin was raised at the Temple of Jerusalem for her high destiny; in the midst of a perfect niche she gave birth to her firstborn Son and laid Him in a manger; Among poverty and all kinds of hardships and sorrows, She spent the entire time of His public ministry, and after His death on the cross, “I was given water” as a homeless person. John “to his house” (John 19:27). Thus, even before the beginning of monasticism in the Christian world, the Most Holy Virgin Mary sanctified this kind of life with her own example and showed us all the path of the highest and strictest asceticism. But it is not only monks and hermits who are obliged to imitate the Most Holy Theotokos. All of you, Orthodox Christians, can and should imitate her! Let you not impose a voluntary vow on yourself to renounce the world and live in solitude; but you are all obliged, as Christians, and living in the middle of the world, “not to love the world, not even what is in the world” (1 John 2:15), not to become attached to it with your soul, not to chase after its vain goods and pleasures. May you not make a vow to observe your virginity and remain forever in a celibate state; but you all have a duty to preserve yourself in chastity and purity, both before marriage, and in marriage itself and after marriage (1 Cor. 6:18; 7:4; 1 Thess. 4:3-5), to preserve yourself even from voluptuous thoughts, desires, views (Matthew 5:28). Nor did you bind yourself with a vow of complete renunciation of your own will, unconditional obedience and humility; but the words of the Savior apply to all of you: “Whoever wants to come after me, let him deny himself” (Matthew 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23); “Everyone who exalts himself will humble himself, but he who humbles himself will exalt himself” (Luke 18:14); “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for of them is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). Nor did you take a vow of complete non-covetousness and poverty; but you know that “the love of money is the root of all evil” (1 Tim. 6:10), which Christians should generally avoid, that “covetousness is idolatry” (Col. 3:5), which is absolutely prohibited in Christianity, and that it has been said to all of you: “even if wealth flows, do not apply your heart” (Psalm 61:11). In a word, all of you, brethren, are obliged to observe the law of the Gospel, to live like a Christian; and living according to the Gospel law, you will imitate the Most Holy Virgin Mary, who fulfilled this law in all its power even before it was taught to the world by Her Divine Son. If, therefore, each of us lives as we should, if monks keep the vows of their monasticism, and all Christians keep the vows of their baptism and Christian duties: then, be sure that for us the day of death will become a day of joy and triumph. With joy we will leave the world full of sin and disasters, and go to another world, to which we have constantly strived. Our neighbors, who were witnesses of our pious life and our holy death, see us off with joy. The righteous, angels, the Queen of Heaven herself, the Lord God himself will meet us in heaven with joy and love. May He grant us all such a blessed Dormition through the prayers of the Most Holy Theotokos! Amen. You might be interested in: