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Come, beloved; Come, my fathers and brothers, the chosen flock of the Father, the sealed (sealed) soldiers of Christ. Come, children, listen to the word of salvation for your souls. Come, let's do the shopping while it's still shopping day. Come, let us acquire eternal life, let us purchase the salvation of our souls. Fill your eyes with tears, and soon the eyes of your mind will be opened. Come, all with one accord, rich and poor, rulers and subordinates, old and young, sons and daughters, and all ages, all who wish to be freed from eternal punishment and become heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven. Together with Saint David, let us cry out to the merciful and humane Lord, saying: “Open my eyes, and I will understand the wonders of Your law” (Ps. 119:18). “Enlighten my eyes, lest I sleep into death” (Ps. 12:4). Let us cry out as the blind man cried: “Son of David Jesus, have mercy on me” (Mark 10:47). And if others stop or rebuke (threaten) so that we remain silent, we will cry out louder, and we will cry tirelessly until the eyes of our hearts are opened by the Light-Giver Jesus. Come to Christ, “come to Him and be enlightened, and your faces will not be ashamed” (Ps. 33:6). Let us take up this beautiful thought, let us desire for ourselves the Kingdom and paradise; and soon you will begin to neglect the affairs of this world. Strive in this “one ten hour” (Matthew 20:9), hurry so as not to remain outside the closed doors. The evening is near, and the Rewarder comes with great glory to reward everyone according to his deeds. Let us repent, brothers, while there is time. Listen to what the Lord says: “There is joy before the angels of God for one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10). Why do you indulge in negligence, sinner? Why are you despairing? If there is joy in heaven when you repent, then why should you be afraid? The angels rejoice, and you indulge in negligence! The Archangel is a preacher of repentance, but will you be afraid? The most pure and indivisible venerable Trinity calls you, and you sigh! May worldly care not be sweet for us, lest we experience the bitterness of eternal fire and the never-ending worm! Therefore, let's cry a little here, so as not to cry there, suffering forever. Look, let no one be careless, because the coming of Christ is sudden, like terrible lightning. Are you not afraid of this? At that hour everyone will accept according to their deeds; everyone will bear his burden, everyone will reap what he sows. We will all appear uncovered before the judgment seat of Christ, and each of us will give the Judge an answer for ourselves. At that hour no one is able to help anyone, neither brother to brother, nor parents to children, nor children to parents, nor friends to friends, nor husband to wife, but everyone will stand with fear and trembling, waiting to hear God’s verdict. Why do we remain careless and not come to our senses? Why do we neglect the Holy Scriptures and the words of Christ? Or do you think that the word of Christ and the words of Christ’s apostles and prophets will not condemn us on that day at the Last Judgment if we do not observe and do what they command us? Listen to what the Lord says to the disciples: “Listen to you, He listens to Me: and cast away you” and My Father, “Me is swept away” (Luke 10:16). And in another place he also says: “Cast away Me and do not accept My words (I do not judge him), to have the one who judges him... The Word that speaks will judge him on the last day” (John 12:47–49). What word will judge us on the last day? The Holy Gospel and other holy writings of the holy prophets and apostles. Therefore, brothers, I beg you, let us not neglect what is written. For “heaven and earth pass by, but the words” of Christ “will not pass by” (Matthew 24:35). Come, beloved, and before that terrible day comes, let us plunge ourselves into the sea of ​​God’s bounties. God Himself exhorts and invites everyone, saying: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Everyone is invited by the Humane and Kind, Compassionate and Long-suffering, Who wants all people to be saved. He not only exhorts and calls on His own, but calls everyone: “Come to Me, all of you, whether you are rich or poor, because “him who comes to Me I will not put away” (John 6:37). Who is this coming to Me? He who has My commandments and keeps them; whoever hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me.” Blessed is the one who listens and keeps His word, and miserable is the one who does not obey, because the word “he will judge him on the last day” (John 12:48), according to what is written: “It is a terrible thing to fall into the hand of the living God!” (Hebrews 10:31). Repent, brother, and do not become timid! Repent, sinner, boldly relying and looking at the immeasurable love of Christ, who said: “For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Matthew 9:13). Repent so as not to be ashamed at the Last Judgment, where thousands of thousands of Angels and Archangels will stand with fear, when the secret will be revealed, and the books of deeds will be opened, when one will be separated from another, like sheep from goats. A truly terrible and terrible hour, because the terrible, truthful Judge reproaches. Who will not fear that hour? Who will not come to timidity? And the Judge is strong, and the judgment seat is inexorable, and our deeds stand before our eyes, and the fiery river is before the judgment seat, and the song of the righteous and Angels is incessant, and the weeping is unbearable, and the tears of sinners are useless. Then the treasures will be opened, and the righteous will receive them. And blessed are those who hunger and thirst, for there they will be satisfied, but woe to those who are full, for there they will hunger and thirst. Blessed are those who wept and mourned, for there they will laugh and be comforted; but woe to those who laugh now, for there will be constant weeping and weeping. Blessed are those who show mercy, for there they will receive mercy. Have you heard how those who strive are blessed, and how unfortunate those who are careless are considered to be. Think about all this and hurry to save yourself. Do not look at those who are careless and luxurious, “like the grass they will soon dry up” (Ps. 36:2). Do not love this age, because it makes those who love it stumble, and delights for an hour, and in the same age sends them away naked. Listen to the Holy Scriptures and heed them, and you will not fall into deception, and this vain and evil world will not stumble you. Listen to what John the Theologian says: “Do not love the world, nor anyone else in the world... for all that is in the world is the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes,” and worldly deception... “and the world passes away... but he who does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:15-17). Listen to what the Lord says: “What good is it for a man, if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?” (Matthew 16:26). Listen carefully to His word with fear, because “the word that is spoken” and taught, “judges” us “at the last day” (John 12:48). The Lord is not deceitful. Let this not happen! For He is the Truth. And if you know fully that He is the Truth and that His words are not false, then why do you remain in negligence, unfortunate one? What are you waiting for? What's on your mind? Who will be responsible for you? Don’t you know that everyone will give an answer to God for themselves? Do you not know that everyone will reap what he sows, and that everyone will bear his own burden? While there is still time, waste the burden of your sins. The man-loving God calls you, saying: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden.” He exhorts everyone. Nobody despair. No one dare say: “I have not sinned.” He who says that he has not sinned is blind, groping and the most unfortunate of all people. For the Evangelist John says: “If we say that we have no sin,” then we lie and do not create the truth, “we deceive ourselves” and “tell a lie to God” (1 John 1:8, 10). “No one... is clean... from filth” (Job 14:4). So what? Do we not need tears to wash away the filth, singing with Saint David: “Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow” (Ps. 50:9); and again: “I will wash my bed every night, I will wet my bed with my tears?” (Ps.6:7). He sinned one night and cried every night, which is why he became blessed. For this prophet clearly foresaw Him who said: “Blessed are those who mourn.” Therefore, do not cry about anything that passes in this age; do not enjoy the pleasures of life; do not desire for yourself the riches of this world; look with disgust at soft clothes and elegant decorations; look with disgust at the diversity of colors, at the darkening of eyebrows, at the embellishment and pomp, at their demonic songs, at the harp, pipes and applause, at the disorderly and indecent cries. Don’t you know, unfortunate one, that all this is the devil’s sowing? All this is done by pagans who have no hope of salvation. And we will not be like the pagans who have no hope of salvation, so as not to fall into the same condemnation. Listen to the apostle who says: “These things I speak and obey about the Lord, in whom you are not to walk, even as the rest of the nations walk in the vanity of their minds, their understanding darkened” (Eph. 4:17). Therefore, having abandoned pagan affairs, let us not go back again and do the same thing. One day you forever renounced Satan and his angels, and in the presence of many witnesses you entered into a covenant with Christ. Look, then, with whom you entered into a covenant and do not neglect it. But know that at that very hour the Angels wrote down your words and your covenant and your renunciation, and they keep it in heaven until the terrible day of judgment. Doesn’t this really frighten you and terrify you? On the day of judgment, the Angels will bring your handwriting and the words of your mouth to the Last Judgment Seat, which the Angels will stand with trembling. And then you will hear a word that is unpleasant for you: “I judge from your mouth, O wicked servant” (Luke 19:22). Indeed, you will sigh bitterly and cry at that hour, but this will not bring you any benefit. Be merciful to yourself and do not harbor hatred in your soul. Open your eyes and look at many, how they strive, how they try to be saved, how much effort they use for every good deed, how they protect themselves from envy, from slander, from hatred, from laughter, from fornication, from luxury, from quarreling, and from any other bad deed, how they loved the narrow and cramped path, they fast, watch, suffer and cry, as they have prepared bright lamps their own, how their lips always sing and glorify the immortal Bridegroom, and their eyes always see His beauty, and their soul rejoices. Think and see: the Groom is already approaching, and will not slow down. He comes to give joy to those who love Him, He comes to call those who have wept and sobbed, not for the sake of the dead, not for the sake of the temporary loss of property, but so that we cast off from ourselves “make it convenient to sin (that besets us)” (Heb. 12:1) for the sake of the Kingdom, which will have no end, and for the sake of the blissful enjoyment of paradise, from which we were expelled when we transgressed the commandment of God, and to which those who weep and return again return. sobbing. He comes to crown those who labored legally and those who loved the narrow and straitened path. He goes to have mercy on the merciful. He goes to make blessed those who are poor for His sake. He comes to fill with blessings those who hungered and thirsted for His sake. He comes to illuminate the “secret darkness and declare the counsels of the heart” (1 Cor. 4:5). And why not put it more briefly? He goes to reward “everyone according to his deeds” (Rom. 2:6). It no longer comes from the earth, as before, but from heaven, “with power and much glory” (Matthew 24:30). Then the trumpets will sound from heaven “and the powers of heaven will move” (Matthew 24:29); the whole earth, like the waters of the sea, will tremble at His glory; a river of fire will flow before Him, cleansing the earth from iniquities. Then suddenly a cry: “Behold, the Bridegroom is coming” (Matthew 25:6). Here comes the expected Joy; here comes the Praise of the righteous, the Sun of righteousness; Here comes the King of kings, whose kingdom will have no end! Here comes the righteous Judge! “Behold... he is coming, come ye to meet Him!” (Matthew 25:6). Then those who have brightly burning lamps and clean clothes will come with joy, and they will hear the voice of the Bridegroom, who will say to them: “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:34). And those whose lamps burn brightly will, without a doubt, at this cry, go into the meeting cheerfully, with great boldness, rejoicing and hoping that their lamps will not go out. And you, seeing yourself then in great sorrow, in terrible misfortune, in unbearable need and, noticing that your lamp has gone out, will say with shame: “My brothers, lend me a little oil, because my lamp has gone out”; and they will answer you: “There is not enough food for us and for you: go instead to those who sell and buy for yourself” (Matthew 25:9). And you will leave them with sorrow, with illness, with sighs, weeping bitterly, and not finding where to buy, because the purchase of life is over, and all life wavers like water in the sea. Those beggars who sat at the church doors and sold oil there were no longer there. So, brought into extreme difficulty and completely unable to see help for yourself, crying and complaining, you will say: “I’ll go and strike at the door of Christ’s mercy. Who knows, maybe Christ will open them for me?” You go, you strike, and the Bridegroom answers you from within: “Amen, I say to you, I do not know you” (Matthew 25:12). Depart from me, you worker of iniquity. You have not had mercy, and you will not have mercy. You did not listen to the voice of the beggar, and I do not listen to your voice. You heard My Holy Scriptures and laughed at them, therefore I do not allow you to enter. You did not accept My prophets and apostles, therefore “the word that is spoken will judge you on this last day” (John 12:48). Depart from Me, the narrow gate does not accept you, you have fed your flesh and killed your soul; How do you want to come here and desecrate My Kingdom? You have stained the garment of your flesh, you have filled your mouth with slander, you have hated your neighbor, you have done the will of the devil, but you have rejected My will; How can you now ask permission to enter where you have not sent anything in advance, where you have nothing stored up - no tears, no crying, no fasting, no vigil, no psalmody, no virginity, no patience, no alms? You didn’t send anything like this here, so what are you looking for here? This monastery is inhabited by those who have become poor for My sake. This is the kingdom of the merciful; this is the joy of those who wept; this is the joy of those who repented and wept and mourned their sins; this is the peace of those who are awake and fasting; this is the life of widows and orphans. Here those who hungered and thirsted will rejoice forever; but you “received good things... in your belly” (Luke 16:25); go “from Me... into eternal fire” (Matthew 25:41). Listening to this, you will stand there ashamed. And at the same time the voice of joy and joy will reach your ears, and you will recognize the voice of each of your friends and then you will sigh bitterly, saying: “Alas for me, unfortunate one! How did I lose this glory and became separated from them for my evil and worthless deeds? God's judgment is truly just. Indeed, I suffered fairly. They lived abstinently, and I chased lunches and dinners. They sang psalms, but I was silent. They prayed, and I soared with my mind. They humbled themselves, and I indulged in pride. They weren't taking care of themselves, but I was admiring myself. They cried and I laughed. Therefore they now rejoice, and I lament; they are having fun, and I am crying; they will reign with Christ for endless ages, but I, with the Antichrist, will be thrown into eternal fire. Alas for me, unfortunate one! What happened to me? How many blessings have I lost in order to do the will of the devil for a while! Now I have learned that everyone accepts according to their own affairs. Now I know that the vain world laughed at me and tripped me up. Oh, how many blessings I have deprived myself of! Oh, what shame have I suffered! Oh, how many disasters have I burdened myself with!” You will say this and similar things while tormented, and you will not receive any benefit from it, because there is no benefit in repentance. That is why the Divine Scriptures of the apostles and prophets proclaim and testify to us that the good “that God has prepared for those who love Him... eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and the heart of man has not sighed” for the sinner (1 Cor. 2:9). Have you also heard what the Lord said: “And do not be afraid of those who kill the body” (Matthew 10:28). And in another place: blessed are those who are persecuted for My sake (Matthew 5:10–11). That is why the apostle says: “Do not be flattered: God cannot be mocked. For if a man sows, he will also reap. For whoever sows to his flesh, from the flesh he will reap corruption; but whoever sows to the Spirit, from the Spirit he will reap eternal life” (Gal. 6:7-8). For “he who sows with tears will reap with joy” (Ps. 125:5). Be careful from now on, my brethren, and remember what is written: “He went out and sowed his seed” (Luke 8:5). Who is he who came out and sowed? Good Householder, our Lord Jesus Christ! What is He sowing? The word of the Gospel, His holy commandments! Where does He sow? On what land? On human hearts, in all corners of the world. But not everyone obeys the Gospel, not everyone cultivates the field so that the seed of the Lord that falls on it will bear fruit. On the contrary, remaining uncultivated, overgrown with thorns, being in deception, they receive the word, “and through sorrow and riches and the pleasures of this life they are overwhelmed, and do not bear fruit” (Luke 8:14). But you, beloved, prepare your hearts to receive the Gospel, and do not let your mind be overwhelmed by many worries about the things of life. Let's take care of what is necessary, not luxury. If you practice moderation, you will have peace. But if you pursue luxury and to have more for yourself than others, then there is a lot of work, the path is unreliable, grief is insatiable, and life is full of worries. “There is only one need,” my brethren, says the Lord (Luke 10:42). And one must be done partly, according to bodily needs, and the other continuously, for the salvation of one’s soul, because the soul is above everything. For the sake of the soul, brethren, let us strive, and take care, and prepare every day. Let us not spend all our time taking care of the body. But when the body becomes hungry and demands food, then bring to your mind that the soul also requires satisfaction of its own needs. And just as the body cannot live if it does not taste bread, so the soul is dead if it does not partake of spiritual wisdom. A person consists of two parts: soul and body. And therefore the Savior said: “Man shall not live on bread alone” (Matthew 4:4). And you, as a good steward at home, give spiritual food to the soul, and bodily food to the body, and feed more than one body, leaving your soul in need of everything and hungry. Do not let your soul die, but feed it with the word of God, psalms, chants and spiritual songs; reading the Divine Scriptures, fasting, vigil, prayers, tears, hope, thoughts about future blessings. All this and the like is food and life for the soul. Take heed, brethren, lest any of you prove barren. Whoever sows worldly pleasure, luxury, suppers and lunches “into his flesh” will “reap corruption from the flesh.” And whoever sows prayer, fasting, and vigil “in the spirit” will “reap eternal life from the spirit” (Gal. 6:7–8). Consider and see that nowhere are those who are luxurious, and absent-minded, and laughing, praised. For the pagans do this, and our law is this: “Blessed are the poor in spirit... blessed are those who weep... blessed are those who are merciful... blessed are those who are cast out... blessed are those who are reviled... blessed are those who are pure in heart” (Matthew 5:2-10); blessed are the abstinent; blessed are those who have kept their baptism pure; Blessed for Christ are those who renounce this world; blessed are the bodies of virgins; blessed are “the wives that have, as they have not” (1 Cor. 7:29); blessed are those who watch and pray; blessed are they who foresee the coming to judge the living and the dead; Blessed are those who weep in prayer. These are the lessons of the Divine Scripture of the Orthodox. What kind of scripture pleases those who play the pipes and harp, or those who laugh, or those who revel in luxury, or those who get drunk and dance, who love the world, and “those who are in the world?” (John 12:48). Our law does not give such advice; This is not what our Lord taught; On the contrary, He threatens with grief for this, saying: “Woe to you who laugh now: for you will mourn and weep... woe to you who are full now: for you to hunger... woe to you who are rich” (Luke 6:24-25). And through the prophet he also says: “Woe to those who say evil good, and good evil... to those who put bitter sweet, and sweet bitter... Woe... to those who justify the wicked for the sake of gifts, and even if there is righteousness, they take from him” (Is. 5:20, 23). “Woe to those who rise in the morning and drink strong drink, who wait for the evening: for I will burn the wine; for they drink wine with harps and tambourines and pipes, but they do not consider the works of the Lord, neither do they consider the work of His hand” (Is. 5:11). Such and similar to these are the deeds of people who love peace and love the flesh, and not those who love Christ. But do you want to hear a little about the lovers of Christ who walk the narrow path? Listen to what the apostle says: “in everything, being God’s servants, in much patience, in sorrows, in troubles, in distress, in wounds, in prisons, in disorder, in labor, in vigils, in fasting,” and so on (2 Cor. 6:4-5). And the Lord also says: “When you rise, pray, lest you enter into adversity” (Luke 22:46): “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41). So what? Do what is right, my brothers. You have heard how those who walk the narrow path are blessed, and what grief is predicted for those who enter the wide and spacious path. Let us leave the wide path that leads to destruction; let us labor for a while to reign for ever and ever; let us labor, always having before the eyes of the Coming One to judge the living and the dead, constantly keeping in mind eternal life, the immortal Kingdom, standing with the Angels, being with Christ. Think that life has nothing in it except tears, reproaches, slander, laziness, labor, illness, old age, sin and death - and you will not love the world. Be careful that this world does not seduce you with its pleasures, and does not falter, and does not send you naked into the next century. Remember the one who said: “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17). Don't be amused by the flowers of life. Let there always be a psalm in your mouth, because the spoken name of God puts demons to flight. If you stretch out your hands to the task, then let your tongue sing a psalm and your mind pray. The Lord Himself gives advice from Himself, and exhorts us here to prepare ourselves further; and if we have sinned or stumbled in anything, we will heal it with tears while there is time for repentance. The time of repentance is short; The Kingdom of Heaven has no end. We please the saints and desire their crowns, but we do not want to imitate their exploits. Or do you think that they were just rewarded with crowns, without labor and sorrow, which is what you would like? Would you like to hear what peace the saints had in this life? Some of the “beatings of Bysh... the friends received temptation with abuse and wounds, and also with chains and prison, the stoning of Bysh, the slaying of Bysh... by the murder of the sword, having died, having passed in sheepskins (and) in goat skins, they are deprived, mourning, embittered: but the whole world is not worthy of them, wandering in the deserts and in the mountains and in dens and in the pits of the earth" (Heb. 11:35-38). Behold, you have heard a small part of the many things about the pleasure and peace of the saints in this life and about the joy with which they endured it, because they foresaw those good things that were prepared in heaven: “whose eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has the heart of man sighed” (1 Cor. 2:9). If you want to get rid of torment, then never slander anyone. Woe to the wicked! When everyone is enlightened, he becomes darkened. Woe to the blasphemer! His tongue is tied, and he is not able to justify himself before the Judge. Woe to the covetous! Wealth flees from him, but fire awaits him. Woe to the lazy! He will reclaim the time that he spent poorly, and, having searched, he will not find it. Woe to the adulterer! He defiles the wedding garment and is driven out of the royal bridal chamber in shame. Woe to the evil-tongued one, and with him to the one who gets drunk! They are numbered among murderers, they are tortured with adulterers. Woe to him who spends this short time in luxury. He will be demanded like a lamb for the slaughter. Woe to the hypocrite! The shepherd refuses him, and the wolf kidnaps him. Blessed is he who walks the narrow path: he leads crown-bearers into heaven. Blessed is he who has a high life, but a humble way of thinking: he imitates Christ, and will sit with Him. Blessed is he who does good to many poor people: he will find many defenders at the trial. Blessed is the one who forces himself to do every good work, because those who use effort “catch” the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 11:12). So, brethren, let us compel ourselves to every good work, let us convince and exhort ourselves, let us edify one another, as you always do. Let your conversation be about judgment and your justification. Whether you are doing any work, or walking along the path, or during a meal, or on your beds, or whatever else you are doing, constantly think with care about the judgment and the coming of the righteous Judge; think in your hearts and say to each other: “What pitch darkness this is! What an unquenchable fire and never-ending worm! What a gnashing of teeth!” Talk about this with each other constantly, day and night: how a river of fire flows and cleanses the earth from the iniquities that are on it; how “the sky rolls up like a scroll”, the stars fall “like... leaves of the fig tree" (Is. 34:4); how the sun and moon are eclipsed; how the heavens open, at the command of the Lord; how, like lightning, the Judge descends from heaven; how the confused Heavenly Powers flow; how the terrible throne is prepared; how the foundations of the earth shake, awaiting the descent of the Judge; how trumpets sound, how tombs open, how coffins shake, how those who have died for centuries awaken, as if from sleep, how souls rush back to their bodies; how the saints flow into the meeting, how those who are ready are granted entry, how the Bridegroom closes the doors to the careless. It is wonderful to think about this, to think about it with care day and night. He who always remembers death will not sin much. We will not take care of our belly and clothing all the time of our lives; this is what the pagans do, who do not have the hope of eternal life. Let us not be like them, but let us listen to what the Lord says: “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). Let us, brethren, seek that Kingdom which has no end; Let us seek that joy that leads us into endless ages. Let us, beloved, pray with heart disease, with sighs and tears, so that this blessed word does not remain unfulfilled by us. Let us stop the luxury here in order to acquire heavenly pleasure there. Let’s cry here for a while, so that we can laugh there (get consolation). Let us be hungry, so that we may be satisfied there. Let us go through the narrow gates and the strait path, so that we may go there on a wide and spacious path. And I repeat: be careful that the world does not stumble you and laugh at you, and that it does not send you naked and destitute into the next century, because the deception of this world has tripped many, mocked many, and blinded many. And we, brothers, will be attentive to ourselves: let’s listen to the Lord, who says: “Come after me” (Matthew 4:19), let’s leave everything and follow Him alone; Let us despise all the joy of this world, because it mocks everyone who loves it. Let us try to achieve eternal life, angelic standing and being with Christ, because to Him be glory and power with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen! You might be interested in: