Слово 21. Слово благодарственное ко Господу нашему Иисусу Христу, по случаю преславной победы над Крымским ханом, предстательством Владычицы нашей Богородицы, при благоверном великом князе Иоанне Васильевиче, в 1541 году

Whoever proclaims the mighty powers of the Lord will all His praises be heard? (Ps. 105:2). Truly, no one is able to tell them and make them known, not only from among those on earth who are strong in words and wise, but even from the most, I think, angelic powers. For just as His divine being and nature is completely incomprehensible and indescribable for every mental and sensory creature, so the greatness of His deeds and dispensation, supernatural from the ages, incomparably surpasses any mind and all comprehension. But, as we see, some of the ancients, not only in the Old Testament, like the famous Moses, who abounded in wisdom and holiness, also Daniel, Isaiah and Jeremiah and others who were holy prophets of God after them, but also in the New Testament we find those who shone in all wisdom and holiness, who were not lazy, as far as human weakness is possible, to sing of supernatural deeds Almighty and pass on them to subsequent generations, so that the common Creator and Provider of all will always be glorified by everyone and in everything. Therefore, we too, having reached the ends of the ages (1 Cor. 10:11), in the words of the divine Apostle, will not neglect in our strength the glorification of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ, but with all our hearts we will sing and glorify His innumerable love for us and kindness, for He never ceases to provide for us, arranging everything for the better for us. It is not so much the father who cares about his children, as our most kind Creator and Provider provides and cares for those who rightly believe in Him and firmly trust in Him. Those who gave birth and raised us often push us away from themselves, turn away from us and no longer want to know us if we are rude or dishonored to them in any way. And the One who created us, even if we have offended Him beyond measure by transgressing His saving commandments, although we reject Him Himself and His good deeds to us, He does not reject us and does not cease to do good to us, but in every way continues to arrange for our turning to Him and correction. And this is clear from His countless benefits, which He showed us from the very beginning, who had strayed from Him through the devil’s envy, having been deceived by the serpent. He assigned Angels as guardians and leaders to us, sent prophets and legislators, created various supernatural signs and wonders in the air, on earth and in the sea, either in order to instill in our unreasonable concept the knowledge of the majesty of His Divinity and omnipotent power, then in order to glorify and together deliver us from those who force us and offend us (like the Israelites from the hand of Pharaoh). The most important of His countless good deeds and unspeakable generosity to us is that for our sake He gave Himself up to death, and a sad and shameful death, unfailingly putting on our appearance and becoming like us, the rebellious and apostate, taking flesh from the pure blood of the Most Pure and Ever-Virgin Mary, Who is the cover and intercessor of all Orthodox Christians everywhere. Having accepted death according to human nature and being for everyone in general life and the resurrection from the dead, He, after His resurrection, remained secretly with His disciples for forty days, teaching them about the kingdom of God (Acts 1:3) and in various ways confirming them in His resurrection, and with glory ascended into heaven in the sight of His disciples, and sat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty on high. (Heb. 1:3), principalities and authorities and powers who submitted to Him (1 Pet. 3:22). He did not forget His disciples, but, as He promised them, while still with them, having received from the Father the gift of the Holy Spirit, He poured It out on them abundantly. Having armed them with this, and filled them with all grace, intelligence and wisdom, He sent them into the whole world, saying: Going into the whole world, teach all languages, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to keep all the commandments given to you, and behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen (Matthew 28:19–20. Wed. Mark 16:15). Having given them such promises, did He not fulfill them? No, he did, and through them, as if the sun through its rays, illuminates the entire sunflower and, appearing in the east, the light of infallible knowledge of God shone through them to all peoples everywhere and guided them to true reason, delivering them from idolatry. And this, many years in advance, one of the divinely inspired men foretold, saying: Their broadcast went out into all the earth, and their words went out to the ends of the world (Ps. 18:5). This was said about the apostles and about the gospel preaching; and about the One Himself who sent them, he teaches even more clearly in a mysterious way, saying: He will rejoice like a giant in the mother-in-law’s way. From the edge of heaven His departure and meeting of Him to the edge of heaven, and there is nothing that can be hidden from His warmth (Ps. 18:6-7), that is, the grace of the Holy Spirit, which kindles the love of God in the souls of believers, making them God-like, always filled with divine light and true reason. In view of all this, how we, unworthy, will give thanks to His ineffable love for us and kindness for all His wonderful actions that He constantly showed us, especially what He showed us now, having miraculously delivered us, beyond all hope, from the hands of the godless Scythians who hated us, who, like wild animals, rushed at us, intending to kill us and destroy the heritage of God, chosen and beloved, by whom is He Himself piously and Orthodox glorified, the Only Begotten Son and the Word of the eternal Father, Jesus Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords, with the Father and the All-Holy Spirit and with our all-immaculate Lady Theotokos and the Ever-Virgin Mary, His unartful Matter? She constantly intercedes and fights for us, and prays to her Only Begotten Son and Creator of all, constantly asking Him for forgiveness for us, in which we, as people, anger His philanthropic womb and goodness. Having been implored by Her holy prayers and intercession, Her Only Begotten Son gave the leaders and commanders of His pious heritage courage and luck, great vigor and military skill, and struck the leader of the Scythian and the blood-eating beasts that were with him with fear and trembling and forced them to flee with great shame, so that they could not resist the first attack on them by our troops, and he himself almost died here with all his army, when “the Lord crushes battles with a high arm” gave courage and courage and admonished our faithful soldiers to pursue him. He who once drowned in the Red Sea the entire army of Pharaoh, the persecutor and tormentor; Who delivered the pious king Hezekiah from blasphemous threats and from the terrible siege of the nasty god-fighter Sennacherib, king of Assyria, killing 185 thousand of his troops in one night through an angel, and putting the rest to flight; Who many times once saved the pious city of Constantinople from terrible barbarian invasions and sieges - He and now, the One All-Powerful and Invincible, defending the famous Moscow reigning over the Russian cities, “visited the east from above” and preserved its faithful king and autocrat of all Russia - the young Grand Duke John Vasilyevich without any fear and trembling He made the ruler of the reigning city of Moscow trustworthy and courageous, sending him useful men. Also, having soon gathered the valiant champions of his pious power - warriors and governors - from all cities and armed them with zeal for piety, he opposed them against the new khan, who rushed towards us with fury and with great forces, and quickly destroyed all his threats, both fury and uncontrollable desire, like a spider's web. And so he, like a wolf, who opened his mouth in vain, who came with great pride and boasting, was driven away with great shame for him and with no small destruction for his own, and what he hoped to achieve, he was deceived in that, damned, and was forced to strongly condemn himself. Such is philanthropy, such is the kindness towards us, unworthy, of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ - not only at the present time, but from the very beginning of our faith in Him and our appeal to Him, as the chronicle books tell! Such and so great is the intercession for us, the strong help and intercession of our Lady, the Most Holy Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary, in whom we trust in God; In Whom we boast, through Whom we hope to be saved, in Whom we rejoice and rejoice no less than the once pious city of Constantine the Great, the first and most illustrious Christian king. The same miracles that She once performed there, She shows us now and will show in the future, if we with all our souls actually fulfill the saving commandments of Her Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord and God, that is, we preserve the right faith in Him handed down to us by our fathers, and we will invariably hold on to unfeigned love to the end with all our hearts, with all our souls, with all our strength and with all our thoughts, and we will love judgment, so as not to look at the face and bribes, and mercy to everyone, in general, in need and in trouble. If we keep these three commandments to the end with the fear of God, then we will truly be blessed and glorious, and we will be terrible for all those who are hostile to us and hate us, since God will cover us with His omnipotent right hand. For he who says: Moses and Aaron among His priests, and Samuel among them that call on His name, is false; I called on the Lord, and He listened to them and spoke to them in the pillar of cloud. Why is this, O Prophet? “Zane,” he says, “I keep His testimony and His commandments which He gave them.” Then he adds: Lord our God, You listened to them, God, You were merciful to them, and taking vengeance on all their undertakings (Ps. 99:6-8), that is, no matter what their surrounding enemies they fought against, You helped them and gave them victory. And in another place he says something similar to this: If My people had listened to Me, Israel would have walked in My way, that is, in My commandments, without anything else, then His enemies would have humbled them, that is, they would have completely destroyed them, and I would have laid My hand on those who insulted them (Ps. 80:14-15). And in another place: For the Lord will not leave the rod of sinners for the lot of the righteous, lest the righteous stretch out their hands into iniquity (Ps. 125:3). But then we find ourselves and are recognized by the Lord Himself as righteous, we are covered by Him and firmly preserved in all the world, when we keep His holy commandments and commandments with fear and love in our hearts and fulfill them with deeds, as it is written: There is peace for many who love Your law, and there is no offense for them (Ps. 119:165). If for those who love the law, that is, for those who fulfill the commandments of the Lord Christ in deeds, there is much peace, then it is clear that for those who do not love Him there is not only temptation, but also all sorrow, and oppression, and wrath, as the divine Paul says: The wrath of God is revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, etc. (Rom. 1:18), just as the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ Himself threatens us in His Person who believe in Him and those who are baptized, clearly saying: If His sons (that is, we who believe in Christ) forsake My law and do not walk in My destinies, that is, they begin to live not according to My commandments; If they defile My justifications and do not keep My commandments, I will visit them with the rod of iniquity, and with the stripes of their iniquity, but I will not destroy My mercy from them (Ps. 89:31-34). Having such good promises and terrible threats from the Creator of everything and the Lord, we will always adorn ourselves with good deeds, that is, justice and humility, unfeigned love and like-mindedness among ourselves and with each other, humility and obedience without reasoning to the most faithful and God-protected Tsar and Sovereign, the praiseworthy Grand Duke of All Russia John Vasilyevich, also - to the Lord, Metropolitan of All Russia Macarius, who affirms you on all sides and sanctifies you with holy prayers, and to other God-loving bishops: For these, says the Apostle, they watch, that is, they care and labor for your souls (Heb. 13:17), as having to give an answer to their Shepherd, Who is Christ our God. In addition to this, let us adorn ourselves with generosity and mercy towards all the poor and those in need of help, for for no other good deed does our all-good Savior look upon us so quickly and mercifully, does not heed our prayers and does not fulfill our petitions, as for generosity and mercy towards those who are truly in poverty of necessities. If we position ourselves this way, if we live this way and try to glorify His most holy and venerable name with such our deeds, then He will mutually glorify us not only in heaven, but also on earth, throughout the entire time of our life on it. For this is what His unfaithful and worshipful lips clearly say: Those who glorify Me I will glorify, and those who dishonor Me will be dishonored (1 Samuel 2:30). Since, through the prayers and intercession of our Most Pure Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary, we were miraculously delivered from the wild attack of the godless Scythians that threatened us, and they disappeared from our borders with great shame and sadness, while we were preserved harmlessly, covered by the strong right hand of the Most High, then it behooves us to say with spiritual joy and great gratitude blessed king and prophet David: Blessed is the Lord, who did not let us be caught by their teeth. Our soul, like a bird, escapes from the snare of those who catch it: we break the net and we are delivered. Our help is in the name of the Lord, who created heaven and earth (Ps. 123:6–8). These on chariots, and these on horses: we will call in the name of the Lord our God. Therefore, they slept and fell, but we rose and recovered (Ps. 19:8-9). Lord, save our blessed king, Your servant John, the illustrious Grand Duke of all Russia, this beloved inheritance of Yours, and grant him, Lord, to rule the scepter of the earthly kingdom in a kind and godly manner before You until his deepest and venerable old age and to be considered worthy of Your unshakable kingdom with all the pious kings who have pleased You from the ages. To her, Lord God, the only merciful and humane, keep him in all health and spiritual joy, in peace and silence, and all the high-ranking princes and boyars, commanders and rulers who are with him, and all his Christ-loving army, always singing to You and saying: The right hand of the Lord has created strength, the right hand of the Lord has exalted me (Ps. 117:16). Thy right hand is glorified in strength, Thy right hand is, O Lord, crushing the enemies, and by the multitude of Thy glory thou hast wiped out those who resist (Ex. 15:6–7). Glorify in them, O Master, Your holy name, and let all those who oppose you know that You are their King, and You possess them all, in heaven and on earth, since they boast in Your name, and they know You alone, the true God, and besides You they have not known another. Therefore, we beg Your goodness, good Lord, to be kind to Your inheritance and always be merciful to our sins, for You are a merciful and man-loving God, and we send up glory to You with Your beginningless Father and Your all-holy and good and life-giving Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen. You might be interested in: