Слово 26. В котором пространно и с жалостью излагаются нестроения и бесчиния царей и властей последнего времени

I walked along a difficult and sorrowful path and saw a wife sitting by the path, who, bowing her head on her hands and on her knee, wept bitterly and inconsolably; she was dressed in black clothes, suitable for widows, and was surrounded by animals: they were lions, bears, wolves and foxes. I was horrified at this terrible and unexpected meeting, but I dared to approach my wife and, having told her the usual greeting, asked who she was, what her name was, why she was sitting on this deserted path, and what was the reason for her crying and lamentation? She answered me with a heavy sigh, saying: “It’s in vain that you make it difficult for me, traveler. I ask you: pass by in silence, for my sorrows are not only difficult to express, but they are also incurable by human means. Don’t want to hear them, because it won’t do you any good, but on the contrary, you will plunge yourself into trouble. Among my many incurable sorrows is the fact that those who now rule me, due to their great cruelty, do not at all accept useful advice from their well-wishers. And through this, more than through other passions that developed in them, they made me worthless and subject to reproach, and through this they themselves easily become captives of everyone around them. Therefore, go, traveler, with joy on your way, and do not inquire in vain about what concerns me, for you cannot give me any purpose or bring me any benefit.” I began to insist more and beg her to tell me the reason for her grief; at the same time I said: “Most honorable one! Although I cannot bring you any benefit, you yourself, by sharing your grief, can thereby provide yourself with a little relief from the illness that oppresses you; also, I and those who hear about this from me will receive considerable benefit: for usually people, both when they hear about the praiseworthy deeds of others, are aroused by this to compete with them, and by the misadventures of others they encourage themselves to be careful, so as not to fall into the same troubles. Therefore, I ask you: speak boldly about yourself, without hiding anything.” Convinced by these words, she raised her head somewhat and, looking at me, said: “I did not want, O stranger, to tell you what concerns me, fearing that you, by committing it to writing, would incur hatred on the part of those who turn away and hate the teachings of the elders, and who, by this more than any other social ill, bring final destruction to the rulers and powers of the people. But, having placed all my trust in the love of mankind and the goodness of the common Creator and Master of all, I will tell you all the reasons for my sadness: perhaps some of the most prudent, by the grace of God, having heard this, will repent and abandon such great insensibility and ugliness, and turn to godly deeds that can bring them glory and honor, and the growth of their power. Listen with attention to what you wanted to hear from me. I, O stranger, am one of the noble and glorious daughters of the King of all, the Creator and Master, from Whom every good gift and every perfect gift descends on those of the sons of men who seek Him with all righteous deeds and purity of life, Who is the Father of all, in heaven and on earth. I have more than one name, but I am called differently: I am called superiority, and power, and dominion, and dominion. My real name, which contains all of the above, is “Vasily” (i.e., translated from Greek as “kingdom”). I received this excellent name from the Most High, since those who own me should be a strength and affirmation for those subordinate to them, and not destruction and constant confusion. This is the meaning of the name “Basily” in Greek, but many, not understanding this and ruling the affairs of their subordinates unworthy of my royal title, become torturers instead of kings, thereby dishonoring me and plunging themselves into great sorrows and illnesses, receiving from the Most High retribution worthy of their madness.” Hearing such words, I fell at the honest feet of my wife, bowed to her with appropriate reverence and shame, asking her forgiveness for the fact that earlier, out of ignorance, I had not given her the honor due to kings, and together I asked her to explain to me in more detail the reason for her sadness and sitting on the deserted path, so that I could learn more clearly about her. Then she turned to me with a joyful disposition and said: “Since I see that you, O stranger, are zealous for God and inspired by unfeigned love for your kindred human race, you want to learn from me what concerns me, so that through your diligent research others will receive some benefit, then listen, and may all those who are truly pious and wish to please the Most High be honored to receive endless His kingdom. All sensualists and power-hungers are trying to subjugate me, the daughter of the King of all and the Creator, as I said above, but there are very few who would really care for me and adorn me, who would arrange the position of people living on earth worthy of my Father and my royal name. Most of those subordinate to me, overcome by love of money and covetousness, torture those under their control with all sorts of monetary penalties and forced labor to erect valuable buildings, which in no way contribute to the strengthening of their power, but serve only to excessive self-gratification and to satisfy the desires of their depraved souls. These, truly, are the same ones, O stranger, whom my former true guardian, King David, reproaches, who says: For the darkened land is filled with houses of iniquity (Ps. 73:20). And he well called them the darkened lands, and their houses houses of iniquity, as built through unrighteous torture and always filled with all kinds of extortion and indecent outrage. Having rejected from their souls and thoughts the advice of the same righteous guardian of mine, who bequeaths to the authorities: Do not trust in unrighteousness, and do not desire admiration; if wealth flows, do not apply your heart (Ps. 61:11), - they became enslaved to the passions of the love of money and covetousness, and their foolish heart was darkened, for the divine light that enlightens every person coming into the world (John 1:9), went out in them. Those who truly, and not hypocritically, love this light do not lie before the common Master when in their prayer, as if boasting, they say: Thy law is a lamp for my feet, and a light for my paths (Ps. 119:105). Those who say this sincerely to the common Lord of all, when they pray, neither with their feet, that is, with righteous and pious concepts, do not deviate from the truth in the passion of covetousness and unrighteousness, nor with their paths, that is, with thoughts and subtle thoughts, are they desecrated by carnal lusts, but by the law, that is, with the commandments of the Most High, are illuminated, as if by some lamp, and fulfill all sorts of virtues: they love and they preserve the purity and holiness of soul and body, and rejoice in all righteousness, in the love of mankind, meekness, and goodness of their subordinates, and, being adorned with all sorts of good deeds, they boldly say: Having created justice and righteousness, do not deliver me over to those who offend me (Ps. 119:121) to wicked people and demons; and again: I have hated and detested iniquity, but I have loved Your law (Ps. 119, 163), which says to me: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied (Matthew 5:6-7), that is, they will be satisfied with God Himself and their Savior, Who, according to the word Divine Apostle, they would receive truth from God and deliverance (1 Cor. 1:30). They always look for Him in this way with great desire, like a person tormented by intense hunger and thirst, who first of all wants to satisfy his belly with bread and quench his thirst with water. Such were all my ancient guardians, among whom the first is the blessed king and the pious priest of the Most High, the ever-memorable Melchizedek, who blessed the great worker of love of hobbies and all other virtues - Patriarch Abraham, meeting him with bread and wine when he returned with victory after the defeat of Hodollogomor (Gen. 14:17-18). This Melchizedek, likened by the divine preacher (Paul) to the Son of God, as having neither the beginning of days nor the end of his life in the Holy Scriptures, is interpreted first as King Zedek, which means the king of righteousness, then as the king of Salem, that is, peace. Why did he put truth before peace? – To show that where there is truth, peace will certainly abound, and not the other way around; for many of those who were half betrothed to me loved peace and love to have peace with neighboring pagan rulers like them, and greedily devour their subordinates with all sorts of unrighteous tortures and extortion. These are all those who, rightly, are called oppressors, about whom the prophet of God says: The shepherds of many have corrupted my grapes, they have defiled my part (Jer. 12:10). Woe to you shepherds, for you feed yourselves, but have left My sheep to perish with hunger (Jer. 23:1; Ezek. 34:3-4). And through another prophet he says: What a harlot, the faithful city of Zion is full of judgment: in it righteousness rested, but now there are murderers in it. Your princes do not submit, your companions are tatem, loving gifts, zealous avengers, not judging the orphans and not heeding the judgment of widows. For this reason the Lord says thus: Woe to the mighty in Israel: for My wrath shall not cease against the contrary (Isa. 1:21, 23-24). Who is able to mourn enough for them, who suffer from such insensibility and so greatly anger God, who has vouchsafed them such great honor and such dignities? After so many teachings and advice of the divinely inspired apostles, after such terrible threats, after so many examples of destruction and final ruin of unrighteous kingdoms, they do not fear or fear the Lord Almighty, Who opposes the proud, in whose hand the cup of wine is not dissolved, that is, the cup of rage and unbearable anger, from which all the sinners of the earth will drink (Ps. 74:9), who, with all their untruths and covetousness, degrade the most honorable rank of the king, whose feet are quick to shed blood, because of their unrighteous, brutal rage. Resisting so shamelessly the Most High, as they are not afraid of him who speaks to such: These things have you done, and by keeping silent, you have repented of iniquity, because I will be like you (Ps. 49:21). That is, you thought to yourself that how you treat with insensibility all kinds of iniquities and untruths, and, seeing those who offend, you remain silent, and you have no concern for those who, in accordance with your unrighteous wisdom, offend others, and do not take revenge on them for those offended by them - do you think that I, like you, will keep silent about your untruths and godless desecrations, and will not avenge those who cry out to Me? constantly at you and weeping bitterly because of their troubles, what kind of troubles do they suffer from you? No! No! I am the righteous Judge, and I will reprove you and bring your sins before your face (ibid.). Do you not hear Me saying: For the sake of the passion of the poor and the groaning of the needy, I will now rise again, says the Lord (Ps. 11:6)? How do you also despise the next word of Scripture, which says: Why do you anger the wicked God? Then, showing your madness, he explains: He said in his heart: he will not seek (Ps. 9:34). Don't fool yourself out of your mind. I will demand it, I will demand it! For I am the God of vengeance, the Lord, the God of vengeance, Who is not offended (Ps. 93:1). How are you not afraid, being accused by the former righteous king, who speaks to Me about you with indignation: Thy people, O Lord, humbled, and made Thy property bitter, the widow and the orphan, and the stranger killed (Ps. 93: 5-6)? Are you not doing the same and not worse than this now in your unmercifulness? Do you not hear the same righteous man, how he encourages Me with all his soul against you, saying: And the Lord will repay them for their iniquity, and through their wickedness the Lord God will destroy me (Ps. 93:23)? Why do you despise his testament, where he says to you: And now, kings, understand, be punished, all you who judge the earth. Work for the Lord with fear, and rejoice in Him with trembling. Accept punishment, but not when the Lord is angry, and you perish from the path of the righteous, when His wrath is soon kindled (Ps. 2:10-12)? When she wanted to continue, I interrupted her, saying: “Everything you said is completely holy and scary for those who sincerely fear God and want to receive His endless kingdom. But I ask you, your servant, explain to me: how can one who works for the Most High with fear, at the same time, rejoice in Him with trepidation? After all, where the true fear of God lives, joy is removed from there, as the true prophetic word says: My heart was preserved and feared at the voice of the prayer of my lips, and there was a trembling in my bones, and my strength was shaken within me (Hab. 3:16). If there is trembling in the bones of this divine man, and his strength is shaken, then how can he rejoice?” To this she answered me: “Have you not heard, O pilgrim, the divine evangelist who says: There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18), that is, casts out servile fear, not filial fear. For when a person is perfected in love for his Creator through the diligent fulfillment of all His holy commandments, of which the first and containing all the others is - love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength (Mark 12:30): then he truly works for his Creator with fear, that is, the fulfillment of His saints commandments, obeying Him in everything, like the son of his father, with all joy and reverence. Then he rejoices with trepidation, that is, he is filled with spiritual joy, and not carnal. When he says, rejoice in Him with trepidation, the prophet means precisely the spiritual joy that is born from the fulfillment of His holy commandments. And this is clear from the words of the same prophet Habakkuk, who says: O Lord, I will rejoice, I will rejoice in God my Savior. For what reason, tell us, divine Prophet? Therefore, he says that the Lord my God is my strength, and will train my thoughts, that is, the pious thoughts of my soul, to develop wisdom in the Lord and an infallible mind. This can be understood – rejoice with trepidation – in another sense. God, Who is the Creator of all and the Ruler, being all perfect goodness and love for mankind and mercy, knowing human weakness, that we naturally sometimes need some joy and amusement of life, such as: in holidays and celebrations and in joyful gatherings, as if he says: I do not forbid you from everyday joyful gatherings on set days and common meals; come together, he says, rejoice and celebrate, however, with My awe, that is, within the limits of My saving commandments, according to the word of My preacher: Whatever you eat, whatever you drink, whatever else you do, do all for the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31). Eat, he says, and drink together with joy, according to My will and as I commanded you through the same preacher of Mine, who says: The night has passed away, and the day is drawing near: let us therefore put aside dark deeds and put on the weapons of light. For let us walk in good manners in our days, not passing the time in disorderly singing and drunkenness, not in fornication and sexual immorality, not in zeal and envy, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and do not indulge in lusts that please the flesh (Rom. 13:12–14). Not obeying any of this, those who are now in power lawlessly and ungodly feast at the sound of harps, tambourines and tambourines, with all sorts of ridicule, foul language and blasphemy, not remembering the words of the prophet of God, who denounces such, saying: Woe to those who rise in the morning and diligently seek strong drink, who spend their days in drunkenness and wait for the evening: for the wine will burn them up: They drink wine with harp and singers, and tambourines and pipes, but they do not look at the works of the Lord and do not consider His handiwork (Isa. 5:11-12). The feasts they create are more appropriate for unfaithful pagans who know neither God, nor His terrible judgment and the eternal torment that awaits those who anger the Most High with such godless feasts. These feasts are no different from the foul-murderous drunkenness of Herod, who, if he had not first corrupted the royal mind with lawless adultery and immeasurable wine drinking, would not have cut off the sacred head of the divine Forerunner and Baptist John and would not have given it as a bribe to the dancing maiden. Likewise, the people who once came out of Egypt, if they had not first corrupted their minds with the same lawless games and drunkenness, as it is written - when people sat down to eat and drink and rose to play, they would not have asked the high priest Aaron, saying: Do for us the gods who went before us; For this Moses, who brought us out from the land of Egypt, did not know what would happen to him (Ex. 32:6, 1). Understand what wickedness those lawless feasts and games were the cause of. Everyone immediately forgot: God himself, and His wonderful miracles that He performed in the land of Egypt and in the Red Sea, and the food supplied from heaven, and the springs that came out of the stone with divine power in the waterless desert, and the blessed Moses himself, who led them out of many years of bitter work in Egypt and, ungrateful for all this, began to ask for man-made gods for themselves - gods their fathers did not know. . Such reward and such honor are usually received by those who despise the law and statutes of the common Lord and King; Such people always embrace the fruits of those who have given themselves over to covetousness and drunkenness and carnal impurities - kings and princes and all frantic stewards of the love of money. They fall into ignorance of God, into oblivion about death and about the torment that will befall the wicked and sinners after death; to this they add recklessness and madness, satanic pride and frenzy of the mind, and finally, self-will and self-indulgence. They do not heed either the priestly spiritual teaching, or the advice of experienced elders, or the threats of divinely inspired scriptures; to all this they are deaf, and like deaf asps they plug their ears, and have given themselves over to only satanic games, all kinds of gluttony and drunkenness, and have become enslaved to carnal passions. Therefore, they are abandoned by God and given over to the power of evil spirits, and from there the demons guide them. This is clear, O stranger, from what the demons themselves say in one psalm about those abandoned by God: Marry, they say, and have him, God has left him to eat and deliver him (Ps. 70:11). This is how careful and how cheerful the demons are in destroying people. Their future eternal torment is not so much terrifying as it is the death of unfortunate people that amuses them. Those who, due to their great madness and insensibility, falsely adorn themselves with my royal rank, plunge themselves into such calamities and are subject to such terrible torments. You have already heard, about the wanderer, what you wanted to know from me. Now go on your way with joy, although there is no reason for you to rejoice after you have heard what calamities are engulfing the universe.” Having mourned all this as it should, I asked her, saying: “Don’t be lazy, my lady, I ask you to teach me a little more: why are you sitting on this deserted path, surrounded by such terrible beasts?” To this she said to me: “This deserted path forms the current last cursed age, as it is already deprived of pious kings and deserted by the zealots of my heavenly Father, for everyone is now looking for “their own people,” and not for God - not to glorify Him with good deeds, beneficence and the fight against those who are constantly trying to wipe out the true faith in God from the face of the earth; they only try to increase the limits of their power and because of this they arm themselves with hostility at each other, offend each other, rejoicing in the bloodshed of these and other faithful people; with their wickedness they build various slander against each other, like animals, but they have no zeal for the Holy Church of Christ, which is subjected to various torments and various slander from the Christ-hating Ishmaelites. Isn’t the real cursed age rightly equated to the desert path, and I myself, like a widowed wife, dressed in the clothes of widowhood, sit surrounded by wild animals, tormented by them, as I explained to you somewhat before? And what plunges me most into final sadness is that I do not have such champions as I had before, who would intercede for me out of God’s jealousy and correct my disorderly betrothed. I do not have the great Samuel, the priest of the Most High God, who boldly stood against Saul, who disobeyed me, I do not have Nathan, who with a godly parable healed King David and delivered him from a terrible fall, I do not have zealots like Elijah and Elisha, who were not ashamed of the lawless tormentors, the kings of Samaria, I do not have the wonderful Ambrose, the bishop There is no God, who did not fear the greatness of the royal power of Theodosius the Great, there is no Basil the Great, who shone with holiness and all wisdom, who with his wise teaching brought terror to the persecutor of my sister, Valens, there is no great John Chrysostom, who did not suffer offense and did not despise the warm tears of the poor widow, but exposed the love of money and covetousness Queen Eudoxia. Deprived of such champions and zealots, am I not rightly likened to a widowed wife, and am I sitting on the deserted path of this damned age? These are my misfortunes, worthy of many sobs! Hearing this, pray unceasingly to the common Lord of all, the King, that He, out of His philanthropy and innumerable goodness, would deign to show them His philanthropy and goodness, so that they would lag behind all evil and all untruth, and would accept the truth, all godly living and generosity to their subordinates, and so that, righteously and godly, ruling the earthly power, to receive them an endless kingdom in heaven together with those who piously and godly ruled this earthly royal power, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom befits glory, honor and worship for endless ages. Amen". You might be interested in: