Words and teachings spoken over the years

Contents Words spoken in 1896 Word about the beneficence of the Tsar's autocracy, spoken on the anniversary of the accession to the throne of the Most Pious Sovereign Emperor NIKOLAI ALEXANDROVICH, October 21, 1896, in St. Andrew's Cathedral, in Kronstadt Word spoken on the day of memory of St. All-praised Apostle Andrew the First-Called, November 30 Homily on the Sunday of Saints Forefather Homily on the Day of the Nativity of Christ (said at the late liturgy) Words spoken in 1897 Homily on the day of remembrance of St. the glorious and all-praiseworthy Apostle Andrew the First-Called Words and teachings delivered in 1898 Words on the Epiphany of the Lord, January 6. All the words and actions of the Savior are sealed with Divine wisdom and truth. The Baptism of the Lord - and ours - is a work of the wisdom and truth of God. Word for the day of the Holy All-Praised Apostle Andrew the First-Called. The true, eternal wealth of man Words and teachings pronounced in 1900 Homily on the day of the glorious Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, August 15, 1900 Words and teachings pronounced in 1902 Homily on the Baptism of the Lord on January 6 Homily on the Presentation of the Lord on February 2 Homily on the week of the Last Judgment of Christ on February 17 Homo on the week of the Raw Fatty on February 24 Homily on the anniversary of the martyrdom of Emperor Alexander II, March 1 Homily for the week of Vaiy, April 7 Homily on the day of Holy Easter, April 14. The evidence of the truth of the resurrection of the dead Word for the birthday of His Majesty the Emperor Nicholas Alexandrovich, May 6 Word for the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, September 8 Words spoken in 1904 Word for the New Year 1904 Word for the day of Epiphany and Epiphany. Philosophy of the holiday A word a week about a publican and a Pharisee A word for the day of Holy Easter, March 28 A word for the name day of the Most Pious Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, April 23 A word for the day of the sacred Confirmation and Crowning of the Most Pious Sovereign Emperor Nicholas Alexandrovich, May 14. Monarchy - God's institution Word for the day of holy memory of our reverend father John of Rila Word for the day of memory of the holy, glorious and all-praised Apostle Andrew the First-Called Words and teachings delivered in 1905 Word for the Day of the Presentation of the Lord, February 2nd Word for the week about the prodigal son, February 12th Word for the week about the Last Judgment Word for the week of the raw food, called "the expulsion of Adam", i.e. from paradise, the Word on the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos on March 25, the Word on the week of Vai, April 10, the Word on Great Friday before the Shroud, the Word on Easter. Victory over death and the triumph of eternal life. The triumph of truth and the disgrace of untruth. Word for the birthday of the Most Pious Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, April 23. Word for the birthday of the Most Pious Sovereign Emperor Nicholas Alexandrovich, May 6. The necessity of royal autocracy for the state, just as the autocrat's mind is necessary for the soul. Word on the glorious Ascension into heaven of our Lord Jesus Christ. Word on the day of the holy life-giving Trinity or Holy Pentecost. Word on the glorious Transfiguration of our Lord Jesus Christ. Word on the day of glorious memory of our venerable father John of Rila. Fruits of Faith and Unbelief Word on the Presentation of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Church Word on the Day of Glorious Memory of St. Apostle Andrew the First-Called. About obedience and disobedience Words and teachings delivered in 1907–1908 Word for the day of remembrance and celebration of the sacred Confirmation and Crowning of the Most Pious Sovereign Emperor Nicholas Alexandrovich of All Russia Word for the birthday of the Most Pious Empress Alexandra Feodorovna Word for the day of the glorious Ascension in the flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ Word for the day of St. Pentecost or the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles. History and meaning of the holiday The Word on the day of the glorious Transfiguration in the flesh of the Lord and God and our Savior Jesus Christ The Word on the day of the glorious Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos The Word on the day of the glorious Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos The Word on the day of the glorious Exaltation of the honorable and life-giving Cross of the Lord in Jerusalem, found in the depths of the earth by Queen Helen Equal to the Apostles, almost three hundred years after the crucifixion of the Savior of the world on it The Word on the day of the glorious Entry into the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos Word on the day of memory of St. the glorious, all-praised Apostle Andrew the First-Called Word on the day of the glorious Nativity in the flesh of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ Word for the New Year 1908 Word on the day of the Epiphany, January 6, 1908 Word on the day of the glorious Presentation of the Lord in the Temple of Jerusalem by the righteous elder Simeon, February 2, 1908 Is God's kingdom Russia? A Word for the Day of the Holy Confirmation and Crowning of the Most Pious, Most Autocratic Great Sovereign Emperor Nikolai Alexandrovich A Word a Week about the Publican and a Pharisee A Conversation a Week about a Publican and a Pharisee A Conversation a Week about the Prodigal Son (First) A Word a Week about the Prodigal Son A Word a Week about the Prodigal Son A Conversation a Week about Meat Eating A Word a Week Meat-and-fat Week Word on Raw-Fast Week (first) Word on Raw-Fast Week (second) Teaching on Raw-Fast Week (First) Lesson on Raw-Fast Week (Second) Lesson on Wednesday of the First Week of Lent Conversation on Repentance Conversation on Communion of the Holy Mysteries Word on the First Week of Lent, on the Week of Orthodoxy (First) Word on the Week of Orthodoxy Conversation on second week of Great Lent (first) Conversation in the second week of Great Lent (second) Teaching in the third week of Great Lent Words spoken in 1896 A word on the beneficence of the Tsarist autocracy, delivered on the anniversary of the accession to the throne of the Most Pious Sovereign Emperor NIKOLAI ALEXANDROVICH, October 21, 1896, in St. Andrew’s Cathedral, in Kronstadt “The kingdom is the Lord’s, and He has tongues” (Ps. 21:29). In the entire universe - in all worlds, visible and invisible to us, no matter how great and countless - in all this wondrous, wise, beautiful, living world mechanism, one wise, omnipotent, personal, beginningless, all-good, and all-unifying Power is clearly noticeable, which gave unity, order, wonderful harmony and beauty to all this infinite and varied mechanism, in general, everywhere identical, constant and unchanging. On the earth we inhabit, in all animate and inanimate creations, the diversity and unity of genera and species in animals and plants, the unity and harmony of actions, customs, morals, instincts and general manifestations of life are also noticeable. For example, with the onset of autumn, migratory birds in long lines, under the control of their foremost leader, like a column leader, stretch into the air heights to warm countries. With the onset of spring, they again fly in the same lines, also under the control of the advanced ones, to us for their livelihood and their trade and for the breeding of others like themselves. Bees and ants work together, under the control and guidance of the queen or king, preparing food and shelter for the winter; annual plants wither and disappear, but their species in the seed and embryonic state remain unchanged and, at a favorable, warm temperature, send out their shoots again and develop into the same beautiful and living forms as last year. In everything - small and great - in the flow of the stars and the actions of the elements, in all plants and animals, one all-creating, all-life-giving, all-decorating, all-ruling Hand of the Invisible Creator and Provider is noticeable. This same all-ruling Hand rules over all nations, the entire human race; she appoints kings and deposes, and in the place of some she raises others. She also elevated the New Tsar to the throne of the Russian Kingdom, the branch of the recently deceased Tsar-Parent. “By me, says God, Kings reign and rulers legitimize righteousness” (Prov. 8:15). The king is the image of God on earth, the Ruler of the universe. “Listen, kings, and understand; learn, judges of the ends of the earth; take heed, you who have multitudes and who are proud before the nations: Dominion has been given to you from the Lord, and strength from the Most High, who will examine your deeds and test your intentions” (Prov. 7:1–3), the wise King appeals to those like him. Therefore, all loyal subjects are obliged to treat the Royal authority with reverence, according to the right and law of the Divine, and to obey the King not only for anger, which is terrible especially in an Autocratic King, but also for conscience (Rom. 13:5), as the Apostle teaches, i.e. according to everyone’s own conviction in the sacred duty of obedience to the Tsar, as the prevailing one entrusted to the peoples for their good, for their creation, and not for their ruin, as the Leader and Leader of the People. The Tsar autocratically rules the people, as the image of the sole power of God, as the image of the King of Kings, as the Head of the State, this great political body, coherently organized and united by a single Head. All powers in the State, like radii in a circle, relate to the Sovereign as their center; or all people in the State, like fractions, receive one denominator in their King. The Sovereign in his Kingdom, like a soul in a body, communicates harmony of direction and action to all members of the great political body. Our Orthodox Church constantly prays to God, the Almighty King of Kings, for the salvation and prosperity of the Earthly King in everything, and for the subjugation of every enemy and adversary under His feet. You see, brethren, that for Russia, unity of power and autocracy in the State is necessary and is the greatest good for it, just as in the world of God there is unity of command and all-power. Be submissive to every human Authority, for the Lord: whether to the King, as the supreme authority; Whether to rulers, as sent from him to punish criminals and to reward those who do good. (1 Pet. 2:13–14). – Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto the Gods the things that are God's (Matthew 22:21). Amen. The word spoken on the day of memory of St. All-praised Apostle Andrew the First-Called, November 30 “Simon Peter answered (Jesus): Lord! who should we go to? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68). When our Lord Jesus Christ, teaching the Jewish people and His disciples, spoke of Himself as the living bread that came down from heaven and that this bread is His flesh, which He would give for the life of the world, then many of them, mocking His words, said: what strange words! who can listen to this? and from that time many of His disciples departed from Him and no longer walked with Him. Then Jesus said to His twelve apostles: Would you also like to go away? Simon Peter answered Him: Lord! who should we go to? You have the words of eternal life (John 6:51, 60, 66–68), i.e. where and to whom should we go, besides You? You alone proclaim the verbs, or words, of eternal life - words, following which you can achieve eternal life. And indeed, the Lord came to earth for this reason, so that people would have life, and life in abundance - that they might have life and have more to spare. This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent (Jn. 10:10, 17:3), rivers of the Lord; For this purpose, He chose and sent His apostles into the world, having first taught them the word of eternal life, so that they could preach this word to all people and turn them from death to life, from the power of Satan to God. The interest of eternal blissful life for us mortals and people filled with all kinds of sins, illnesses, deprivations, sorrows and sorrows is the greatest, incomparable, invaluable interest, and a conversation about the verbs of eternal life on the day of the glorious memory of the first-called Apostle is the best and most edifying conversation. You heard yesterday at the all-night service, while reading the laudatory akathist in honor of the apostle, how he worked miracles by the power of God when preaching the gospel to different peoples, and with what joy he accepted execution on the cross from the inhuman consul Aegeus, shining on him with the divine light - how he preached from the cross about the Messiah, Christ Jesus, and about eternal life prepared for believers into Him, and then rested peacefully. Many people witnessed his righteous death, and they loudly glorified God and His saint, glorious during his life and at his death. And we, beloved brethren, seeing such a glorious end to his life, will imitate his faith. Now a word about eternal life. The interest of eternal life for a person who has received an immortal soul from God is, I repeat, the greatest interest, infinitely above all earthly interests and benefits, above everything that is dear and highly valued in the world; for everything earthly is fleeting, fleeting, like smoke, like steam, like a soap bubble: wealth and glory, health and beauty, royal power and purple, and all earthly splendor. But only Jesus Christ, the God-man, can give us eternal life; and only the Christian faith, the Holy Faith alone, can prepare and educate us for eternal life and heavenly citizenship. The Church, to which God has entrusted this preparation, is the education of souls for eternal life and the kingdom of Christ. No secular, most intelligent and famous writers, no philosophers and naturalists, ancient and modern, no lawyers and teachers, no poets, no famous poets can give a Christian in their words that which is the only need for souls, that which is most necessary, vital for a person - that truly enlightens the soul, purifies the mind and heart, solves its sins, strengthens and truly delights - cannot give God's grace and spiritual salvation. For they all philosophize and write only about earthly and transitory things, and poets dream in their poems and poems most of all only about earthly love or about earthly heroes, about earthly joys or sorrows. Many of their readers and admirers were so carried away by their dreams that they completely forgot St. The Gospel is the only thing needed by immortal souls, this book of books, this supreme, eternal wisdom - and they do not want to know it, and they neglect the church teaching. None of these writers have words of eternal life, nothing truly useful for the Christian soul, with the exception of some sparkles, a few words about God and His deeds. If you turn to the theater, this supposedly popular school of morals, - and not a word is said there about God or about eternal life; there is everything worldly; there is a verbal play on human passions. Actors from the world speak, and the world listens to them and applauds them, praises or condemns them. Wouldn't someone perhaps turn to Count Leo Tolstoy to borrow life lessons from him? But this atheist does not believe at all in Christ as the God-man, and in His divine Gospel - and read it only in order to give it a misinterpretation, to outrage its meaning and the common sense and understanding of all mankind; he does not believe in eternal life and attracts madmen like him to himself with the temptation of his newly invented opinions, imagining that he alone thinks correctly and understands everything. So, where, to whom will we go to look for the verbs of eternal life? - Only to the Lord and to His holy Church, which alone received from Him these verbs of eternal life and teaches them to all believers: for only she alone can preserve and transmit them intact - and in her St. Gospel. Only in it is the greatest sacrament of the body and blood of Christ performed and taught to believers for eternal life; only in it are all other sacraments performed, and all the wonderful works of God are glorified - the works of creation and providence for the world and the human race, and especially for the Church of God on earth in all centuries from the beginning to the present; Only in the Church does the Lord reveal to everyone with his own eyes that there will be a resurrection of the dead and a terrible judgment for the human race, and eternal life for the righteous, and eternal torment for unrepentant sinners. What is the end of the word? Next: Hold fast, Christian, to your St. faith and St. Church, - fulfill the commandments given to you and, like a sinner, bring constant repentance to God, correct your heart and your life, turn away from evil and all sin, conquer your passions, do good, be renewed every day by the grace of God - and you will be saved and honored with eternal life. Amen. Word for the Week of Saints Forefathers “Not one of those men who are called will taste My supper; For many are the callings, but few are the chosen” (Luke 14:24). In the Gospel of Luke read today, the Lord pronounced a terrible, righteous sentence on those who were called and did not come, due to negligence and laziness, to the great supper prepared by the Creator and Righteous Judge of the whole world and which is to be revealed at the end of this age. None of those who are called will taste My supper: for many are called, but few are chosen. Listen, beloved brothers and sisters: by these called to the supper we also mean, for we too have been called to it by the Lord from the time we were baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, having first renounced the devil and his angels and all his ministry and all his pride. This great supper, or supper, is the kingdom of heaven, prepared for all those who are faithful and love God and keep His commandments. Let us pay attention to the reasons why those invited did not come. One said to the messenger: I bought land, and I need to go and see it; please forgive me. Another said: I bought five pairs of oxen and am going to test them; please forgive me. The third said: I got married and therefore cannot come (Luke 14:16–24). From the above words it is clear as day that those invited to supper by the owner of the house, i.e. Lord, they renounced her due to an unexcusable, unreasonable addiction to earthly, temporary goods and to their passionate, corruptible flesh and through neglect of the immortal soul, created in the image of God, which the Creator and Lord loved so much that He Himself came to earth to seek her, lost, He Himself redeemed her with His suffering and death and took Him on His shoulder to bring her to the Father heavenly. Why does not one of those called taste the Lord’s Supper and enter the eternal kingdom? Because none of those who were called and renounced prepared themselves, did not educate themselves for it, did not develop spiritual taste, did not acquire spiritual clothing for themselves, is alien to all virtue, naked, ugly, due to the multitude of sins. And what is the fellowship between light and darkness, righteousness and lawlessness (cf. 2 Cor. 6:14)? None. Those invited to the supper, due to unforgivable unbelief, inattention, and ingratitude to the one who called, worked all their lives only for the corruptible body, for the sinful flesh and its passions, for its pleasure, and did nothing for the immortal soul - they were not cleansed by repentance, did not care about cutting off their passions, suppressing vices and sinful inclinations, and so they died in their uncleanness, in their alienation from God. How can they partake of the benefits of the spiritual supper? They cannot, they are incapable; if they were brought into heaven even for a minute, it would be extremely difficult, unbearable, dazzling for them there because of their sinfulness, earthliness, rudeness, impurity; and they themselves would condemn themselves to hell, to those like themselves, to the stinking and fiery prison prepared for sinners. Such is the lot of unrepentant sinners, such is the end of human passions. How did the saints value the calling of the Lord at the Great Supper? With what zeal did they follow the voice of the Caller? How did you prepare? How did you struggle? What example did they show us? How do they pray to the Lord for us, so that He would grant us the opportunity to live with them and deliver us from the charms of this world and its vain pleasures, so that He would arouse us to repentance, correction and give us zeal for all deeds of virtue? Let us all prepare for the great supper of the kingdom of heaven; Let us cast aside laziness and negligence, let us mortify the carnal passions that prevent us from living for the Lord and for the immortal soul, from loving God and our neighbor. And in holy love is the whole law. Amen. Homily for the Nativity of Christ (said during the late liturgy) “The great mystery of godliness: God was revealed in the flesh” (1 Tim. 3:16). Today, throughout the universe, St. The Church remembers and celebrates the greatest mystery of the incarnation of God the Word from the Most Pure Virgin, through the influx and overshadowing of the Holy Spirit of God. This mystery is wonderful, unspeakable and terrible both for the inhabitants of heaven, the greatest and all-contemplating heavenly minds - the ranks of angels - and for human minds enlightened by the Holy Spirit. Imagine: the beginningless God, from whom everything received the beginning of being: the Angels, and the human race, and the entire visible and invisible world, receives a beginning according to humanity; uncontainable by the heavens - fits into the virgin’s womb, God is a baby and is carried in the arms of the Mother and is fed by the nipples, nourishing every breath. Stellar science has found out and affirms that our earth in the order of the universe is a barely noticeable point, that millions of worlds around our earth fill the abysses of space - and this one point, this barely noticeable ball of God's creation, inhabited by people, has been awarded the unspeakable honor of carrying God the Flesh-Bearer, God the Man, who was pleased to live among people, to teach erring people the mind of God, to accomplish countless beneficial miracles, preach repentance and forgiveness of sins; to suffer and die as a holy Sacrifice for the sins of the world, to rise by the power of the Divine from the dead, defeating our universal death, and to grant resurrection to the entire human race. None of the visible worlds, except the earth, was awarded this greatest honor: for only on earth Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of the heavenly Father, had a Virgin Mother and He is Her only Son according to humanity. Why is such preference given to land? Why did God appear in the flesh only on earth? – This is the great mystery of God, the mystery of God’s immeasurable mercy and condescension towards perishing humanity. Perhaps, only on one earth was there a fall of a rational creature created in the image of God, and therefore only here was an omnipotent Hand restoring from the fall required, only here was the obvious coming of a Doctor needed to heal an incurably sick person, whom no human medicine, no punishment, no sermons of God’s messengers could heal from the ulcer of sin. So, God has appeared in the flesh: rejoice and be glad, O earth; earth-born, rejoice and triumph. The Creator Himself came to you to recreate you, to renew you, corrupted by crimes; the almighty Physician Himself came, powerful to heal all sorts of chronic ailments of sin, to heal all kinds of mental passions and bodily illnesses, as He actually did all this, as we know from the Gospel and the history of the Church. So, meet Him with joy with pure minds and hearts, with chaste flesh and bridled by abstinence and fasting, which is holy. The Church purposely established this before this great holiday in order to prepare us for a worthy meeting of the heavenly King coming to us to dwell in us. He came to us with the mercy and favor of His heavenly Father, and He demands from us mercy towards our neighbors; He is a righteous King and demands all righteousness from us; for He Himself, as a man, fulfilled all righteousness (Matthew 3:15), showing us an example and giving us grace and power to fulfill it; – He Himself suffered for us, enduring the cross, and He taught us to deny ourselves, or our sins and passions, and follow Him, creating holiness in the fear of God (2 Cor. 7:1). He came to heal our souls, sick from sins, and commanded everyone to repent; Let us always repent unfeignedly, and correct ourselves, and strive for holiness and perfection. The Holy Angels, after the birth of the God-Man, preached peace to the earth and good will to men from the Heavenly Father: let us also have peace of conscience within ourselves and be at peace with everyone, if possible. Have peace and holiness with everyone, says the apostle, for without them no one will see the Lord (cf. Heb. 12:14). Amen. Words spoken in 1897 Word for the Day of Remembrance of St. glorious and all-validated Apostle Andrew the First-Called “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and the understanding of the prudent. Where is the sage? Where is the scribe? Where is the questioner of this century? Has not God turned the wisdom of this world into foolishness? (Isa. 29:14, 33:18; 1 Cor. 1:19–20). Nearly two thousand years ago, heaven and earth witnessed an extraordinary, unique, miraculous, all-saving event: on earth the Hypostatic Wisdom of God Himself appeared in the flesh, the very incarnate Word of God, in Whom all things were (John 1:3), in Whom the worlds were created (Heb. 1:2), - God appeared in the flesh (1 Tim. 3:16), God and the man Christ Jesus - so that to enlighten human nature darkened by hellish darkness, to recreate and renew what has become corrupted, to cleanse and sanctify what has been defiled by all sins, to deliver from curse and eternal death, to which it was doomed by the eternal righteousness of God - and to rejoice with the reconciliation and blessing of the Heavenly Father through the sacrifice of reconciliation of Himself on the cross of the curse according to the written: cursed is everyone who hangs on the tree (Gal. 3:13). Hypostatic Wisdom chose as Her servants in the great work of saving mankind not the wise and bookish people of this age, but simple, humble, unlearned, poor fishermen, whose entire wealth on earth lay in fishing boats and nets, and in wretched huts. The Lord called among His servants, and moreover, the first, the fisherman Andrei, brother of Petrov, who is therefore called the First-Called. The Church now solemnly celebrates his holy memory with psalms and sacred songs throughout the Christian universe, and in this church dedicated to his name. Let us delve into the reasons why God the Word chose as His servants not those skilled in words, not wise and bookish people, but simple and unlearned people. The reason, firstly, is that the whole work of human salvation should be attributed, in justice, to God alone, and not to the wisdom or art of man, or to any power other than God. For, tell me, what could simple, uneducated fishermen do on their own in such a matter as the enlightenment and renewal of humanity? - Nothing. All wisdom, all strength, all the ability for such an important task had to be given to them from God, and in order for a person to be worthy of receiving from Him such grace, such wisdom and strength, the ability to perceive these gifts of God was needed - there had to be a simple, believing, humble, obedient, uncorrupted by guile and all sorts of worldly passions, an integral soul, capable of being the bearer of God's grace, supernatural wisdom and power of God. This is exactly how the souls of simple, unlearned people were found: and they were honored to be carriers and servants of the cause of human salvation and collaborators with God Himself - the Word. With their entire lives, perfect obedience to the Lord and all their deeds, they justified the Divine election, except for Judas Iscariot, the son of perdition (John 17:12), who undoubtedly could have been just as faithful a servant of the Lord and a fisher of men, a heavenly citizen and co-throne of the Apostles, if through negligence he had not allowed himself to be caught by the devil and had not become entangled in the nets of the love of money. On the other hand (second reason): what would have happened if the Lord had turned - I speak humanly, for the Knower of the Heart would not have done that - what would have happened if the Lord had turned with the call to follow Him to the then learned scribes and Pharisees, to the princes of the Jews and to learned people in general? Would they follow Him? - No, they would only laugh at Him, out of their pride, greed, deceit, envy, hatred of the Teacher of Nazareth, and from the first time they would refuse to follow Him, as happened with one rich leader who asked the Lord what he should do to inherit eternal life? Upon the Lord’s advice to him to sell his property to save his soul and distribute it to the poor and follow Him, he immediately left the Heavenly Teacher with sorrow in his soul, for he had great property (Luke 18:18–23). The same would have happened with the Pharisees - lovers of money and ambitions: not one of them would have followed the Lord, who became impoverished for our sake and had no place to lay his head. They were simply incapable and unworthy of such a great cause, the cause of saving perishing humanity. They were too low for such a great cause - earthly, spiritual, and not spiritual. For the cause of Christ, people were needed with an exalted mind and heart, selfless, alien to worldly predilections. Such were the Apostles, especially after the descent of the Holy Spirit on them. What would happen if the Lord - let's say this, for example - appeared on earth today and began to call the proud scientists and rich of this age, devoted with all their souls to the world, to follow Him? They would laugh at this call and no one would go to God’s work. But the Lord is the same now, remaining with us forever, although invisibly; and now His Gospel word addresses everyone; His commandments, commandments and advice are proclaimed even now in the Church: but which of the learned and rich and generally the sons of this age listens to and fulfills these commandments? Few, few - who; while others mock them and consider them impossible to fulfill; others interpret them incorrectly, contrary to common sense (like the famous writer of Yasnaya Polyana). From here it becomes clear to everyone why the Lord chose simple, humble, unlearned people as His servants and co-workers, but sincere, faithful and firm until the end of their lives in the great work of their Teacher and Lord. Their teaching and deeds testify that they fully justified their election: for they conquered the whole universe, the mighty, the great, the wise, kings and kingdoms, to Christ God by teaching and miracles. Yes, it was all the simplicity of the sermon that did it; All this was done by the power of God, acting in them and through them - the power of truth, the power of faith in the Lord and His omnipotence, the power to heal all kinds of diseases, raise the dead, cast out demons. The terrible, righteous voice of the Lord Almighty still thunders over those scientists who do not want to know Christ and His Church: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will reject the understanding of the prudent. We see always and everywhere - both here and abroad - that scientists, non-believers in Christ are abandoned by the light of God - and they themselves do not know what they say and do, wander in darkness and grope, indulge with insatiability of every carnal passion and justify themselves in this by the demands of nature, they themselves are corrupted and they corrupt others. Worldly learning, both ours in part, and especially Western, is armed against God and the Church, St. The Gospel is placed alongside the works of the human mind; neglects church regulations; St. He considers the sacraments unnecessary, as well as worship and clergy (Tolstovtsy, Pashkovtsy, Stundists, Raskolniks); the truth of the resurrection of the dead and the Last Judgment of God is rejected. And so the Lord will destroy all the wisdom of the wise men and will reject them and the reason of the wise - and they will inherit a terrible, painful emptiness and darkness, and eternal torment from the face of God. Where is the sage? Where is the scribe? Where is the questioner of this century? Has not God turned the wisdom of this world into foolishness? Hold fast, beloved brothers and sisters, to God-loving simplicity, humility, kindness, obedience, purity; be sincere disciples and disciples of Christ and St. His Church, - and you will lead a peaceful and prosperous life here on earth with health and will be awarded remission of sins, and in heaven you will receive the eternal inheritance of Christ - a blessed life with all the saints. Amen. Words and Teachings Spoken in 1898 Homily on the Epiphany of the Lord, January 6. All the words and actions of the Savior are sealed with Divine wisdom and truth. The Baptism of the Lord - and ours - is a work of the wisdom and truth of God “John restrained Him (Jesus Christ) and said: I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me? But Jesus answered him, “Leave it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:14–15). Today throughout the entire universal Orthodox Church there is a solemn remembrance and glorification of the Baptism of the Lord Jesus Christ by John the Baptist in the Jordan River. The Holy Evangelist narrates that when the Lord came to the Jordan to be baptized, John restrained Him and said: I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me? We would not say the same thing, knowing who this one is coming: Lord, what does this extreme humility of Yours signify, that You, the sinless Lord, come to be baptized to a person, even though he is righteous by Your grace and righteousness? What should I wash You, the purest of the sun, or enlighten in You, the Sun of Truth? - But should we, sinners, short-sighted and short-sighted in everything that concerns the mystery of our salvation, argue with the Lord Himself, Who created and does everything wisely, many things - above words and reason? All the words and actions of the Lord Jesus Christ bear the stamp of the highest wisdom and truth of God, unimaginable by the proud scientists of this century, who dared to equate the Lord of glory Himself with ordinary people and interpreting His words according to the concepts of their perverted and lost mind (Leo Tolstoy); - and we must humbly bow before Him with perfect trust and deep reflection, asking for understanding from God. Likewise, the Lord’s words to John about baptizing Him silently and without contradiction - and the very act of baptism at the hands of John - also bear the imprint of the highest wisdom, goodness and truth of God. Leave now, says the Lord, for thus we must fulfill all righteousness; those. For this purpose, I came to earth and became a man, always being God, as if the Lord says so - to fulfill all the truth of God, which was so boldly trampled upon in paradise by primordial men, and - then, the further into the depths of time and human races - the more boldly, craftily, evilly, more desecratingly it was trampled upon by the entire human race, with the exception of the chosen few. I came to take upon myself all the untruths and uncleanness of men, without being defiled by them, in order to pay for them, to satisfy the justice of My heavenly Father with My righteousness, and to offer Myself as an atoning sacrifice to immerse them in the waters of the Jordan; I want in Myself, as a sinless God-man, to wash away all human untruths and to teach My Church the cleansing Bath of restoration in baptism with water and the Spirit: I myself, having fulfilled all truth, teach people the truth of God and give them strength and grace to fulfill it. This is what the Lord’s words to John mean: leave it now, for in this way we must fulfill all righteousness. In general, when reading or listening to the speeches of the Lord or the gospel about His deeds, one should not lose sight of the fact that He is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the whole world (John 1:29), and the Redeemer of the human race; High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek, who offered Himself as a sacrifice of reconciliation to the Heavenly Father for us sinners - that He is the righteous Judge of all, the Physician of all who suffer from sins and the Combatant, who entered into spiritual combat with the spiritual Goliath - the devil, who with the greatest skill, cunning and constancy fought and fights with countless passions and all sorts of untruths the human race and which the Lord, by God-wise, righteous providence, completely defeated, and delivered the human race from his power and work. So - and in the Jordan the Lord was baptized in order to defeat our destroyer the devil in the waters in which he nested, and to sanctify the waters, so that we, in baptism with threefold immersion in the name of the Holy. The Trinity was graciously washed from the filth of ancestral sin, and reborn into new life by water and the Holy Spirit and adopted by the heavenly Father through the holiness of life. The circumstances of the very birth of the God-man are also captured by the greatest wisdom and truth of God. He was born from a poor, pure Virgin and was laid in a manger, swaddled in rags like a baby, in order with His humility to atone for the pride of Adam and Eve, who dreamed of being gods, in order to expose and humble human pride and teach people humility, which is the basis of all virtue. Everything that the Lord said and did on earth, He did it according to the eternal, wise and all-good Trinity Council, which existed before all centuries, and all this was necessary for the salvation, perfection and bliss of man; - and if anyone rejected and rejects His commandments, advice, statutes, the Church He created on earth - he was and is an enemy of God and himself, rejecting God’s Council about himself. Baptism was established by God in the Church for the salvation of the human race - and it is necessary for every believer, as a door to the kingdom of God - and whoever rejected or rejects it rejects his salvation, his own eternal good. This is how the Lord spoke about the Pharisees and scribes who opposed Him, who did not want to be baptized by John, that they rejected the Council of God about themselves, not being baptized by him (Luke 7:30). Beloved brothers and sisters! We have all been honored with St. baptism in infancy according to the faith of parents and adoptees, were cleansed from ancestral sin and were born by water and the Holy Spirit and were adopted by the Heavenly Father. The doors of the Kingdom of Heaven are open to us. With all our hearts, let us always value this gift of God and our calling as sons and daughters of God by grace - shun all sin, and strive in thoughts, desires and deeds for the Kingdom of Heaven, for the incorruptible, unfading inheritance prepared in heaven for us (1 Pet. 1:4). Amen. Homily for the day of the Holy All-Praised Apostle Andrew the First-Called. The true, eternal wealth of man “For he has nothing, but contains everything” (2 Cor. 6:10). Today we celebrate, beloved, the feast of the memory of St. Andrew the First-Called, so named because he was the first called by Jesus Christ to the apostolic title. It was like that. Soon after the baptism of the Lord by John in the Jordan, John stood on the shore with his two disciples John and Andrew, and, seeing Jesus coming, said: Behold the Lamb of God. Having heard these words from him, both disciples followed Jesus. Jesus turned and saw them coming and said to them, “What do you need?” They said to Him: Rabbi - what does teacher mean - where do you live? He says to them: go and see. They went and saw where He lived, and stayed with Him that day. It was about ten o'clock, by our reckoning about four o'clock in the evening. One of the two who heard from John about Jesus and followed Him was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter. He is the first to find his brother Simon, i.e. Peter, and says to him: we have found the Messiah, which means Christ, and brought him to Jesus. Another time, Jesus, passing near the Sea of ​​Galilee, saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting nets into the sea, for they were fishermen, and Jesus said to them: Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men, and they immediately left their nets and followed Him. Here is the story of the Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian and the Evangelist Mark about the calling of the Apostle Andrew (John 1:35–41; Mark 1:16–18). Having stayed with Christ for one day and heard from Him the words of Divine wisdom and the economy of our salvation, the Apostle Andrew left everything that he had in the world, his home, relatives, fishing and all his small fortune, and became insignificant, having acquired the most precious, irreplaceable and eternal-life treasure - faith in Christ - and irrevocably and diligently following Him until the end of his life. Why are some churches in Russia erected in honor and memory of St. Apostle Andrew? Because he is, primarily, our Russian Apostle, as is known from undoubted legends - tradition and history and, by the way, from the legend of our Russian chronicler, Venerable Nestor of Pechersk. He says that the Apostle Andrew, sailing with his disciples along the Dnieper River, reached the mountains of Kyiv, went ashore with them, climbed the mountain, then still deserted, erected a wooden cross and said to his disciples in a prophetic spirit: do you see these mountains? The grace of God will shine upon them, and a great city will be created, and God will erect many churches. According to reliable legend, he preached to many places in present-day Russia, which were not yet called Russia, because there was no Russian State yet, but were called Scythia, and the people Rus. So Apostle Andrew is primarily a Russian Apostle, and the church in Kyiv is dedicated to him; There is a church in St. Petersburg in his name and here in Kronstadt and in different places in Russia. In his honor, the highest order of St. Andrew the First-Called was established, which constitutes an integral part of the persons of the Royal House and is granted to the highest-ranking honored persons. Having cited this preliminary legend, we will now talk about the words given at the beginning that St. Apostle Paul said about the apostles in general: as having nothing, but containing everything, i.e. we have nothing, but we possess everything. What does it mean to have nothing and at the same time have everything? This means - not to have earthly property or possessions: no house, no money, no extra clothes, no worldly connections, no worldly friends, or helpers and intercessors, no worldly teachers, no doctors in case of illness, in a word - no earthly provision; not to have the slightest attachment to anyone or anything earthly, not even to father and mother - not to anything that seduces and binds ordinary, worldly people to the earth. What does it mean to have everything? This means - to possess, first of all, the grace of God and all the gifts of God: the gift of the gracious, all-conquering and all-conquering Word, the gift of faith, the gift of perfect love for God and neighbor, the gift of God's peace in the soul, the gift of heavenly life on earth, carefree, full of perfect trust in God in everything, the gift of all kinds of miracles: to heal all kinds of illnesses, drive away demons, raise the dead, despise all sorts of earthly disasters and sorrows and life itself, as transitory and having to be replaced by eternal life. This is what it means to have everything. And the apostles, indeed, having nothing on earth and not the slightest attachment to anything earthly, possessed everything - all spiritual wealth, all spiritual power; every spiritual consolation; nevertheless, they considered earthly things to be rubbish, dust, and disappearing smoke, because they had God Himself living within them, who performed countless miracles through them and saved countless people through them. They possessed the whole world and commanded all creation: they drove away demons, healed all kinds of diseases, trampled death, raised the dead, as if awakening them from sleep; all nature bowed before them according to the will and commandment of the Lord, to whom they were sincere servants, although later they themselves tasted violent death from people, like his Lord, who was pleased to accept death at the hands of the lawless and evil Jews, and with His death crushed the sting of death of the entire human race. So, beloved, and all who sincerely believe in God and for His sake have rejected all worldly passions - having nothing and no worldly passions - possess everything, all the grace of God, since they have God Himself in their hearts, and are rich in God, the world of God, true spiritual freedom, because they are completely free from slavery to the passions of the flesh and spirit; rich in eternal life, which abides in them, and while they live in body on earth, they are in heaven in spirit, and they say: our life is in heaven, from where we wait for the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body so that it will be like His glorious body (Phil. 3:20-21). Amen. Words and Teachings Spoken in 1900 Homily on the day of the glorious Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, August 15, 1900 “The Queen appears at Your right hand” (Psalm 45:10). This is what King Prophet David predicted from the depths of past centuries; he saw by the prophetic Spirit the greatest glorification from God of the wonderful Queen, chosen from all earthly generations to become the Mother of the Son of God who had to be incarnated by the Holy Spirit without male seed - for the redemption and salvation of the human race from sin, curse and death. He saw then, as if present, the event now celebrated by the universal Church - i.e. the presence of the Mother of God at the right hand of God Her Son in heaven, the presence which She was awarded through Her honest dormition, burial, resurrection on the third day and ascension into heaven with Her most pure Body. The Queen appears at Your right hand. Why did the heavenly Queen appear at the right hand of Her Son and God, the Creator of all creatures, the Savior of the world? In order to eternally intercede before Him for the Christian race, constantly begging and blissing Her, and to accept righteous reward from the life-giving Hand of Her Son, for the supernatural service of His incarnation and upbringing, for all the sorrows and sorrows that She endured during His suffering and death on the cross. Wonderful are the mysteries of God's providence for the human race! At the very creation, man - in the person of the first couple - was honored with the greatest honor: he, one of all earthly, animated creatures, was distinguished by the image and likeness of God, having received from the Creator a verbal soul, free, immortal, dominion over all earthly creatures and over the whole earth - with the only condition and obligation - to freely and willingly obey His Creator; this meant that for voluntary obedience and exact fulfillment of God’s commandment, to grant people as a reward eternal enjoyment of the indescribable blessings of the kingdom of God; at the same time, it was announced to them in advance that they would die for disobedience and disobedience. The reward for obedience and the punishment for disobedience were quite sufficient to encourage the fulfillment of the commandment and to protect against disobedience. But what the first couple could have feared came to pass: instead of turning freedom into good, into obedience to God, they turned it into evil; not submitting to God and listening to the evil enemy who deceived his first wife Eve. There was a daring, ungrateful violation of the union with God and an insane, free entry into an alliance with a fallen angel and his kingdom - with the spirits of evil in heaven: and so, together with the first people, and all humanity that was in their loins, fell away from God and became enslaved to the enemy and inherited an infinitely great evil, but since this evil was not original in people, but occurred temptingly from the first culprit and inventor of evil - the devil, and therefore - allowing mercy and compassion from God to fallen man - the Lord took pity on His fallen, weak creation, which had the ability to repent; and even before his creation, foreseeing his fall, he decided to redeem him in a wonderful way - worthy of God alone - in a way: by the incarnation of the Son of God from the Most Pure Virgin, by the fulfillment through Him of all the truth of God, desecrated by men, by teaching them faith, repentance and all truth - by His suffering and death - for humanity, by resurrection and ascension to heaven by human nature; the foundation on earth of a Church or a society of those who are being saved, the granting to people of an all-powerful Intercessor for believers and those who adhere to the sincerely founded Church. – And fallen humanity is restored; in place of Eve’s disobedience, a humble, obedient Virgin appeared - the Most Holy Mary: she took into herself the enemy of the devil and united with him through disobedience to God, and this one, through humility and obedience to the words of God, accepted God Himself and was united with Him forever and united with Him humanity that believed and obeyed Him: she was the culprit of sin and death; a This is the Author of truth and eternal life. And now She stands at the right hand of Her Son and God and intercedes before Him for Christians day and night. The Queen appears at Your right hand. The Mother of God grieved a lot and suffered unjustly from lawless people who persecuted and insulted Her Son in every possible way with their evil tongues and finally killed Him on the cross; She shed many bitter tears when she saw Him hanging and suffering on the cross and giving up his breath. For all Her unparalleled sorrows, tears, sighs, patience, as well as for all Her care for Her Son, She was awarded the greatest glory - the Queen of heaven and earth and the Patroness of the entire Christian race. In Her very death there is already the greatest glory - in the enlightenment of Her face and in the shining with the extraordinary light of the church in which Her Most Pure Body rested, in the wonderful fragrance of heavenly aromas that fragrant in the church; in the appearance of the Lord Himself with angels and archangels, who took the holy soul of His Mother into His Most Pure hands and ascended Her into heaven for a kingdom with Himself that has no end. When carrying Her Body to burial by the apostles, miraculously brought on clouds from different parts of the world, a certain Jew Athos, out of envy and hatred of the Most Holy Virgin, rushed to overturn the coffin with Her body, but his daring hands were suddenly cut off by the invisible sword of an angel and clung to the coffin, and only for his sincere repentance was he pardoned by the Mother of God and healed. “The air was filled with sweet angelic singing. – After the burial, on the third day, the Mother of God Herself appeared in a glorified form to the Apostles in the refectory assembly and gave them peace and a promise to always be with them and with all sincere believers. And She has always been and is with us, sometimes in personal appearances, sometimes in various miraculous signs from the Holy Icons at all times, especially in times of disasters and popular prayers. She is still with us now, covering and interceding us from the righteous wrath of God; and now She has already shown assistance to the Russian army in China, which has victoriously entered Beijing. Oh, Lady, Most Holy Theotokos, be with us and with Russia, until the end of the century! Amen. Words and Teachings Spoken in 1902 Homily on Epiphany January 6 “As many as you have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Gal. 3:27). “Unless one is born again, by water and by the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:3, 5). “Save us by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5). A new, bright holiday has come, the day of Lights, the day of the glorious, mysterious Baptism of the Lord, to which we all owe our rebirth or rebirth, enlightenment, renewal and adoption to the Heavenly Father, from whom humanity was alienated by the filth of sin for several thousand years. Let us rejoice again, dear brothers and sisters, in the immeasurable goodness and wisdom of God, which miraculously arranged our rebirth in the waters of the Jordan, through the immersion in them by the flesh of the Lord of glory Himself, who sanctified the waters, establishing and giving us the image and method of our mysterious renewal. This sacrament is profound and wonderful! How wonderful and life-giving is the sacrament of St. The communion of the Body and Blood of Christ, in which He rests entirely, through which He sovereignly accomplishes the cleansing of our sins, sanctification and deification, is just as wonderful and effective for the salvation of the human race defiled and perishing by sin is the sacrament of Divine Baptism; and one helps the other, and both are necessary for salvation. Oh, the ineffable wisdom and mystery of God, which can only be accepted and understood by faith, but not by the inquisitive, myopic and darkened human mind. Just as our creation by God is the greatest mystery of the goodness, wisdom and omnipotence of God, so the mystery of our rebirth in baptism is a sacrament before which the human mind should bow in reverence. Only the infinite Mind of God could conceive and offer the right means for the cleansing and revival of the human race, corrupted by sin, to the bones and marrow, to the very depths of the heart, and for the appropriation of a completely alienated and perishing person to God. No mind, not only human, but also angelic, could find a way to do this. The Holy Church, theologizing with the Holy Spirit, says about the mystery of the Baptism of our Lord that the Lord, having been baptized in the waters of the Jordan, drowned human sin with His immeasurable righteousness, sanctified the waters and for all ages gave them the power of sanctification in order to grant us the bath of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit; to open to us heaven, concluded by the fall of Adam, and to bring down to earth the Holy Spirit, who had no place on earth to lay his head, due to the extreme corruption of the human race; so that Adam could be cleansed from filth and raised to heaven justified after five thousand years of punishment in hell. “May you fill heaven and earth with Your glory, O Lord, you have exhausted Yourself even to the image of a slave and the hand of a servant (the Forerunner), bowing your head slavishly, graciously cleansing my sins and giving a new rebirth,” proclaims the Church in the service for this holiday. “When You appeared in body, the earth was sanctified, the waters received blessing, the sky was illuminated; The race of people will be delivered from the bitter torment of the enemy. New-creators of the earth-born, Adam having become new, the Creator Himself, with fire and Spirit and water, performing strange and rebirth and wonderful renewal, creating new things through God-given Baptism without contrition and fiery crucibles; With the Holy Spirit you give life to souls, and with water you sanctify the complex body, correcting the verbal animal - man.” Glory to the Lord Jesus, who was baptized in the Jordan for our salvation and who gave us rebirth, rebirth (secondary existence), adoption to God and eternal life, who destroyed the former mediastinum of enmity and curse and our righteous rejection from God. Those who were baptized into Christ, put on Christ: that is, those who were baptized in the name of Christ and the Holy Trinity put on Christ spiritually - in His righteousness, holiness, meekness, humility, obedience, patience, self-control, in a word - in Christ's perfection, in the image of Christ, in all the grace of Christ - in the new man created according to God in righteousness and the excellence of the truth (Eph. 4:24 ). Have we put on Christ, ask ourselves and think about this sincerely? “And if we have not clothed ourselves, then we are not Christ’s.” For the Apostle says that whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ is not His (Rom. 8:9). Unless someone is born of water and the spirit, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Amen. Homily for the Presentation of the Lord, February 2 “Now you are releasing Your servant, O Master, according to Your word in peace” (Luke 2:29). When the time came for the incarnate Son of God, who was all things, to appear on earth, then by the Providence of God some chosen people were destined to meet His wonderful all-saving appearance and announce it to the world - and, firstly, the Bethlehem shepherds of the wordless flocks, aware of this from the heavenly Angels, who loudly testified to the Divinity and humanity of the born Christ; then - the holy elder Simeon, filled with the Holy Spirit, who was promised from God that he would not die until he saw the Christ of the Lord. This meeting with Simeon is celebrated annually by St. The Orthodox Church repeats its counter hymn to the Savior of the world every day during the evening Divine service. You all know it - it begins with the words: Now you are releasing Your servant, O Master, in peace, according to Your word, because you have seen Your salvation with my eyes. The righteous elder blessed the God-Child and His Mother, and said to Her: Behold, this One is destined for the fall and for the rising of many in Israel, and as a sign it is reproached: and a weapon will pierce Your very soul: so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed (Luke 2:34–35). This is the event that the Holy Church remembers and celebrates every year for our edification and salvation. What does the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord teach us? – First of all, the truth that God is faithful in all His words and promises (Ps. 145:13). He also promised Adam and Eve, our ancestors who fell universally in paradise, that He would send to earth a Savior for them and the entire human race, namely the blessed Seed of the Woman, which would erase the head of the murderous serpent, which was fulfilled, is being fulfilled daily and will be fulfilled until the very end of the world, until people who are faithful and believe in God and His Christ are born and live on earth, for through them He, Christ, tramples and erases the head of the serpent. – Such were the patriarchs, forefathers, prophets, apostles, saints, martyrs, the venerable and righteous and all the saints – such are now among the faithful, defeating the ancient serpent that deceives the whole universe (Apoc. 12:9). Secondly, the Feast of the Presentation teaches us that the Lord Himself comes to meet only those who do the truth, or those who hunger and thirst for righteousness - like Elder Simeon - because He came to earth in order to fulfill all the righteousness (Matthew 3:15) of God and to teach us to do the truth and to deliver us from all unrighteousness, from all lawlessness and to grant us repentance with saving fruits. The Lord surrendered and rested in the arms of righteous Simeon, but He would not have surrendered to the arms of a sinful man and could not have been carried on them; for what is the fellowship of righteousness with lawlessness, of light with darkness, of Christ with beliar (2 Cor. 6:15)? So now Christ cannot dwell in a heart and in a body guilty of sin and passions, and if we want to have Christ in our hearts, we must repent and hate sin, loving truth and virtue. There were several more solemn meetings or meetings of Christ God, besides Simeon’s, during the life of Christ on earth. So He was met by the Magi, the eastern sages with gifts - gold, frankincense and myrrh; He was met and proclaimed loudly by the Jordan River by John the Baptist, who baptized the sinless Master of creation, who sanctified the waters for us with His baptism. He was solemnly met at the entrance to Jerusalem with fronds and tree branches by the Jewish people, singing: blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord (Matthew 21:9). Christ Himself met the Holy God. the myrrh-bearing women after His resurrection from the dead: and behold Jesus, you took them off, saying: Rejoice (Matthew 28:9); On the way he met two disciples going to Emmaus and walked with them to the village. – We meet Him every day during the Liturgy, and we, when at the end of it, St. appears at the open royal doors. The Mysteries of the Body and Blood of Christ, and the choir sings: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, God the Lord and appears to us. In addition, believers and piously living Christians have internal, secret meetings every day, i.e. the meeting of the Lord in souls during prayer, secret or open, during fervent repentance, when Christ comes to a repentant soul secretly and comforts it, embraces it in a fatherly manner, reconciles with it, dwells in it, especially during the sincere communion of St. The Mysteries of Christ, His Body and Blood. But there is also a pitiful, deplorable separation of a person from Christ, when the Christian soul falls into voluntary or involuntary sins, for example. into nasty, unfaithful, crafty, blasphemous thoughts, or into pride, pride, disbelief in the truth of the Gospel, when in unbelief he rejects God and completely departs from Him, blasphemes Him, as happened with the blasphemer Count Tolstoy and his many followers, Tolstoy. On them the prophecy of Simeon the God-Receiver came true, who spoke memorable words to the Blessed Virgin: Behold, this One lies for the fall and for the rising of many in Israel; came true regarding their fall and the rise of some of them, but not Tolstoy. – But this is said first of all about the scribes of that time, the Pharisees and Sadducees, and then about the false scientists of today who call themselves Christians. Christ became a stumbling block for Tolstoy. Further, every time there is a pitiful, senseless separation between us and God when we fall into various sins - fornication, adultery, malice, envy, intemperance, drunkenness, disobedience, self-will, rioting, swearing and foul language; greed and love of money, and various other sins; - and if a person dies in sins unrepentantly, he is forever separated from Christ and united with the devil, to whom he was likened and finally became like in life, and inherits the same fate as him - eternal torment. The last meeting of the Lord will be at His second and terrible coming, when He comes in the terrible glory of His and the heavenly Father with all the angelic powers: and every eye will see Him and those who pierced Him, and when all the tribes of the earth will mourn before Him (Rev. 1:7). The Apostle Paul wrote to Thessalonians. “The Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel and the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first; Then we who are left alive will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:16–17). Let us meet the Lord here on earth, as long as we live, in repentance and virtue with pure and undefiled souls, remaining in mutual love and doing all righteousness, so that at His second coming we may meet Him in joy and settle forever in His kingdom. Amen. Word for the week about the Last Judgment of Christ on February 17th “The Lord comes to judge the earth; He will judge the world with righteousness and the nations with righteousness” (Ps. 97:9). Dear brothers and sisters in the Lord! Today you heard from the Gospel of Matthew a description of the terrible Judgment of Christ, which will take place on the last day of the world over the entire human race. This judgment will be unimaginably terrible; because this will be the judgment of the righteous, beginningless, omniscient, long-suffering, omnipotent Judge and God, in the presence of lightning-eyed Angels, witnesses of our life, from whose gaze not a single jot, not a single feature of our life, not a single thought, not a single desire and intention of ours could be hidden by us. This judgment will be final, irrevocable, for all eternity; after it is pronounced by the righteous Judge, the righteous will go into eternal life, and the wicked into eternal torment. And in order for you to know for what and for what all people will be judged and why - with all severity, inexorability and unforgiveness regarding unrepentant sinners - I consider it my holy duty to announce this to you in advance. Firstly, for this and for this we will be judged that from our very birth, having received from God reason and the law of conscience or a clear indication from the inner voice of what to do and what not to do in life, as well as the written Law of God, under the threat of punishment for non-fulfillment, we lived not according to reason, not according to the voice of God, not according to conscience, not according to the commandments of God, but contrary to them; They did not submit to the voice and direction of God, but submitted to the enemy of God, the devil, who always seeks our destruction. Further, judgment without mercy will be for unrepentant sinners - because they were given from God all the means of salvation, both natural and frank, common to all people, and grace-filled ones, which God gave us in His Holy Church, and which we did not want to use, out of our negligence and laziness, or rejected out of unbelief and pride; we have been honored with St. baptism, which opens the door to the kingdom of God for us, made a vow to faithfully serve God until death and rejected this vow, betrayed God, became unfaithful and apostate to Him; had an index of the life of St. the Gospel, and they did not obey it, did not act on it; had a wondrous heavenly Divine service on earth and - neglected it, did not attend it, or were careless and occasionally present at it; had God-given repentance and did not take advantage of it; listened or read about saving examples of repentance in people, and did not take advantage of them; We were often called by St. Church for the communion of St. The Mysteries of the Body and Blood of Christ, in order to cleanse, sanctify, renew, strengthen us in the exploits of Christian life - we did not want to use this saving means of sanctification, strengthening and renewal. We had God-given teachers of faith and Christian life, St. fathers and teachers of the church - parents, mentors, leaders, and neglected their teaching, advice and guidance. Unfaithful and unrepentant sinners will be irrevocably condemned to eternal torment for having boldly and foolishly rejected all God’s benefits to salvation; These are: drunkards, fornicators, lovers of money, unmerciful and hard-hearted towards the poor, gamblers, suicides and unrepentant murderers, opponents of the authorities, brawlers - unbelievers, especially hard-hearted rich people who did not do deeds of mercy. Since you, says the Lord, did not do this to one of the least of My brothers, you did not do it to Me. And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life (Matthew 25:45–46). Amen. Word for Cheese Festival Week February 24th “Merciful, have mercy on me who has fallen” (Kontakion of Cheese Week). On this Sunday, St. The Church remembers the all-disastrous and all-deplorable fall of our ancestors Adam and Eve, and their expulsion from the paradise of sweets. - This fall was terrible, like the fall of the image of God in man, like the deprivation of the beautiful all-blessed likeness of God in us, and the distortion of the entire beautiful human being - soul and body - the fall and darkening of the mind, feelings or heart and free holy will - the perversion of all bodily senses: sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch, which were enslaved to the fallen soul and became instruments of sin. From a free, blissful being, man became entirely a captive of sin, a captive of countless passions that took hellish roots into the entire being of man, a slave and church of fallen spirits. The first men changed the image of God into the image of the enemy, lost the blessed, holy integrity of the soul and accepted the enemy’s cunning, a strong desire for evil, pride, disobedience, malice, envy, coldness and alienation from God, lost incorruption and partook of deadly corruption; they made all their feelings instruments of corruption and countless earthly addictions; the body was made a nest and breeding ground for countless diseases and all sorts of deformities and mutilations hitherto visible in the human race; a whole sea of ​​sins, sorrows and countless illnesses was absorbed by the human being as a result of its unfaithfulness to God and falling away from Him and combining with the enemy, the source of all evil and corruption. All creation armed itself to take revenge on the enemy of God, which man has become; she began to take revenge on him with storms, floods, fire and sulfur rains, earthquakes, failures, fiery eruptions, crop failures and famines, hailstorms, and drownings. This is what happened to the human race as a result of its fall and disobedience to God its Creator - but that’s not all. People, due to sin, lost the unity of speech and race and were divided into different tribes with different languages ​​and dialects and - this is for their own good, in order to contain the spread of evil; began to quarrel with each other, fight with each other and steal other people's property, other people's possessions; Bloody wars have begun and the earth at times turns into a military camp; thousands of deadly weapons have been invented to destroy each other; Frequent murders, suicides, riots, riots, disobedience of younger people to elders, children to parents, subordinates to the authorities and subjects of kings and rulers, disrespect for marriages and their frequent dissolution and abandonment of children have become commonplace; - the earth has become a place of all kinds of untruths, horrors, oppression of some by others, grief, groans, tears and sighs. Some of the people took possession of countless riches and indulged in immeasurable luxury, others became poor in the end and lost their daily bread due to laziness and inactivity, or lack of wealth and illness, or due to greed and oppression of the rich. – This is what sin did and is doing, these are the consequences of the fall of the first people, which seemed and now seems small and forgivable to many, i.e. violation by Adam and Eve of one small, easy commandment about not eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. “Look now, to what countless and terrible disasters did disobeying the Creative Commandment lead people to, and after that, if you want, if you are mad, joke with sin, indulge in intemperance, commit every kind of sin, but then expect strict, righteous retribution from the just Creator, if you do not come to your senses and convert, do not repent, do not correct yourself and do not serve Him with fear and awe. Such is humanity, which has sinned and is still sinning; such is the adulterous and sinful world (Matthew 12:39), according to the word of the Lord; and what would have happened to him if the Lord had not had mercy on him and had not sent the Redeemer to the world of His only begotten Son? He would have fallen into hell following his tempter and enslaver, the devil, like all fallen spirits. But man, seduced by the serpent-tempter, was rewarded with compassion from God, and at the end of time the Redeemer came, accomplished His glorious and all-saving work, fulfilled all the righteousness of God for us, taught us to do the will of God, set an example, gave all the strength for life and godliness (2 Pet. 1:3), suffered for us, destroyed the curse to which we all righteously fell, gave a blessing, died and rose again, having conquered our death and having granted resurrection, he opened the way to heaven for believers; founded the one holy Church, catholic and apostolic, gave shepherds to people, established saving sacraments, unceasing teaching in the guiding and enlightening Word of God, established holy fasts instead of disastrous intemperance. Now all that remains is to obey the teachings of Christ, adhere firmly to the leadership of the Church and be saved. Amen. Word on the anniversary of the martyrdom of Emperor Alexander II, March 1 “Christ has risen from the dead, becoming the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Cor. 15:20). We prayerfully remember the anniversary of the martyrdom of the Most Pious Sovereign Emperor Alexander II, Trustee and Builder of the Russian state, who granted freedom to the agricultural class. God, the King of kings of the earth, has vouchsafed us to live under his glorious power and to rejoice in his glorious reign; we also had to endure many anxious days of repeated daring attempts by villains on his precious life, when, finally, we were struck like thunder by the news of his martyrdom, which crowned his royal head and served as a cleanser for all his sins. For we hope that his unrighteously shed royal blood, mingling with the atoning Blood of the Life-Giver Christ, who rose from the dead, served to cleanse him from all sins from which he, as a man and a king, was not free during his life. May the Lord, the King of glory, rest his soul - the resurrected Firstfruits of the dead, the only Immortal and Righteous One, who has washed us from our sins with His Blood - in the villages of heaven, abiding for endless ages and resting every soul that has remained faithful to its God and Savior to the end. May the now prosperous reigning Sovereign reign for many years, creating and wisely governing the power entrusted to Him from God, and we, His faithful subjects, will create our eternal salvation, may we inherit the eternal kingdom by the grace of Christ, each struggling in our own measure in this short-term life. Amen. Word for the week of Vaiy, April 7 “Say to the daughter of Zion, Behold, your King is coming to you, meek, sitting on a donkey and the colt of a donkey who is under the yoke” (Matthew 21:5). Going on a free, world-saving passion to Jerusalem, the Lord wanted to visit His sick friend Lazarus and his sisters Martha and Mary along the way, and since by Divine omniscience he foresaw his death, to perform his glorious resurrection from the dead as an assurance of the general resurrection of the entire human race. The miracle of the resurrection of a four-day-old man who had already given in to decomposition, most of all miracles, glorified Jesus Christ as the Messiah and the Victor of the universal death of men, and was the reason for His enthusiastic meeting by the inhabitants and strangers of Jerusalem who had gathered for the holiday of the Jewish Passover. But in the high priests, scribes and Pharisees it aroused terrible envy and malice, and they decided to finally put to death the One who exposed their vices, and who came to put to death our very death. The crucifiers did not know that they were crucifying their Benefactor, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29) and the sins of themselves - who prayed to the Father: Father, let them go, for they do not know what they are doing (Luke 23:34). And all the blasphemers of today, like Leo Tolstoy and his comrades, know that they are blaspheming the Savior of the world, preached and accepted by faith throughout the world, but in their pride they want to laugh at the common belief and, if they do not believe and are not converted, then all evil will perish (Matthew 21:41). Since today St. The Church solemnly and commemoratively celebrates the entry of the Savior on a young donkey who did not wear any yoke in St. the city of Jerusalem, with the joyful rejoicing of the people and especially the children - then let’s talk about what this extraordinary and, apparently, strange entry of Him into Jerusalem on a donkey and colt, and not on a horse, as was customary with eastern kings and victors, meant; what did this joy and rejoicing of the people and especially the kindly children who glorified the Lord mean - and how the all-evil hell prompted wicked people to kill the Giver of Life and the Lord, not foreseeing that Christ, killed by him in the flesh, would pierce His wooden copy, i.e. His cross, into his hellish belly and will perforate it with mortal, eternal perforation, and the souls absorbed by it will deliver from its all-consuming belly. Let's listen to St. The evangelist Matthew describes the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem. “When Christ, His disciples and the people drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage to the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them: go to the village that is right in front of you; and immediately you will find a donkey tied and a colt with her; having untied them, bring them to Me, and if anyone says anything to you, answer that the Lord needs them; and he will send them forthwith. Nevertheless, this happened, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, who says, Tell the daughter of Zion: “Behold, your King is coming to you, righteous and saving, meek, sitting on a donkey, and on the colt of a donkey, the son of a yoke” (Zechariah 9:9). The disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them. They brought a donkey and a colt, and put their clothes on them, and He sat on top of them. Many people spread their clothes along the road, and others cut branches from trees and spread them along the road. The people who preceded and accompanied exclaimed: Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest! And when He entered Jerusalem, the whole city began to stir, and said: Who is this? And the people said, This is Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee. And Jesus entered the church of God... and the lame and the blind came to Him, and He healed them. When the high priests and scribes saw the miracles that He performed, and the children shouting in the church and saying: Hosanna to the Son of David! were indignant. And they said to Him: Do you hear what they say? Jesus says to them: Yes! Have you never read: “From the mouths of babes and sucklings You have made praise” (Ps. 8:3)? And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there” (Matthew 21:1-17). Here is a description of the Lord's entry into Jerusalem. Why, contrary to all custom, did Jesus Christ enter Jerusalem not on a horse, but on a donkey and a colt? – The mind of God is visible here; the Lord teaches us not only with words, but also with animate and inanimate objects. So He cursed the barren fig tree to expose the barrenness of Judah and Judas the traitor; here He sits on a donkey and a colt as a sign that He will bring the pagan peoples, who did not know the yoke of the law of Moses, instead of the Jewish people who fell away from God, into the knowledge of His power and His eternal kingdom, and when the full number of pagans enters the Church of Christ; then the Jews will turn to Christ. So, entering Jerusalem on a donkey and colt had a mysterious meaning - precisely the conversion of the pagans, among whom we, the Russians, were called. As for the rejoicing of the people and children, who greeted with joy the Lord coming on a donkey, this common joy came from the delight that filled their hearts on the occasion of the resurrection of the four-day-old Lazarus from the tomb and surprise at the Divine Wonderworker; and through the mouths of gentle children praising the Lord, the Holy Spirit spoke. The Lord's entry into Jerusalem had a completely opposite effect on the proud and envious Pharisees - a feeling of extreme envy and malice, and they decided to kill Him. It seems that from that time on, all hell descended upon them. Passions blind a person and he himself does not know what he is doing - the most absurd and reckless things, as He Himself crucified by them on the cross said about this: Father, let them go, for they do not know what they are doing. Christ came as the immortal God, to kill the death that was devouring the human race and to grant us immortality by His victory over death - and His enemies killed Him Himself according to the flesh, delivering through this, without knowing, without knowing, the greatest good to the human race - and without a doubt, they too would have been forgiven by the Lamb of God, who took upon Himself the sins of the world, if they had repented of their Deicide. Wonderful are Your works, O Lord! Hell, in its blind, boundless malice, moved all its strength in the high priests, scribes and Pharisees to kill Christ, having seduced with the love of money one of the apostles of Christ to sell the Life of all to death, and by the permission of God, in fulfillment of the wise and eternal Council of God about the salvation of the human race by the death of Christ, - achieved its hellish efforts, killed the flesh of the Life-Giver, - but, first of all, he destroyed himself, and if he had known about the consequences of Christ’s suffering and death for his hellish kingdom, he would have used every effort to prevent Him from suffering and death. The Cross and death of the Life-Giver destroyed the power and kingdom of Satan, and he gave all the souls he had absorbed to the Deliverer of our race who had captured hell. The Church glorifies this victory over hell of Christ crucified in this way: “Pilate erected three crosses on Calvary: two of thieves and one of the Giver of Life; hell, seeing Him, let out a desperate cry and exclaimed to its servants - the demonic hordes: O my servants and my powers! Who, having driven nails into my heart, suddenly perforated me with a wooden spear; I am torn to pieces, there is terrible pain in my insides, I am wounded in the womb, my feelings confuse my spirit and I am forced to vomit out Adam and all those who came from him, betrayed to me through eating from the forbidden tree; for the tree of the cross leads them again into paradise” (Service of the 4th week of Lent; Wednesday; ikos according to the 6th ode). This is what hell did to its damned head, bringing Christ to death on the cross. Christ crushed his power and plundered all his self-interest; all his multi-human wealth, as the Holy Church testifies to this in her Sunday services. So let us all exclaim to the Conqueror of death, Christ the Giver of Life: blessed is He who came to our free passion for the sake of salvation through His suffering on the Cross and His death, who conquered our death and granted to all the resurrection, which will take place on the last day of the world. Having the time given to us for the exploits of correcting our lives and all virtues, let us take care to overcome the passions of the flesh and spirit and decorate our souls with mercy towards our neighbors, meekness, humility, obedience, patience, long-suffering, abstinence, purity and chastity. Amen. Word for the day of Holy Easter, April 14th. The Evidence of the Truth of the Resurrection of the Dead Greetings to you, dear brothers and sisters, on the bright feast of the Resurrection of Christ from the dead! Rejoice, and I will say again: rejoice. For greater joy, let us listen to the Angel of the Lord, who appeared to the myrrh-bearing women at the Savior’s tomb in the form of lightning, shining like lightning - and preached to them about the Resurrection of Christ. When they were in awe of his very shining appearance, he encouraged them and said: “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus crucified. He's not here; He rose again, as he said. Come and see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly, tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead, and is going before you to Galilee; you will see Him there. Here I told you. And, hastily emerging from the tomb, they ran with fear and great joy to tell His disciples. When they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them and said: Rejoice! And they came, took hold of His feet, and worshiped Him. Then Jesus says to them: Do not be afraid; go, tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me... The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus commanded them. And when they saw Him, they worshiped Him; and others doubted. And Jesus approached and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.” Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:5–10, 16–20). Here is the end of the story of the Evangelist Matthew about the resurrection and appearance of the Lord. Dear brothers and sisters! Christ, having risen from the dead, no longer dies: death no longer has power over Him. For that He died, He died once in the flesh for the destruction of sin, for our redemption from death; and what he lives, he lives for God. So consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God to all virtue in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 6:9-11). “Christ has risen from the dead, the Firstborn of those who died. For just as death was through man (Adam), so through man (the God-man Christ) was the resurrection of the dead. Just as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will live” (1 Cor. 15:20–22). And so the truth, the reality of our future resurrection from the dead through the resurrection of Christ from the dead became obvious, clear as day, and the purpose of our earthly life is indicated clearly and irrefutably: we must live for God, for good deeds, for mutual love and die for sin, i.e. sin must lose all power, all vitality and effectiveness in us; we must live on earth for heaven, for God, for eternal life, which is so clearly indicated to us by the resurrection of Christ; to live only this life and for this soon-disappearing life, for flesh and blood, is a dream, nonsense, a waste of time and energy, countless harm and opposition to our Creator and God, who clearly indicated our purpose. If you have been raised with Christ, then seek those things that are above, where Christ sits at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things. For you are dead, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory (Col. 3:1-4). After this, what is earthly life for a faithful Christian? Constant preparation for the future; the incessant striving of the soul for the kingdom of God from this vain life, from the sin that constantly attacks us - impartiality to temporary goods and using them to such an extent that they do not tie our heart to themselves and do not own it: everything is permissible for me, says the apostle, but nothing should possess me (1 Cor. 6:12). Meanwhile, our earthly life is structured in such a way that earthly cares and worries are almost always in the foreground, and this is not in accordance with the real purpose of our life. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and this is all, i.e. earthly things will be added to you (Matthew 6:33), given as if in addition. What in the first Christian times, and even now, animated and animates faithful Christians in a holy life equal to the angels? Confidence in the resurrection of the dead, in the future endless life and in rewarding everyone according to their deeds. What motivated and strengthened the martyrs in their firm determination to endure countless types of all kinds of torment for the name of Christ and to go cheerfully and cheerfully to death? – Confidence in the resurrection, judgment and retribution. They constantly had in their hearts the words of Christ: in your patience gain your souls (Luke 21:19); and the hair of your head shall not perish (Luke 21:18). What labored and animated the Holy Fathers of our Holy Orthodox Church in the exploits of prayer and fasting, in the struggle with passions, in the struggle with heretics for the Orthodoxy of our faith, for example. for the true teaching about the Holy Trinity and the union of two natures in Christ - Divine and Human - about the veneration of holy icons? – Firm conviction in the salvific nature of the Orthodox faith and in future reward. What animated and made wise the wondrous and sweet hymns of our St. Church in the compilation of such and such wise, - leading to the delight of every believing soul - church songs, so diverse in name and content? What human poetry can compare with the wonderful, heavenly, holy poetry of our God-inspired singers? Listen carefully with sensitive, heartfelt and intelligent ears, for example, to Easter chants, in general to holiday and Sunday chants, and to all ordinary ones? What breathes in them, philosophizes, sings, plays spiritually and triumphs? Living, clairvoyant faith in the resurrection and in the future life and reward. The saints lived only in body on earth, but with soul and heart in heaven and with the inhabitants of heaven they had living communion, living in one spirit with them, and after their blessed death they entered into eternally blissful communion with them. Brothers and sisters, children of the resurrection and brethren and children of the risen Christ! May our joy in the resurrection be reasonable, deep, holy and active! May she also encourage us to love the Risen One, to a holy life and to mutual love. Amen. Word for the birthday of His Majesty the Emperor Nikolai Alexandrovich, May 6 “All things were made by Him, and without Him they came into being as nothing” (John 1:3). The Greek-Russian Church and Russia celebrate today the high birth of the Autocrat of All Russia, who for seven years has already held the scepter of rule over the most extensive kingdom in the world. It is worthy and righteous to celebrate this day for the entire State and Church and give thanks to the all-powerful Ruler of the world - the Lord, who sets up the kings of the earth (Dan. 2:21) for the good of the peoples and the well-being of the saints. His Church, which He Himself directly founded on earth and established it with His cross and the deeds of the cross of the Apostles and martyrs, its universal teachers and wondrous ascetics throughout all centuries, even to our time. Yes, through the mediation of sovereign persons, the Lord guards the good of the kingdoms of the earth and especially the good of the world of His Church, not allowing godless teachings, heresies and schisms to overwhelm it - and the greatest villain of the world who will appear in the last time, the Antichrist, cannot appear among us, due to the autocratic power that restrains the disorderly vacillation and absurd teaching of the atheists. The Apostle says that the Antichrist will not appear on earth as long as autocratic power continues to exist. For the mystery of iniquity is already being done, he says, but until then, it will not be completed until the sovereign is taken away from us: until now it will be held from among us, and then the lawless one will appear, whom the Lord will kill with the spirit of His mouth (2 Thess. 2 ch.). So we thank the Lord, who has given us and preserves for us His Anointed King, our autocratic King. Let us return to the word of God given at the beginning: everything was by Him, and without Him nothing came into being, that is, everything visible and invisible came into being through the Word of God (put on flesh) and without Him nothing began to be that began to be (John 1:3). This is what the Apostle of Christ and Evangelist John the Theologian says at the beginning of his gospel. So, everyone, kings and subjects, every age and both sexes owe their eternal existence and well-being to the beneficent providence for us, to the Hypostatic eternal Word, our Lord Jesus Christ. But with existence, each of us is indicated by our Creator and the great goal of existence and given various talents, i.e., all natural and grace-filled, spiritual and physical powers, to achieve the intended goal, and we must fill our lives with good activity corresponding to each of us according to the type of our duties and our calling. We all have Christian, family and social responsibilities; Our entire life on earth should be filled with the fulfillment of these duties. We live on earth for heaven. Since we have the happiness of being called and being Christians, and belonging to the Church of God, or the divinely established society of those saved in Christ, we must be its faithful children, firmly and sincerely holding, honoring and observing the holy Gospel teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ and His commandments, Divine services, the Sacraments and the hierarchy, encouraging each other to love and good deeds, and caring for each other as members of one the living body of Christ to achieve eternal life. And since we are at the same time members of the great civil body, i.e. Russian state and loyal subjects of the Monarch of Russia, then we are obliged to fear God and honor the Tsar (1 Pet. 2:17), according to the word of the Apostle, or render Caesar’s things to Caesar, and God’s things to God (Mark 12:17), reverently and unquestioningly obey the Tsar and the authorities appointed by Him, so that we may live our entire quiet and silent life in all piety and purity (1 Tim. 2:2), in peace and tranquility, each one faithfully performing his duties. And since the State consists of many families, and the family is like a small cell in the state hive, on the welfare of which the entire State Bee more or less depends, then each family, both according to conscience and according to the written law of God and according to the demands of reason and for the sake of its own good, must live, work and develop peacefully and piously with the fear of God. Thus, each of us must use the lot of existence given to him by God according to the will of God for his own and the common good - and achieve through temporary life - a life that has no limit, a blissful and carefree life in heaven. Our life in heaven is where we wait for the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our humble body so that it will be conformed to the body of the Lord Jesus Christ (Phil. 3:20). We all received from the Lord God a rational existence with an immortal soul, but it fell into sin through the fault of our ancestors. The Lord Jesus Christ gave us grace and power to overcome sin and live for the glory of God and for our good. May our life be for the glory of God. Amen. Homily for the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, September 8 “We magnify You, Most Holy Virgin, and honor Your holy parents, and glorify Your glorious birth” (Magnification). One thousand nine hundred years ago, humanity was delighted and exalted by the birth from the righteous but barren parents of Joachim and Anna of a wonderful baby - the Virgin, who was destined before the creation of the world to be the wonderful Mother according to the flesh of God the Word Himself, the Creator and Savior of the world - the God of spirits and all flesh. Extremely great was the sorrow of barren parents, descendants of David the King-Prophet, who wanted to have blessed offspring and suffered reproaches from neighbors who had the blessing of childbearing; but their faith in the God of Israel was strong - firm hope in His mercy and fervent prayer, unshakable devotion to the God of their fathers, unshakable aspiration for the Messiah, the Savior of the human race, promised of ancient times by God to Israel. And their sorrow soon turned into joy; faith and hope are unashamed; The complete devotion to God of Joachim and Anna was rewarded with an extraordinary glorious fruit - the pure Maiden Mary. Even before Her birth, the righteous parents made a vow to God to entrust and dedicate to Him the Child that He would give them; and upon Her birth, they immediately fulfilled their vow and brought Her into the church of God - to be raised by the Lord. The joy of the godfathers Joachim and Anna was communicated to all orthodox humanity, to the entire Christian race; in particular - the holy Church, which keeps the treasures of faith in a clear conscience - and loudly and worthily glorifies all the wondrous works of God's vision for the salvation of the human race. - For only She, by the Holy Spirit, embraces all the heights, beneficence and all the greatness of the works of God concerning us; and the adulterous and sinful world is completely occupied with its vanity - its worldly worries, its addictions, its treasures, its vain joy, and is negligent about the good and saving deeds of God, careless about its true benefit and its salvation. And so let us all rejoice at the birth of the Most Holy Virgin from the righteous Joachim and Anna and thank the Lord, who has given us the Most Good and Most Wonderful Intercessor of the Christian race, who covers and intercedes us from sins and from visible and invisible enemies and great troubles and misfortunes, when we resort to Her with faith and hope. Through Her and the God-Man Christ, the Son of God, who was born from Her, heaven, closed by sins, was opened again to faithful people, paradise, our ancient fatherland, was opened again, and we were all given the opportunity to enter into it by faith, repentance and virtue, by the grace and generosity and love of mankind who redeemed us from sin, curse and death of our Savior. Amen. Words spoken in 1904 “According to the promise of God, we look forward to new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells” (2 Pet. 3:13). For those celebrating the new civil year, I mentally transport them to the new heaven and new earth, where truth dwells. Yes, according to the false promise of God, there will soon come a complete renewal of heaven and earth for the human race renewed by our Redeemer - the present earth will burn, and the heavens, like a robe, will wear out and become frayed and changed like a garment (Isa. 51:6, 65:17, 66:22, 13:13; Matt. 24:29, 35), according to the word of the prophet... And Lord forbid. For who has not been an eyesore at the widespread untruth on earth, untruth and error in faith, untruth in states, in societies, in classes, in various institutions, in cities, villages, families, in schools and even in the abodes of saints. For a long time, for many millennia, all unrighteousness has reigned on earth, of which the ancient prophets convicted people, and we pray to our heavenly Father with the words of His beloved, His only begotten Son, who came to cleanse our iniquities: Hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done as it is in heaven and on earth (Matthew 6:9-10). But unbelievers object to me: what new heaven are you talking about and what new earth are you talking about? Everything will be old, forever there will be no new heaven and new earth, heaven and earth are eternal, they are still in a state of formation, many thousands of years of this self-education have passed and many thousands more will pass and people will be born endlessly; one generation passes away and another comes, but the earth will stand forever. - No, the lying sages of the earth, speaking from their bellies, preaching their dreams. The Word of God is true and immutable, and what it has spoken will certainly come true - and it will come true with what speed, with what ease! The earth with all the elements will burn, like a house burns, and the sky will disappear in an instant, like clothes. The proof of this is before our eyes in all living organisms, plants and animals. Now it's winter. All the spring and summer beauty of the plants has disappeared - it is gone, all has decayed; and our bodies with death will decay in the graves, and so the entire visible world will undergo decay and destruction. It is just as easy for the Creator to turn him into insignificance, just as He easily brought him with one command from non-existence into being, and the sun will darken, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, do not be afraid, however, that they will fall to the ground, no, they will only fall, according to the word of the Lord, and disappear like nothing; for all the worlds are as nothing before God (Isa. 40:17), according to the word of Scripture. What kind of new heaven, you ask, will there be and what kind of new earth will it be for new people? It is not, of course, like the present, and the earth is not like the present, because new people will have a new incorruptible, spiritual, eternal, immortal nature; immortal, pure, sinless, holy, as the Lord God is holy, it is obvious therefore that both the new heaven and the new earth will be spiritual, incorruptible, eternal and incomparably beautiful; there is a spiritual body, says the Apostle, and there is a spiritual body (1 Cor. 15:44), which means that heaven and earth will be spiritual, incorruptible, and not subject to change or destruction for endless ages. Do you believe this, earthly sage Leo Tolstoy, do your like-minded people believe? Believe it or not, what is predetermined by the beginningless Creator, faithful in all His words, will come true, and your dreams will remain dreams, and your unbelief and disobedience will turn to you as punishment. I will conclude my words with the words of the divinely inspired Apostle Peter. Remember, brethren, “the words formerly spoken by the holy prophets, and the commandment of the Lord and Savior, delivered by your apostles. Know this first of all, that in the last days there will appear insolent scoffers, walking after their own lusts, saying, Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers began to die, from the beginning of creation, everything remains the same. Those who think this way do not know that in the beginning, by the Word of God, the heavens and earth were made of water and by water: therefore the world at that time perished, being drowned by water. And the present heavens and earth, contained by the same Word, are reserved for fire for the day of judgment and destruction of wicked men. One thing should not be hidden from you, beloved, that with the Lord “one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (Ps. 89:5), for He is above time, as the Creator of time. The Lord is not slow in fulfilling his promise, as some consider slow: but he is patient with us, not wanting anyone to perish, but for everyone to come to repentance. The day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night, and then the heavens will pass away with a noise, the elements, having flared up, will be destroyed, the earth and all the works on it will be burned up. If all this is destroyed in this way, then what kind of holy life and piety should you be like, who are expecting and desiring the coming of the day of God, in which the flaming heavens will be destroyed and the burning elements will melt? However, according to His promise, we look forward to a new heaven and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. So, beloved, expecting this, strive to appear before Him undefiled (and now Christians shamelessly defile themselves with fornication - single and married) and blameless in the world; and consider the longsuffering of our Lord to be salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, wrote to you, as he speaks about this in all his epistles.” “Therefore, beloved, being forewarned of these things, take heed lest you be carried away by the error of the wicked, and fall from your own affirmation. But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory, both now and to the day of eternity” (2 Pet. 3:1–18). Amen. Word for the day of Epiphany and Epiphany. Holiday philosophy The Holy Church is now commemorating the greatest, saving deed in the earthly life of our Divine Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, namely: His Baptism by John the Baptist in the Jordan River, at the age of thirty. The question naturally comes to mind: if Christ is a sinless and holiest Man and an all-perfect God in the unfused, inseparable and inseparable union of the divine and human natures in one Person, then why did He need baptism in the rapids of the Jordan, and is there any internal contradiction in this action of the Divine Redeemer? What does a sinless person need to cleanse himself from? Why should the most pure one wash himself? – But a wise and righteous God cannot contradict Himself; only man, a fallen being, constantly contradicts himself, often allowing meaningless thoughts, words and deeds. Let us call upon the God-man for help in this apparently strange action—Christian wisdom. Why did Christ God come to earth in the flesh, accepting all human beings with their infirmities, except sin? - Man is a fallen being, wallowing in the filth of sin, everything permeated with this filth, to the bones and marrow, to the innermost thoughts and feelings and inconspicuous movements of the will: in him, thought, desire, memory, imagination, and all feelings and aspirations are directed towards sin and are permeated with sin - although there are also pure thoughts, feelings and aspirations and good deeds, but not without an admixture of sin; the whole person outside of God is vile, disgusting to Him, as if imbued with evil poison and the corruption of sin, and without cleansing this abomination of sin, he cannot unite with God, from Whom he received life in the image and likeness of God’s simplicity, God’s holiness and goodness, and which he lost. In order to cleanse a person, and, so to speak, remelt him, and completely wash him from sin, the Lord, as the wise Creator and Physician, cleanses him with water and the Holy Spirit - in a mysterious way, characteristic of Him alone, as the wise Physician. For this purpose, He Himself, the most holy and sinless, is baptized in the water of the Jordan, sanctifying the waters with Himself for all ages and generations of mankind, sanctifying the waters to wash the body from the filth of sin, and imparting to the souls of those baptized the grace of the Holy Spirit, cleansing, sanctifying and regenerating; for those who sin after baptism, imparting the grace of forgiveness of sins in repentance and the grace of sanctification and communion with God in the communion of His most pure Body and Blood. Thus, without fire, the Lord, as a skilled Sculptor and Artist, melts and purifies His wise creation from the extreme impurity and filthiness of sin, and raises it to primitive perfection and holiness under the condition of man’s obedience to His new commandments, as it is said: a new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, as I have loved you (John 13:34). And this wise providence of God about the rebirth of fallen man killed by sin, through baptism and other sacraments, is justified by all the children of God (Matthew 11:19), who followed God’s commands in the simplicity and zeal of their hearts, for a countless number of saints were miraculously reborn into a new life and inherited the kingdom of God. A carnal, worldly, unspiritual person cannot understand this wise providence of God and strives spiritually (1 Cor. 2:14), and in his arrogance rejects the grace of baptism, like our Russian heresiarch Leo Tolstoy, and thus, like the ancient Pharisees and scribes, rejecting the wise Council of God about the salvation of man, in their pride, unbelief, and wickedness they perish, for without After baptism and repentance, no one can see the kingdom of God (fn. John 3:5). Those who were baptized into Christ, put on Christ, says the Apostle. What do these words mean? They mean that a person, according to his faith or his successors, baptized in Christ and in the name of the Holy Trinity, puts on spiritually in Christ, i.e. in His holiness and truth, in His meekness, humility, self-sacrifice, abstinence, patience, obedience, in His love and mercy - contrary to the old, not baptized, not regenerated from God man, who is inwardly, secretly fully clothed in the devil, in his pride, wickedness, malice, pride, self-indulgence, covetousness, envy, fornication and all kinds of uncleanness, opposition and disobedience to the law of God, unbelief, self-will, laziness towards piety, and the desire for all ungodliness and impurity. This is what the words mean: those who were baptized into Christ, put on Christ, i.e. all who were baptized in Christ have put on, clothed themselves with Christ, i.e. every virtue, while the unbaptized are clothed invisibly, as with clothing, in every sin, and live in one spirit with the devil. And from here follows the indispensable duty for every Christian to force himself to strive diligently for every virtue, and to fight diligently and selflessly against all sin, with every sinful passion, with sinful habits and lusts, according to the word of God: those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts (Gal. 5:24). The current holiday is also called the Epiphany of the Lord, because at the baptism of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Jordan, the beginningless Trinitarian and Trisplendent Deity appeared to people - the beginningless Father, who proclaimed from heaven and called the Baptized One Beloved Son; The co-originating Son and Creator of all, baptized according to humanity in the Jordan and the co-originating Holy Spirit, by whom every soul is alive, purified, sanctified and confirmed. Thus, in the baptism of Jesus Christ in the Jordan, the great sacrament of Christian theology was revealed, through which we all learned to believe in the beginningless Trinity, consubstantial, Father and Son and Holy Spirit - in one Divinity. This is the most important and saving teaching of our faith, and without faith in the Holy Trinity no one can be saved. Go and teach all languages, Christ commanded His disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). He who has faith and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not have faith will be condemned (Mark 16:16). Lev of Yasnaya Polyana and his followers do not believe in the Holy Trinity due to their arrogance, they oppose the Word of God and do not recognize it as such, they want to find in their darkness some other impersonal God, some other beginning of all principles, and they found him in the culprit of all the world’s evils - in the spirit of malice operating in the sons of disobedience (Eph. 2:2), and fell into the clutches of the first fighter against God and a renegade from God - the devil. But God is not mocked (Gal. 6:7). Amen. A Word for the Week about the Publican and the Pharisee “Two men entered the church to pray: one was a Pharisee, and the other was a publican” (Luke 18:10–14). The current Sunday is called in the church order the week of the publican and the Pharisee; the publican is a symbol of the covetous and repentant sinner, and the Pharisee is an arrogant scientist, or an arrogant admirer of his own reason, despising other people. It is remarkable that both of them entered the church to pray, and each prayed to God in his own way. The Pharisee's prayer was to boast of his good deeds. Lord, he says, I thank You that I am not like other people, robbers, offenders, adulterers, or like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of everything I acquire. The publican, standing in the distance, did not even dare to raise his eyes to heaven, but striking himself on the chest, he said: God, be merciful to me, a sinner (Luke 18:10-14)! What was the true, infallible judgment of God regarding both? “I tell you,” the Lord said to the people listening to Him, that the publican came to his house justified more than the Pharisee. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. Here is the righteous judgment of the Lord who searches the hearts and innards, similar to what He pronounced on another occasion about people who put their offerings in a church box, among whom there was one widow who put into it her last two half coins, which were recognized as being larger than many rubles put by the rich. The Pharisee ruined his virtues with pride and boasting, but the tax collector pleased God with his humility, repentance and awareness of his spiritual poverty and his many sins. There is no doubt that, on the one hand, the Lord had in mind here certain individual personalities, and on the other hand, as the righteous Judge of all, having to judge the whole world, He saw the hearts and sins of people of all ages and all places from all peoples of the earthly world, and about all those like the tax collector and the Pharisee - He pronounced His infallible judgment. What is the lesson for all of us here? The fact that none of us, no matter who he is, learned or unlearned, noble or simple, rich or poor, should be exalted in anything, because we have nothing of our own, as our own property, but everything is God’s - soul and body, all abilities and all advantages, and ours are only countless sins and weaknesses, common to everyone without distinction, which we must always know and remember, and of which we should always repent humbly, creating the fruits of repentance, not anyone condemning and considering ourselves worse and lower than others, and thanking God for the fact that He does not punish us righteously for our sins and spares us fatherly. Let us pay attention to the fact that the Lord, our righteous Judge, finds the publican and the Pharisee in the church, both praying; This means that both of them respected the church, believed in the presence of God in it, as in a house of prayer, and considered it their duty to be in it from time to time and pray together with others. This deserves attention and praise. And in our time, Christian times, when the church has a particularly important significance, incomparably greater than in the Old Testament, since the greatest sacraments dedicated to Christ by God are performed in it, many people, especially scientists and the rich, neglect and abandon it. The phenomenon is very sad. Should we forget the church, should we neglect the church, this sanctuary of God, this earthly heaven, in which the life-giving sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ is performed, and the closest unity of the Creator with rational creation and the deification of His faithful children through the communion of the Divine Mysteries takes place? In truth, people run from their bliss, from earthly paradise, from communication with Their Creator. But those who remove themselves from You will perish (Ps. 73:27), says the King-Prophet by the Holy Spirit. What is the reason for this removal? Proud mind, laziness, vanity and adultery of thought, heart and will, addiction to the vanities of life, to one’s lazy flesh, lack of development of spiritual taste with the extreme development of secular taste for light reading, disbelief in the saving Mystery, coarsening and petrification of the heart, lull of conscience; But he who sows to his flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, and he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life (Gal. 6:8). Who is the culprit of such a perverse flow and action of thought, mood, mockery of the church, holy, life-giving faith, contrary to Divine revelation, care for the salvation of people, their enlightenment, sanctification, good and blessedness? Blinding in the mind and conscience of the modern intelligentsia, i.e. a certain circle of false scientists who were brought up on reading only secular writers of a negative nature, and especially the notorious Count Leo Tolstoy, who trampled on the Gospel of Christ with his superstition and demonic pride, St. Church, worship and sacraments. Lord, enlighten the hearts of Your people to see the light of Your commandments, and teach everyone the highly accomplished publican humility. Amen. Word for Holy Easter, March 28th “I am the First and the Last, and the living; and he was dead, and behold, he is alive forever and ever, Amen. And I have the keys of hell and death” (Apoc. 1:17–18). “Thus says the True Holy One, who has the key of David, which opens, and no one will shut; He shuts, and no one will open” (Apoc. 3:7). On the bright Resurrection of Christ, I greet you all and on such a great and holy day I want to talk with you, dear brothers and sisters, about the above words of Holy Scripture; and I call you dear because you are very dear to our Lord Jesus Christ, who redeemed us all at an immeasurably dear price - with His most pure Blood, shed on the cross for our salvation. Remember this, and do not forget, do not forget what you were redeemed from at a great price: from sin, curse and death, temporary and eternal death. Beware with all your might of sin, which has caused so many troubles in the world, and is even now creating all sorts of troubles, even the real Japanese war: - may the Risen and Almighty King of creation, the Lord Jesus Christ, end it, and may He break the weapons of our adversaries, and with His omnipotent power may He establish peace on earth, which our Tsar together with Russia so much desired and desires. So I repeat again: Christ is risen! Truly risen! I want to explain to you the words of Holy Scripture given at the beginning from the revelation to the Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian: I am the First and the Last (Alpha and Omega), and living; and he was dead, and behold, he is alive forever and ever, Amen. And I have the keys of hell and death. With these sovereign words, the Lord indicates that He is the beginningless and omnipotent Creator of the visible and invisible, or angelic world - that all creatures received their beginning from Him, and Dennitsa himself - cast down from heaven and becoming Satan and the devil, the leader of the fallen angels, who dared to resist God and enter into a struggle with his Creator and bring sin and death into the world of God; I, says the Lord, am the First and the Last; All created spirits received their origin from Me - Angels and demons, who were previously good, holy spirits; By my word, heaven and earth and the entire human race were called into existence, and the laws of existence and life were given to them; All births of creatures have been and will be accomplished by Me, and I will be the end of heaven and earth with all earthly creatures; I will be the general resurrection and judgment of all; All My enemies and the entire satanic kingdom will be defeated and trampled upon by Me; By me the last enemy - death - will be eliminated and destroyed. Since the book of Revelation to the Apostle John is the last book of St. chronicles, and the first book is the book of the Genesis of the world and the human race, written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit by the prophet Moses, then pointing to this, the Lord says that through Him the existence of the world and the chronicle of existence began - just as through Him the end of the visible world will follow, which is announced in particular detail in the book of Revelation, and about the last battle of the serpent or Satan with the Lamb, who was slain and tasted death for saving the world. That is why the Lord says to John: I am the First and the Last, i.e. Everything got its beginning from me; It will end with me; through Me there will be the end of the world, the end of the kingdom of Satan and the beginning of its eternal torment, the end of the struggle between good and evil, the end of death, the end of the dying - and righteousness will reign - from Me good and evil will receive righteous reward, and unrepentant sinners will go into eternal torment, and the righteous into eternal life. Behold, I come quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to everyone according to his work (Apoc. 22:12), says the Lord repeatedly in the book of Revelation. Pointing out that He suffered death for us and that there will undoubtedly be a general resurrection through Him, the Conqueror of death, He says: I was dead, and behold, I am alive forever and ever, Amen; and you will live forever. This is what the words of the Risen One mean: I am the First and the Last, and I am alive, and was dead to you, for your redemption from death, and, behold, I am alive forever and ever, amen, i.e. I defeated your death by My innocent death for your sake, and now I am alive forever and ever, and I sit with My Father on His throne, from which I was not separated, although I was on earth, having accomplished My great feat for you, subject to sin and death; You too, My followers, strive against sin and do righteousness, and where I am, there will My servant be, i.e. in the everlasting Kingdom (John 12:26). The words of the Lord are also remarkable: I have the keys of hell and death; or - in another place in the same book: Thus says the Holy One, the True One, who has the key of David, which opens, and no one will shut, and shuts, and no one will open. Just as the victors of cities, in ancient times, as a sign of their victory, took the keys of the city gates and solemnly entered the defeated city, so our Lord, having conquered hell and death by His death for us, took, like the Victor, from Satan the keys, which he had owned for thousands of years, the keys of hell and death, and having destroyed hell, this dark, eternal prison of the earthly, freed the eternal captives and brought them into the light of the Kingdom heavenly. That is why we celebrate the Feast of the Resurrection so brightly, all with burning candles, which we all call the bright Resurrection of Christ. Let us celebrate it brightly, in mutual love and in all virtue, avoiding the dark deeds of enmity, intemperance and all impurity of sin. Amen. Word on the name day of the Most Pious Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, April 23 “Who will separate us from the love of God: tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or the sword? as it is written: For Your sake we are killed every day; They count us as sheep destined to be slaughtered” (Rom. 8:35–36; Psalm 43:23). The Holy Church now commemorates the Great Martyr George the Victorious and the Martyr Queen Alexandra, wife of the Roman Emperor Diocletian, who lived and suffered for the confession of the faith of Christ at the beginning of the third century after the Nativity of Christ; and today the Church and State celebrate the name day of the Most Pious Empress Alexandra Feodorovna with popular prayer. St. George was a brave commander of a detachment of Roman troops. The pagan emperor Diocletian at first loved and respected him; but, having learned that George was a Christian, he ordered him to be imprisoned. And then they wheeled him around; and when the Lord healed him of all his wounds, they put iron shoes on him, with nails pointed upward, and they drove him from place to place; after that, they tied him up and buried him in quicklime for three days; only secret inner prayer and God's help saved him from death. At this time, some sorcerer Athanasius appeared with his service to the king, and brought two bottles with strong poison, and said to the sovereign: if you want this madman to submit to you in everything, let him drink this drink, pointing to one bottle; if you want him to die, let him accept it, pointing to the other. George drank both, and justified the words of the Savior: believers, even if they drink mortally, will not harm them (Mark 16:18). Then Athanasius confessed Christ as God, and was beheaded, as well as George. Queen Alexandra, who saw the suffering of the great martyr and the miracles that happened during his suffering, more than once interceded for him with her husband. But when her petitions remained unsuccessful, she resolutely declared that she too was a Christian: the angry Diocletian ordered her head to be cut off. But God’s providence did not want her to die from the executioner: on the way to the place of execution, she, tired from the journey, asked the guards to allow her to sit down, and in this position she gave up her soul to the Lord with full readiness to taste death from the blow of the sword; The Church rightly calls her a martyr. A Christian writer of that time, describing the suffering of the martyrs, says in his work: if I had a hundred lips and an iron chest, then even then I could not count all the types of torment that the believers endured; a thousand books would not be enough to describe them. The cruelty reached the point that the mutilated were treated only to torture them again. The firmness of the martyrs was amazing: they joyfully went to their torment, as if they were going to a triumph and a royal feast, because they foresaw and anticipated the eternal life prepared for them by God after short-term suffering. The martyrs, like the Apostle Paul, said: who will separate us from the love of God: tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or the sword? as it is written: For Your sake we are killed every day; They consider us like sheep doomed to the slaughter. Such were the cruel times for Christians; so the pagan world armed itself against them and wanted to destroy them completely. But the more they were tortured and exterminated, the more they multiplied, and tens and hundreds of thousands of new Christians appeared in the place of the tortured; this was facilitated by countless amazing miracles during their suffering, and the obvious invincible power of God, which supported them, and the visible appearances to the martyrs of Christ Himself, the omnipotent God, who strengthened them with His all-joyful word and vision and the proximity of the blessed death and eternal bliss. With all types of torment, the suffering martyrs experienced in their hearts an extraordinary joy, which was imparted to them by the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, the Spirit of the Heavenly Father, who dwelt in their hearts and eased their suffering so that it was as if it were not they who suffered, but someone else who dwelt in them, i.e. Christ himself, who suffered for us. Let's move on to our time. We live in Christian times, when the Christian faith has spread to all parts of the world, although half the world's people still belong to the pagan world. But modern Christians, including many Russians, have become not better, but worse than atheists, in the spirit of denial of the true faith and church and blasphemous attitude towards them (Tolstoy and the Tolstoyans); and at the same time from Christian prayer and repentance; the covenants of Christ have been trampled upon by many; The crucified Christ commanded us self-denial: whoever wants to come after Me, He says, must deny himself, from his blind, carnal, corrupt mind, from his insane, deadly passions, take up his cross and follow in My footsteps (Lk. 9:23), and yet many of our compatriots did and are doing the exact opposite - they rejected not themselves, not the flesh and the adulterous world, but from Christ Himself and the Gospel, from the Church of God; they deified their mind and their flesh and elevated the satisfaction of carnal, destructive passions into a dogma of their kind, or, in modern scientific language, into the cult of the flesh and its passions, and for this they considered all means permissible to satisfy the flesh and the world - waste of state and public sums, or inherited property, delay and non-payment of money to workers and their suppliers, non-payment for taken goods, or theft of church property and private; murders due to kidnapping; eating and drinking your own or someone else's property; living at someone else's expense, laziness towards mental or physical work, disobedience to parents or students and subordinates - to their superiors, in a word: many turned their backs, their spines to God, and not their face, not their heart, and not their faith, but the most daring disbelief; They gave birth to not the fear of God, not reverence for God the Creator, but unbelief and fearlessness, pride and ingratitude, not humility and the consciousness of complete dependence on Him and His countless benefits to us. This is the nature of the behavior of our intelligentsia and non-intelligentsia. And for such a life and for such behavior, the righteous Lord and Judge gives us a terrible lesson - the war that was boldly imposed on us and in it - the loss of many faithful sons of Russia and our multimillion-dollar military courts. The war is just beginning: and what will happen ahead - only God knows; how many victims there will be, how many losses. Russia needs immediate repentance of all classes; correction of morals, renunciation of insane atheism; humility and reverence for the commandments of God and careful fulfillment of them; a sincere appeal to the holy mother of her Church who gave birth and raised them; the respect of children for their parents and of those raised for their teachers; justice, honesty, temperance, chastity, firmness and constancy of marriages; mercy and compassion for the downtrodden and the poor. If we behave this way, God willing, then the Lord will easily subdue our enemies under our feet, as in previous years, and glorify our right weapons. Let us not ourselves provoke the righteous wrath of God against us and rely only on the strength and courage of the warriors and the strength of our weapons. Let us create strength through God—and He, He alone, will destroy our enemies (Ps. 59:14). Amen. Word on the day of the sacred Confirmation and Crowning of the Most Pious Sovereign Emperor Nikolai Alexandrovich, May 14th. Monarchy is God's institution “The Lord said to Samuel (the prophet): I will send you a man, and you will anoint him as ruler over My people Israel, and he will save My people from the hand of the Philistines” (1 Samuel 9:15–16). The Holy Church and the Russian State remember and celebrate the solemn sacred anointing and crowning of our Most Pious Sovereign Emperor Nicholas Alexandrovich. The rite of anointing kings to the kingdom is an ancient rite, established by God Himself, the one all-powerful King of all the kingdoms of the earth, and therefore it is significant and essential in its origin and internal effect on the anointed one. It marks the outpouring of special mercy and power of God and sovereign power on him to govern the entrusted people. King David, the God-inspired singer of Israel, speaks in the 2nd Psalm on behalf of God: I have anointed My king over Zion, My holy mountain. Although these words refer to the Messiah, the King of the spiritual kingdom of God, here the word anointing, taken from the God-given custom of anointing kings to the kingdom, shows that with the anointing of a king to the kingdom, he is given from God Divine power, i.e. emanating directly from Him. And therefore the word of God commands his subjects: submit yourselves to every man, the creation of the Lord, for the sake of: whether to a king, as he prevails, or to a prince, as a villain sent from him for vengeance, or for praise as a doer of good (1 Pet. 2:13-14). Therefore, unlimited monarchical power is a Divine institution, as the most natural, wise and useful. Even the ancient pagan Greek writer said: “the rule of many is all-destructive; let there be one king, the only lord.” Today's restless, uncalled-for politicians harbor desires for constitutional or republican rule in Russia, too, but they do not understand the history and character of the Russian people, who cannot exist without an autocratic tsar, who lives by them and in them, both in prosperity and misfortune, and on him alone after God and the Queen of Heaven, places their hopes. He believes that the king’s heart is in the hand of God and He, the Lord, directs him where he wants (Prov. 21:1), according to the word of scripture. There is one God in heaven, one Tsar in indigenous Russia, as one Orthodox faith, one holy, catholic and apostolic Church. In addition to the rite of anointing, the rite of crowning the king is performed. A crown, as a symbol of power or valor and deeds of a person for the glory of God and reward for them, is a proper and magnificent adornment of the king, as the ruler of the people, appointed and exalted by God, and he must inspire his subjects with reverence and devotion to him, as God’s protege and, as it were, His vicegerent on earth, especially observed and preserved by God. Lord, in Your power the king will rejoice and rejoice over Your salvation, says the royal prophet. You gave him what his heart desired, and You did not reject the request of his lips, for You met him with the blessings of goodness, and placed a crown of pure gold on his head. You have placed upon him honor and greatness. You have placed blessings on him forever, you have made him glad with the joy of Your countenance. For the king trusts in the Lord, and because of the goodness of the Most High he will not be shaken. Your hand will find all your enemies, your right hand will find all those who hate you. You will destroy their fruit from the earth and their seed from among the sons of men. For they undertook evil against You, they formed plans, but they could not carry them out. You will set them as a target, from Your bows You will shoot arrows into their faces (Ps. 20:2-13). So, let us revere the Tsar, as the Autocrat given by God for the good of Russia, let us pray for Him, for His power and for the success of His reign, for His power, victory, stay, peace and health and salvation, and that the Lord God will prosper Him in everything and subdue every enemy and adversary under His feet. Amen. Sermon on the day of holy memory of our venerable father John of Rila “You taught Dey to despise the flesh, which passes away, but to be diligent about the soul, the immortal thing” (immortal being) (Troparion to the Venerables). For the glory of God, in honor and memory of St. John and for our spiritual benefit, let us talk about what must be understood by the flesh, which is spoken of in the short verse just given, and what is meant by the immortal soul; how to despise the flesh, given to us by God to serve the soul, and how to be diligent about the immortal soul. From a lack of understanding of both, i.e. flesh and soul, and from negligence about the soul there is a lot of unrest in our lives and many people perish temporarily and eternally. In the short church song just cited, flesh and soul mean two opposite things or principles: the evil principle and the good principle; By flesh we mean sin or all the passions that fight the human race and destroy the soul and body of a person: extremely perverted pride, pride, deceit, stubborn unbelief, doubt in revealed or established truths, freethinking, heresy, sects, schisms; intemperance, luxury, lust, carnality, drunkenness, fornication, greed, envy, laziness towards piety and prayer, towards repentance, alienation from God, love-loving, carnal life, hard-heartedness towards neighbors, and especially towards the poor and needy - self-will, lack of churchliness, disobedience to parents and authorities, madness, blasphemy against God and all that is holy, in general by flesh we must understand every sin, and by soul - the immortal principle in man, our soul, created in the image and likeness of God, the image of God distorted in us by sin and the lost likeness of God and the likeness to the enemy of God, the devil, the apostate from God, who has introduced into his angelic nature wickedness, anger, pride, envy, disobedience to God, which has reigned in the souls through various passions, unrepentance; all madness, blindness of mind and all corruption, endless death and eternal torment, and subjected to it the entire human race that works for him. The meaning is this: St. John, like everyone else who belongs to the ranks of saints, taught with his righteous life to despise and repel from oneself every sin, all human passions, to fight them, not to follow or submit to them, to firmly adhere to faith and virtue, godly simplicity, love for God and neighbor, and thus constantly become like God, achieve Christian perfection and eternal bliss, as it is said: be you perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48). This is the meaning of the church song, and what it teaches all Christians. After the first people, created in the image and likeness of God, did not preserve their invaluable treasure - holiness, righteousness, freedom from sin, agreement with the will of God and blissful balance, harmony in soul and body - the flesh began to resist the spirit in everything and incline it to every sin; man split into two, became a slave of sin, was darkened by hellish darkness, fell into the most pitiful ignorance of God, into absurd idolatry, and in it he deified himself, his senseless and destructive passions - he became a slave of evil demons, and not a servant of God, and perished, unable to do anything true, good without God, and after death descending into hell, the prison of darkness and death. Only Christ our God, who took upon Himself our flesh and soul, and fulfilled all righteousness for us, taught us to despise the flesh and all its branches and to be diligent about the immortal soul, its salvation and freedom from sin, and gave us all the strength for life and godliness (2 Pet. 1:3). He alone restored to human nature the holiness and integrity bestowed upon it in the beginning through the mysterious rebirth of water and the Spirit. He taught: unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot see the kingdom of God, for that which is born of the flesh is flesh, i.e. a person born from parents corrupted by sin is also sinful, unclean and unworthy of God and His life, His kingdom, and that which is born of the Spirit (Holy) is spirit (John 3:5–6), i.e. a reborn person, cleansed from the filth of sin in baptism, is a saint, with the gift of re-being (secondary being). It is this rebirth or mystical rebirth, which we received by God’s grace in baptism, that we must keep within ourselves with all diligence and no longer be defiled by any passions, being dead to sin but alive to God (Rom. 6:11), resisting with all your might the attacks or attacks of all passions, preserving the image of God within yourself and achieving the likeness of God. All the apostles, in their letters to Christians, begged them to live worthy of their Christian calling and to be conformed to Christ. I pray that you walk worthy of the calling to which you have been called (Eph. 4:1). In all their lives and deeds, the saints tried to imitate Christ in holy simplicity, in unceasing prayer, meekness, humility, kindness, abstinence, non-covetousness, patience, perfect devotion to God, obedience to authorities, in unceasing labors, in serving others. Their life on earth was an angelic, heavenly life. Living on earth with their bodies, they lived with their hearts in heaven, constantly contemplating with spiritual eyes the unimaginable beauty of the Face of the Lord, His infinite goodness, boundless greatness, wisdom, ever-present, omnipotence, bliss. They did not prefer anything on earth to God, they did not attach their hearts to anything, having in their hearts one invaluable Treasure of God. Who is in my heaven? and with You I want nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart faint: God is the rock of my heart, and my portion forever (Ps. 73:25-26), they said to David. Living with God, they had paradise in their hearts, because God lived and walked in them, according to the scripture: I will dwell in them, and will walk in them, and will be their God (Lev. 26:12; 2 Cor. 6:16). Whoever loves Me will keep My word, and we will come to him and make our abode with him (John 14:23), says the Lord. Thus, the saints, with all their lives, with all their thoughts, with all their feelings, with all the powers of soul and body, pleased God, their Prototype, the Lawgiver and the Giver of the Law, they lived in God and by God, and we, each in his rank, are taught to strive for a holy life and for the destined eternal bliss in God. But let us go back to the beginning of sin. Since the fall of the first people, the love of this world began, this enmity against God of verbal, sensory creatures, i.e. of the human race, life according to the flesh, according to the prince of the powers of the air (Eph. 2:2), and not according to the spirit, and streams of lawlessness poured into the world below in an endless wave. The fallen spirits founded on earth their evil, full of all evil and deceit, demonic kingdom in order to constantly seduce people into all evil, with the permission of God, to test them - and entered into a desperate struggle with God and the human race, especially with the seed of saints and chosen people - and in world life thus two obvious opposite currents were revealed, on the one hand - good and evil, the flesh and the spirit of the world lying in evil, and on the other hand, the Spirit of God abiding in the pious; a community of believers, elect and righteous, and an adulterous and sinful world lying in wickedness (1 Jn. 5:19); a war has opened between evil and piety, sin and righteousness, faith and unbelief; Most people have forgotten God and deified creatures and their passions: the image of God in man has become distorted and darkened; instead of striving for his prototype, God, man deviated towards the enemy, became like the evil principle or the teacher of all evil - the devil; the original purpose for which man was created - eternal life - fell into oblivion, no one thought about it; people became, as it were, soulless flesh, and the Lord said about them before the flood: My Spirit will not forever be despised by men: for they are flesh (Gen. 6:3), i.e. they are full of all lawlessness, all that is holy, all truth, all virtue is reduced to nothing; only a small society of the elect: patriarchs, prophets and righteous people, like Job, knew God and honored Him. Man, this speck of dust on earth, entered into a struggle with the immeasurable greatness of God; a limited mind blinded by sin - with an infinite mind and with eternal wisdom; lies - with eternal, unshakable truth, anger - with immeasurable goodness, brutal rage (persecution of believers) - with eternal, unchanging calmness and goodness. And throughout the entire continuation of this visible world this insane struggle between the creature and the Creator takes place; what happened in the ancient pagan world has been repeated now, in the Christian world and here in Russia. But the time will come - this struggle will end with the complete defeat of evil and the victory of good over evil: for He must reign until He makes His enemies His footstool. The last enemy will be destroyed by death (1 Cor. 15:25–26). In the real Japanese War, the original enemy of God and humanity, the devil, rebelled against God, against the Church of Christ, and will be defeated by Christ. The war is caused by the godlessness and immorality of the Russian all-class world, and the war gives it a bitter lesson. Our current intellectuals have reduced to zero, to nothing, all the good and wise Economy of God for the salvation of the human race; reduced to zero in their godless writings of St. The Church founded unshakably on earth by God; they despised the Cross of Christ the Redeemer; sacred revelation or the word of God, the grace of the priesthood, divine laws, in the place of which they introduce their own carnal laws that corrupt morals; elevated to a cult - satisfaction of one’s carnal passions; They put their minds in the place of the mind of God, they elevated illegal divorces from wives into law, and they interpret the word of God perversely, and thereby confuse people of faith and piety. May the real cruelest war sober us up, and may all the lost sons and daughters of Russia turn to God and to His Church. Lord, You correct our corrupt morals, and teach us all to glorify You, our heavenly Father, with a righteous life. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, as it is in heaven and on earth (Matthew 6:9–13). Sermon on the day of remembrance of the holy, glorious and all-praised Apostle Andrew the First-Called “As Jesus passed near the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting nets into the sea; for they were fishermen. And he says to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:18–19). What an extraordinary calling by the Savior of two Jewish fishermen Peter and Andrew to the high apostolic work, for which He Himself came from heaven to earth! Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men. From like he calls to like: from catching fish to catching men. Why does the Lord call the preaching of the Gospel about repentance and the Kingdom of Heaven and the Messiah-Savior a trap? In these tributary words of the Lord, as in all His parables, lies Divine wisdom, truth and goodness. The divine gaze of Christ clearly saw the sad spectacle of the world, namely, how the incorporeal hunter-devil with his countless army of evil spirits is catching the human race throughout the entire earth, or, more correctly, has already caught it in his destructive nets and covered it with the shadow of death; His all-seeing eye clearly saw all of humanity immersed in the destruction of idolatry, all of its corruption by countless vices; He saw His verbal creatures perishing from the mental wolf, diving into the depths of destruction - and He came to seek them out, to extract them from the snares of the enemy, like a precious catch, to bring them to the Heavenly Father - enlightened, purified, reborn by the bath of baptism and repentance, sanctified, and honored by the gift of deification and eternal life. For this greatest work, the Lord, the Knower of the Heart, chose simple, unlearned fishermen, unsubtle, kind-hearted and completely devoted to Him, people whom He Himself taught the great work of fishing, He Himself made them wise to accomplish this great work, He Himself revived them, making them from old skins, new furs and from old clothes new, as He Himself said in the parable (Matthew 9:16 ; Mark 2:21 ; He Himself gave them the gift of speech and reason and made them capable of carrying the Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven to all ends of the world, so that such a great thing as the salvation of the human race would not be attributed to the art or power of people, but, as in the truth, to the power of God, and so that no flesh would boast before God (1 Cor. 1:29). Now the words of Heavenly Wisdom are clear: follow Me - and I will make you fishers of men, i.e. be like Me, dispassionate for the world, non-covetous, leave for Me your home, family, earthly livelihood, just as I left for the salvation of people - heaven and the throne of My Heavenly Father and came to you on earth full of the stench of sin, in this mortal vale, to humanity alienated from Me by sin, for I came to My own, to My people, created by Me and raised by Me and My own people. I was not accepted (by the Jews) (John 1:11). Follow Me, be strangers and strangers on earth, just as I became a Stranger for your sake, seek heaven, this ancient fatherland lost by sin and draw everyone to it, catch people from the depths of destruction to the land of the eternally living. To a Christian man, knowledgeable in St. Scripture and church history, it is well known with what marvelous success the Lord blessed the apostolic preaching, attracting people from idolatry to the knowledge of God - how they changed the morals of people and brought Christ God a great catch of the saved, turning them from the realm of Satan to God. At the same time, the following thought occurred to me, as it were, bewilderment. Why is the beginningless, omnipotent God, infinitely wise and righteous, Who could in an instant deliver to eternal torment the proud, most crafty and evil apostate Satan, deprive him of all power to harm people, and thus deliver from his destructive snares the human race, seduced by him and deceived incessantly - why does He still allow him to tempt and seduce people, and destroy them and cause countless disasters in the world with the universal death of the human race, and sometimes throw nature itself into confusion? And, what is most amazing, this beginningless and omnipotent Creator Himself, instead of completely punishing the villain, deigned to save man from the snares of the enemy, to utterly humiliate Himself, to take the form of a slave and to be a man, being God, to suffer and die the most blasphemous, painful death according to human nature, in order to redeem us with His sufferings for us from sin, from the devil, the curse and death! What an immense ransom price! And so why did the Lord allow the enemy to have freedom - to tempt and destroy people; from which he is not completely bound, and continues to greatly mischief the human race, and by the end of the visible world he will receive such power and strength that almost the entire earth will serve Satan in the person of the Antichrist, so that when Christ comes, will He find faith on earth (Luke 18:8)? - In allowing the enemy to act temptingly in the world until the second coming of Christ lies wisdom, long-suffering - the truth and mercy of God. Satan and his kingdom are not connected, but act in the world to a certain extent so that people, believers and faithful, struggling with sin and with enemies and being in the crucible of temptations and troubles, are thereby cleansed and strengthened in faith, patience, hope and love and complete devotion to God, defeat the enemies of salvation by the grace of God, putting them to shame, be worthy of His shrine and receive greater bliss in the future life, the more they were here tempted and suffered and strengthened in the love of God; It is known that a person who has not been tested in the crucible of troubles and misfortunes is weak in faith and love, not trustworthy and fickle, but who has gone through this crucible is hard as an anvil. On the other hand, evil spirits are allowed to tempt people who are unbelievers, proud, money-loving, voluptuous, lazy, and entice them into various vices so that these people receive righteous retribution for their wickedness, unbelief, for their pride, addiction to vanity, greed and laziness, and for neglect of their souls and God’s care for their salvation. Let the unrighteous still commit unrighteousness, and let the filthy one still become defiled. And let him do the truth, let him do the truth again, and let the saint be sanctified again. Behold, I am coming quickly, and my reward is with me to reward everyone according to his work (Rev. 22:11-12), says the Lord. To this we must add the fact that our Lord Jesus Christ, through His incarnation, teaching, miracles, suffering and death for the human race, having reconciled us with the Heavenly Father, and having removed the burdensome curse from us, interceded for us a blessing and gave human nature all the grace-filled forces for life and piety, and made it capable through faith and zeal of all virtue and Christian perfection and of complete victory over the devil and his shame - and therefore expects from all of us the corresponding fruits of virtue and perfection of life, in order to reward us with the greatest possible bliss, and so that we can know by experience how good it is to cleave to God and live according to His commandments. Therefore, let Christians always know and remember that the devil is allowed to tempt us either for our good, so that we do not doze off, but stay awake and work for our salvation, or for our punishment for laziness and negligence about our salvation and for our worldly addictions; for the devil himself, all his dirty tricks will serve to unimaginably increase his eternal torment. It is known that today the morals of Christians have become extremely weakened and corrupted, so much so that for many there is nothing sacred. Our intelligentsia and partly the common people were led to this state of morals by the unbridled press, especially the underground press. For a long time she sought complete freedom, and finally got through. And before it was often dissolute, but now it is more so - and how quickly it spreads and in what abundance! It crowds out the word of God and takes possession of minds and hearts, inciting the Russian people to all sorts of dissipation. Where is the spirit of Christ, the apostolic spirit, the spirit of obedience to authorities? Where are the Christian virtues? Where is the desire for a mountainous fatherland? The Lord looked down from heaven upon the sons of men, to see if they understood or sought God. All of them have turned away together; they do not do goodness, not even one of them (Ps. 13:2-3). In the Far East, the sharp sickle of God reaps countless intelligent ears of grain, i.e. our dear warrior brothers. One way or another, this sickle will reap us too. And then where will this stubble go? – The Righteous Judge determined to deal with us in truth and mercy before the foundation of the world. The Last Judgment awaits humanity: the world is coming to be judged in righteousness and people with righteousness (Ps. 97:9). Amen. Words and Teachings Spoken in 1905 Homily for the Day of the Presentation of the Lord, February 2 “Rejoice, O blessed Virgin Mary: from Thee has risen the Sun of righteousness - Christ our God, enlighten those who are in darkness, rejoice and you, the righteous elder, are received into the arms of the Liberator of our souls, who gives us resurrection” (Troparion of the holiday). Thus, the Church now joyfully greets the Mother of the forty-day-old - according to human nature - Child, Jesus Christ, and the beginningless Son of God in Divinity, the Creator of centuries and the all-powerful Ruler of all the kingdoms of the earth, the righteous, impartial Judge of the entire human race. According to the law of purification, immutable for all mothers of the chosen people of God, and to bring a certain ransom sacrifice to the God of Israel for every first-born male, His Mother comes to church, having Her Firstborn in her arms, makes a legal sacrifice for Him to the priest and hands Him over to Simeon, the righteous elder, who was promised by the Holy Spirit to see Him before death. With fear and joy, the elder accepted the Infant God into his arms and sang a song of liberation for himself, and enlightenment and salvation for all people and Israel. Remarkable are the prophecy words of Simeon to the Mother of Jesus: Behold, this One is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for the subject of controversy, and a weapon will pierce Your own soul, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed (Luke 2:34–35). Simeon's prophecy was exactly fulfilled both regarding the God-Child and His Most Pure Mother. What humility, what condescension of the beginningless King of glory, before whom the heavenly powers revere, from whose gaze heaven and earth tremble; what is the exact fulfillment of the law for us who live in all lawlessness; for He teaches us with all His deeds and words the exact fulfillment of God’s commandments. How He approached us unworthy, the Righteous One to the unrighteous. Sinless - to the wicked and evil, Most Pure - to those defiled by all kinds of impurities of sins, Good and Meek to the rebellious and disobedient, Impassive to the all-passionate. For what? In order to reconcile us with the Father, torn from Him by the breath of the serpent of the abyss, to unite sinners with Him and give forgiveness of sins, to bring to life those who were killed, to teach the proud to humility, to the disobedient - to obedience, because He Himself was obedient to the Father in heaven for our sake - to the point of death, even death on the cross (Phil. 2:8). Let us pay attention to the prophesied words of Simeon regarding the God-Child and His Most Pure Mother: Behold, this One is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for the subject of controversy (Luke 2:34). Observe with your mind's eye the exact fulfillment of the prophecy. Who was Christ to fall for? First of all, the terrible fall of the power-hungry and bloodthirsty King Herod, who, out of the specter of danger to his throne from the newborn King of the Jews, decided to destroy Him and with Him fourteen thousand babies; then the God-Child became the reason for the fall of the second Herod, who lived in an illegal relationship with the wife of Philip, his brother, convicted of incest by John the Baptist - and the mother of Herodias with her dancing daughter; then he became the reason for the fall of the hypocrites, the Pharisees and Sadducees, the high priests and scribes, who betrayed Him to death; the reason for the fall of His evil disciple Judas the traitor and many in Israel; the reason for the fall of Pilate, who by his power betrayed the righteous man and many, many others to death. And for whom was Jesus the cause of renewal, rebirth, confirmation and salvation? For all the righteous, for all believers and souls devoted to Him: the forerunners, the apostles, righteous men and wives - for all the Zacchaeus, publicans and sinners and sinners who repented, even for the prudent thief - for the former persecutor Saul, and then the apostle; and then, over the centuries, even until our time, for how many people did Christ represent salvation for faith and patience until the end of life, and on the other hand, destruction for unbelief, bitterness and unrepentance? And now, in our days, Christ the Lord serves for many people as the reason - on the one hand, for every good, spiritual renewal, advancement in every virtue, meekness, mercy, obedience, patience, and for the unfaithful and evil - as the reason for destruction. But what do the words of Simeon addressed to the Most Pure Virgin Mary mean: “And a weapon will pierce your very soul, so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed?” (Luke 2:34). Indeed, Mary’s heart passed through the fierce weapon of sorrow when She saw Her Son constantly slandered by the leaders and disciples of the Jews and, finally, inhumanly crucified on the cross and shedding His Blood for the sins of the world; and even before the suffering of the godfathers, Her heart was pierced by the weapon of sadness at the beating of the infants from Herod and at the sight of various dangers to the life of Her Son from enemies. All the hidden thoughts and feelings of Jesus’ enemies were then revealed before the whole world. In our days, Christ has especially become a stumbling block (1 Pet. 2:7) for many, many who do not believe in Him, just as the Pharisees and scribes once did. Yes, it’s scary to say that Christ, perfect God and perfect Man, who came into the world to save sinners (1 Tim. 1:15) and call sinners to repentance, became the cause of the death of many through the unbelief, pride and wickedness of those who perish. In conclusion, I will add that Christ, Who, by His infinite goodness and omnipotence, could save us from a real, destructive war, has not yet extended His all-conquering Hand to us, because He does not see faith and repentance in people who caused a real war through unbelief, blasphemy, disobedience and other grave sins, while for humility, faith, unfeigned repentance could have long ago driven away all our enemies and made us quick and glorious victors. Indeed, it is strange how firmly paganism still stands against Christ, whose glance alone could put all our enemies to flight? Strange as it may seem, we suffered defeats with dignity and righteousness, due to our complete unpreparedness for war, which struck us like thunder, and due to the decline of faith and morals of the Russian people. Amen. Homily for the Week on the Prodigal Son, February 12th “When the prodigal son came to his senses, he said: How many of my father’s hired servants have an abundance of bread, and I am dying of hunger! I will get up, go to my father, and say to him: Father! I have sinned against heaven and before you, and am no longer worthy to be called your son; accept me as one of your hired servants” (Luke 15:17–19). The current Gospel depicts a touching picture of the return of the repentant, prodigal son to his father’s house and the most tender fatherly love for his lost and returned son. Not only was everything forgiven to the culprit when he sincerely repented and returned to his father’s house, but he was also given special honor - not as a mercenary, the father accepted his squandered son, but as a beloved son, to whom sonship was abundantly given, and the best clothes, and the ring of communication, and shoes on his feet, as a sign of a better life according to the commandments of God and, what is most surprising and touching - the father ordered to bring a fatted calf, slaughter and prepare him to eat and have fun, and make a real celebration on the occasion of the return of the prodigal son. What a picture! What is the love of a father for his son who perished and returned! Therefore, the act of the eldest, serviceable son, who always lived with his father and was obedient to him in everything, is not surprising, I say, the act of a good son, who returned home after finishing field work, and found in him such unexpected singing and rejoicing, as if festive, on the occasion of the return of his squandered younger brother, he was angry with his father, and did not want to enter, saying to him: behold, I have served you for so many years, and have never transgressed your commands; but you never gave me even a kid so that I could have fun with my friends. The father said to him: my son! you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. And in this you had to rejoice and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found (Luke 15:25-32). This is a parable. It is clear who is meant by father here - this is our heavenly Father. Two sons, faithful and unfaithful, honest and dishonest: by the first son are meant the good, holy Angels, always obedient to the will of God, and living forever in holiness in the house of the Heavenly Father; By the youngest son we mean the lost and perishing human race. Those who are constantly in error, my brethren, know in your hearts the immeasurable love of the Heavenly Father for us and the countless deprivations of God’s grace at a distance from Him and the longed-for spiritual blessings in communion with Him, and do not touch your sinful life in the slightest, but immediately return to the Father, tear down and cry about your sinful inclinations, like pitiful captives who are threatened by the eternal, fiery captivity in case of bitterness and unrepentance. And every sin, when we do not repent of it heartily, hardens us and leads us to despair. And how many perish from unbelief, bitterness and unrepentance! In this evil time, many are ashamed to repent, and even justify themselves in their sins, and do not consider sin to be sin, but the more severely the Righteous Judge will judge them. Repentance is the greatest gift to a sinner who believes in Him who alone has the power to justify the repentant wicked. And only Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, who took away the sins of the world, has the power to forgive sins (John 1:29). All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. The son of man has the power to forgive sins on earth (Matthew 28:18). He gave us the power from the Heavenly Father to forgive sins and to bring into paradise those who repented with all their souls, just as He brought in the prudent thief who believed and cried out: remember me, Lord, when you come into your kingdom (Luke 23:42). In this parable, the invaluable gifts of grace are worthy of special attention, in which the Heavenly Father expressed His paternal love for his repentant son; the best or first clothing (which people had in the beginning, in a state of innocence); the ring is a sign of the eternal betrothal of the repentant to Christ; spiritual boots, or the ability to comfortably fulfill God’s commandments. – But what is especially surprising with its greatness and immeasurable goodness is the gift to the sinner for food and drink of the spiritual Taurus, slain for the sins of the world - the most pure Body and Blood of the Son of God; for this very thing means in the parable - the slaughter of the best, well-fed calf, which in the old testament was depicted as the Son of God, who was ultimately slain, at the fulfillment of time, for the sins of the world, and who gave us His most pure Body and Blood for food and drink. This is such a gift of God’s mercy to the sinner that to this day all the heavenly minds, all the ranks of the heavenly armies, do not cease to marvel at it, and, as it were, are jealous in their holy zeal of our bliss, and rejoice at our joy in their goodness: for the Angels have joy even about one sinner who repents, and they do not envy us and are not angry with the Heavenly Father, as the eldest son was angry earthly (the parable shows what happens on earth, and not in heaven). This spiritual dinner or feast of the Heavenly Father means the Divine Liturgy, at which, with singing and rejoicing, the Last Supper is celebrated, the preparation of the life-giving Mysteries - and the very communion of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. Marvel at the immeasurable love of God, try to live up to it to the best of your ability, acknowledge your sins, repent with unfeigned, deep, fruitful repentance, partake with fear and trembling of the most pure Body and Blood of the Divine Taurus, i.e. Christ slain on the cross and - save yourself. May God grant us all to commune with Christ more often here on earth, and forever there, in the unevening day of the kingdom of God. Amen. A word a week about the Last Judgment “The Lord abides forever, preparing His throne for judgment: and He will judge the world in righteousness, judge people in righteousness” (Psalm 9:8-9). On this Sunday, the Church has a solemn remembrance of the terrible future Judgment of Christ for the entire human race, which will take place at the end of the world. And this Judgment will take place soon, as the righteous Judge of all Himself testifies. Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to reward everyone according to his work (Apoc. 22:12). And there is nothing truer and more immutable than the truth that there will be a general Judgment of the human race, at which the fate of all people for all eternity will be finally decided. God is the Creator and Lawgiver and King of every creature, who gave immutable laws to all creatures. By fulfilling these laws they exist and remain in prosperity, but through violation they become poor, corrupt and destroyed. Laws were given to heaven and earth, the sun, moon and stars: I gave statutes to all the stars (Jer. 31:35), says the Lord, and through their firm fulfillment they exist in orderly order for so many thousands of years, proclaiming the glory of God. The heavens will tell the glory of God, but the firmament will proclaim His handiwork (Ps. 18:2). Man, the rational creation of God, the king of earthly creatures, was also given by the Creator firm and immutable laws, deeply laid in the depths of his being, in his conscience and heart, and he is obliged to fulfill them reasonably and urgently, as a rule of life, as a sacred and immutable duty of the creature towards its Creator. The good of his life depended and depends on the fulfillment of these laws: closeness to the Creator, union with Him, peace, joy, immortality, and violation of them entailed all sorts of disasters - destruction of the union with the Creator, confusion in soul and body, darkness, sorrow and cramped conditions, curse, illness and death. It was not long before the first people were faithful to God through the fulfillment of this commandment and were blessed by their union with Him. The union was treacherously broken, man sinned and upset the wondrous harmony of his god-like nature, corrupting the mind, heart and will, desecrating his conscience, fell into unpayable debts to his Creator and subjected himself to the terrible judgment of God's truth. The judgments of God soon began to be fulfilled over the human race: Adam and Eve were the first to hear from the Creator Himself the terrible judgment of curse and death, and were expelled from the paradise of sweets for cultivating the earth, and then the Lord condemned the first world of people for all kinds of lawlessness and unrepentance - to destruction by a flood; the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah - to be destroyed by fire and brimstone rain. Then civil strife and bloody wars of peoples, crop failures, pestilences, earthquakes opened as punishment for sins, and through all times, even before our ill-fated time, the Lord reveals His terrible judgments over nations, as well as over individuals. Our real bloody war with the pagans is also God’s righteous judgment for our sins. The approach of the final, worldwide, terrible Judgment of God is accelerated by the terrible spill of evil on earth. At present, all kinds of untruths cover the earth like the sea; there is no end to human self-will; The doors are wide open to all kinds of errors and vices, the Laws of God are trampled upon; creatures have forgotten their Creator; sinful people in their pride imagined themselves innocent; defiled by all kinds of uncleanness, they forgot their uncleanness. The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's manger (Isa. 1:3), and Christians have rejected Christ their Savior, who redeemed them with His blood from curse and death. From the sole of the foot to the crown of the head there is no healthy place in society; the whole head is in ulcers, the whole heart is withered; sores, spots, festering wounds, not cleansed and not bandaged, and not softened with oil. If the Lord of hosts had not left us a small remnant, then we would have been the same as Sodom, we would have become like Gomorrah (Isa. 1:6-9)... But these words of the prophet go directly to our time: among the people, one will be oppressed by another, and each by his neighbor; the young man will brazenly exalt himself over the old man, and the common man over the noble (Isa. 3:5). Our young intellectuals have perverted all social and educational order: they took upon themselves the work of politics and the courts, without being called to this by anyone; they undertook to judge their teachers, leaders and government, and almost the kings themselves; they tried and condemned, with their head Leo Tolstoy, the most universal and terrible Judge, Christ God, coming with glory to judge the living and the dead; they boldly condemned St. the church of Christ, without filth or vice or anything from such (Eph. 5:27), its teaching, saving sacraments and ministers of Christ. Truly, the day of the coming of the terrible Judge to judge all people is near, because the predicted apostasy from God has already arrived, and the forerunner of the Antichrist, the son of destruction, has already been revealed, opposing and exalting himself above everything called God or the shrine; the mystery of iniquity is already in action, but it will not be completed until the one who is now holding back is taken out of the way. - And then the wicked one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the spirit of His mouth, and destroy with the revelation of His coming - the one whose coming, according to the work of Satan, will be with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception of those who are perishing, because they did not receive the love of the truth for their salvation. And for this God will send them the influence of delusion, so that they will believe lies (and believe the liar Tolstoy), so that all who did not believe the truth, but loved unrighteousness, will be condemned (2 Thess. 2:4, 7-12). Listen and read, modern faithless intellectuals, these words of the Holy Spirit - they apply to you. Behold, I am coming quickly, and with Me I will reward everyone according to his deeds (Apoc. 22:12). Amen. The word for the raw food week, called “the expulsion of Adam,” i.e. from heaven “Adam was expelled from paradise by food (for intemperance), and sitting upright, sobbing, groaning in a touching voice, and saying: alas for me, that the accursed one suffered, having transgressed the only commandment of the Lady, and deprived of all kinds of good things!” (Triodion, in verse, Glory). “The sun’s rays were hidden, the moon and stars were turned into blood, the mountains were terrified, the hills trembled, when paradise was concluded. As he departed, Adam beat his face with his hands, saying: “Merciful, have mercy on me who have fallen” (Verse on the lithium, Glory). This Sunday, the Church remembers, for our edification, the all-disastrous and all-deplorable fall of Adam and his expulsion from paradise. We, dear brothers and sisters, living at the end of the ages predetermined by the Trinitarian Deity for the existence of this corruptible, transitory world, and looking back mentally at all the past times with the people who lived then and their deeds (as sacred everyday life and civil history speak about them), we are amazed at the gloomy, terrifying picture of the sinful life of man, which was the result of the pathetic fall of the first people. Humanity has all become one stinking corpse, except for a few good people. The Holy Psalmist speaks by the Holy Spirit about people: that when the Lord wanted to look down from heaven on the sons of men, then it turned out that everyone had turned aside to evil and wickedness, there was no one doing good, not even one (Ps. 13:2-3); the abomination and corruption of sin were so universal that the Lord found it necessary and just to destroy the entire human race with a flood, except for the righteous Noah and his family. From the entire human race, the Lord chose one Jewish tribe, and its leader Abraham had to be moved from his place of residence to another in order to protect him from idolatry, for Abraham’s father, Terah, was inclined towards it. That’s how terrible the spill of sin was as a result of Adam and Eve’s disobedience to the Creator! That’s how terribly, how destructively the tares of sin have grown, and how terribly sin has corrupted the human race! And what a spectacle is the further history of the human race? The spectacle of all sorts of vices that flooded the earth, especially idolatry and bloody wars due to the predominance of some nations over others and the abomination of offering bloody human sacrifices to idols. The Jewish people, chosen by God, often not only imitated the unfaithful pagan peoples in wickedness and idolatry, but also surpassed them, as the false prophets say about this, for which the Lord handed them over to righteous, cruel executions. This was the case before the birth of Christ. And after the birth of the Savior, how did not only the pagan world, but also the Jewish world, which was expecting him, rebel against Christ the Messiah? Herod, the high priests, scribes, Sadducees and Pharisees became embittered against Christ when He revealed that the predictions of the prophets about the Messiah were fulfilled on Him! - And throughout His entire life on earth they hated and persecuted Him, the Sun of Truth! – And then, after Christ’s ascension into heaven, how the pagan and Jewish world armed themselves against the followers of Christ, His apostles and all those who believe in Him! How many heresies there were among Christians themselves that threatened to overthrow Christianity! Depicting this terrible picture of the spread of sin in the world, I want to say how unnatural, stillborn, insane, contagious, strong is the sin sown by the devil in Adam and Eve, so quickly, terribly spreading in the human race, and terribly devouring it! What an innumerable multitude of human souls the hellish prisons were filled with! What a great Redeemer was needed for people, how great, namely God Himself, and no one else, no intercessor, no angel. This is how the Son of God Himself appeared, the Redeemer of the world, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29). After this, who will say that the sin of Adam and Eve was unimportant, when from this sin so many vices occurred, so many troubles, illnesses, sorrows, wars, terrible upheavals in nature itself - so much mortality, varied and innumerable mortality. And so Adam’s sin, even to this day, rages in the world and will continue to rage until the end of the world, as a righteous punishment for the people who chose it. And what does sin produce in the time we are experiencing? Within our fatherland, he produces general confusion, disorder, disobedience of the younger ones to the elders, subordinate to the authorities, children to parents, workers to employers, sin has confused everything, turned all social and religious life upside down, turning the madmen away from the faith, from the Church, from God’s word, from the Divine service, from the Divine laws that must be observed by every person. Where does all this discussion about the harmful effects of sin lead us to? To the fact that we must urgently obey God, follow the Gospel and its commandments, avoid sin in every possible way, as a destructive, unnatural phenomenon that brings countless harm to everyone, that we must all repent and bow to the mercy of the Lord, who is angry with our sins, - to pray to Him for the pacification of minds and hearts, for the granting of victory over external enemies whom He sent to us as punishment for our godlessness, unbelief, for our madness, for trampling His laws. Let us shed all the tears of repentance for such a terrible fall of mankind, and each one for his own sins from youth to this day. In conclusion, let us repeat the church song that was given at the beginning: The sun's rays were hidden, the moon and stars were turned into blood, the mountains were terrified, the hills trembled, when paradise was concluded. Coming from it, Adam, beating his face, said: Merciful, have mercy on me, fallen. Amen. Homily on the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary on March 25th “Bear the good news to the earth, great joy, praise the heavens of God’s glory” (Chorus of the holiday according to the 8th song). From the eternal kingdom of love and peace, truth and holiness, from the kingdom of eternal light and bliss, from the eternal throne of Glory - from God was once sent to earth - to the small and humble city of Nazareth in Galilee - to the house of the woodcutter Elder Joseph, to the most pure Virgin Mary - Archangel Gabriel with the all-joyful gospel of the seedless incarnation from Her of God the Word, co-originating with the Father and the Holy Spirit: Rejoice, full of grace, he exclaimed to the Virgin, the Lord is with You; Blessed are You among women. She, says the Evangelist Luke, saw him, was embarrassed by his words, and wondered what kind of greeting this would be. And the angel said to Her: Do not be afraid, Mary, for You have found favor with God; and you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a Son, and you will call His name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His Father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end. Mary said: How will this be when I don’t know my husband? The angel answered Her: The Holy Spirit will come upon You and the power of the Most High will overshadow You; therefore the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God. Behold, Elizabeth, Thy relative, who is called barren, and she conceived a son in her old age, and she is already in her sixth month: for with God no word will fail. Then Mary said: Behold, the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word. And the angel departed from Her (Luke 1:28–38). These are the wonderful, all-joyful words of the annunciation, which were the cause of infinitely great and saving events in the sunflower that we inhabit - namely: the incarnation and incarnation of the Son of God, His cross and resurrection, and all the great deeds He performed for our salvation. Glory to God's condescension towards the fallen human race. His immeasurable truth and mercy and His wisdom! Glory to the immeasurable exhaustion of the God-man: for, being the image of God, He did not consider it robbery to be equal with God; but he humbled himself, taking on the form of a servant, becoming like us - a man, and becoming in appearance like a man; He humbled himself, becoming obedient even to the point of death, even death on the cross, giving us all an example of humility and patience. Let this be wisdom in us, even in Christ Jesus (Phil. 2:6–8). This is the all-saving gospel that the universal Church, and together our All-Russian Church, remembers and triumphs today. This gospel brought from heaven to all earthly people the good news of the reconciliation of sinful people - through faith - with God, about the return to them of heaven and paradise, lost through sin: for henceforth heaven will be open (John 1:51) for earthly people, and hell will be defeated by the cross and death of the incarnate Son of God; and the human souls who believed will be taken out of it and brought into paradise, like the believing thief, all future ascetics for faith and piety will be honored through Him with blessed immortality and the bright villages of paradise. And so, while now on earth - there in the Far East - a bloody war continues, not started by us, and the earth and air groan and shake from countless fire-breathing vents, turning the entire area of the battlefield into a fire-breathing hell, - while inside the fatherland, peaceful citizens are confused by everywhere turmoil and murder - the Church of God, this is the kingdom of God on earth, the kingdom of truth and peace, announces to people about another world, about another kingdom (His kingdom will have no end), about our other fatherland, supreme, unshakable, eternal, where the silence, peace and security of his heirs will not be disturbed for endless centuries; where there will forever be truth, joy, complete contentment and bliss - and the earthly wars that took place on earth will not even come to anyone’s mind; for everything ancient and corruptible will pass away along with sin, which corrupted and desecrated everything, but everything will be new, according to what is written: a new heaven and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells (2 Cor. 5:17; 2 Pet. 3:13). Let us strive, while there is time, to achieve this unshakable kingdom of Christ, this heavenly fatherland, for which we were created in the beginning, which we lost through sin, and which was acquired again for us by the incarnate Son of God. Only the Church of God on earth has everlasting peace and will have it until the end of time, but the adulterous and sinful world, which has departed from God and His righteous laws, is restless and will be confused until the end from its errors, from its all-contagious and destructive passions, from inhuman warfare and internal sedition, from its madness. In this madness, he rebels against the infinite and perfect mind of God, and in all his thoughts and actions boldly resists it, dreaming that he himself, this senseless human mind, will arrange the good of humanity in the best possible way and achieve perfection. Does it achieve it and when will it achieve it? Never. A tree is known by its fruits. Look at these fruits of the current civilization, to whom are they pleasant and useful? Why is Russia in turmoil now? Why do we have no leadership? Because of which the student youth lost the fear of God and abandoned their direct responsibilities and occupations, because of which proud intellectuals strive to become guardians and rulers of the people, not understanding this people and their real needs - and not loving them; Why has all the power in Russia weakened? Why did everyone’s morals become corrupted, and there was almost no family, no school, no officials sincerely devoted to the church and fatherland? Because all of them have lost faith in God, in His righteous, eternal words; from the fact that they fell away from the Church of God, the only guide to the holy Christian life, the only one, which walks in the light of God and guides everyone to the light, to truth, to God, to eternity, to solid and indestructible life, which alone firmly protects the legal rights of both the King and the subjects and each and every one, and orders everyone to strictly fulfill their duties. Loss of faith in God, in the Gospel, in the church, rejection of its leadership is the reason for all sorts of outrages in Russia. Let us return to where we left - to God, to the church, to the Gospel, to his holy covenants, and God will turn to us and help us in everything, and protect us from our enemies and direct our feet, our life, onto the path of peace (Luke 1:79), and He will stop the war and show everyone their place. Amen. Word for the week of Vaiy, April 10 “Praise, people and pagans, in agreement: the King of the angels has now ascended to the lot, and he is coming, willing (by the will) to smite the enemies on the cross, for he is strong. For this reason, the children with the vai cry out a song: glory to You, the Victor who has come: glory to You, the Savior Christ: glory to You, blessed, our only God” (Wed. Flowers, 2 verses per sedal). Now the Church celebrates the solemn entry of the Lord Jesus Christ on a young colt, not accustomed to the weight, into Jerusalem, full of anxiety and confusion, which had long been preparing to put to death the Benefactor and the great Wonderworker. His solemn meeting, unexpected and unexpected for His enemies - the high priests, scribes and Pharisees - aroused in them extreme envy and even more strengthened the enmity lurking in their hearts, and led them to the decisive intention to kill Him, especially when the gentle children, moved by the Holy Spirit, loudly proclaimed to Him: Hosanna (salvation) (Matthew 21:9). Many people find it strange that the Lord entered the city not on a horse, but on a young donkey. But this contains a mysterious, instructive meaning: the young colt, according to the interpretation of the God-wise Fathers, meant the subjugation of the pagan peoples to Christ as the Messiah, after the sons of the kingdom, the Jews, rejected Him. The young colt means that the pagans were not taught the law of God and did not bear its good and easy yoke, which the Jews despised. Let us now pay special attention to the purpose of the solemn entry into Jerusalem. The eternal King of Angels and men did not go to the capital of Judea for the kingdom, not for the throne of the earth, but for reproach, reproach, spitting, strangulation, scourging and execution on the cross, the most blasphemous and painful, - he went voluntarily - in order to defeat the invisible enemies with the cross and on the cross, who had captivated the human race and enslaved it to their hellish, mortal, tormenting power - to suffer execution for our sins, destroy the curse, destroy death, overthrow its kingdom and give everyone life and resurrection. The mind-blind people of this age, who call themselves intellectuals, do not understand, are perplexed, why the suffering and death of Jesus Christ was necessary, and have the audacity to mock this Divine mystery of our salvation, they are alienated, like pagans and Jews, from Christ and His cross, His Church, the Divine teaching and His saving sacraments, and they put their blind but proud mind in the place of the mind of God. But without the suffering and death of Christ, voluntarily, out of a single love for the human race, taken upon Himself, there would be no reconciliation of criminal and ungrateful creatures with their all-righteous Creator, immeasurably offended by their untruths. Without the fulfillment by the God-man of all the righteousness of God, no one could fulfill all the righteousness of God and be justified and gain access to God; no one could reach the sky; without Him taking upon Himself the righteous curse that weighed on us, no one could receive the blessing of God; without the death raised by the Son of God for us - His human nature, the death of all people would not have been defeated and there would have been no resurrection of the dead; Without His ascension to heaven, heaven would not have been opened, and there would have been no eternal bliss for people. That is why the God-Man suffered and so solemnly came to Jerusalem for His free passion, and so humbled Himself, and so voluntarily suffered. The entire Jewish and partly pagan world of that time had to witness this terrible, all-redemptive suffering and His death - so that, in fulfillment of the prophecy, the crucifiers at the second coming of Christ would look at Him Whom they had pierced. They will look upon Him as His bloodshed (Zechariah 12:10). Satan did not expect that Christ, who suffered and died, would defeat him and destroy his kingdom; Nor did the crucifiers think that the Crucified One would conquer death and hell; on the contrary, Satan was already thinking of celebrating his complete victory over Christ, and the high priests and scribes dreamed of celebrating their victory, so what? When the righteous soul of Christ separated from the body and descended into hell - along with His Divinity, Satan saw all his mistake and the complete victory over him of the Crucified One, who broke the eternal beliefs of hell, destroyed the prison of hell and stole all his (Satan's) multi-human wealth, bringing all souls out of hell (freeing all from hell). Through the death of the Crucified One our death is conquered; The dead who rose from their graves in Jerusalem, and who appeared to many with their own eyes, proved the glorious victory over death that had taken place. Never has the world seen a more solemn, glorious, all-powerful victory. Glory to Thee, Christ, the Conqueror of hell and death. And we cry out to You, Christ, the Conqueror of death: Hosanna in the highest, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. What has death now become in the eyes of a true Christian? - Sleep. The Lord Himself, foreseeing His perfect victory over death, said about the death of His friend Lazarus that he fell asleep. Lazarus, our friend, has fallen asleep, but I am going to wake him up (John 11:11); By sleep He meant death. Rejoice, believers and good Christians! Now there is no death, Christ has destroyed death. The fields of Nippon and Manjuria, which hid the bodies of our compatriots, Orthodox Russian warriors! I will not call you fields of death or graves of the dead, but fields of life, treasuries of immortality, for all the bodies of slain warriors will rise incorruptible and flourish with immortality. Listen to what a wonderful image of the resurrection of the dead the prophet of God Ezekiel gives us in the inspired book of his prophecies. The hand of the Lord was on me, he says, and the Lord brought me out in the spirit, and set me in the middle of a field, and it was full of bones, and led me around around them, and behold, there were a lot of them on the surface of the field, and behold, they were very dry. And he said to me: Son of man! will these bones live? I said: Lord God! You know it. And he said to me: Prophesy against these bones, and say to them: The bones are dry! listen to the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will put breath into you, and you will live. And I will cover you with sinews, and I will grow flesh on you, and I will cover you with skin, and I will bring spirit into you, and you will live, and you will know that I am the Lord. I prophesied as I was commanded, and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and there was movement, and bones began to come together, bone to bone. And I saw, and behold, veins were on them, and flesh grew and skin covered them from above, but there was no spirit in them. Then He said to me: Prophesy to the spirit, prophesy, son of man, and say to the spirit: Thus says the Lord God: come from the four winds a spirit, and breathe on these slain, and they will live. And I prophesied as He commanded me, and the spirit entered into them, and they lived and stood on their feet - a very, very great army (Ezek. 37:1-10). Here is a visual image of the resurrection of the dead - the resurrection that was given to us by Christ God, who suffered and rose from the dead, the Conqueror of death, our meek David, who went against the spiritual Goliath - Satan, who brought death into the human race. But our Tolstoyans do not believe in the resurrection; Tolstoy invented a new teaching, a new faith, and taught it and taught it to many who thoughtlessly believed him - he rejected the Divinity of Christ and all the truths of the Gospel; teaches that the suffering of Christ is not necessary for anyone, that there will be no resurrection of the dead, the Last Judgment, eternal life and eternal torment, and teaches everyone not to repent, not to take communion, not to fight, not to obey the authorities - in a word: he wants to overthrow every church and civil system. – And here are the fruits of his godless teaching: unbelief, disrespect of children for their parents, pride, disobedience and arbitrariness of youth, disobedience to superiors, weakness and humiliation of the authorities themselves, in a word: religious and political chaos. Therefore, the anger of the Lord burns against His people - I will say in the words of the prophet - and He stretched out His hand against them and struck them down, so that the mountains shook, and their corpses became like dung in the streets. And despite all this, His anger was not turned away, and His hand was still stretched out (Isa. 5:25). But, God grant, to all faith and unfeigned repentance; be merciful to our fatherland and the Father of the fatherland, to the Holy Synod and to all those who lead and honor You with a sincere heart - to your poor people, to babies, about whom the prophet says: from the mouth of a child and a pissing you have brought praise (Ps. 8:3), and grant quick victory and victory to our Christ-loving army over cunning and nosy, ignorant of You. Amen. Word on Great Friday before the Shroud “It’s done!” (John 19:30). Now we have carried out the solemn removal of the shroud with the image of our Lord Jesus Christ who died on the cross. This death is the work of human malice and envy, this cross, this death is the work of human hands. The world, lying in evil (1 John 5:19), committed an unheard-of atrocity, killed the God-man, who provided countless benefits to people and countless beneficial miracles, so that if we were to write about them in detail, then, I think, the world itself would not be able to accommodate the books written (John 21:25). But how did the All-Wise, All-Knowing, All-Righteous and All-Powerful allow such blatant untruth, such villainy to happen; Why did the Crucified Himself allow such a reproach upon Himself? I answer: because even now - in our time - He allows swearing and mockery of Himself, of His Church and Her servants to the daring and self-deluded scribblers and unbelievers - namely, because of His long-suffering, so that the superiority and victory of His goodness over the malice of the devil and people will appear. The world was allowed to commit this atrocity so that it could see itself here, as in a mirror, its hypocrisy, its stupidity, lies, deceit, its malice, envy, pride, its vanity, love of fame, love of money, its vanity; and, having realized his sins, he would have repented of all this disgrace, or, in the case of non-repentance, he would have remained unresponsible before the judgment of God, and received a worthy reward. For the God-man Himself, death on the cross was the purpose of His coming to earth, His glory, His redemptive action, life for the human race, as He Himself said: for this reason He came to this hour, the hour of death on the cross (John 12:27). If a grain of wheat, falling into the ground, does not die, then only one will remain; and if he dies, he will bear much fruit (John 12:24); He died in order by His death to abolish the one who has the power of death - the devil, and to deliver people who, through the fear of death, were subject to slavery all their lives (Heb. 2:14-15). The days of Passion Week are called great days because on these days extremely great events took place - the suffering and death of the God-Man, as the Lord said about them for the last time: it is finished (John 19:30)! Let us explain, on the basis of the word of God, the greatness of these events regarding the salvation of the human race and the protection of the world itself from final destruction. The holy seed is the standing of peace (Isa. 6:13), says the Lord. The visible world could not have stood until now if the Son of God had not voluntarily suffered for the world, for its countless sins, by His human nature. On the one hand, the infinite holiness and truth of God, on the other, the infinitely great and all sorts of untruths of people who were accepted at the beginning into communion with God and who fell away do not allow the world to exist in such an ugly, dark and indecent state, because what kind of communication does light have with darkness, or righteousness with lawlessness (2 Cor. 6:14)? and therefore the first world, full of iniquities, was drowned by water, except for the pious Noah and his family with all kinds of animals that exist on earth. The lawless cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were burned by heavenly fire. And the real lawless world, almost half bearing the name of Christ, for its iniquities and unbelief, should have been destroyed by water or fire, or an earthquake, or a bloody war, or civil strife, as it was, and this happens in the world in places, but the suffering on the cross and the death of the God-man intercede incessantly before the justice of God for the continuation of the existence of the world and forbearance towards to the human race, so that sensible people will come to their senses, repent and be saved. The parable of the fig tree in the garden (Luke 13:7–9) clearly shows us God’s long-suffering towards us and expectation of our repentance. In addition, Providence provides in the coming times many righteous people, like our Seraphim of Sarov, who with their lives will decorate the church sky, serve as a good example for people, and will be worthy of the kingdom of God; and behold, the world stands, both for the sake of the present few elect, for many are called, but few are chosen (Matt. 20:16), and for the sake of the future elect of God, whom He foresees, Who calls things that do not exist as though they exist (Rom. 4:17), and Who chooses other people to serve Himself before conception and birth, like the prophet Jeremiah. And so the world stands and does not collapse, and is not yet engulfed in an all-destroying flame for the sake of Christ, who suffered for the sinful world, and His cross. Do not raise your heads high, intellectuals and scribblers, and stop despising Christ with his cross; do not disparage the Holy Church, which is His Body, and of which He is the eternal Head, and do not mock us, His servants. You constantly denounce in your diaries (newspapers) your Mother, the Church, which gave you a name and a new existence, and a glorious Christian title. Oh, if only you did not bear this name! We are familiar with your antichrist spirit and are surprised at you and your blasphemy, but we do not want to fight you, leaving you to the judgment of God. Who gave you the power to judge and condemn us and our church affairs so contemptuously—you, who understand so little about church affairs? You have a lot to do in your worldly garden: work in it, but don’t meddle in our sacred fence with your worldly evil spirit. By the grace of God we will cope with ourselves and with people, although from the world, but believers in God, peaceful and well-intentioned, and not with you, saturated with malice, pride and deceit. I will conclude my word with the words of the Apostle Paul: the word of the cross is foolishness to those who perish, and the power of God to us who are saved, for it is written: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and will reject the understanding of the prudent (Isa. 29:14). Where is the sage? Where is the scribe? Where is the questioner of this century? Has not God turned the wisdom of this world into foolishness (Isa. 33:18). For when the world, through its wisdom, did not know God in the wisdom of God, then it pleased God through the foolishness of preaching (about the cross) to save the believers: for the Jews demand miracles, and the Greeks seek wisdom, and we preach Christ crucified, for the Jews a stumbling block, and for the Greeks (and our Tolstoyans) foolishness, but for those who are called, Christ, God’s power and God’s power. wisdom; because the foolish things of God are wiser than men, and the weak things of God (Christ crucified) are stronger than men. Look, brethren, who you are who are called, not many of you are wise according to the flesh, not many of you are mighty (of the world), not many of you are noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise (and our scribblers), and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the strong; God chose the base things of the world, and the things that are despised, and the things that are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, so that no flesh should boast before God. From Him you also are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that it might be, as it is written, “Whoever boasts, boast in the Lord” (1 Cor. 1:18-31), to whom be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Word for Easter. Victory over death and the triumph of eternal life. The triumph of truth and the shame of untruth “When I (John the Theologian) saw Him (Jesus Christ; this was on the island of Patmos), I fell at His feet as if dead. And He laid His right hand on me, and said to me: do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last, and the living, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forever and ever, Amen; and I have the keys of hell and death” (Apoc. 1:17–18). Glory to God - Christ has risen from the dead; The Sun of Truth, temporarily, as if extinguished and hidden in the grave, shone again and illuminated the whole world with all-joyful, life-giving rays. In the past days of the Passion of Christ, these passions brought upon us great sorrow, and in some they brought forth tears—either compassion for Him who suffered for us, or tears of repentance for our sins, which caused such suffering to our Lord, who bore upon Himself all our punishments for our sins. And now, on the day of resurrection, general joy illuminated the hearts and faces of all believers, for our life has again shone from the grave, giving everyone forgiveness of sins and the hope of resurrection and eternal life, for Christ rose from the dead, the first fruits of those who died (1 Cor. 15:20). Where is the malice and envy of the scribes and Pharisees, where is the mockery of the Dead by the Jewish high priests? Where is Pilate's custodian? Where are the seals of Christ's tomb? Everything disappeared, everything changed with the resurrection of Christ: the enemies were put to shame; all their machinations served only for the greater glory of the Crucified and Risen One, and, most importantly, for the salvation of the whole world; all the fears of the apostles and all the faithful disappeared with the rise of Christ from the tomb; death itself, the monster of all earthly beings, has been defeated; the mocking hell has been destroyed; The gatekeepers of hell, guarding the eternal prison, scattered from fear. The Risen One took possession of the keys of hell and death, having snatched them from Satan, who had the power of death (Heb. 2:14), and reigns forever in heaven and on earth. Look and admire the appearance of the Risen One, in which His beloved disciple describes Him, to whom He appeared on the island of Patmos. I was in the spirit on Sunday, and I heard behind me a loud voice, like a trumpet, which said: I am Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last; write what you see in a book and send it to the churches. I turned to see whose voice was speaking to me: and turning, I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands the like of the Son of Man... He held in His right hand seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sword sharp on both sides, and His face was like the sun shining in His power, and when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as if dead. And He laid His right hand on me, and said to me: Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last and the Living; and he was dead, and behold, he is alive forever and ever, Amen; and I have the keys of hell and death (Apoc. 1:10–13, 16–18). You see, brothers and sisters, how all the sorrows, suffering and death of Christ our Lord ended! His glorious resurrection from the dead, His power over hell and death, which means the complete defeat of hell and its evil and the triumph of truth and eternal life. I am the First and the Last, and the Living One, and was dead, and behold, alive forever and ever, Amen. And I have the keys of hell and death (Apoc. 1:17), i.e. I have brought and will lead all those who believe in Me from hell and will bring them into the paradise opened by Me through the cross. – Glory to You, the Conqueror of death; glory to You, Giver of life and immortality; Glory to Thee, who opened paradise; glory to You, who destroyed the barrier between the Creator and creation. Rejoice, earthly beings, rejoice, faithful servants of Christ! Humble down, all atheists, all who have rejected Christ and His Church. All your hope for life is lost when you fall away from Him. All your unbelief, all your arrogance and pride are put to shame, all your absurd words and deeds are turned into madness and a punishment for yourself: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will reject the understanding of the prudent. Christ, His grace, His righteousness and truth, His everlasting Gospel, His resurrection and His everlasting kingdom are magnified throughout the whole earth. Clap your hands for joy, all Christ's faithful; - Accept the shame, all you infidels and fallen away. Thus, finally, all earthly untruth will be completely defeated and its end will come; death will disappear, truth will triumph, and eternal life will reign. I am the First and the Last, i.e. By me everything that exists came into being: everything came into being (John 1:3); I will also put an end to the visible world: heaven and earth will pass away (Matthew 24:35); what is visible is temporary, says the apostle, what is invisible is eternal (2 Cor. 4:18). I was dead and behold, I am alive forever and ever, amen. And I have the keys of hell and death, i.e. For your sake I tasted death in order to defeat it, and I conquered, and behold, I am alive forever and ever, Amen, and you will be alive forever and ever. And this is undoubtedly - amen. Let the slaves of sin and corruption doubt My and their future resurrection; but it will be accomplished for the joy of those who believe and love Me, and for the eternal torment of sinners who have rejected Me. Lord, Conqueror of death and hell, grant a quick and glorious victory to our Christ-loving army against the enemies of Your cross and rejoice the hearts of Your faithful servants, dejected by military failures and the triumph of our countless enemies, external and internal, foreign and our own, and stop the lips of unbelief and mockery. Amen. “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul” (Matthew 10:28; Luke 12:4). Today the Church celebrates the glorious memory of St. the Great Martyr George and the Martyr Queen Alexandra, the former wife of the Roman Emperor Diocletian, and all of Imperial Russia celebrates the name day of the royal wife, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. The Holy Queen Alexandra suffered for her firm confession of Christ as the true God when she looked at the inhuman cruel torture of the Great Martyr George by the executioners. The emperor condemned her to death. This was during the persecution of Christians in the 3rd century. The whole pagan and Jewish world then took up arms with ferocity against the confessors of the name of Christ. To incline them to the pagan faith, the most cunning ingratiations and promises of earthly benefits and the most terrible tortures and torments were invented and used. There seemed to be no more terrible torment left than those that, in multitudes, up to a thousand types, were newly invented specifically for Christians. Today's throwing, deadly, explosive projectiles would then be considered a mercy for the martyrs if they were used against them - compared with the torture and torment of that time. And all these countless and varied, terrible persecutions and torments, sometimes very long, Christians endured with joy and with bright faces, so that the pagans who looked at these torments were amazed at their indestructible patience and thought that they remained invulnerable from them with the help of magical power. For whom, for what, for what good did the martyrs and martyrs suffer so much? For the right, true faith, brought from heaven to earth by the Hypostatic Word of God Himself, by the very incarnate Truth - for Christ, the Lamb of God, who suffered death on the cross for the world; suffered for the sake of the future eternal life, in order to eternally contemplate the ineffable, uncreated Goodness and Beauty of the Face of God, or the three Persons of the one Divinity, and eternally glorify it with the Angels and holy people - and taste the eternal bliss for which man was created. The Lord Himself, for whom the martyrs suffered, strengthened them invisibly with the omnipotent power of the Holy Spirit, so that it seemed that it was not they who were suffering, but someone else. – And none of those who were martyred for Christ were deceived in their hope for future reward and future eternal life; they all received crowns of incorruptibility, eternal life and glory, so that their very bodies and bones are fragrant to this day and exude countless miracles for believers and those who honor them. Comparing the present time with those long past times, and the present unbelief, stupidity and indifference, even contempt for their faith - those who call themselves Christians, you cannot be quite amazed at such an absurd and terrible state of people who have departed from God, and thought of Him as allegedly unfaithful in His Word, and attracting His righteous wrath upon themselves. And he flared up terribly at Russia, which had lost faith; this bloody test of its protracted and debilitating Japanese war for the entire state is a clear outpouring of the righteous wrath of God on us. The Russians have abandoned their God and worship their darkened mind, or rather the absurd satanic mind, which has perverted the entire moral law and all the correct understanding of things, and therefore they do all sorts of inappropriate things. If we do not correct ourselves, the wrath of God will mercilessly strike and destroy us and our property; and now a new visitation of God is coming to Russia, a new wrath of God, a pestilence. Although measures are being taken against him, the hand of God will find its victims among us and snatch them from among us - for fear and edification of others. Oh, what, how dear a treasure of life many of today’s Christians of all classes of Russians have lost, the treasure of true, all-saving faith in Christ, our true God and Savior, who came into the world to save sinners (1 Tim. 1:15). Without Christ, no one will be saved from the righteous wrath of God forever and ever; for there is only one Advocate for God and men, Christ Jesus. And from the loss of the treasure of true faith and wisdom, people have gone completely mad and do not know what they are doing. The world has never seen such madness in the actions of people, as was recently the case in our capital and in many cities. And such madmen strive by force to govern the country, to the advisory, state chamber. But they would destroy the country and trample upon all the laws by which well-ordered states are governed. May the Lord, who entrusts the power of kingdoms to His chosen ones, protect us from such public misfortune. By me kings reign, and the mighty write the truth (Prov. 8:15), says the Lord. May strong in faith, reasonable, far-sighted and courageous kings reign in Russia until the end of the century. - Amen. A word on the birthday of the Most Pious Sovereign Emperor Nikolai Alexandrovich, May 6th. The necessity of tsarist autocracy for the state, just as the autocrat's mind is necessary for the soul “Add (Lord) days to the days of the king, extend his years to generation and generation. May he abide forever before God; command mercy and truth to protect him” (Psalm 61:7–8). We celebrate the birthday of the most august Sovereign, Autocrat of all Russia, and we pray to the Lord, according to the instructions of the king and prophet David, that the King of kings will multiply his days in prosperity and health for many years: add days to his days, and extend his years for generations and generations. It is not in vain that the God-inspired Tsar-Prophet raises an intense prayer to the Almighty for the continuation of the royal life for many years, and it was he who offered it in the consciousness of the greatest importance and necessity of the Tsarist autocratic power for the state. David, as the king chosen by God and anointed by God to rule, himself experienced the benefits and necessity of royal power for the well-being and success of all his subjects, united by his wise fatherly governance; for the king is a God-ordained and God-wise and authorized shepherd, which David was, and his subjects are his sheep, obligated to obey him, according to the commandment and covenant of God Himself, to Whom countless hosts of Angels unquestioningly obey, to Whom heaven and earth and all creation obey. Imagine, for a moment, what would happen, for example, to this countless host of Angels, well-ordered by the will and wisdom of God, if they, like the fallen angels, also ceased to obey the will and mania of their Creator and Master, and wanted to be governed by themselves? They would have ruined themselves forever. We see a terrible lesson in disobedience to the Creator precisely in the fallen angels, who, having refused to obey the all-good will of the Creator, submitted to the evil will of the former first angel or Satan, who disturbed part of heaven, and according to his will and reason, they created and are doing all kinds of evil in the world, being themselves full of all wickedness and malice and burning in hellish fire. The same would happen with the human race, and in particular with our intellectuals, who would want to control or govern the state with their myopia, with their selfish, passionate, violent hobbies, from which nothing good can be expected except the breaking of the old, although necessary, and the introduction of new forms of government, a new direction, or lawlessness according to new Western models that do not suit us. Not for a single day would there be order from such a gathering of egoists, and nothing good for the people, except for all injustice and partiality, as this was proven by the peoples led by a heterogeneous assembly of representatives, and not guided by the autocratic, impartial - paternal authority of the Sovereign, who always walks with God, like David. Tsarist autocracy was sanctified and approved by God Himself almost at the beginning of the human race. The necessity of tsarist autocracy can be clearly demonstrated from the very properties of our soul. Our soul consists of three main forces - mind, heart and will, united by a single being of the soul. The range of action of these three forces is infinite; and in order for the life of the soul to flow correctly, fruitfully and with benefit for ourselves and for the people around us, these forces must act in accordance with, obeying the law of conscience placed in everyone by the Creator, or His written law, or the Gospel brought to earth by the Son of God, our Creator and Savior. Thus, a sincere person and a true Christian, with his countless thoughts, feelings, intentions and deeds, submits to the sovereignty of his conscience or the law of God, the law of Christ, the Gospel, and tastes inner peace, and his life goes correctly. But, if the human soul does not want to subordinate these three main powers of the soul - reason, heart, will - to the law of conscience or the law of God - it will one day, or during the course of its life, do a multitude of inappropriate, most harmful deeds. will come up with terrible things - to unbelief, godlessness, to anarchy, to the constitution - to dynamites and bombs, to shooting at anyone, to stone throwing, to arson, to suicide, to every kind of adultery, theft, drunkenness, embezzlement and all sorts of disgrace - so then, although do not live either in the city or in the village, but retire and confine yourself in the mountains and in dens and in the abysses of the earth (Heb. 2:38), as it seems, we have almost lived to see this. This is what a person’s internal or external anarchy, disobedience, disobedience to the law of conscience or the law of God, or the king and government can lead to. Russian intellectuals have now reached this point, and some of them, secretly working in hidden rooms to prepare murderous projectiles, sneak up on the targeted persons in order to instantly defeat them and take their lives. - This is what a person has become capable of, who in his malice has become like the evil spirits that destroy human life through countless passions - and numerous types of murder and suicide. Only one firm, confident, royal power, governed by God, according to His creative, paternal laws, can curb all insolence, all social disorder, and direct the life of the people onto the right, solid path, with the assistance of a wise, God-fearing government - and for such a great and complex matter it receives from God the right, power and strength - only the autocrat clearly realizes this. Truth exalts a tongue (a people), but nations are brought down by their sins (Prov. 14:34). Amen. Word on the Glorious Ascension into Heaven of Our Lord Jesus Christ “He who descended (from heaven) is He who also ascended above all the heavens, to fill all things” (Eph. 4:10). “He was lifted up before their eyes, and a cloud took Him out of their sight. And when they looked at heaven, during His ascension, suddenly two men in white clothes appeared to them and said: men of Galilee, why are you standing and looking at heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw Him going into heaven” (Acts 1:9–11). We celebrate, dear brothers and sisters, the glorious Ascension into heaven of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Giver of Life, with His most pure flesh. For forty days after His resurrection, the Lord remained on earth, appearing to His disciples and all the faithful and assuring them in word and deed of His resurrection, and His future presence with them on earth until the end of the age, teaching them about the kingdom of God and His future glorious coming to earth. – Let us now remember His most important benefits to the human race and especially to us Christians, so that we can love Him with all our hearts, reverently worship Him and follow in His footsteps. Firstly, the Lord Jesus Christ revealed to us clearly, as much as necessary, the greatest mystery of the Holy Trinity of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and taught us to continually glorify the one God in three equal, indivisible and unfused Persons. Secondly, He brought us from heaven the most perfect law of love for God and neighbor; thirdly, in word and deed he confirmed the truth of the entire Genesis of Moses and all the prophetic writings - those that came true on Him and those still to come true, explaining them to the disciples, starting from Moses and from all the prophets; fourthly, He created countless beneficial miracles in the world, which no one had done before Him; fifthly, according to His humanity, He fulfilled all the truth of God, which people should have fulfilled and which they did not fulfill, could not fulfill, and thereby satisfied for us the truth of God, to which humanity was in unpaid debt, with tens of talents; sixthly, he took upon himself, as the Lamb of God, all the sins of the world and the righteous curse of God that weighed on the human race, having suffered on the cross and fulfilling the prophetic scripture: cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree, and through this he acquired from the Father the power to forgive the sins of all who believe in Him and repent and to make them worthy of the blessings of the Heavenly Father, as His children; seventhly, he bestowed the grace of baptism and rebirth in the font of the Holy Spirit or the grace of rebirth and sealing from the Holy Spirit; gave the grace of the priesthood or spiritual shepherding, the gift of preaching the Gospel or the word of God to guide believers to salvation; the grace of performing the sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ and other sacraments; eighth, he tasted our death for three days and nights, of which He was innocent, and with His death crushed our death, granting resurrection to everyone; ninthly, He created His church on earth under His leadership, promising it invincibility from the gates of hell until the end of time; tenthly, he opened the closed heaven for humanity and granted free access there to all believers and those who fulfill His commandments, promising to take to Himself all those faithful to Him, saying to His disciples: again I will come and understand you to Myself, so that where I am, you too will be. – These are the most important benefits to us from Christ, the Son of God, who ascended into heaven. Why did the Lord Jesus Christ ascend to heaven and not remain on earth? Firstly, in order to send down to earth another Comforter to His faithful, equal to Him and equally loving, wise, omnipotent Holy Spirit, proceeding from the Father (and not from the Son), so that He would remain forever in the Church of Christ, instruct believers in all righteousness and truth, reflect all lies and untruths in faith and life, confirm in faith and in suffering for faith, and create signs and wonders in confirmation of true faith in Christ and its salvation for all. Secondly, for this purpose Christ ascended into heaven, and did not remain on earth, in order to fill with Himself all of heaven and earth and the underworld, in order to look from on high at all people of all ages and countries, and especially at all Christians, His children and followers, in order to see their whole hidden and open life, their works and exploits, - to encourage, strengthen, encourage and console them, and thus spread and establish His faith on earth and the Kingdom of God. Just as the leaders of earthly armies during battle ascend to an elevated place and from there vigilantly watch the disposition and actions of the enemy’s and their own troops and make the necessary orders, so the Lord, our Leader and King, in order to see from the heights of heaven the exploits of all those who struggle for His faith on earth, ascended to heaven to see the secret and obvious exploits for the faith of all those who believe in Him, to help them constantly, strengthen and conquer with them and crown them with crowns of victory. Let us remember how the First Martyr, Archdeacon Stephen, denouncing the Christ-killers of the Jews, who gnashed their teeth at him in rage, exclaimed: Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of God standing at the right hand of the Father (Acts 7:56). You see, Jesus Christ, who ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father, rose from the throne and looked at the feat of the First Martyr in order to console and strengthen him with His appearance and crown him with the crown of the incorruptible Kingdom. Let us also strive in this temporary life, repelling carnal and worldly passions from our hearts through the power of prayer and the grace of Christ and excel in every virtue, so that we too may become worthy of the eternal Kingdom of Christ and rejoice with all the Saints in impenetrable centuries. Amen. Word for the day of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity or Holy Pentecost “Glory to the holy, consubstantial, life-giving and indivisible Trinity always, now and ever and unto ages of ages” (Exclamation at the beginning of the all-night vigil.) We celebrate, dear brothers and sisters, the great Christian holiday of Pentecost, i.e. the fiftieth day after Easter, or the Resurrection of Christ from the dead, and the tenth after His Ascension into heaven. What great and saving event for the Church took place on this day? – The glorious, life-giving descent of the Holy Spirit, the third Divine Person of the Holy Trinity, took place on the apostles and all the faithful disciples and disciples of Christ who were in the Upper Room of Zion. Previously there was no presence of the Holy Spirit in the world, for Jesus Christ was not glorified, as St. scripture, i.e. until He suffered and died for the sins of the world. For it was only through the merits of Christ and through His intercession that God the Father sent His Holy and Life-giving Spirit into a sinful and perishing world. This descent of the Holy, all-renewing and all-containing Spirit of God was accompanied by miraculous all-renewing effects on the disciples who had gathered and were waiting for Him in unanimous, fiery prayer. Listen to the sacred story of this glorious event by the writer and evangelist Luke. When the day of Pentecost arrived, all (the apostles and other faithful) were with one accord together. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as if from a rushing strong wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And cloven tongues as of fire appeared to them, and one rested on each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now in Jerusalem there were Jews, pious people from every nation under heaven. When this noise was made, the people gathered and were in confusion; for everyone heard them speaking in his own language. And they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Are not these all Galileans who speak?” How do we each hear our own dialect in which we were born... do we hear them speaking in our own languages ​​about the great deeds of God? And everyone was amazed and perplexed and said: what does this mean? And others, mocking, said: they got drunk on sweet wine. Peter (the apostle), having become with the eleven, i.e. apostles, raised his voice and cried to them: men of the Jews and all who live in Jerusalem! Let this be known to you and listen to my words: they are not drunk, as you think, for it is now the third hour of the day, but this is what was foretold by the prophet Joel (Acts 2:1-8, 11-15). Hitherto St. Luke. Next, the Apostle Peter quotes the words of the prophet Joel, who predicted this glorious event several hundred years ago by the Holy Spirit. Here the Divine miracle lies in the fact that all the apostles suddenly received from the Holy Spirit the gift of speaking in different languages ​​of all nations, to which they had to go preaching the Gospel and, while one Spirit proclaimed grace, all the listening tribes were announced differently, and each heard their own language; and the apostles, being simple and unlearned, managed to speak clearly and powerfully, soulfully about the great and saving deeds of God, and became new holy and ardent people, selflessly loving God and capable of conquering all nations to the faith of Christ. And they, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, carried the gospel of Christ everywhere to all the ends of the world and taught everyone the faith of Christ, so that their message went out to the whole earth, and their words to the ends of the world. – The First-Called Apostle Andrew was given the gift of speaking, among other things, in the Slavic language, and when he preached within Rus', he preached the Gospel to the Russian Slavs in their natural language. And in the ninth century after the birth of Christ, God sent the Equal-to-the-Apostles brothers Cyril and Methodius, the Slovenian teachers who invented the Slavic alphabet and wrote the Gospel of John and the Liturgy of St. in the Slavic language, to the Slavs to resume preaching the Gospel. John Chrysostom Fr. And this was the work and wisdom of the Holy Spirit. From them began the word of God and the Divine service in the Slavic language and among us Russians. And so, glory to the holy, consubstantial and life-giving and indivisible Trinity, which has united us to the Church of those saved in Christ by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, who descended on the apostles, from that time until now remains in the Church of Christ, holy, catholic and apostolic, and will remain in it until the end of the age, according to the promise of Christ, just as Christ God Himself promised to be with us until the end of the age (Matthew 28:20). Thus, all three Persons of the Most Holy Trinity equally contribute to the salvation of the faithful through Their sovereign participation, as being of one essence. – The Holy Spirit, as the Spirit of truth, unshakably preserves the truth of the Orthodox faith, brought from heaven by Christ, enlightens and strengthens the Church and all true believers; appoints shepherds to shepherd the flock of Christ, performs the sacraments, revives Christian life, cleanses the sins of believers, sanctifies, restores, uplifts, settles their grief (antiphon); reflects false teachings, works miracles and signs, and thereby reveals the truth and saving power of the Orthodox faith of Christ, perfects in virtue and reveals the holiness and incorruptibility of true ascetics - inspires us to give them due honor and glory by imitating their lives. We thank the Lord for the greatest good that we were born and raised in the Holy Orthodox Church, the only saving one, we have the happiness of reading and listening to the word of God and the Divine Service, and preaching in Slavic and Russian, and we can understand much, much about God and His deeds in the world and in His Church, and know His holy and righteous will and have received all the strength to fulfill it. Let us be attentive to our holy faith, so as not to fall away. For if the word proclaimed through the angels was firm, and every crime and disobedience received a righteous reward, says the Apostle Paul, then how will we escape, neglecting so much salvation - and the negligence of many is extremely great - which, having been preached by the Lord, was confirmed in us by those who heard from Him, with the testimony of God with signs and wonders, and various powers, and the dispensing of the Holy Spirit according to His will?.. (Heb. 2:1-4). Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil and unfaithful heart, lest you depart from the living God and go into a schism or sect; but instruct one another every day, as long as it is possible to say, “Now,” lest any of you be hardened by being deceived by sin; for we have become partakers of Christ, if only we hold fast the godly faith and life firmly to the end (Heb. 3:12–14). Amen. Word on the Glorious Transfiguration of Our Lord Jesus Christ I begin my word to you, dear brothers and sisters, about the glorious Transfiguration of the Lord with the words of the Apostle Peter from his second conciliar letter to the Jews of the Diaspora. We announced to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, not by following cunningly woven fables, but by being eyewitnesses of His greatness. For He received honor and glory from God the Father when such a voice came to Him from the magnificent glory: This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And we heard this voice coming from heaven, being with Him on the holy mountain, i.e. Tabor (2 Pet. 1:16–18). Here the Apostle Peter briefly mentions how the Lord was transfigured on Mount Tabor in the sight of the three chosen apostles: Peter, James and John, when His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became white like light. At the same time, Moses and Elijah appeared to them talking with him. Why did the Lord reveal the glory of His Divinity to His three chosen disciples? The church explains this in its short song - precisely so that His disciples, having soon to see His voluntary humiliation, suffering and bodily death on the cross, would not doubt His Divine greatness and dignity, and would know that He voluntarily suffers by human nature for the sins of the world and is subjected to death in order to crush the sting of death, which struck all of humanity - and in order to defeat universal death, to destroy hell, which had the power of death , and bring resurrection to the human race. Glory to His Divine Transfiguration, glory to Him, the Conqueror of death and hell, which no one could defeat except Him, the almighty God-man and the Lamb, who takes away the sins of the world upon Himself, the only sinless one, who fulfilled all the truth of God for us. We will pay attention to the instructive and edifying side of the holiday. During the transfiguration of Jesus Christ, at His command, the prophets Moses from hell and Elijah from paradise appeared on Mount Tabor, at His command, in a wondrous light, as proof to all people of the truth that He - the Lord Jesus Christ - possesses both the living and the dead and is the common Lord and Judge of all and the resurrection of the dead. The Lord's face lit up (like a man) during prayer. This teaches us that sincere prayer connects us with God and enlightens our souls with the light of grace, that it is necessary for us, like light and air; and if the God-Man Himself often indulged in prayer, then we sinners need it all the more, as the Apostle says: pray unceasingly. St. Apostle Peter, speaking about the transfiguration of the Lord, about His greatness and glory, notes that he announced the power of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, not following intricately woven fables, but as an eyewitness of His greatness. Our modern atheists, led by Leo Tolstoy, consider the Gospel to be a fable and do not believe in the Divinity of Jesus Christ, as well as in His Divine Messenger, the Divine Word and miracles - and with their unbelief and slander against the Lord and His Church, they have confused all modern Russian student youth, shaken the faith of half-educated and overeducated people, undermined with their lies and daring freethinking all the foundations of faith and morality, produced immorality, anarchy, disobedience of children to parents, students and subordinates to superiors, subjects of the supreme power, illegal, crazy strikes, made correct civil life impossible under current conditions and the connivance of the authorities. This is the endless harm of Tolstoy’s disbelief! These are the fruits of godlessness! The ill-fated war was allowed upon us as a righteous punishment from a righteous God. What do we need in this chaos? First of all, strict action by all authorities is needed, or - first of all, general repentance of all classes of the population of Russia is needed, a common fast is needed, public fervent prayer to God for the conversion of the lost, for the correction of morals, the fear of God is required, the fear of the righteous judgment, the terrible punishment of God. Our Sovereign Monarch, appointed by God to govern the nations according to the commandments of God and state laws, calls everyone to this; and we call on all compatriots to fervent and deep repentance, fervent prayer and almsgiving. We must be transformed, immediately change in everything. May God grant a saving, moral turn to the entire Russian all-class people onto the right path. Enough. To the point of satiety, to the point of disgust, we experienced the destruction and meaninglessness of crooked paths. Amen. A word on the day of glorious memory of our venerable father John of Rila. The fruits of faith and unbelief “The basis of repentance, the prescription of tenderness, the image of consolation, spiritual fulfillment, your life is like an angel, reverend; in prayers and fastings, and abiding in tears, Father John, pray to Christ God for our souls.” (Troparion to the Venerable). The Eastern Orthodox Church today celebrates the glorious memory of our venerable father John of Rila, an earthly angel, a heavenly man. From early youth, he began to work with his mind and heart and with all his willpower to solve the main life task of a Christian - to put off the old man with his destructive deeds and put on the new man, created in the image of God, in holiness and truth (Eph. 4:24). Thanks to his firm and unwavering desire and the grace of God, always ready to come to the aid of the truly laboring, he solved it victoriously and gloriously, achieving the glorious crown of incorruptible life. The fact is, dear brothers and sisters, that with our very conception and birth we all inherit the abomination and corruption of sin, which removes us from God - the Source of life, corrupts and little by little destroys our entire being - soul and body, plunging us into eternal darkness and torment, and corrupting our bodies and turning them into the earth. The Monk John, like all who labored like him, completely triumphed over this terrible corruption, and achieved an incorruptible, eternal, blessed life in heaven. How did he win a glorious victory over all-corrupting sin and achieve the fragrance of holiness and perfect pleasing to God? This is explained by a short song composed in his honor and sung on his memorial day. He boiled within himself and completely cleansed sin through the consciousness of his sins, through tears of repentance, constant prayer and bodily labors, through complete non-covetousness, through the consolation of everyone who came to him with their sorrows about sins, through a constant striving for Christian perfection and holiness - meekness, humility, obedience, abstinence, patience, mercy - so that his life became equal to the angels; He lived with his body on earth, and with his mind and heart in heaven, with God, Whom he loved ardently and with Whom he united, becoming one spirit with Him; for he who cleaves to the Lord is one spirit with the Lord (1 Cor. 6:17), says the Apostle. I compare the life of this reverend and the holy saints of God with the life of the people of this century, especially with the life of people contemporary to us - and I see the complete opposite of both: there is peace and life, unwavering light in the souls, quiet contemplation, repentance, unceasing prayer, peaceful spiritual and physical work, goodwill and love for everyone; and among worldly people - constant anxiety of passions, confusion, resentment, sedition, mutual hostility, pride, disobedience to authorities, disbelief, arrogance, in others the denial of all laws of God and man - disorderly self-government (autonomy), encroachment on other people's property, freedom and life, complete denial of the immortality of the human soul, resurrection and eternal judgment. Such must be the fruits of unbelief. Today's seditious people are ready to destroy the entire structure of church, civil and family life and lead human society into a state of anarchy and savagery. From whom is this war of extermination declared on God and people? From the one who was the first seditious person in heaven and there declared war on God and the Angels, and was himself deposed to earth. I saw Satan as lightning falling from heaven (Matthew 21:44), says the Lord - He then, by God’s permission, and to test people, to discover their thoughts, inclinations and passions, creates all sorts of unrest, sedition and murder here in Russia and throughout the world, making his instruments of people who have violated their conscience. Poor fatherland, tormented by the sedition of adversaries - you sincerely turn to the faith of your fathers and remove from yourself the chaff seeds that choke the wheat, bring forward, reveal His people devoted to God and the church, and arise, arise by the power of God and firmly hold on to the cornerstone of the church - Christ, the almighty God and Savior. He who falls on this stone will be crushed; but he who falls on this stone will wipe it out (Luke 20:18). Amen. Sermon on the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Church “It was from ancient times that we heralded the prophetic class - the Stamna and the Rod and the Tablet and the uncut Mountain, the golden Censer, let us truly praise Mary the Lady of God. Today he is brought into the Holy of Holies to be taught to the Lord.” (Light of the holiday.) Recently the Church celebrated the glorious Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos, the ever-Virgin Mary from the righteous barren parents of Joachim and Anna - Mary, chosen by God from all human races, to be the Mother of the Son of God, as an invaluable Treasure of all virtues, as a mature ear of life, who had to teach the world the true bread of life - Christ. Now we and the Church celebrate the feast of Her glorious Entry into the Church of God, in the holy city of Jerusalem. Before Her conception and birth, the holy parents, depressed by infertility, praying to God for the gift of a child, made a vow to dedicate their child to Him if it was given to them, and when it was given, they dedicated it to God and solemnly led it into the church, accompanied by pure virgins, with burning lamps. The righteous priest, Elder Zechariah, the parent of the Forerunner, led the Holy Virgin into the Holy of Holies, inaccessible to anyone except the high priest, where the Ark of the Covenant of God, the miraculous manna, the tablets of stone and Aaron’s rod were kept. Here, in premises set up at the church, she was brought up under the supervision and guidance of older virgins in literacy, the law of God, prayer and women's handicrafts. A heavenly angel brought Her heavenly food and talked with Her about the Creator of all things and His wonderful economy of human salvation. Education in the church continued until the age of fourteen, when, according to Jewish law, it had to end, and the virgins had to leave the church and settle in the house of their parents or relatives. So the Most Holy Virgin, at the age of fourteen, was taken to the house of Her betrothed, Elder Joseph the Righteous, where the glorious Annunciation of the Archangel later took place. Thus, heavenly providence preserved in the Holy of Holies, the pure, incorruptible Virgin from all temptations of the world lying in evil, and sealed Her with the seal of purity and holiness; for the Holy Spirit has purified Her into the imperishable and immaculate church of the Son of God. The Orthodox Church does not allow Her immaculate conception by parents, for conception in original hereditary sin is common to all mortals, not excluding the righteous Joachim and Anna, and even the Virgin Mary Herself, the Mother of God, upon the conception of the Son of God in the virgin womb, confessed by the Holy Spirit that Her soul rejoiced in God Her Savior, and from it follows that He was also Her Savior from the ancestral sin, common to all; and Her deep humility did not allow Her to consider Herself completely sinless before the conception of the Son of God; - Her very humility showed that She was not born from sinless, although righteous, parents. What edifying lesson does this holiday teach Christians? That lesson, forgotten or forgotten now by many Christians of all confessions, that the church of God is the school given to us by God of true knowledge of God and piety, where we learn to recognize the meaninglessness and destruction of sin, turn away from it with all our hearts and learn all virtue, all truth and holiness, the fear of God, love, glorification and thanksgiving to God for all His countless mercies - the true repentance, humility, patience, kindness, mercy, selflessness, obedience, complete devotion to the will of God. Without a church, without worship, without the sacraments given by God for our salvation, without teaching in the word of God, it is impossible to be saved; for the whole world lies in evil (1 John 5:19), according to the teaching of the word of God, and the world will be condemned by the righteous judgment of God: we are judged and punished by the Lord, lest we be condemned with the world (1 Cor. 11:32). Our modern atheists preach that we don’t need churches, we don’t need God’s law in schools, we don’t need prayer, we don’t need priests. How? You want people to become dumb animals, beasts, so that the earth becomes an arena of slaughter, bloodshed, so that people, like animals, rush at each other and torment each other - as unfortunately, it has already come to this, due to the unbelief of many, and Russia has already represented a real massacre in different cities, and, as it were, an enemy invasion and a sea of ​​\u200b\u200bflames. Is this not what our atheists are leading us to? – Yes, this will not happen in primordially Orthodox Russia. Leave us the churches - this is the earthly sky; this is the kingdom of God on earth, where the most honorable and magnificent name of God is constantly glorified, where we are sanctified through prayer and sacraments, where we sincerely talk with God, like children with the Father; where we become living churches of God, where we are most closely united with God, partake of God’s incorruption and become divine ourselves through the participation of the Divine Mysteries. Glory to God, who has established churches of His name everywhere and is raising up in them reverent, faithful Christians into living churches of Himself, as it is written: Do you not know that you are the church of God, and the Spirit of God lives in you (1 Cor. 3:16, 6:18)? Only in the church of God do we learn to sincerely believe in God, to know ourselves, to love both God and each other; Only in the church do we learn that we have a common Father in heaven, who founded there an eternal, imperishable city for His faithful and loving children, and that from the foundation of the world He inscribed those devoted to Him among the citizens of heavenly Jerusalem. Amen. Word for the day of glorious memory of St. Apostle Andrew the First-Called. About obedience and disobedience “As he passed near the Sea of Galilee, He (Christ) saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting nets into the sea; for they were fishermen; and he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they immediately left their nets and followed Him” (Matthew 4:18–20). We celebrate the usual annual holiday of our main city church in honor of St. Apostle of Christ Andrew the First-Called, teacher of the universe. From the fishing net the Lord called him to the rank and work of apostleship or salvific fishing from the depths of the sinful souls of men caught by the strangled enemy. It was enough for the Lord to say a few words to the fishermen - and they immediately left their nets and followed Him - forever. Blessed, unquestioning, firm obedience! They immediately understood, with their simple hearts, who was calling them and why, and how they would carry out the work for which they were called. And they, indeed, perfectly fulfilled it to the end, and - what a great difficult task, and, for human reasons, impossible; because not much, not little, they had, by the grace of God, to transform the human race, ossified in unbelief and lawlessness, to overcome the world lying in evil, to renew the corrupted human nature, to revive the dead, to cleanse that defiled by immeasurable sins, to sweeten that stinking with all sorts of impurities, and from sinful corruption to lead to incorruptible, eternal life, to deification. This is what they were called to, and this is what the apostles of Christ did by the power of God and their unquestioning obedience! - The wonderful power of obedience that is voluntary, reasonable, firm, unchangeable to the end - since they sealed their saving sermon with voluntary death on the cross, like the God-man Christ Himself. Let us reveal and develop the thought - why unquestioning obedience of rational creatures to their Creator is necessary and why disobedience is fatal. The Creator of the world and ours - One is beginningless, holy, righteous, all-good, all-wise, all-perfect, all-powerful, all-free, and infinitely surpasses in His wisdom, holiness, goodness and truth all rational creatures - Angels and men, whom He called solely by His goodness from non-existence to existence, and One showed them the goal of existence - the desire for perfection and likeness to Him. Be holy, He says, for I am holy, the Lord your God (Lev. 19:2). Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48). He alone, as the all-good and wise, indicated the means to achieve this great goal. This means is the only true and easy one - trust and obedience to your all-good Creator. At the same time, man was also pointed out the bitter fruits of evil mistrust and disobedience - damnation and eternal death. The indicated remedy was boldly and recklessly rejected by the first people, the Creator’s commandment was disobeyed, man gave way to self-will, insane disobedience (and yet he was gifted with a bright, albeit limited, mind). Earthly people dreamed of being gods themselves (in the same way as today's student youth dreamed of being autonomous). Since people were created with the gift of freedom (misunderstood by the majority today) and with responsibility for their actions, and freely submitted to the enemy of God, who before them, from a good angel, became an apostate from God through pride and disobedience, and inherited eternal death and the power of death as punishment from God, then they themselves, in justice, were subjected to curse and death, and first died spiritually, deprived of light, peace and joy, and then physically. Thus, through one man Adam, sin entered the world, and through sin, death, which entered all people, because all sinned in him (Rom. 5:12). These are the fruits of disobedience! In order to destroy them, it was necessary, in fulfillment of the righteousness of God, for the Son of God Himself to incarnate and become a perfect man, without ceasing to be God, and to be obedient to the Heavenly Father until death, death on the cross (Phil. 2:8), and to atone for the disobedience of humanity believing in Him - and He voluntarily, with immeasurable goodness and long-suffering, accomplished His all-redemptive obedience, fulfilling for humanity all the righteousness, all the law of God, accepting temptation from the devil in the desert and defeating him with the word of God. Now humanity must be completely obedient to His Redeemer, the Son of God, if he wants to get rid of curse and death, and for the sake of his salvation and future life, do works of repentance and righteousness, sincerely believing in Him as the Lamb of God, who took upon Himself the sins of the world (John 1:29), and saves those who obey Him. Without obedience to Him and His church, to which He gave all the power to loose and bind the sins of men, it is impossible for anyone to inherit the blessing of God and achieve holiness and eternal life. The unfaithful, disobedient and unrepentant will be told by the righteous Judge: Depart from Me, cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41). Let us now turn the conversation to ourselves. We were baptized into Christ or into the Holy Trinity - in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, as the Lord commanded the apostles; we have the Gospel of Christ, the epistles of the apostles, the sacred story of their deeds - in a word, we have the true, complete, all-saving teaching of Christ and the apostles - we have the happiness and blessedness of being members of the Church of Christ or His spiritual body, of which He is the eternal Head. And so, if we are baptized in the name of Christ and the Holy Trinity, have we been united with Christ? Do we sincerely believe in Him? Do we love His word? Do the churches obey Him? Do we willingly and intelligently submit to its leadership? Do we participate in her Divine services and sacraments? Have we not grown cold towards God, towards His church? Have we dreamed that we don’t need church, that we don’t need Divine services, that we can only pray at home? Hey, no; This is not what our ancestors, the holy fathers and righteous people of our land and all the holy saints of God thought, lived and were saved; they were humbly obedient sons and daughters of the Church of Christ. You too, brothers, live according to the spirit of Christ and the apostles, according to the spirit of the church, and not according to the spirit of this world, which lies in evil. The world passes away, and so does its lust, but he who does the will of God abides forever (1 John 2:17). I deliberately began my speech with a story about the calling of fishermen to the apostolic work and about their unquestioning obedience to Christ, in order to give everyone a lesson in perfect obedience to our Savior, Who Himself was obedient to the Heavenly Father for our sake - until death on the cross. Nowadays obedience has almost disappeared; everyone wants to live according to their sinful will, and from here comes an extremely destructive disorder in church and public life. The Apostle teaches us to obey one another unconditionally: nevertheless, when you submit to one another, be clothed with humility (1 Pet. 5:5). Let every soul be submissive to the higher authorities: for there is no authority except from God; the existing authorities have been established by God. Therefore, he who resists authority resists God’s establishment. And those who resist will bring upon themselves condemnation (Rom. 13:1–2). Amen. Words and teachings spoken in 1907–1908 Word on the day of remembrance and celebration of the sacred Confirmation and Crowning of the Most Pious Sovereign Emperor Nikolai Alexandrovich of All Russia 1. “Those My enemies, said the Lord, who did not want Me to reign over them, bring them here and kill them before Me” (Luke 19:27). We remember and celebrate the day of the sacred Confirmation and Crowning of our Most Pious Sovereign. These two or three years of His reign were vague and full of internal sedition, and the very royal crown with purple was almost recently stained with blood. Lethal weapons were already ready. Unsleeping Providence preserved the life of the King. But on this occasion, I allow myself to be transported mentally to the ancient sacred history of the Jews and tell about one event that is suitable and similar to our sad state, which happened during the time of the Judges of Israel. Among the judges of the Jewish people was, among other things, Gideon, raised by God to govern and protect them from foreigners, famous for his faith, courage and love for his fatherland, who was engaged in agriculture. With God's help, he saved the Jews from the warlike Midianites, who wanted to subjugate the Jews to their pagan, godless yoke. When he died in old age, he left behind 70 sons, since he was a polygamist; in addition, he also had a son from his maidservant, Abimelech. - After the death of his father, Abimelech came to one city of his land and asked his relatives - on his mother's side; so that they try to win over its inhabitants in his favor, making it clear to them that it would be unprofitable for them to obey the seventy sons of Gideon, but rather to recognize the authority of one over themselves, and, moreover, the one who is close to them in kinship. And the inhabitants of that city (Shechem), the Jews, had already introduced the service of the pagan deity Baal, and managed to build a temple for the Phoenician deity, called Baal-verith, i.e. guardian of alliances and oaths. Among these people, apostates, Abimelech found adherents. They called him their brother and gave him money from the church of their god. For a small sum, he hired idle and homeless people, came with them to the house of his deceased father and beat his brothers on one stone, with the exception of one younger brother Jotham, who managed to hide. After that, all the inhabitants of the city gathered in one place and there, near an oak tree, they installed Abimelech as king. At this very time, on the nearby mountain Gerizin, Jotham suddenly appeared and shouted in a loud voice: listen to me, people of Shechem, and God will listen to you. When there was silence, he continued: once upon a time the trees decided to anoint a king over them. And they said to the olive tree, be our king. - Olive answered: will I part with my fatness, which is used to honor gods and people, and will I begin to shake over the trees? The trees said to the fig tree, come and reign over us. - The fig tree answered: Will I part with my sweetness and my beautiful fruit, and will I begin to tremble over the trees? “The trees said to the vine: “Come and reign over us.” - And the vine answered: Will I part with my juice, which makes glad the gods and people, and will I begin to shake over the trees? Finally, all the trees said to the thorn tree: come and reign over us. “The thorn tree said: if you truly anoint me king over you, then come and take refuge under my shadow (and what kind of shadow does the thorn tree have?) - if not, then beware lest fire come out of the thorn bush and consume the very cedars of Lebanon.” “And so, think about it, did you act fairly when you made Abimelech king, and did you properly reward Gideon and his house?” (now we have the Romanov house). Then for your sake my father put his life in danger and delivered you from your enemies, and you killed seventy of his sons and made Abimelech the son of a slave girl king! Let fire come out from Abimelech and burn you. Having said this, Jotham ran away and hid from his brother. Abimelech actually burned the inhabitants in the city tower who were hiding from his threat for disobedience; and Abimelech himself was killed by a woman who threw a piece of a millstone at him. Thus, the curses of Jotham befell both the Shechemites for wickedness and Abimelech for fratricide. Sons of Russia celebrating the royal Confirmation! Will not the righteous punishment of God also befall our traitors who attempted to kill our King, anointed by God for the kingdom, whose ancestors exalted him and elevated him to the level of the foremost power in the world? – And what would we become, Russians, without the Tsar? Our enemies would soon try to destroy the very name of Russia, since the Bearer and Guardian of Russia, after God there is the Sovereign of Russia, the Autocratic Tsar, and without him Russia is not Russia. May God protect Russia, and the Tsar of Russia, if not for the sake of the Russians, who have become unworthy due to their great sins, then for the sake of the Orthodox Church, for the sake of all the saints, and for the sake of all the miracles revealed in Russia in previous centuries through the intercession and intercession of the Mother of God and the holy Russian wonderworkers, of whom the Russian Church and the Russian land are not scarce. Amen. Word for the birthday of the Most Pious Empress Alexandra Feodorovna 2. “From Your presence my destiny will come forth” (Psalm 16:2). Today we have a celebration in memory of the birthday of our Most Pious Empress, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, and a nationwide prayer of gratitude to the Lord God for Her health and the fulfillment of God’s good destinies in Her life. Did She think, in her tender girlish youth, that She was destined by God to be the wife of the Emperor of All Russia and the mother of the most august children and, among them, the Heir to the throne? “And that’s what never even occurred to Her, it happened in due time according to the all-good will of the Creator and Provider. - But, with the joys of childbirth and the sight of august children, She had sorrowful days in recent years together with her sovereign Spouse; they continue and we don’t know when they will end. Russia is in turmoil, suffering and tormented by a bloody internal struggle, by crop failure and hunger, by terrible high prices in everything, by godlessness, lack of leadership and the extreme decline of morals. The fate is sad, leading to gloomy thoughts. But the all-good Providence will not leave Russia in this sad and disastrous state. It righteously punishes and leads to rebirth. God's righteous destinies are carried out over Russia, as they were carried out in the previous centuries of its existence - under the ancient great princes and our tsars. Russia is beset by troubles and misfortunes. It is not in vain that He who rules all nations skillfully and accurately places on His anvil all those subjected to His mighty hammer. Be strong Russia! But also repent, pray, cry bitter tears before your heavenly Father, whom you have angered immensely. At the beginning, I quoted the words from the psalm: from Your presence my destiny will come (Ps. 16:2). This truth is important. Our life, the life of kingdoms and peoples, is controlled by the Lord, who created us for eternal existence. Earthly life is preparation, training for a future, endless life. This is the final goal of each of us, as well as of every people, every tribe. We are predestined to eternal citizenship, to an eternal kingdom in communion with God, with the angels, with the best of men, with God's elect. We must learn here heavenly morals, prayer, faith, thanksgiving, love and devotion, purity and integrity. Where do we have these virtues? We are defiled by all kinds of sins; you need to be washed, cleansed, enlightened, strengthened, white as snow. Is it possible to achieve this without grief, without suffering, without tears? – For this, the Lord, as a skilled Doctor, subjects us to various temptations, sorrows, illnesses and troubles in order to purify us, like gold in a crucible. A soul stubborn in sins of all kinds does not easily lend itself to cleansing and healing, but with great compulsion and patience, and only through a long experience of patience and suffering, it masters virtue and begins to passionately love God, Whom it was alien, having learned all kinds of carnal sins. This is the purpose of the troubles and sorrows sent to us by God in this life. They are needed both by individuals and by entire people mired in wickedness and vices. The Russian people and other tribes inhabiting it are deeply corrupted, the crucible of temptation and disaster is necessary for everyone, and the Lord, who does not want anyone to perish, burns everyone in this crucible. To the point. If we recognize our sins, turn to faith, repent, change for the better, with God’s help, then the Lord will turn His bright Face to us and have mercy on us, and give us blessing and peace. - And if not, then we will melt in our troubles. Amen. Word on the day of the glorious Ascension according to the flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ 3. “He who descended, He also ascended, above all the heavens, to fill all things” (heaven and earth) (Eph. 4:10). The above words were taken by me, beloved brothers and sisters, from the epistle of St. Apostle Paul to the inhabitants of the pagan city of Ephesus, converted to the Christian faith. He says that Christ God, who descended in the flesh to earth for our salvation, after completing His great work, ascended again to heaven, or above all heavens, but ascended as God in the flesh, or as God and together as Man in two natures, but in one Person, inseparably, inseparably, unmerged. The Apostle also shows the reason why the Lord did not remain on earth, but ascended to heaven. The reason is to fill with Himself everything - heaven and earth, to be the Head of heaven - all the angels, or powers of heaven, principalities, powers, thrones, cherubim and seraphim and every name that is named not only in this age, but also in the future (Eph. 1:21), and together - the Head of the earthly Church, which He acquired with His Blood and which He united to Himself, becoming Its head. Christ ascended into heaven, but did not leave us, His children, but always remains and will remain with us until the end of the age, according to His word. He ascended in order to send down instead of Himself to the earth, or to His Church, the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Most Holy Trinity, co-originating, life-giving, equivalent, equal in glory, all-holy, all-good, all-righteous, all-powerful, all-wise, all-powerful - so that He would take a clearly solemnly equal part in the salvation of those redeemed by the honest Blood Christ's of the human race. If Christ had remained on earth, then the Holy Spirit would not have come to earth, as Christ Himself announced, and this was impossible due to the equality of the Persons of the Most Holy Trinity and their equal action and assistance. Just as the entire world was created by the hypostatic Word of God the Father with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, so the redemption and salvation of the human race had to be accomplished with the indispensable assistance of the All-Holy Spirit. Glory to Your all-good, all-wise and all-saving providence, Most Holy Trinity, our God, Father, Son and All-Holy Soul. What thoughts and memories does the Lord’s ascension into heaven lead us to? – To sublime, all-joyful thoughts and memories. Before Jesus Christ ascended from earth to heaven, He had to descend to earth, had to be conceived, incarnate, born by the Holy Spirit from the Blessed Virgin, be a Child or Child of God, be called Jesus, gradually grow up, reach adolescence and manhood, be baptized by John in the Jordan, be subjected to temptation from the devil for the sake of our salvation, defeat him, put him to shame, magnified in his strength and reign on earth; It was necessary for the God-man to preach the word of God to people, to have fellowship with them for the sake of their salvation, to eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners, to talk with harlots and fornicators in order to make them chaste, to have fellowship with tax collectors and Pharisees, to admonish and convict them, to heal all kinds of diseases, to raise the dead, to demonstrate His Divine power over all the elements, winds, waters; to demonstrate His power over evil spirits and the entire kingdom of Satan, power over death; it was necessary to endure all sorts of untruths from evil people, to suffer and die on the cross, to go to hell, to destroy it, to take his many-man wealth, to deprive Satan of all the power that he boasted of and which he thought he would have forever; it was necessary to overcome the sting of death and resurrect the dead and rise from the dead as a conqueror of hell and death. Before ascending to heaven, He established the saving sacraments, baptism, repentance and the sacrament of the sacraments - the Last Supper, or the communion of His most pure Body and Blood as a sign of His boundless love for people, unceasing communication in the purification, sanctification, renewal and deification of our nature, restored from the deepest fall and corruption. Before His ascension into heaven, He founded on earth His Church, or the Divine society of people saved in Christ, united by one faith, the law of God, Divine service, the hierarchy and the sacraments. These are the thoughts and memories that the glorious ascension of our Lord into heaven leads us to. Having laid the foundation of the Church, He left its further structure to the Apostles with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, which they were to receive on the great day of St. Pentecost. And the Church of God, planted on earth, flourished like a crown and increased by the grace of the Holy Spirit countless numbers of saints from every people and tribe, from every human rank and condition, of both sexes; especially in the first centuries, the earth became heaven due to the countless number of saints who shone in the Church in the faces of the apostles, saints, martyrs, in the faces of the venerable saints. fathers, unmercenary, righteous and all saints. The Church of Christ on earth was and is the greatest miracle; in it a marvelous renewal of humanity took place and is taking place - sincerely believing people became heavenly angels, adorned with all heavenly virtue. They adorned the Church both with their holy life and with immortal, godly creations, which still delight our ears and edify the faithful children of the Church. Glory to Thee, who ascended with glory to Christ our God and did not abandon us, acting in us and saving us. Amen. Word for St. Day Pentecost or the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles. History and meaning of the holiday 4. “When the day of Pentecost had come, all the apostles and believers were with one accord together, and suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting, and cloven tongues appeared to them, as if of fire, and rested one on each of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:1-4). Most Holy Trinity, grant me your word for Your day! May my word, mortal man, be worthy - as far as possible - of Your holiness, goodness and truth, Your wisdom, Your mercy and generosity to the fallen human race, Your unapproachable light, Your beauty! This is how I begin the word on the great day of Pentecost, or the descent of the Holy Spirit on Christ’s Apostles and on all believers, namely with all possible praise to the Trinity. And you, brothers and sisters, children of the Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, listen to him with attention. The subject of the word is the highest, as the Lord God, without beginning, trinity in Persons and one in His Essence, is exalted above all His creation. In common parlance, this day is called Trinity Day, because on this day the Holy Trinity was solemnly revealed - God the Father, who sent the Holy Spirit to the Apostles at the intercession of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ; and the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and descending through the Son on the Apostles and making them wise to broadcast about the great deeds of God in different languages, which they learned and which they did not know. The Holy Spirit enlightened and revived the Apostles and the entire congregation in the upper room so that they became new people, cleansed from all sin, from all passion of the flesh and spirit - illuminated and confirmed unshakably in faith, hope and love, with complete Divine freedom given to them through Christ by the Holy Spirit; and became able to carry the sermon about Christ the Savior to all ends of the world; and instill faith in Him, without which it is impossible for anyone to be saved and start a new life; for whoever is in Christ is a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). In order to comprehend, as it should, the real holiday of Pentecost or the miraculous descent of the Holy Spirit - the all-good, all-powerful Creator, Enlightener, Renewer and Comforter of the verbal creation - let us remember, according to the guidance of the word of God, how man was created by God in the beginning and what he became after his free fall. Although everyone knows a thousand thousand times, let us repeat what is also known, that man was created in the image and likeness of God with an immortal soul, with free will and with two possibilities - to be established forever in holiness and obedience to the Creator through the fulfillment of any commandment, and forever not to sin and not to die - and with the possibility of breaking the commandment of the Creator and being subjected to sin and death and all the countless harmful consequences of self-will - and from good simple creatures become evil and evil; for God alone can never fall and change. The Creator’s commandment was violated: man fell into disobedience and wickedness, split into two, began to feel a painful inclination to all kinds of evil and unnatural indifference and coldness, ingratitude towards God, who poured out all kinds of mercies on man for soul and body. Man had to temper himself, just as a clay pot is tempered in fire, through fulfilling the Creator’s commandment and remaining firm in devotion to Him: but he did not withstand the tempering and test, but wanted to withstand it and - he broke, became evil and mortal, and so became all of humanity that came from him. – Each person began to feel within himself a war and the onslaught of sinful passions, enmity towards God the Creator, opposition to His laws, a tendency towards all lawlessness; people began to quarrel with each other, to fight with each other, and so that evil would not soon become universal and people would not destroy each other, the Lord confused the languages ​​of men; They did not understand each other and were forced to go in different directions. Man fell through the cunning deception of the murderous serpent, as a young-minded, inexperienced person - and was subjected to the terrible disasters of sin, curse and death. Out of love for mankind, the Creator Himself wanted to be His Redeemer and Savior and to take upon Himself the sin of the human race under the condition of man’s faith in his Redeemer and obedience to Him. The Lord, as the wise Physician of His creation, heals like like; The Creator takes on the image of man, being God; grows and lives with people - communicates, unites with them, talks with them, enlightens them with the Divine word, teaches them with parables and simple commandments, heals illnesses, raises the dead; casts out demons; how God commands all the elements of nature, suffers for the sins of people as a guilty person, being innocent of anything, not a single sin, in order to pay the debt to God’s justice; conquers death and rises from the dead, assuring everyone of the future general resurrection, and after a forty-day stay after the resurrection and repeated tangible appearances to the disciples, he ascends to heaven and receives power over humanity over the whole world. Gloriously and wisely the Lord completed the work of His heavenly Father. His especially important task was to prepare his disciples as messengers to the world, as educators and teachers of the human race - like the salt of the earth, like the light of the world - and for three years He taught them the great work of His holy embassy and the salvation of people. Upon His ascension into heaven, it was necessary to send them the Holy Spirit precisely in the form of tongues of fire in order to enlighten them, boil away their sin, strengthen them in righteousness, deify them and make them pillars of faith and His Church. And this greatest miracle happened on the day of Pentecost, i.e. after fifty days after His glorious resurrection and on the tenth day after His ascension into heaven - and from that time the Holy Spirit abides in the Church of Christ and will be in it until the end of the century, to powerfully accomplish the salvation of believers. He accomplishes in all of us, believers, a wonderful work of salvation, as far as anyone has faith and zeal. Who among you does not know this, does not feel this? Who has not experienced the grace of forgiveness of sins, consolation in hearts and conscience after heartfelt repentance of sins and after communion of the holy life-giving mysteries? And this is accomplished by the Holy Spirit. Who has not experienced consolation and joy when performing divine services in an orderly and reverent manner, or when listening and reading the word of God? Who has not experienced the renewal of grace? For by the Holy Spirit every verbal creation is renewed. – Cleanses from the filth of sin and purifies. Celebrate with joy this great day of the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles and on the Church of Christ, and try to be worthy members of it. To the Holy Spirit, every all-saving guilt, if He breathes (inhales) according to its worth (worthiness), will soon take from the earthly, increases, uplifts, arranges grief (Antiphon). Amen. Word on the day of the glorious Transfiguration in the flesh of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ “Before all ages and the existence of the world, this God the Word, clothed with light like a robe, transformed before your disciples, more than the sun, the Word shone: Moses and Elijah appeared to you, telling you the Lord dead and alive, and your glorifying ineffable look and mercy and much mercy, by which you saved the world, perishing through sin” (Stichera on praise those). Sons and daughters of the Orthodox Church and members of the Body of Christ, of which He, Christ, is the living, life-giving and wise Head - what bright holiday are we celebrating today? You will say: we celebrate the Transfiguration of Christ. How and why was Christ transformed? Listen to how St. tells about this. Evangelist Matthew: On one of the days of His Divine sojourn on earth, the Lord took separately three chosen disciples: Peter, James and John, and led them alone to a high mountain, and was transfigured before them, and His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became white as light. And then Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. Peter said to Jesus: It is good for us to be here; If you want, we will make three tabernacles here: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. While he was still speaking; Behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came from the cloud saying: This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased: listen to Him. And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were very afraid. But Jesus came and touched them and said: Arise and do not be afraid. Lifting up their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus alone. And when they came down from the mountain, Jesus forbade them, saying: Tell no one about this vision until the Son of Man rises from the dead (Matthew 17:2-9). Why was the Lord so fearfully, majestically and divinely transformed? Firstly, in order to show, hidden under human flesh, the lightning of His eternal Divinity, His unapproachable light; secondly, in order to reveal the lordship of His second terrible coming in the glory of His Father; thirdly, to show the brightness of the future glory - in heaven of the Apostles and all those who truly believe in the Lord and are devoted to Him with all their hearts; fourthly, in order to confirm the disciples in faith in His eternal Divinity, so that they would not doubt Him when they see Him in reproach, humiliation and suffering in the flesh, suffering on the cross for the sins of the human race; fifthly, the Lord was transfigured in glory and commanded the prophets Moses and Elijah to be with Him in His glorious transfiguration, also in the light, in order to show the common resurrection of all people from the dead for the future judgment. For this reason, Moses appeared from the dead, as a sign of the future resurrection, and the undying prophet Elijah, taken as if to heaven in a chariot of fire. This is why Christ was transfigured before the three chosen disciples. They were to testify to this to the whole world after the resurrection of Christ from the dead. What instructive lesson does the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord give us? Don't we all need to be transformed and change? Don't we need a change from worse to better, from sin to truth and holiness, from our negligence and coldness towards God - to hot repentance and tears; from indifference to the holy faith - to fervor of faith and love for God, from absent-mindedness and inattention to oneself - to strict thoughtfulness in one’s state of mind; Don’t we need to quickly put aside our dark, sinful passions that chain our hearts to the earth and remove us from God; excessive care for the flesh, for its pleasures, decorations, habits and inclinations, and don’t we need to acquire the skill and habit of every virtue, about which we care so little - while this is the only thing we need? Let us also be transformed internally, to the glory of the Lord, and we will continually practice repentance, putting aside our sins and decorating our souls with all kinds of good deeds. This will be the most pleasing celebration of His glorious Transfiguration for the Lord. Amen. Word for the Day of the Glorious Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary “Let us sing the glory of the world, from man and the Lord who gave birth, to the door of heaven, to Mary, the Virgin, the disembodied (angels) song and the faithful Christians (glorification). This is why heaven and the church of the Divine have appeared” (Dogmatist, 1st tone). Thus, the great church hymn-writer, the golden-stringed Damascus, glorifies the Most Holy Virgin Theotokos, whose all-honorable Dormition we now solemnly remember and glorify. Let us, as it were, say so, with joy and reverence glorify this Virgin and Mother, who came from the human race and gave birth to God incarnate: for She became heaven and the church of the Divine. We now celebrate Her honorable repose. The predetermined end of Her long-suffering earthly life came, and She fell asleep for three days, both mortal and life-giving sleep. One could then say about Her: The maiden is not dead, but sleeps. - Yes, She rested for three days, like Christ God, Her Son, and on the third day She was resurrected and raised in glory to heaven to reign with the Son of the end of the poor. O most blessed fate! O endless joy! Dignified and righteous. For She, the Most Pure One, would only seem to rejoice on earth as if she had no sin, but She suffered all her life for Her only begotten Son, all her life she feared for Him, because of many enemies - kings, rulers, false scientists, and warriors, treacherous, flattering, envious, money-loving people. But, finally, the earthly life of the God-Man ended; after suffering and death, the Crucified One rose again: His eternal glory began. He also sat down according to humanity at the right hand of God the Father. But for His Mother the time of glory had not yet come. She was left to live on earth in the house of the Apostle John, adopted by Her, and to be a witness to the wonderful successes of the Christian faith and its all-saving power in believers. She died almost in old age. And what, how glorious was Her Dormition! With what light did Her most pure Face shine. What a wondrous, indescribable, incomparable fragrance there was from Her most pure, ever-virgin body, as St. writes. Dionysius the Areopagite, who was at Her burial! What sweet, angelic singing was heard by the faithful! How divinely inspired St. especially glorified Her Dormition. Hieromartyr Hierotheus, apostolic disciple! Glorious end of the Ever-Virgin's glorious earthly life! Why does the Holy Church annually remember and celebrate the greatest events of the Christian world - the Annunciation, the Nativity of Christ, Baptism, Presentation, Entry into Jerusalem, Easter, Ascension, Pentecost, Dormition of the Mother of God, etc.? In order to kindle and strengthen our faith, our Christian hope, our gratitude and love for God and the Mother of God, our unashamed Representative before God; to remember and not forget our heavenly fatherland, and not to have an attachment to the life here, only preparatory and educational, temporary and transitional. If there were no these Christian holidays, then Christians would forget that they are Christians called to the heavenly fatherland; they would not know why they live in the world, why they were assigned to Christian society or to the Church of God; what is the purpose of their life, why do they need to believe in Christ, and who is Christ? Why believe in the Holy Trinity and who is the Holy Trinity? Many ignorant people really do not know who is Christ, and who is the Trinity, and who is the Mother of God? They wouldn’t know why they need to pray to God, receive Holy Communion. Mysteries of Christ! Church holidays explain all this to the people if they go to services - and make them aware of God's providence for us, teach us to love and thank God, repent of our sins and always keep in mind the future life in heaven, which has no end - and prepare for it, according to the word of the Apostle: our residence is in heaven, from where we wait for the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ (Phil. 3:20). And so let us celebrate the Dormition of the Mother of God spiritually, preparing diligently and ourselves for the transition from this temporary life, like a dream of a disappearing life, to the future, faithfully and firmly promised by the word of God to all faithful Christians. Most Holy Theotokos save us! Amen. Word for the Day of the Glorious Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary “Worldwide joy from the righteous Joachim and Anna arose to us, the all-sung Virgin, even as for the sake of purity the church of God is animated, and one truly the Mother of God is known.” (At the poem stichera, pre-festive service). Before I begin my wretched word about the Nativity of the Mother of God the Word, I pray to this Eternal Word to give me the mind to glorify, according to my strength, or rather, by the grace of God, the real great Christian holiday, the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, destined by the Creator of centuries to be the Mother of the Son of God according to the flesh. I compare in my thoughts two virgins: the pristine virgin Eve, when she had not yet known communication, and the real Most Pure Virgin and Ever-Virgin Mother of God Mary. The first virgin became the free cause of universal sin, curse and death and all the troubles to which we are still subjected and from which we suffer terribly; the second - according to God, became the cause of righteousness, blessing and life, with which God the Word, born of Her in the flesh, blessed us. The first was created from the rib of Adam, for the sake of the unity of origin from the same blood of the human race, the second Virgin - the culprit of the present triumph, was born by faith, fervent prayer and alms of barren, elderly parents, the righteous Joachim and Anna, for the destruction, by the goodness of God, sin, curse and death, for God the Word, who was born from Her in the flesh, destroyed all-evil sin in believers and drove out the curse and death, giving blessing and eternal life. Here are two opposites - the progenitor of the human race, Eve, and the Representative of Christians, Ever-Virgin Mary! Wonderful works of God's providence for the human race! The righteous people are also wonderful, bringing forth in the world, by the grace of God, truth, peace, blessing and eternal life, among whom the Most Holy Virgin Mary takes precedence. God’s mercy towards the human race is marvelous, restoring it from its fall. By Her Nativity, the Most Holy Virgin Mary united God the Word with men, and our nature, rejected by sin, united the human race with heaven, brought us into communion with the angelic, bright, all-blessed world, and made earthly people inhabitants of heaven. Through the incarnation of God the Word from the Most Holy Virgin, humanity was granted by God a tuna of innumerable blessings, which it did not even dare to think about, mired in all the impurities of sin. People have been given from the Lord, who suffered voluntarily for the sins of the world, the bath of rebirth (baptism), all-saving repentance, the all-enlightening Word of God, teaching all piety; the Church was founded with consecrated shepherds; Communion of the most pure Body and Blood of the Lord was given, cleansing all sin and renewing our nature, corrupted by sin, beautifying and fragrant believers and humble souls. The salvation of a person is made dependent on faith, repentance and good deeds of a person, and without faith in Christ, the Lamb of God, who took upon Himself the sins of the world, and without unfeigned, fruitful repentance, salvation is impossible; believers have been given an all-powerful Intercessor and Representative. I look at the world lying in evil, or, closer, at Russia, which received from God a precious inheritance from its ancestors - the Orthodox faith, and which, through incomprehensible frivolity, has abandoned its faith and fallen into all sorts of troubles: and - I am horrified and grieved, seeing how it suffers and will suffer again if it does not turn with all its heart to the faith of its fathers and to the Orthodox Church, in which so many righteous people were saved. For lack of faith, drunkenness and debauchery follow troubles after troubles, the greatest troubles, incommensurable: a shameful war, impoverishment of the people, revolution, hunger strike, cholera, rebellious two Dumas, of which the second, through some of its representatives, almost destroyed the Royal Family. These are God's punishments for apostasy and indiscriminate debauchery. Our very holy holidays, which should raise our minds and hearts to heaven, have turned into satanic holidays, holidays of flesh and blood and all sorts of senseless and harmful passions. Just as the Jewish holidays once were, the Lord abhors our holidays. I cannot tolerate your festive gatherings - lawlessness and celebration (Isaiah 1:1-3), says the Lord through the prophet Isaiah. Let's fear God. Let us delve into the meaning of our holidays and raise our minds and hearts to grief - to God, to heaven, to the mountainous fatherland. Amen. Word on the day of the glorious Exaltation of the honorable and life-giving Cross of the Lord in Jerusalem, found in the depths of the earth by Queen Helen Equal to the Apostles, almost three hundred years after the crucifixion of the Savior of the world on it About two thousand years ago, a terrible crime was committed on earth by people out of malice and envy, from which the sun darkened, the earth shook, the rocks cracked, the tombs of the dead opened and the dead came to life, came out and entered the city, appearing to many in Jerusalem. This atrocity is the murder by the Jews of the Savior of the world, the Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God, who wanted to voluntarily accept upon Himself from God’s justice execution for the sins of the world. This murder was carried out by means of execution on the cross. It was the most shameful execution, painful, invented by the people of the then godless world for slaves who were valued lower than any dumb animal. And so the cross was the instrument of execution of the God-man. And this cross, which was previously cursed, became, after the crucifixion and death of the God-Man on it, a blessed tree for Christians, because through it the curse of God that was upon us was destroyed and a blessing was given to all believers; through him, universal death was defeated and resurrection and again being (secondary being) were given to the human race. This tree of the cross was hidden from Christians by the Jews deep in the ground, and to further desecrate it, a pagan temple was built over the place where it was hidden, so that the burial place of the life-giving cross fell into oblivion. When the Christian faith triumphed over paganism and Judaism and the Equal-to-the-Apostles, wise Emperor Constantine and his mother Helena appeared on the throne of the Caesars, the thought came to this queen - to find the real cross on which the Lord Jesus Christ shed His atoning blood and died. After a long search, one elderly Jew, who knew according to legend the place where the cross was hidden, revealed to the queen its location - and it was found and solemnly carried out of the ground and was recognized as the cross of Christ by the miracle that occurred from it - the resurrection of the dead on whom it was placed. Then, at the request of the queen, he is shown to the people, i.e. was erected on all four sides by the hands of the Patriarch of Jerusalem Macarius. The people cried in joy and repentance and repeated many times: Lord have mercy! That is why we celebrate the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord and repeat many times: Lord have mercy! Since the Lord endured the cross for the sins of each and every one of us, we must all diligently repent of them, cry and say: Lord have mercy, because we all sin without number. But why are we saved from sin, curse and death by the cross, and not in some other way? Why was it necessary to execute on the cross according to the flesh of the Son of God Himself? Let's think about this. The reason why the righteous destinies of God required the execution of the Son of God on the cross according to the flesh is explained in one of the church songs for this holiday. This song reads like this: “Come, all nations (peoples), let us worship the blessed tree, whereon eternal truth has been (fulfilled, satisfied): forefather Adam, deceived by the tree (through eating the forbidden fruit), the devil is deceived by the cross (having ignorantly killed not a simple man, but the all-righteous God-man, innocent of sin and death), and falls overthrown by a strange (pathetic) fall, painfully holding in his claws man created in the image of God; by the blood of God the poison of the serpent is washed away and the oath of righteous condemnation of man is destroyed when the all-righteous Jesus was condemned to death on the cross by the unrighteous court of the Jews; for it was necessary to heal through the suffering of Jesus on the tree of the cross the wound of crime through Adam’s eating of the tree forbidden in paradise, and through the innocent suffering on the cross of the impassive God-man to destroy the passions of the condemned (Adam and all humanity). Glory to Christ, Thy wise care (providence) for us, by which You saved us, as the only Lover of Mankind.” (Stichera of the feast I cried to the Lord). This church hymn, composed by an inspired hymn-writer, is imbued with a lofty and deep meaning. Let's try, with God's help, to figure it out somewhat. The primordial couple’s disobedience to the easiest testing commandment of the Creator and Benefactor - to fulfill which all means were given - and frivolous obedience to the crafty enemy of God - the verbal serpent and entering into an alliance with him - rejected man and humanity from God to an infinite distance and subjected him to the yoke of sin, righteous damnation and eternal death. Man incurred an unpayable debt to the Creator, trampled upon all His good deeds, appeared ungrateful, proud, evil, having adopted the spirit of his new master, the devil. Humanity found itself in terrible captivity with its entire triple being of the soul - mind, heart and all its will; he was completely taken possession of by the dark, hellish power: for what communication is there between light and darkness, righteousness with lawlessness (2 Cor. 6:15), pride and disobedience with humble obedience? – Fallen humanity had to be redeemed, according to God’s love for mankind, from terrible captivity, from sin, curse and death. But who could redeem the countless human race, like the sand of the sea, except God Himself? No creature could redeem, no intercessor, no angel, for every rational creature, although righteous like an angel, is righteous not by itself, but by the grace of God, and does what it must do. Only one righteous, perfect God-man Christ, the Son of God, could redeem people with His infinite truth, but for this it was necessary for Him to become Man, uniting him inseparably and inseparably with the Divinity in one Person - it was necessary to fulfill all the truth according to humanity and for humanity; enlighten him, teach him repentance and fulfillment of the will of God, give them grace upon grace, suffer for people, voluntarily accepting execution for them, die, and by His innocent death deprive the power of the one who has the power of death - the devil, defeat the death that people brought upon themselves by daring disobedience, and resurrect His humanity from the dead, and give everyone the greatest gift of resurrection! This is God's immeasurable mercy for the fallen human race! Here is the truth of God, satisfied with the appropriate price! How did the devil bring the devil to such terrible suffering on the cross and the death of our Redeemer Jesus Christ, when this suffering and death should have finally defeated him, the very enemy of God, destroyed hell and its terrible prison and erased the very head of the serpent? The devil went mad with anger and pride and prepared for himself the almighty Conqueror of death and hell, and had to release all the captives, whom he hoped to hold forever in his tormenting power. Thus, the tree of the cross destroyed sin, which entered the world through the tree of disobedience, and paid off humanity’s debt to the truth of God through the innocent suffering and death of the Son of God. People have been given the greatest benefit - repentance and grace, which disposes a believer to repentance, and given all the means to become a new creature in the Lord, to become righteous, reaching heaven with the angels. Take advantage, sinners, of the mercy of God, the merits of the Son of God on the cross, and be immediately saved through repentance and works of mercy. Behold, the Bridegroom comes at midnight, and blessed is the servant, for he will be found vigilant. Watch and pray so that you do not fall into misfortune. Amen. Homily on the Day of the Glorious Entry into the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary “Let us truly praise Mary the Mother of God: today she is brought into the Holy of Holies to be taught to the Lord” (Luminary of the Feast). The Holy Church now celebrates the glorious Entry into the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This event was foreseen and predetermined by God before all ages, and before the creation of the angelic worlds, before the existence of heaven and earth, just as the fall of a third of the angelic world and the fall of the human race were foreseen and allowed by God: for God has known from the ages, according to the Apostle, all His works (Acts 15:18). By the infinite goodness of God, countless angelic minds of different ranks and orders were called by the Word from non-existence to being, bright, gifted with wondrous, benevolent beauty and immortality, and one of them, who took precedence over all Dennitsa, was distinguished from all by his especially great mind, lightness (which is why he was called Dennitsa), strength and beauty; he was in special closeness to God - and this Dennitsa, who dreamed of himself, of his perfections, instead of thanking God, from Whom he received everything, became proud, wanted to be equal to God and establish his own apostate kingdom, taking with him a third of the angelic world. Pride blinded him: he remained adamant and unrepentant in his intention, like those carried away by him - and the goodness of God abandoned him and all those who fell away, and - they turned entirely into anger, pride, into eternal darkness - they took in the consuming and painful fire, eternal rebellion and declared war - to whom? To God Himself and other faithful and good angels - and when man was created and was subjected to the test of loyalty and obedience to God - the former Lucifer, appearing in the form of a serpent to Eve, the first wife, seduced her and her husband, and made them rebels against the Creator and Benefactor. In the person of our first parents, the fall of the entire human race took place. God is faithful to Himself and remains eternally unchanged in His holiness, truth and mercy, and creation - from being faithful, godlike, blessed, turned willfully into unfaithful, evil and fell away from Him, subjecting itself to the righteous wrath of God, curse and death. Man was pitifully robbed by the serpent, deprived of God's likeness, left with some remains of the image of God, disfigured, pitiful, and became a slave of the devil and was subjected to all kinds of sinful corruption, especially idolatry. But even in the fallen human race, in future generations, great treasures were hidden, namely in some of its future individuals: Enoch, Shem, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Noah, Moses, Elijah, Elisha, David, and among all and especially, in the Virgin Mary, whom God foresaw from eternity and whom He chose to fulfill His Divine intentions - for the salvation of the human race. What does the goodness of God do to save perishing humanity? To save him, one of the Persons of the Holy Trinity Himself wanted to become Man, to fulfill all obedience for the disobedience of Adam and Eve and all mankind and to fulfill all the truth of God, to take upon Himself human sins, curse and death for them, in order to crush death with His Theanthropic death, overcome its sting, rise from the dead and give everyone resurrection and eternal life. Wonderful are the works of Your discernment, O Lord, our Savior! The bounty of Your love for mankind is unfathomable! And so, in the eternal Council of God, it was determined for the Son of God Himself to become a man, without ceasing to be God, and to accomplish the will of His Father for the salvation of the human race. – But who could serve as the instrument of incarnation? All people were sinners and the All-Righteous could not be born of sinners. What kind of fellowship is there between light and darkness, between righteousness and lawlessness (2 Cor. 6:14)? The Incarnation takes place supernaturally, for where God wants, the order of nature is overcome. By the will of God the Father, for the incarnation of the Son of God, a pure Virgin is chosen, prepurified by the Holy Spirit, raised from infancy in the shrine, and after being raised in the holy of holies of the church, and upon reaching adulthood, an incorporeal evangelist, the Holy Archangel, is sent to her to announce to Her the conception according to human nature in Her virgin womb, by the influx of the Holy Spirit. God - the Son of God; The Holy Virgin faithfully and obediently accepted the gospel and the Son of God was conceived in Her and, after the time of womb, was born from Her as the Infant of God, undergoing the usual law of human growth. This is the miracle of God’s miracles, of all the greatest, incomprehensible, saving, but at the same time terrible mystery of the incarnation of God the Word, with His Word, hitherto creating the human race. This is why the pure Virgin was chosen from all generations, solemnly introduced into the church as a three-year-old girl, and there she was raised by the Holy Spirit into the Mother and dwelling of God the Word. Rejoice, faithful Christian race, at such condescension of God towards the fallen human race. Celebrate, with all your pure hearts, the Entry into the Church of the Mother of God and with your lips and hearts praise and exalt the Mother of God, the Intercessor of faithful Christians and our Intercessor before Her Son and God. Be faithful to the Church of God and be educated spiritually in the church of God for the kingdom of heaven. Hate sin, which was and is the cause of temporary and eternal destruction, and do righteousness and holiness in the fear of God (2 Cor. 7:1). Amen. Word for the Day of Remembrance of St. glorious, all-praised Apostle Andrew the First-Called “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You hid this (the matter of the incarnation of God the Word) from the wise and reasonable (i.e., those who imagine themselves to be such), but revealed it to babes (i.e., the simple-hearted and unwise in guile). Yes, Father, for such was Your good pleasure” (Matthew 11:25–26). The Orthodox Church today solemnly celebrates the day of the repose of the Holy First-Called Apostle Andrew, half-brother of the Holy Apostle Peter. For the beginning of the word of God for this day, I took the significant words of the Lord Jesus Christ, addressed by him prayerfully to the Heavenly Father, in which He, Jesus Christ, thanks and glorifies Him for the fact that the greatest mystery of the incarnation of the Son of God, which requires the simplicity and purity of the human heart to perceive it, He hid from the crafty and proud sages of this age, the scribes and Pharisees, and revealed to the simple hearts of the apostles, and generally to simple and humble hearts. And I want to tell you today precisely that God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble (1 Pet. 5:5) and reveals to them the greatest divine mysteries for the salvation of many. In general, the work of Christian preaching, in its greatness and wisdom, is such that, first of all, it requires from the listener simplicity of faith and complete devotion to it, as God’s true, saving, immutable work. Evil unbelief is not tolerated in the work of God, for if a person doubts when he hears it, God will not be pleased with him; he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, tossed and broken by the wind; let such a person not think that he will receive anything from God (James 1:6–7). Now, pay special attention to the first word of God’s sermon, announced by the Archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary about the incarnation of the Son of God from Her: and think - what humble simplicity and trust it demanded from the Most Pure Virgin - and she did not doubt or contradict the heavenly evangelist with a single word, despite all the extraordinaryness of the words of the annunciation. The Archangel heard from Her only a word of obedience and devotion to the Lord: Behold, servant of the Lord, let it be done to Me according to your word (Luke 1:38). And a work of infinite importance, the work of the incarnation of God, was accomplished through the word of obedience to Mary. What if She did not believe and began to philosophize and doubt, like Zechariah, the father of the Forerunner, who heard from the Archangel about the birth of a son from him? Then the matter would not have been accomplished. But Zechariah also believed, punished with deafness for unbelief, and was honored to give birth to the greatest son among all the wives born. – So the Apostles, called to the great apostolic feat, did not contradict the calling Lord in the least, but immediately showed complete obedience and remained faithful to their Savior for the rest of their lives. - Compare the scribes and Pharisees with the Apostles and with the hypostatic eternal Wisdom - Christ: how much will you immediately notice in these scientists of this century of wickedness, pride and malice, envy, pride, untruth, hypocrisy, greed, revenge, stubbornness? Was it possible, tell me, to entrust them with the work of preaching the Gospel and revealing the greatest truths of the kingdom of God? A natural man—and such were all the scribes and Pharisees and the high priests—does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, because he considers them foolishness and cannot understand them, because they must be judged spiritually (1 Cor. 2:14). Only such divine simpletons and at the same time wise men, spiritual philosophers and leaders, like the apostles, could receive from God the Word Himself, the Hypostatic Wisdom Himself, the Divine sermon about the renewal of people through the incarnation of the Son of God. And how the scribes and Pharisees tried to destroy the great work of Christ at the very beginning through all kinds of persecution and encroachment on His wonderful life, and they already dreamed that they had completely ruined His work when they killed Him on the cross! But then, when He was ascended to the cross and the true redemption of mankind began, according to the word of the Lord: when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to Me (John 12:32). The apostles, who were scattered during the time of suffering, after the resurrection of Christ were especially confirmed in their faith in Him, and with great power they testified to everyone about the resurrection of Christ and the completed work of redemption of the human race. Nothing and no one could destroy or darken the great work of Christ; and the work of the Apostles triumphed more and more. – This is what simplicity of faith in God, complete trust and devotion to Him does. The Lord entrusted to us Russians the great saving talent of the Orthodox faith, through which many faithful were saved in the centuries preceding us, and even in our time. I ask you and myself, are we multiplying the talent of the Orthodox faith entrusted to us? Are we trying to live by faith? Do we try to justify our Christian calling by good works? Are we producing the fruits of repentance? Do we try to adorn ourselves with every Christian virtue? “Everything is dozing and sleeping.” I all took a nap and fell asleep (Matthew 25:5). Is it necessary to talk, to remind us what is happening around us in society, in higher educational institutions, in the press, in legislative institutions, etc. Arise, Russian man, rise from the dead, and Christ will illuminate you (Eph. 5:14). Amen. Word for the day of the glorious Nativity according to the flesh of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ “Sing to the Lord, born of the Virgin: sing the song of the heavenly host; clasp your hands, earthly ones: for God is in men” (Stichera on Little Vespers). May it not seem strange if, in these godless times, I ask everyone today the following question: which of the Christians, called intellectuals, is keenly interested, from a spiritual point of view, in the current great holiday of the Nativity of Christ? But the event that took place about 2000 years ago was the only one in its greatness and salvation for the human race, the only one, I say, in the destinies of God and in the history of mankind: only once did the Lord come to earth for our salvation, and the second time he will come to judge the living and the dead. I ask everyone this question because now many, many have ceased to be interested in this event, as it is unnecessary. But precisely because many have ceased to be interested in it (and are interested only for the sake of idleness), we, ministers of the faith who sincerely believe and enjoy the saving fruits of the faith of Christ, must resurrect and awaken a high interest in faith in this event and in the Author of it, our Lord Jesus Christ. Human unbelief will not abolish or shake our faith; on the contrary, it makes us even more zealous for it and for protecting it from unbelievers. It awakens in us immense surprise and endless pity for their frivolity, stupidity, spinelessness and corruption. A Christian man, who at birth received in his heart the seed of faith in God and was raised in faith, will never fall away from faith, the sweetness of which he has experienced a thousand times. And so, I repeat the question: which Christian is sincerely interested in the current holiday of the Nativity of Christ? The earth today has been honored to receive God incarnate; the most pure Virgin gave birth in the flesh to the eternal Creator of heaven and earth, who upholds with his omnipotent hand all creation, visible and invisible; gave birth to Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, the Lamb of God, who took upon Himself the sins of the world. But what is the birth of an immeasurably great, uncreated Being on earth? Immeasurable humility and immeasurable poverty, in denunciation of human pride and vanity. Dennitsa fell with pride; Adam and Eve fell with pride, dreaming of being gods and boldly disobeying the commandment of God. Jesus Christ, as the omnipotent Doctor of the human race fallen by pride, through the very circumstances of His birth in a wretched manger from a pure but poor Virgin of the royal family, wants to heal us from the disease of pride and teach us a lesson in humility. And throughout His entire life, he taught us humility and self-sacrifice. He is swaddled not with gold-woven or soft clothes, but with rags, which the poor Virgin could prepare; He is installed in a manger, and not in the magnificent palaces characteristic of the kings of the earth. Oh, the voluntary misery, the voluntary poverty of the One who possesses all the treasures of the earth, all the luminaries of heaven, to whom countless angelic councils await in heaven with trembling! This is how and with what the Doctor of humanity heals our worst disease - pride, the beginning of all sin. Kings of the earth, surrounded by the splendor of your dignity, come in thought to Bethlehem, bow your crowned heads to this manger, in which the true and eternal King of kings reclines and lay your crowns at their foot, humble yourself and admit that you too are made of dust and will return to dust, and confess before him, the humble Child, that from Him you power and authority have been given over the nations, that you are His helpers, and by Him your thrones are held, that without faith in Him you and your thrones are reeds shaken by the wind. That without faith in Him, your rulers are like split rods on which you cannot rely. Scientists of this world, speaking from pulpits in high institutions of the state, and in all sorts of others, you - teaching and learning, especially in higher educational institutions, but for God the very last and rejected in the spirit of rebellion and disobedience to the authorities - I send you too to the manger of Bethlehem - cast aside your pride before your Creator and Savior and the only true Teacher, and humble yourself before the One who brought peace to earth from Heavenly Father and favor to men who obeyed the earthly Caesar. Do not forget that He spoke about the rebellious proud, that He is a stone on which whoever falls will be broken, and on whomever it falls will crush him (Matthew 21:44). Who taught you and is teaching you disobedience and senseless rebellions, which have never happened before in Russia and in other states? Return to humble faith, to the Gospel of peace, to the Church, from which you madly fell away, just as Satan and the fallen angels once fell away from God. Woe to the rebels and the disobedient, like Korah, Dathan and Abiron. I am addressing my priestly speech to you, if you want to listen, if you don’t want to, don’t listen, but I am speaking to you as a sincere and sincerely believing brother. Enough. It’s enough for you and Russia to drink the bitter cup full of poison. Happy holiday. Amen. Word for the New Year 1908 (You must) put off your former way of life, the old man, which is corrupted by the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man, created after God (in the image of God) in righteousness and true holiness (Eph. 4:22-24). Happy New Year, dear brothers. The world still stands, has not become completely decrepit, and is not collapsing from our sins; We are also given a new year according to the date. But if today’s people ruled the world, as some would like to rule the Russian state, and if it were given to them to destroy even the smallest part of the world - for where they can worms, destroy the whole world, they would undoubtedly destroy, as they destroy private or public buildings, estates, cities and entire kingdoms through war. But God did not give the lively animal horns, as the proverb goes. Man himself is extremely limited, although in his malice he can do a lot of mischief, by God’s permission, and he himself is conveniently crushed and deprived of life. And so the world stands firmly to this day, because it is in the strong hands of the Almighty Creator, who created everything for the good of creatures. And all around us - alas! – destruction and destruction; people fall like ears of corn under the hand of the reaper: murder is everywhere. There is no safety for anyone. Evil times! People turned into animals, - even worse - into evil spirits. The reason is lack of faith, anarchy, given freedom, falsely understood, the hope of impunity or hiding from justice. What times are we living in? During the time of the pagan Nero, Domitian, Diocletian and other tormentors of the Christian people? No, we live in the times of Christianity, Christian kings, in the times of the emergence of magnificent Christian churches everywhere. Power has weakened; she herself misunderstood the freedom she gave to the people; She herself became darkened in mind and did not give the people a clear understanding of freedom. But to whom much is given, much will be required. And so, it’s a new year, but the riots are old; the old freedom of all unions, meetings (especially university ones), freedom of religion, i.e. live according to the dictates of your perverted, godless conscience; freedom of schisms and conversion to whatever faith you want. Let us turn to the reading of the Apostle - what does he say? He says the following: you must put off your former way of life, the old man, which is corrupted by the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind and put on the new man, created by God in righteousness and true holiness (Eph. 4:22-24). Are these words obligatory for us or not? Or have we freed ourselves from obedience to St. Scripture and do not consider ourselves obligated to fulfill it? We are acting contrary to the teachings of the Apostle. We live, i.e. Most people live according to the lusts of the old man, according to the desires of demons, and we diligently do the will of evil spirits, and not according to God’s command. People have given themselves over to the evil spirit because they have fallen away from God, from faith, from the Church, from conscience, from common sense and are following a disastrous path, quickly approaching the eternal abyss. Brethren, listen again to the short word of St. Apostle and fulfill it. You must put off your former way of life, the old man, which is corrupted by the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind and put on the new man (Eph. 4:22-23) or put on Christ, His saving faith, holiness, truth, simplicity, meekness, humility, obedience, self-control, patience, goodness, and put off unbelief, pride, covetousness, malice, drunkenness, fornication, uncleanness of the old man. Only when you have at least the beginnings of these virtues and practice them, will you be able to greet you with a new year, or better yet, with a new spirit, with a new heart, with a renewed life, and without this spiritual change we are all old sinners, with the old leaven of all passions and are disgusting to God, our Creator. Amen. Homily for the Day of Epiphany, January 6, 1908 “Jesus comes from Galilee to the Jordan to John to be baptized by him” (Matthew 3:13). Three types of baptism, essentially different, were determined by heaven from eternity: one nationwide baptism of repentance from John, preparatory to the acceptance of the promised and coming Messiah: another baptism - the extraordinary sanctifying baptism of the Messiah Himself - Christ the Son of God from John, also in the Jordan, with the appearance of the entire Holy Trinity. This baptism was a miracle of goodness, wisdom, truth and condescension of God towards the human race, defiled in the entire depth of its being. It was performed for the sanctification of the waters of the earth and the crushing of Satan and all the demonic hordes that nested in the waters and for the sake of the mysterious generation of believers by water and spirit, as Jesus Christ Himself said: unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God: that which is born of the flesh is flesh (sin), and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit (holiness and truth) (John 3:5-6). This is the third kind of baptism, which we also received in infancy through the faith of our parents and recipients. The common Jewish people voluntarily and with faith accepted baptism from John for the forgiveness of sins, but the learned, proud and self-important scribes and Pharisees resisted God and did not accept the baptism given by God for their salvation, which the Savior publicly convicted them of before the people. Since the third type of baptism occurs in our infancy, then, of course, almost all Christians are baptized, although there are cases that other children are not baptized, sometimes until they are ten or more years old for various reasons. There are many such cases that other, proud scientists like our writers, having come of age and having acquired the spirit of unbelief and denial of everything sacred and Divine, reject baptism and do not recognize it as necessary either for themselves or for others, as for example. Leo Tolstoy and Prince Kropotkin (I don’t know if he’s alive, but I saw him and talked to him). - God will judge them; they, and others like them, reject both God and all the saints. Scripture and all authorities; It was they and their like-minded accomplices who planted and developed atheism and anarchy in Russia, through them the entire godless, unbridled press developed, especially the Jewish one, and through them the indiscriminate corruption of youth is carried out. Take a deeper look at the reasons for all this - and you will see where all the evil came from. But once permission was given to him at first, it intensified to the point of monstrosity and it is impossible or extremely difficult to correct it. What effect does our baptism have on our salvation? – The power of purification of soul and body, sanctification and spiritual revival. Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, one cannot enter the Kingdom of God (John 3:5), i.e. an unbaptized person cannot be cleansed by anything or anyone from the innate filth of sin and from arbitrary sins; no one can unite with God for communion with Whom we are destined from eternity, no one can enter the heavenly fatherland - except through baptism, through which we are adopted as sons of God and made clean from the filth of sin. Truly, truly, I say to you: from now on you will see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man (John 1:51). Heaven opens and eternal life is inherited by people only through baptism. An unbaptized person who does not believe in Christ is like an unclean dog. You cannot take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs (Matthew 15:26), the Lord said to the pagan Canaanite woman. But Christians who have received baptism take upon themselves the obligation through their recipients to multiply the talent entrusted to them by God through baptism, the gift of holiness and truth, the gifts of faith, prayer, repentance, thanksgiving to God, love, meekness, humility, obedience, patience, abstinence. They must live worthy of the Christian calling into which they have entered, and be an example of a pure, holy life; We must put off the old man, which is corrupted by its deceitful lusts, and put on the new man, created according to God in righteousness and true holiness (Eph. 4:22–24). The Holy Apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans says this to all of us who are baptized: Shall we continue in sin (after baptism) so that grace may increase? No way. We died to sin: how can we live in it? Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death (through threefold immersion, not pouring)? And so we were buried with Him through baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we are united with Him in the likeness of His death; then we must be united by the likeness of the resurrection, knowing that our old man was crucified with him, so that the body of sin could be abolished, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for the one who died was freed from sin. If we died with Christ; then we believe that we will live with Him, knowing that Christ, having risen from the dead, no longer dies: death no longer has power over Him. For if He died, He died once to sin; and what he lives, he lives for God. Likewise, consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 6:1-11). Amen. Homily on the day of the glorious Presentation of the Lord in the Temple of Jerusalem by the righteous elder Simeon, February 2, 1908 “Test the Scriptures, as Christ our God hath spoken in the Gospel; in them we see that He was born for us and was wrapped in swaddling clothes, was laid in a manger and fed on milk, received circumcision in the flesh and was carried by the elder Simeon - appearing to the world not imaginary, not ghostly, but truly. Let us cry out to Him: Eternal God, glory to Thee” (at the litia stichera, glory). Who do I see? The Child of God in the church, brought in by the Virgin Mother, and leaned into the arms of the righteous old man, who was promised by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before seeing the Messiah promised to the world through the prophets, the Savior of the world (Luke 2:26). O incomprehensible mystery, the mystery of goodness, truth, and wisdom of God! God belittled Himself incomprehensibly in order to exalt and exalt fallen man, He humbled Himself, taking on the image of a servant, becoming in the likeness of man (Phil. 2:7), growing as Man and - accomplished His terrible and saving work of our salvation in order to bring closer and appropriate to Himself the perishing humanity alienated by sin. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life (John 3:16). O love, love of God! How immeasurable, how wise, how amazing, how incomprehensible are you? Human! God appeared in the flesh for you, so that you, who perished by your own will, would not perish for Him, but would be saved by Him. He came to seek you, like a lost sheep, to receive you on His shoulder and bring you to His heavenly Father, according to His will. Man should reverence the destinies of God. What the Lord Jesus Christ did for us was predetermined in the Council of God, before all ages - and was necessary for our salvation, and it could not be otherwise. But why was the Infant God brought to the church? For dedication to God, as a sinless Man and - to make a sacrifice to the priests - two chicks of doves according to the law of redemption of first-born male babies. As the Lawgiver, the Child God Himself fulfilled the law, obeying the law in order to teach us to fulfill God’s commandments, just as He accepted circumcision in order to fulfill the law and put an end to it. In general, through His entire life, as well as through His word, He taught us humility and obedience and the exact fulfillment of God’s commandments for the sake of God’s truth and for the sake of eternal life. He did not utter a single word against the will of the Heavenly Father, nor did He do a single deed against His righteous will: His entire life was the perfect fulfillment of the will of God, for in its fulfillment lies our love for God. What wonderful speech or song did Elder Simeon say to the Eternal Child? Now release Thy servant, O Master, according to Thy word in peace, he said; for my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared before the face of all people (Luke 2:29–31). With indescribable joy the elder said these words: for he was overworked with extraordinary old age; and has now received release from the Lord of life and death to eternal bliss. Oh, if only we could depart from this life with such hope, with such joy as he did! And we all, if we wish, can depart with similar hope if we live piously and are guided before our death by communion of the Divine Mysteries with sincere confession. But what did the old man say when he said goodbye to this world to the Mother of the Child? He foretold by the Holy Spirit that this Child would be presented for the fall and rising of many in Israel, i.e. in the Jewish people, and the subject of controversy; and a weapon will pierce your own heart, so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed (Luke 2:34–36), i.e. Pharisees, scribes, high priests, Herods, Pilates and the like. The preaching of Christ, His life and miracles revealed the innermost thoughts of these crafty, proud people. Previously, people did not know their hypocrisy, but the life of Christ and His preaching aroused in them, like a malignant boil, all the abomination of their hearts: envy, pride, malice, greed, false understanding and interpretation of the scriptures. And now before the Gospel all human wickedness is revealed, for it exposes now all human passions, and it will also judge at the second coming of Christ all Christian tribes and peoples. Let us read and listen to St. The Gospel, in order to live according to it and convict oneself of all sins, bringing constant, sincere repentance to the Judge of the Heart, who tests our hearts and insides (Jer. 11:20), ready to judge the living and the dead. Amen. Is Russia the kingdom of God? Word on the day of the sacred anointing and crowning of the Most Pious, Most Autocratic Great Sovereign Emperor Nikolai Alexandrovich “The kingdom is the Lord’s, and He is Ruler over the nations” (Psalm 21:29). From year to year, the Church and Russia gratefully remember and brightly celebrate the day of the sacred anointing and crowning of our most pious Sovereign, Emperor Nikolai Alexandrovich, and glorify the Lord, who placed on Him honor and greatness, in the words of the prophet king, and on his head a crown of pure gold (Ps. 20:4-5). Royal anointing is a sign of the outpouring of the grace of the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the life-giving - on the anointed face - and wisdom and strength to govern his subjects. This sacred rite is God's institution. About David, anointed to the kingdom by Samuel the prophet, it is said in the history that from the hour he was sealed with oil, the Spirit of God began to hover over him. King David himself says this about the gracious effect of the sacred anointing on him, and the power of God communicated through him. God girds me with strength, and arranges for me a right path, makes my feet like a deer’s, and sets me on my high places, teaches my hands to fight, and my arms crush the brass bow; You have given me the shield of Your salvation, and Your right hand upholds me, and Your mercy magnifies me. You widen my step under me, and my feet do not falter. I pursue my enemies and overtake them, and I do not return until I have destroyed them; I smite them and cannot rise, they fall under my feet, for You have girded me with strength for war and have brought down under my feet those who rebelled against me; You have turned the rear of my enemies to me, and I will destroy those who hate me. I scatter them like dust before the face of the wind, like street dirt, I trample them. You delivered me from the rebellion of the people, you made me the head of the foreigners: a people whom I did not know serves me: according to one rumor about me, they obey me; foreigners caress me; the foreigners turn pale and tremble in their fortifications; As the Lord lives, and blessed is my protector! May the God of my salvation be pronounced, the God who avenges me and subdues the nations for me, and delivers me from my enemies! For this I will praise You, O Lord, among foreigners, and I will sing to Your name, majestically saving the king and showing mercy to Your anointed David and his descendants forever (Ps. 17:33-51). You see what power the sacred anointing, or, more precisely, the pouring of oil on his head, had for King David - and what God was for him as the king of the chosen people. God controlled, so to speak, all the steps, all the actions of David - through him He reigned over Israel; The kingdom of David was, in truth, the kingdom of the Lord. But David was also a king after God’s heart (Acts 13:22), as God Himself testified to this, and he was the true shepherd of the Jewish people, as a king and at the same time a prophet, constantly teaching them the right faith and strict piety with his famous God-inspired psalms and harmonious worship; He waged frequent wars with internal and external enemies, defeated them all and delivered a peaceful reign to his successor Solomon. Is it possible to say about our fatherland of the present time that it is the Lord’s kingdom, and the Lord is the Ruler of the Russian people? - According to the right Christian, apostolic faith, undamaged by human wisdom, according to the Orthodox rite of worship and sacraments, according to the power of signs and wonders performed from the relics of the glorified saints of God and miraculous icons, and in general according to the countless signs of God's mercy that are performed to this day over faithful Christians and - according to the good, pious life of a considerable number of true Christians, among русскими, – Россию можно назвать царством Господним. Это, впрочем, только с одной стороны. On the other hand, due to the godlessness and wickedness of many Russians, the so-called intellectuals, who have lost their way, fallen from the faith and revile it in every possible way, trampled on all the commandments of the Gospel and allowed every kind of debauchery in their lives, the Russian kingdom is not the Lord’s kingdom. And therefore, look what is happening in it at the present time: there is a strike of students and workers everywhere - in different institutions - people; the noise of parties that have the goal of overthrowing the real monarchical system established by God, the everywhere dissemination of daring, insane proclamations, disrespect for the authority of the authorities established by God, for there is no authority unless it is from God, but the real authorities are established by God, according to the Apostle (Rom. 13:1); children and youth imagined themselves to be the bosses and arbiters of their own destinies; marriages have lost all meaning for many, and divorces on a whim have multiplied indefinitely; many children are abandoned to their fate by unfaithful spouses; Some kind of nonsense and arbitrariness reigns. Is this the Orthodox kingdom, is this the kingdom of the Lord? Finally, an unpunished transition from Orthodoxy to any faith is allowed. Every kingdom divided against itself will be desolate, says the Lord, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand (Matthew 12:25). If things go like this in Russia, and the atheists and anarchist madmen will not be subject to the righteous punishment of the law, and if Russia is not cleansed of many tares, then it will be desolate, like the ancient kingdoms and cities, wiped off the face of the earth by the justice of God for their atheism and for their iniquities (Babylonian, Assyrian, Egyptian, Greek-Macedonian). May God rise again and may His enemies be scattered, and may those who hate Him flee from His face, like smoke disappearing, may they disappear; As wax melts before the face of fire, so let sinners perish at the face of God, and let the righteous rejoice (Ps. 67:1-4). Amen. “And he became a Pharisee, praying within himself: God, I give you praise, for I am not like other men, the predators, the unrighteous, the adulterers, or like this publican” (Luke 18:11). Being teachers of faith among the Jewish people, the Pharisees boasted of their knowledge of the law, and yet, more than anyone else, they dishonored God by breaking the law and by their extreme hypocrisy. The Savior praised them well, saying that they love presiding over congregations and kissing in marketplaces (cf. Matt. 23:6–7). This unfortunate passion of exaltation arose in them from a false exaggeration of their merits, since, being public teachers of the faith, they knew well the law of Moses, which very many of the Jews did not know. Publicans were tax collectors and, due to their rank, very often resorted to illegal means of their exactions. In the Gospel we see an amazing example of the humility and self-sacrifice of one publican in Zacchaeus, the foreman of publicans. When the Savior came to his house, Zacchaeus, in a deep feeling of repentance, said to the Lord: Behold, half of my property, Lord, will I give to the poor, and whoever I have offended, I will return in quadruples (Luke 19:8). There are still Pharisees and tax collectors, not by name, but by deed. The passion of exaltation and self-praise still prevails in the sons of fallen Adam. Let's talk, at the call of the mother of our Church, about how destructive this passion is and about incentives for humility. Where does our passion for exaltation and self-praise come from? From where all our sins came from: from the first ancestral sin. Man was created so that he would love God as the author of his existence, most of all, so that he would look at His perfections and imitate them, holyly fulfilling His will. But he loved himself more than God, he wanted to appropriate His perfection for himself, he wanted to be as great as God, he wanted to be a self-righteous man, he was subjected to self-love and pride, and he fell. Thus, pride is enmity against God and contempt for neighbors. Can God look with favor on a creature that is puffed up with some of its own perfections and does not find its equal in them, as if we had something of our own? Like passion, pride is naturally a disease of our soul, which infected it in the moments of the fall of the first people. As a false opinion about one’s perfections, as an illegal movement of the will, it is, at the same time, the fruit of the suggestions of an evil spirit, which, having itself fallen through pride and envy, carried away man to the fall of the same sins. We know that people did not fall on their own, but through temptation from the devil. Is it necessary to spread the word that pride or self-praise, combined with the humiliation of others, is a disease of our soul? To be convinced of this, you only need to look at a proud man - with the eye of holy faith. What is a person in his present position? A fallen man, broken, covered in wounds. Do you think this comparison is exaggerated? Remember the parable of the Samaritan and the man who fell among the robbers (Luke 10:30–37). Who does this man represent, falling into the hands of robbers, beaten and wounded? Who else if not us, tormented by passions, the world and the devil? If such a person were to claim that he is completely healthy and does not feel any pain, what would we say about him? Wouldn't we say that he is too sick and close to death: because in his body there is no longer sensitivity that reveals the presence of vital forces in him. This is certainly the same thing we must say about a proud man. Pride, further, is the fruit of the suggestions of an evil spirit. Трудно ли в этом убедиться? Pride is a false, exaggerated opinion of one’s own perfections, true or imaginary, combined with offensive humiliation of others. False opinion; – where does the lie come from in the world? God is truth. The Holy Scripture shows us one source, one father of lies: you are of your father the devil, says the Savior to the Jews, and you want to do the lusts of your father. Он человекоубийца бе искони, и во истине не стоит: яко несть истины в нем; егда глаголет лжу, от своих глаголет: яко ложь есть и отец лжи ( Ин. 8:44 ). He whispers to a person busy with himself, with his good deeds, that he is the most perfect being, at whom all others should be amazed, that many people are despicable creatures who live in vain in the world. Но как это ложно, посудите сами. Is this impudent self-praise really the most perfect being, and is his neighbor, whom he condemns, really like? Perhaps at the very time he was condemned, he repented and shed tears about his sins before the one who searched his hearts (Apoc. 2:23) all by God, and received forgiveness. Meanwhile, the perfections of one who exalts himself are suspicious already by the very fact that he proclaims and trumpets about them. True perfection, true virtue is modest: it loves to hide in secret and does not dare to attribute its own perfections to itself, much less humiliate others. You say about yourself that you are kind, merciful to everyone, zealous for the faith and the Holy Church, and exhaust your flesh with fasting. Wonderful. But who declared you to be kind, merciful, zealous for the Church and its holy statutes? God? Angel? Or have you assessed your own virtue? How can we evaluate our deeds? How are we going to weigh them? What measure should we take in this case? Do we know well our unclean heart, which always, or at least for the most part, takes a great part in doing good deeds? Do our virtues not include calculations of pride or other unseemly motives? How easily sometimes the evil impulse that was the cause of our good deed hides from our own consciousness. The poison of sin has penetrated deeply into our soul, and, unbeknownst to us, it poisons almost all our virtues. Isn’t it better to look at yourself more often and more closely and notice your shortcomings in the depths of your soul in order to correct them, rather than show off your perfections? And why put them on display, evaluate them ourselves, when there is the most impartial appraiser in heaven - the Lord God, Who, having to reward everyone according to their deeds (Apoc. 22:12; Jer. 17:10), of course, knows how to evaluate our deeds. Let us leave it to Him to judge our virtues, and in the fear of God, without exaltation, we will work out our own salvation (Phil. 2:12). We should not be proud of others, but humble ourselves. And how many incentives to humility for each of us! Man has nothing of his own: everything he has is God’s - soul, body, and everything he has, except sin. Every good deed is also from God. What can he boast about? Why did Imashi, man, even accept it? And even if you did not receive it, you boasted that you did not receive it (1 Cor. 4:7)? If he boasts of his virtues, then he sacrilegiously appropriates to himself the glory that belongs to the only God. Further, every person is more or less in a state of sinful relaxation, and at least very many are in a state of sinful insensitivity. How unbearable is this painful, false confidence in them that they are completely healthy and have no need for a doctor. What incentive does this have to not highly value our good deeds, which, perhaps, are nothing more than the delirium of our soul. The heavenly, omniscient Judge took upon himself and assessed our deeds and rewarded everyone for them in due time. How necessary it is, therefore, to perform every good deed of ours in the eyes of God and leave judgment about it to Him alone, not daring to touch it with our own, sinful judgment. But it should be noted that we have very few good deeds, incomparably more bad ones. A new and powerful incentive to humility. I am a sinner, but God is just: how can I not have in my thoughts the judgment of God, which, perhaps, is ready to take place on us this very day, and not forget, perhaps, the most insignificant good deeds, which in comparison with the multitude of sins do not mean anything: because we certainly sin every day, every hour, both in word and deed, and in thought and feelings. ABOUT! Grant us, God, to constantly have before our eyes our complete dependence on You, our weakness, our sinfulness, in order to constantly humble ourselves before You and before our neighbors. Brothers and sisters! You, without any doubt, cannot help but like the example of the publican’s humility presented in today’s Gospel, since it portrays us as sinners who repent; and we easily recognize and love our image, outlined for us in the Holy Scriptures; You can’t help but like it especially because you saw how he was pardoned by God for his humility, and although he was a great sinner, because tax collectors, in general, lived by oppression and bribery, he was justified when he went down to his house (Luke 18:14). Let us try to imitate this example of humility. No one, of course, will say that he is not a sinful person who has no reason, like the tax collector, to lament his sins, strike himself on the chest and humbly ask for forgiveness: God, be merciful to me a sinner (Luke 18:13). We are all, all sinners and in need of God's mercy. If the blood of the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, did not intercede for us, then every day and hour the blows of heavenly justice would thunder over us; We would be in misery every day and would die with our sinful souls, and we would never experience either peace or joy forever. But the Son of God intercedes for us: and our sins do not cry so loudly for vengeance on us; for the sake of His merits, God forgives us for them, if only we would recognize them ourselves and repent of them. Yes, God forgives us our sins. We just need to grieve for them, ask with all our hearts for forgiveness from the Lord Jesus, and He, through the grace and generosity of His love for mankind, will forgive us through His servant all the sins that burden our conscience. Imitating the publican in humility, let us avoid in every possible way the self-exaltation of the Pharisee. What unpleasant features are depicted by the Pharisee mentioned in the Gospel, enjoying the sight of his virtues. I, he says, am like this and like this, not like other people or like this tax collector. Thank you, he says, for this. You are doing well in thanking God for good deeds: they are not from us, but from God; but why do you boast, exalt yourself in them before the face of God Himself, as if He does not know their dignity? Why do you humiliate your brother? Are you not the same condemned and sinful person as the publican; did your virtues suddenly make you a pure and sinless angel? Did you fulfill them yourself? How is it that you suddenly forgot about your weaknesses and see only perfections and don’t think at all about the humility that is necessary for you! Why do you think that you are a great, virtuous person? Why don’t you, even with your virtues, think that you have only done what was due and remain the same unimpeachable servant, according to the Savior’s commandment: when you have done all that is commanded to you, say, as you are unimpaired servants: for whatever you ought to do, you have done (Luke 17:10). God! Without You we cannot do anything (John 15:5). Give us this humility of a publican and drive out from us every thought of Pharisee pride. May we always remember that we are all Yours with everything that we have and that we see around us, and we have nothing, absolutely nothing to boast about. Amen. Weekly Conversation about the Publican and the Pharisee The current week in the church order of weeks is called the week of the publican and the Pharisee. It is so named because today the parable of the Lord about the publican and the Pharisee is read from the Gospel. In the parable, using the example of the publican and the Pharisee, the Lord teaches us with what disposition of spirit we need to pray in church or anywhere else. Let us listen to how the Pharisee prayed and how the publican prayed; which of them pleased God with his prayer and which did not; what pleased one and what did not please the other, so that we too can learn to always pray in a way pleasing to God, and not in condemnation. Prayer is a great thing: through prayer a person communicates with God, receives from Him various gifts of grace, thanks Him as a Benefactor for His constant mercies or glorifies Him as the all-perfect Creator. The Pharisee and the publican were praying in the church. Two people, it is said, went into the church to pray: one was a Pharisee, and the other was a tax collector. The Pharisee prayed like this: “God! I thank You that I am not like other people, robbers, offenders, adulterers, or like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of everything I acquire.” The publican prayed quite differently. He spoke little, but grieved a lot for his sins; He did not raise his head in front of others, but with his face down on the ground, struck himself on the chest out of intense grief and only said: God, be merciful to me, a sinner. Which of them the prayer was pleasing to the Lord and which was not, everyone knows: the publican went home from church more justified, although he was a sinner, and the Pharisee did not, although he did the works of legal righteousness (Luke 18:10-14). Why was the publican’s prayer pleasing to God? Because he was humble and had a contrite heart in prayer; and long ago it was said by the holy prophet and king David that God will not despise a broken and humble heart (Ps. 50:19). Why did the Pharisee’s prayer turn out to be displeasing to God? Oh! It takes a little intelligence to answer this correctly. Woe to those who are wise within themselves and understand themselves (Isaiah 5:21), says God through the prophet. The Pharisee, in blind conceit and pride, forgot who he was and with whom he was speaking: the sinner imagined himself to be righteous; the sinner forgot that he was speaking with the All-Seeing and the All-Righteous. My God! What do our good deeds mean, which we sometimes dare to boast before people and before You? Every good deed of ours is of little importance: because it, passing through an unclean heart, borrows from it for the most part some kind of impurity, for example, the impurity of lack of faith, unbelief, self-love, pretense, vanity, pride, impatience, irritability, etc., and right at the same time, a good deed is done by us with God’s help, so that without the Lord, according to His word, we cannot do nothing (John 15:5). There is no doubt that each of us has incomparably more sins than good deeds. How can I remember in prayer about my few good deeds, and those done with God’s help, when I have incomparably more bad deeds? No: I’d rather shed a tear of contrition for my sins, I’d rather shed a warm prayer to the Lord, and to Him I will proclaim my sorrows, for my soul is filled with evil, and my stomach is approaching hell, 5 and about my good deeds, if any I have done, I will keep silent or completely forget before the face of God, so as not to imagine that I am a righteous person and deserve a reward from Him for my virtues. I must remember the words of the Lord, which must be spoken to me after I have completed every good deed: when you have done all that is commanded you, say, as we are unworthy servants: for whatever we ought to do, we have done (Luke 17:10). How can I list the sins of others when I have countless of my own? No. I won’t act so crazy; I will not be so deluded by pride and see only the good in myself, ignoring the bad; Otherwise, the passion of self-love and pride will easily take hold of me, and I will really see only the good in myself, like the Pharisee, and I will forget a lot of bad things. No, I’d rather say to the Lord more often: grant me to see my sins and not condemn my brother 6 . In this frame of mind, brothers and sisters, let us all pray: and our prayer will be pleasing to the Lord and will serve us for salvation. In church or home prayer, humility is absolutely necessary before God and before people: shouldn’t a sinner humble himself? The Lord has mercy and saves the humble. Humble yourself, and save me (Ps. 114:6), says David. God, be merciful to us sinners. Amen. Weekly Discourse on the Prodigal Son (first) “I rise up and go to my father” (Luke 15:18). (The words of the prodigal son from the Gospel parable read today). Brethren! The parable of the prodigal son should occupy all our attention. In it, as in a mirror, we are all visible. The Lord, the knower of the heart, in a few words and in the person of one person, presented how the deceptive sweetness of sin removes us from the truly sweet life according to God, and how the severity of sin we have experienced for soul and body prompts us, through the action of God’s grace, to turn and actually turns many again to God, to a virtuous life. Let’s repeat it and talk about how necessary and how convenient it is for a sinner to turn to God. One man had two sons. When they came of age, the younger one said to his father: give me the next part of the estate. And the father divided the estate. The eldest son did not take his share and stayed with his father: a sign that he loved his father with a pure heart, found pleasure in fulfilling his will (I did not break your commandments) and considered it madness to move away from him. And the younger one, a few days after this, having collected all his property, left his parents’ house to a distant place and there squandered his property, living dissolutely. From this it is clear that he had an unkind and unclean heart, was not cordially disposed towards his good father, was burdened by his supervision and dreamed of living better according to the will of his depraved heart. But let’s listen further to what happened to him after he was removed from his parents’ house. When he lived on the foreign side in an unkind manner, a great famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. And he went and pestered one of the inhabitants of that country, and he sent him to his fields to feed pigs. And he was glad to fill his belly with the food (acorns and chaff) that the pigs ate; but no one gave him this either. Having come to his senses, he said: How many of my father’s hired servants are content with bread in abundance, but I am dying of hunger. I will get up, go to my father and say to him: parent! I have sinned against heaven and before you, and am no longer worthy to be called your son; accept me as one of your hired servants. He got up and went to his father; and while he was still far away, his father saw him, and took pity on him, and went to meet him, embraced him and kissed him; forgave him for his guilt, brought him into his house, dressed him in the best clothes and held a feast on the occasion of his return (Luke 15:11-32). So the lost son entered again into the love of his father. Brethren! This is what the Heavenly Father does to us. He does not keep us with Him by force if we, having a depraved and ungrateful heart, do not want to live according to His commandments, but allows us to move away from Him and learn from experience how dangerous it is to live according to the will of our hearts, what a painful feeling of lack of peace and tranquility a soul given over to passions experiences, what shameful food it feeds on: for what could be more shameful than the food of passions? But God forbid anyone to remain forever in this distance from God: far from God is certain and eternal destruction. Behold, those who separate themselves from You will perish (Ps. 72:27), says the holy king and prophet David. It is imperative to turn from the disastrous path of sin to God with all your heart; and let everyone be confident that God will see his sincere conversion, meet him with love and continue to accept him as one of His children. Have you sinned? Say with complete determination in your heart: I have risen to go to my Father, and go to Him in action. And as soon as you have time to utter these words in your heart, as soon as you decide to firmly live according to His will, He will immediately see that you are returning to Him: He is always not far from each of us (Acts 17:27); Now He will shed His peace into your heart: suddenly it will be so easy and pleasant for you, as, for example, it is pleasant for an insolvent debtor when his debt is forgiven, or as it is pleasant for a beggar who is suddenly dressed in the best clothes or seated at a rich table. But at the same time, notice, brethren, how many types of sins or passions there are, so many return paths to the Heavenly Father: every sin or passion is a path to a country far from God. You have left along the path of unbelief: turn back and recognize all its recklessness, feel in your heart all its heaviness, emptiness, destruction, and stand firmly on the path of faith that is soothing, sweet and life-giving for the human heart, and hold on to it with all your heart. You have gone along the path of pride: turn back and take the path of humility, and hate pride, knowing that God opposes the proud. He went along the path of envy: turn back from this hellish road and be satisfied with what God sent and remember whose offspring she was: - the first envious person was the devil, and to envy the devil brought death into the world below (Wis. 2:24); be kind to everyone. If you left the path of enmity and anger: return and take the path of meekness and love. Remember that if you hate your brother, he is a murderer (1 Jn. 3:15); or have you wandered away from God through gluttony and debauchery: turn back and take the path of moderation and chastity, and always remember, for guidance in life, the words of the Savior: listen to yourself, and let not your hearts be burdened with gluttony and drunkenness and the sorrows of this life (Luke 21:34) and the words of the repentant prodigal son: we have sinned before You and are no longer worthy to be called Thy sons: accept us, though, as mercenaries; and He will faithfully receive us as children. Amen. A Word for the Week about the Prodigal Son “And he went and clung to one of the inhabitants of that country; and he sent him to his village to feed a pig. And he desires to satisfy his belly with the flesh of a swine; and no one gave to him” (Luke 15:15–16). This is what the younger prodigal son, mentioned in the Gospel parable, finally came to, who, due to incomprehensible willfulness, did not want to stay in his father’s house, from whom, as he himself later admitted, even a hired hand would run out of bread (Luke 15:17). Instead of a native, truly friendly community with his older, intelligent and well-behaved brother, he now cleaves to one inhuman inhabitant of that unfortunate side to which he withdrew from his father and in which he squandered his property, living fornication. A cruel resident sends him to his village to graze a pig. Instead of the perfect contentment and abundance that he previously found in his father’s house, he suddenly now suffers extreme and shameful poverty - the fruit of a dissolute life, so that he wants to fill his belly with mugs, or acorns, like the meat of a pig. It was so disastrous, brethren, for the prodigal son to be removed from his parental home, with the property he had inherited through division, to a distant and alien country! Need I say that the prodigal son mentioned in the Holy Gospel portrays us as sinners? Exactly, our abilities: mind, will and heart, our body with its health, with its wise, beautiful structure; our titles, to which one is called, our wealth, all our well-being, even the piece of land on which we live - all this is the property of the heavenly Father, which we received according to division, who, solely by His goodness, undeservedly on our part, allocated to each of us a part of the benefits from His rich treasury and gave us the will to go in all four directions. Rarely do any of us remain with our property under our father's roof; many, having taken their part, seem to leave the all-good Father to a distant side - into the sinful world and live there dissolutely in captivity of passions, until finally their cruelty and obvious destruction convince them to return to their Father. Yes, our passions, our sins are real tyrants for us. Let's talk about this. The Lord our God is the most perfect being, so that our thought can never rise to the full representation of His perfections. Since He is all-perfect, therefore He is all-pleased and all-blessed. The all-perfect and eternally blissful God created us not so that anyone would torment and tyrannize us, but so that it would be eternally good for us, so that we would be eternally blissful; but, just as only one who tries to be perfect and holy, like God, can be blissful, the Creator has given us free will and commanded us to be holy as He is holy: be holy, for I am holy, the Lord your God (1 Pet. 1:16; Lev. 19:2). Try to imitate Him in holiness with your mind, will and feeling; know His perfections, love Him and all people in Him, do the works of God: and you will be holy, and you will be blessed. If you do not try to know Him, love Him and do what He commanded, you will be an unhappy sinner, an everlasting captive, a martyr of passions; because bliss is in God and from God; Outside of Him there can be no bliss: there is only the tyrannical rule of the passions. What a labor it seems to be for a person to know and love God with all his soul and with all his heart! Even if his soul were some kind of alien creation for God, otherwise it is His creation, the breath of His mouth, His image; How can she not love her Creator, her everlasting and eternal Benefactor, completely, inseparably! Our body is the work of His wise mind, His creative hands, our title, wealth, everything we have, except sin, is His property; How can one not know and not love with all one’s soul such a Benefactor, Who gives us life and breath and everything; By whom we live, move and have our being (Acts 17:25, 28)! How can we not love our neighbors with Him, as brothers, as children of the same Father! One should, it seems, rightly be surprised how we know and love anything other than Him! How can we move away from Him - the Source of life and bliss, how can we be hostile to His law and statutes, and do something displeasing to Him! However, we love many other things besides Him, we do not do what He pleases, and we move away from Him. For that, look at what is happening to us, who we sometimes resemble. Here is a daring freethinker who speaks not in his heart, but already proclaims out loud: there is no God (Ps. 13:1), or: there is no God-man Redeemer; there is no Church and heavenly gifts taught in the sacraments for our spiritual life, perfection and salvation! So what? Have you rejected everything spiritual, sacred and heavenly? So you are flesh, earth, you have no soul, you do not know heaven, hell is your eternal destiny. Where is your soul, tell me? Every soul is from God and knows Him, strives for Him, but for your soul there is no God, it does not know Him; It is easier to believe that your soul does not exist than God, the Creator of everything that exists. Oh, I see how pathetic is what you call your soul. In an unknown distance from the Father of spirits and all flesh, she languishes, poor, in the realm of flesh, darkness and destruction, with an irresistible longing for some loss, for something dear; what emptiness and darkness she feels within herself, how bleak she finds her situation! To be a spirit, to have spiritual needs and aspirations and not find satisfaction for them - what torment for the soul! To see how others come running to the churches of God with fervent prayers to God, how they receive from there the gifts of heavenly grace, and at the same time to feel in oneself the struggle of a proud mind, disobedient to the holy truth - with the natural aspirations of one’s soul: - how deadly it is for the soul. Return home, prodigal son: where have you gone? Why are you wasting your heavenly Father’s wealth far from Him, living fornication? Your mind is not yours: it is a gift from God; why are you using it for evil? God gave it to you so that you would know Him and try to become like Him; and yet you make it a harmful means - to get away from Him, to forget and not know Him. Return to your Father, unfortunate one; you have come far; in this distance there is nothing but eternal death. Here is an ambitious man for whom earthly honors are the goal of life. Instead of striving for the eternal honor of the heavenly calling in Christ Jesus, he exhausts all efforts to obtain as much honor from people as possible. But on the way to his goal, he meets many rivals who admire the virtues that, in his opinion, belong to him! What a shame, how hard it is not to receive what you strive so hard for and what you sometimes consider to be yours! How many nights does an ambitious man sometimes spend insomnia! Turn back too, don’t you notice that you are going to a country far away; further and further from your heavenly Father. The love of this world, the love of its honors and distinctions, there is enmity against God (James 4:4). Why do you want to be higher than others? Do you not know that the glory of man is like the flower of grass: the grass is gone, and its flower is fallen away (1 Pet. 1:24; Isa. 40:6-7), that we have been given eternal glory in heaven with Christ? You have been given a heart in which, by the way, the love of good glory burns - not so that you eternally strive for fleeting honors, but so that you love the spiritual ascent from glory to glory, turning away in every possible way from sin, as the most powerful obstacle to your spiritual perfection. Return to your Father’s house, give up petty ambition. Here is a money lover, into whose hands a lot of light earthen sparkles have already passed and who wants to accumulate as many of them as possible. Silver and gold are his idol. And he withdrew from God to a distant country: tiresome worries day and night about acquiring and saving his treasure haunted him; he sometimes hears the word of God, but the thought of wealth suppresses it; he has no time to think about God, about his soul, about its afterlife fate. How many and what means does he sometimes use in order to acquire for himself as much beautiful, shiny land as his unlimited desires can contain! Where are you going, why do you need so much silver and gold? For a rainy day, to provide for your family? But in the life of a true Christian there should be no dark days, i.e. Unfortunate days, according to worldly concepts, can we really call those days black when we greatly sin and anger the all-good Lord of our life. We live in the kingdom of our loving and caring Father, the eternal Mediator of the Son of God and the Comforter of the Holy Spirit - our God, the Trinity of one essence. What are the dark days in such a kingdom? To provide for the family? Fine. But for the family you need much less than what you collected. And you want to provide for your family completely alone for the future! Why don’t you leave it to God to arrange the future good of your children, leaving them almost exclusively to soulless metal? What if the shiny metal falls into the hands of wasteful and dissolute children, if it spoils them? Then you have double trouble: from the fact that, having collected, you did not use your wealth as it should, and from the fact that you destroyed your children. Return also to your Father's house. It seems to you that you are increasing the property that you received from your Heavenly Father: no, you are squandering it. To increase one's possessions means to multiply it through use in accordance with God's intention. How to multiply by use? When you use, you do not multiply, but waste, you say. In the world this really happens, but with God it is not so. But you don’t use it as you should, therefore you waste it, you certainly waste it willy-nilly, sometimes, perhaps, unnoticed by yourself. Return also to the house of the Heavenly Father; learn here that all earthly wealth is His property, that we are the guardians and distributors of this property; make sure that, having given as much of our wealth as possible to the poor, we do not waste it, but acquire it. But here is a slave of bliss and voluptuousness. What is this? Does he think of returning to the Heavenly Father? Or has his soul's torment and bodily suffering not yet reached its final limit? But why wait for the time when the soul has already completely relaxed from the cold deeds of voluptuousness, and the body is exhausted from the constant stress that kills it. You have forgotten, dear brother, that the soul and body are not yours, but God’s: because, belonging to God entirely, as the work of His hands, we, moreover, are redeemed from sins at the price of the blood of the Son of God; have you forgotten that we must glorify God in our bodies and in our souls, which are the essence of God (1 Cor. 6:20)? You have gone far from God; You rarely go to church, you are ashamed to appear with your uncleanness before the all-holy God. Cleanse yourself and return to the Heavenly Father: bad things will happen to you in a distant land with a cruel master - your shameful passion. Come to Me, the heavenly Father and His beloved Son say to you: I am well. Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest: for My yoke is easy, and My burden is light (Matthew 11:28, 30). It is true to you that your passion does not give you anything for food except the beetles that pigs eat; your painful, imaginary pleasure, come to Me: I have enough of everything, I have enough bread for hirelings (Luke 15:17). And here is the pitiful victim of an insatiable belly: a person, from excessive love for hot drinks and tasty dishes consumed in excess, is eternally sick in both soul and body. Come too. Heavenly Father has been looking for you for a long time. He does not want you to perish irrevocably, but to be saved, sobered up, and instead of a carnal man, opposed to God, to become a spiritual man, pleasing to God. Hate serving the belly, love golden moderation, be spiritual and do not waste the property of your heavenly Father, your mental and physical strength, by living dissolutely. Look at yourself: you almost only eat and drink, constantly drowning in the pleasures of sensuality; and the Heavenly Father endures you on His earth; all His sun shines on you; everything does not completely take away its benefits from you. Like a barren fig tree, you should have been cut down long ago and thrown into the fire; meanwhile you are still standing. Turn back: and the Holy Church is waiting for you. You have long forgotten her, your mother. Meanwhile, she worries about you as if she were her child, worrying about how to save you, the rebellious one. The Lord now calls everyone, through the voice of His holy Church, into the arms of His fatherly love; He wants to save everyone. The days of fasting and repentance will soon come; Let us all hasten to cleanse ourselves of our sins and passions in order to become new and spiritual people. Almost all of us live prodigal lives - in a distant country - on a sinful earth, completely forgetting about our longed-for and true fatherland in heaven. Oh, holy faith! Come to the aid of us who are lost, tell us that there is undoubtedly another life for us on the other side of the grave, an endless life, blissful or painful - depending on who lives here; Is it like a faithful son of the Heavenly Father - in constant communion with God, in purity, holiness and love, or like a prodigal son away from God, in lusts and impurity? Say that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 15:50). Brethren, think for yourselves to be dead for sin, but to be alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord! Let sin not reign in your dead body, so that you can listen to it in its lusts; Below, imagine your hooks as weapons of unrighteousness to sin, but imagine God’s as from the living dead, and your hooks as weapons of God’s righteousness. Let sin not possess you: you are not under the law, but under grace. Do you not know that you imagine that your servants will obey him, and you naturally obey him, either sin leading to death, or obedience leading to righteousness (Rom. 6:11–14, 16). Let us put aside dark deeds and put on the weapons of light. For in the days let us walk decently, not by goat-talking and drunkenness, not by fornication and adultery, not by zeal and envy; but be clothed with our Lord Jesus Christ, and do not please the flesh through lust (Rom. 13:12–13). Amen. “Father, I have sinned in heaven and before you” (Luke 15:18). Beloved brethren, which of us has not worked and does not work against sin every day, willy-nilly or unwillingly, consciously or unconsciously, consciously or unconsciously? – Who has not angered the Lord, the infinite Truth and Love? Who has not been wounded by the blade of sin and has not experienced the sharpness and harshness of sin, severe confusion of conscience, sorrow and oppression, these usual companions of sin? “All of us, from least to greatest, are sinners before God, and therefore are subject to punishment and excommunication from God, and if the Lord, out of His infinite love and mercy for fallen man, had not given him repentance and remission of sins for the sake of the sacrifice of His only begotten Son on the cross, then all people would have descended into hell, into a place of eternal torment. But, glory to the all-good and all-wise God, who gave repentance to sinners - to the eternal life. Countless multitudes of sinners were washed with tears of repentance, justified and sanctified by the most pure blood of the Lamb of God Jesus Christ, who took upon Himself our sins and bore for them all the punishments prepared for us - and now rejoice with the Angels in the villages of the saints. All of you, sinners like me, who stand here, do you value this priceless gift of the Lord, the gift of repentance? Do you sigh like the publican, do you cry like the harlot, do you wash your bed with tears like David the forefather, do you return to the Heavenly Father with sincere, deep repentance, like the prodigal son, about whom you heard in the gospel you just read? Sinners have no other way to life and to regaining the grace and mercy of the Heavenly Father, except the path of sincere, honest repentance, with the fruits of repentance. And the Holy Church, the bearer and interpreter of the Spirit of Christ, His infinite love and mercy, excites us all to repentance every day, and in these days, on the occasion of the approach of the great days of fasting and repentance, it excites us especially, having established on this Sunday to read the touching parable of the Savior about the Prodigal Son and to sing touching repentant hymns. As good children, let us all respond to the gentle, loving voice of the holy mother - the Church; let us awaken from the sleep of sin, as in the days, let us walk gracefully (Rom. 13:13); let us leave voluptuousness to the flesh; let us take care of the immortal soul; Let us begin to do the works of God: and then we will enjoy peace of mind and the consolations of a clear conscience. Oh, how merciful and quick to obey we have a Father, Master and Judge God! He immediately rushes with rich mercy to every sincerely repentant sinner, delivers him from troubles, sorrows and misfortunes that befall him for his sins, gives peace and breadth to the heart, turns sadness into joy. Every truly repentant sinner has experienced this; This is also shown by the gospel read today about the repentant prodigal son. As soon as he firmly decided to return with repentance to his father’s house, and went, his father saw him and took pity; and ran, fell on his neck and kissed him. The son said to him: Father! I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. And the father said to his servants: Bring the best clothes and dress him, and put a ring on his hand and boots on his feet; and bring the fatted calf, and kill it: let us eat and be merry, for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to have fun (Luke 16:17–32). A touching picture of fatherly love, on the one hand, and sincere repentance, on the other. This is a parable in which a father, a man, although good and merciful, and a dissolute, repentant son are presented. But delve into the deep, inner meaning of this parable; imagine instead of an ordinary father - God, the common Father of men, and His boundless love for a world perishing in sins. What meal did He prepare for the sinners whom He adopted as His sons through faith and baptism? He did not slay a calf, but gave His only begotten Son to be slaughtered freely; He did not prepare the flesh of a bull for a feast, but He gave and is giving the flesh and blood of His Son to us for food and drink, for the remission of sins and eternal life. Here is a spiritual, life-giving, saving, wonderful feast of faith and salvation! Вот отческая безмерная любовь к нам грешным! Do you feel this love, sinner? Отвечаешь ли на любовь – любовью? Do you sincerely repent of your iniquities, so that you too may be rewarded with the same spiritual feast for your salvation, and enjoy the love of the Heavenly Father, His only begotten Son and the Holy Spirit of the Comforter? А без покаяния не будет это таинство во спасение. А что такое одежда первая, перстень на руку и сапоги на ноги? The first garment, in which the father clothed his prodigal son, means the garment of righteousness, in which Jesus Christ clothes us, or it is Christ Himself, according to what is written: you were baptized into Christ, you put on Christ (Gal. 3:27). Это значит, что мы должны жить во всякой правде и истине. Что такое перстень на руку? This is the betrothal of the Holy Spirit given into the hearts of believers. Do you not know that you are the church of God, and the Spirit of God lives in you (1 Cor. 3:16)? But the church of God must be kept holy all the days: let us live holy. Boots on feet are the grace to walk straight along the path of Christ’s commandments: direct my feet, it is said, according to Your word, and let not all iniquity possess me (Ps. 119:133), for without grace-filled shoes, we cannot walk in the straight paths of God’s commandments. Turn every one from your evil ways, and from your evil thoughts (Jer. 25:5), says the word of God. So, in spiritual shoes, in spiritual zeal, let us hasten to God, putting aside sinful sleep, laziness and negligence. Soon Great Lent will come - the time of fasting, confession of sins and communion of the saints, life-giving Mysteries: let us cleanse our souls and bodies with fasting, prayer and sincere repentance and prepare ourselves for the church of the Lord, who wants to dwell and live in us. Look how those who want to meet the king or a high-ranking person prepare everything to meet him. They level and clear all the roads along which he must travel, decorate the houses with multi-colored flags or multi-colored lights and show all kinds of signs of zeal and joy, everyone tries to see him and get enough of him, and if anyone was lucky enough to receive the king into his home, such a person would be beside himself with delight. If those who want to meet the king of the earth, a man similar to themselves, prepare in this way, meet and accept him in this way, then you and I, who are preparing to meet the heavenly King, Creator and God, with what care and zeal should we prepare to receive Him? – For the infinitely higher the Heavenly King is than the earthly King, the infinitely more righteous the Heavenly King is than the earthly King, the greater and more thorough the preparation must be, and the more different from the preparation for the meeting of the earthly king. For the heavenly King needs our pure souls and bodies, adorned with virtues, and not magnificently decorated houses, not multi-colored flags, but a variety of virtues, according to the ability and condition of each, not brightly burning fires, but our souls burning brightly with faith and love. Let us all prepare such a meeting for the Heavenly King, so that we may be honored with joy to receive Him into our emotional homes, into our hearts. Amen. Conversation on Meat Week “I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, who comes with glory to judge the living and the dead” (7 parts of the Creed). So who's talking? Так говорит всякий христианин. Но если всякий христианин: то без сомнения, и я, и каждый из вас. So, brothers and sisters, do you sincerely believe that Jesus Christ, the righteous Judge of all earthly beings, will come to judge all people living and dead, who will all come to life either for eternal bliss or for eternal damnation? Are you ready to meet the world Judge and give an answer at the Last Judgment of Christ in every deed and word? Do you have any good deeds? Why ask more? From the life and actions of Christians it is clearly clear that they have forgotten about the righteous Judge, about the Last Judgment, about eternal life, and every day they are rapidly rushing towards eternal destruction, which they cannot even imagine. They rush to receive their consolation on earth, only to lose it forever - in heaven. The concern is how to kill precious time, how to spend it pleasantly, but no one cares about spending it with benefit for the soul, in order to prepare for the outcome of their affairs (Prov. 24:27). Желающий вечных радостей мало вкушает земных 7 , говорит св. Gennady, Patriarch of Constantinople, and with us earthly joys are almost continuous. Many of us live as if we will never have to die and give account for our lives. What does it mean? Does this not happen because they think to repent only before death and receive complete forgiveness? Of course, God does not reject those who came to Him at the eleventh hour, that is, those who turned to Him with all their hearts. But if your heart was far from God during the greatest part of your life, do you think that you can easily move it towards God, arouse in it feelings of repentance before death? Oh, brothers! Тут-то оно и упрется против вас, на погибель вашу. I have seen more than once how difficult it is to hear the word about repentance, and how lost in confession before their departure are those who did not think about their correction and did not know how to repent during life. No, brothers! Christian death is a reward for true Christians. Repent, if possible, throughout your life: and you will be greeted by a peaceful death with sincere repentance. So, prepare for judgment, for terrible judgment, for righteous judgment, for the only and final judgment, after which there will be either eternal bliss or endless torment. Do not be surprised that I say so decisively: truth is royal, it has the right to say so. At the same time, there is an urgent need to speak decisively about preparations for the trial. When there is an obvious eternal destruction of souls from carelessness and negligence, then it is necessary to act decisively, then more decisively than at other times, it is necessary to express the truth. When they see that a person is in clear danger of dying in a flame or drowning in water, don’t they then act with all determination? Yes, because if those who want to save a dying person from death are indecisive, he may now die. Likewise, we must save many, through determination and fear of future judgment, from the fire admiringly (Jude 1:23); After all, we are not very far from the eternal flame, and for many, perhaps, one step away from it. Brother! think, maybe this night your soul will be taken from you (Luke 12:20): and you are in hell, in torment... in this flame. So, get ready for the judgment, get ready from today; do good works while it is day: the night of death will come, when no one can do it (John 9:4). We've been working pretty hectic. It's time to look at the poor soul with the eyes of trial. Attend church, sigh over your sins, wait with her in fear for the great day of judgment. The Church constantly thinks about judgment: in the morning, during the day and in the evening; every day, early and late, she reminds her children about this great day, which decides the fate of the entire human race, and her children’s thoughts are occupied with what pleasantly turns their heads for a few minutes, cheers their hearts, passionate about earthly joys. The Lord - Truth, Life - thunders with His voice about His judgment, which is sure to take place, commands us to watch and pray at all times in the spirit (Mark 13:33; Luke 21:36; Eph. 6:18), in order to make us worthy to escape the terrible fate of the condemned; the apostles assure that the Judge is before the door (James 5:9) ... but it’s as if we don’t even want to hear about it. Others think and even say: what a terrible judgment! The Lord is merciful: He will have mercy; after all, we sin more out of weakness, and not out of malice, not out of bitterness... But they will not think that only mercy will provide mercy (Matthew 5:7), that judgment without mercy will be for those who have not done mercy (James 2:13). Where are your works of mercy when you obviously only care about yourself? Brethren! God forbid that anyone should appear where the rich man was, having fun every day. If we find ourselves there, then it will be too late to ask for a drop of water from there to cool our tongue, it will be too late to send from there to our relatives, so that they do not come there too (Luke 16:19-31). Watch out, for you do not know the hour of the day, in the same day the Son of Man will come (Matthew 25:13). Amen. Word for Meat Week My brothers and sisters, beloved in the Lord! Today we read from the Gospel of Matthew the words of our Lord Jesus Christ Himself about His second, glorious and terrible coming to earth: about how He will sit on the throne of His glory to judge the world, and all the nations that have ever lived will be gathered before Him, as well as those that now exist, and that will still exist, all down to one person. “And the Lord will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; And he will put the sheep on the right hand, and the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand: Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry, and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger and you accepted Me; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me. Then the righteous will answer Him: Lord! when did we see you hungry and feed you? or to the thirsty and gave them something to drink? When did we see You as a stranger and accept You? or naked and clothed? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and came to You? And the King will answer them, “Truly I say to you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did it to Me.” Then He will also say to those on His left side: Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry, and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty, and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger, and they did not accept Me; был наг, и не одели Меня; sick and in prison, and they did not visit Me. Then they too will answer Him: Lord! when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not serve You? Then he will answer them, “Truly I say to you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.” And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into everlasting life” (Matthew 25:31–46). This is how the Lord concluded His words about the terrible final judgment on the human race! What a sweet and all-joyful saying the righteous will hear, and what a bitter and terrible saying, unchangeable forever, will hard-hearted sinners hear! So, the merciful will receive mercy (Matthew 5:7). Those who are stocked with the oil of good works will enter the bridal chamber, but the unmerciful will be judged without mercy (James 2:13). Now, brothers and sisters, it is useful for us to ask ourselves and reflect: to which side will you and I belong - to the right or to the left, to the sheep or to the goats, to the blessed or to the damned? You will say: who can know this except the Lord, who searches hearts and wombs (Ps. 7:10) and has the most faithful scales of justice? Thus, to the one Lord belongs the perfect knowledge of every person. He alone knows which of us will stand on the right side and which on the left; He alone knows which righteous person will stand here in his righteousness, and which one will not, which sinner will sincerely turn and repent and turn from a goat into a sheep, and which one will become completely stubborn in sins. But it has been given to us, brothers, at least now to know about ourselves: who we are, sheep or goats; Our conscience, an incorruptible judge and witness of our thoughts, words and deeds, shows us whether we are humble and gentle sheep of the verbal flock, willingly giving up our goods to others in need, or proud, selfish, evil, vengeful, unmerciful, stinking like goats with our uncleanness, sinners? We can know this about ourselves here, during our earthly life, and this means we can judge which side we may find ourselves on at the Last Judgment; those. we can find ourselves on the left side if we remain unrepentant, uncorrected sinners, with pride and malice, with sinful impurities in our hearts and bodies, but we can hope with faith, repentance and good deeds to become on the right side; the choice of sides is up to us. Time has been given to each of us by the merciful Savior to come to our senses, repent, correct ourselves, and stock up on the oil of mercy and every virtue in abundance, so as not to be ashamed at judgment. So, let us take care to acquire the lamb’s meekness and kindness, love and mercy, patience and long-suffering, humility and obedience, self-control and purity, and let us avoid qualities that are contrary to these virtues. The indicated virtues in this life gain us the blessing of the Heavenly Father, and in the future they will place us on the right side. So, I repeat, it depends on us to be worthy of standing at the Last Judgment on the right side and avoiding the left; hear the all-blessed voice of the Savior, calling us to the kingdom of heaven, and avoid the terrible voice, sending us into eternal fire. We ourselves here write, so to speak, by our deeds, eternal justification or eternal condemnation for ourselves at the Last Judgment; and in this, by the way, sense, the future judgment is called written: do in them, it is said, the judgment is written (Ps. 149:9). Our conscience books will either justify us or condemn us, and we will only have to listen to the righteous, eternal verdict of the Judge of the world. Rather, through diligent repentance and almsgiving, let us blot out all our sins, voluntary or involuntary, from our conscience, and write into it all kinds of good deeds. For their deeds follow with them (Apoc. 14:13), says Scripture. Amen. Word in the week of raw food (first) “When you fast, do not be like hypocrites and complain: for they darken their faces, for they may be seen to be a man who fasts” (Matthew 6:16). At present, there are very few people who, out of hypocrisy, would want to appear to others during Lent as great fasters - in order to earn glory from people. Most likely, there will now be people who do not want to be or appear to be fasters; because they consider fasting to be a useless and unnecessary thing for themselves, and to appear to other fasters to be a stupid and ridiculous thing. But, despite these extremes, there are, without a doubt, among Christians those who adhere to the golden mean, and without deviating either to the right or to the left, they follow the path of fasting straight and even, like true fasters, fasting through a fast that is pleasant and pleasing to the Lord. Tomorrow begins the Great Pentecost, or Great Lent, a truly precious time for people who know how to fast as they should in the Christian spirit. So that this time may serve us for spiritual benefit and salvation, let us now talk about the necessity and benefits of fasting. Is a post necessary, i.e. abstinence not only from certain foods not consumed during fasting, but also abstinence from consuming them in large quantities? Is fasting necessary as abstinence from the pleasures of gross sensuality? Is fasting necessary as abstinence from disordered thoughts and movements of the heart and disapproving actions? – Do you want, beloved, to inherit blessed eternity, or the kingdom of heaven, which also undoubtedly exists, just as it is certain that we now live on earth, because the incarnate God the Word Himself, His prophets, apostles and all His saints assure us of this? How can you not want to! There, according to the faithful and immutable word of God, truth and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit live forever and ever (Rom. 14:17), there is God, there are blessed spirits, there are righteous people; and on earth - for a little more than seventy years you only almost see sins, turmoil and disasters - everywhere. If you want, then you must certainly fast: since flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 15:50), because the kingdom of God is not food and drink (Rom. 14:17). Flesh and blood, food and drink, as rough, elemental, earthly things, must remain on earth and undergo the common fate of earthly bodies - decay. In heaven there is not and cannot be a place for coarse flesh and blood precisely because there is heaven, not earth, and the creatures of the world there have properties completely different from the properties of people living in the lusts of the world, spiritual, luminous properties. Should I talk to you about God himself, the Father of the blessed inhabitants of heaven? He is the purest Spirit, Who abhors, as if filthy, the deeds of the flesh that go beyond the boundaries of law, moderation and decency. My Spirit shall not dwell in these men forever, He said about the people who offended Him with their attachment to sensual pleasures. Why? Zane, he says, are flesh (Gen. 6:3), because they are rough flesh, a piece of earth in which there is nothing spiritual akin to Me. Look, He also now says about us: My Spirit must not abide in these men, because they are white flesh, in which My Spirit cannot rest, since sin and uncleanness live in it, and I am righteous and holy. Should we talk about created spirits? These are the second lights according to God, which, also being alien to all materiality, pure and holy, can accept into their blessed community only those who throw off the yoke of carnal slavery and, living on earth, think about heaven, do not serve the whims of their flesh, knowing that it will decay over time in the earth. Should we talk about the holy men of God who passed from the corruptible earth to the eternal abodes of heaven? – These are earthly angels who, either through fasting and vigil, or through feats of martyrdom and various virtues, rose above their flesh, made their nature so venerable that the bodies of many of them, having partaken of divine grace, became higher than the common fate of all things material, i.e. smoldering. They knew that our body is a house built by the hand of a skilled Artist, in which a being of heavenly origin lives only for a while, who in a short time will leave his earthly hut and soar to his own place, and therefore they lived not for the body, but for the soul. Yes, in order to make our existence most blissful, the Lord was pleased to settle us in this world only for a short period of time - so that, enjoying on earth and from earth the contemplation of the material creations of God, heavenly and earthly - their beauty, correctness, harmony and diverse, innumerable multitude, we would love their Creator, desire union with Him - the initial Beauty - and by deeds of holiness and love we would deserve here this is eternal unity. It is as if He were saying this to every person living here and contemplating His creations: look how vast My creations are, but at the same time how slender and beautiful. Look at yourself, how small and unnoticeable you are in My creation, and I promise you - insignificant - heaven - with its infinity, with its eternity; I promise it to you on certain terms; and you know that I am the Truth, and I cannot lie; Why aren’t you trying to fulfill these conditions, why are you clinging to the ground, and so much so that you can’t tear yourself away from it? Don’t you really want to come to Me so that, in union with Me, the Creator of everything that you see, you can receive eternal pleasure from the knowledge and contemplation of My innumerable creations, and most of all, be blissful in Me, the Source of bliss for all rational creatures. How could you not soar with your soul to heaven, not be raked by carnal lusts, which war against the soul (1 Pet. 2:11), not take over your sin-loving flesh, which pulls you to the earth, and over time will certainly fall into it like a block of earth? What good do you benefit from delicious food and drinks, aren’t you ashamed to burden yourself with them? Why do you give yourself up to the power of sensuality? Or do you enjoy it? Look: the imaginary sweetness of your pleasures is a dangerous lure of the flesh, through which it easily takes over your soul and does not give you the opportunity to think about heaven and strive there. Beware of this bait. Like a fly in honey, you will get stuck in it and remain - to death. Is fasting necessary as abstinence from disordered thoughts and movements of the heart and disapproving actions? If you agree that God is your Lawgiver and a righteous Judge, Who knows how to punish those who violate His laws; if your conscience tells you that your soul - not in its rank - has more than once violated the order of moral life, gone out of obedience to the laws of the Creator: then you must agree that you need to restore the order of your moral life, bring your thoughts into the correct order from the disorderly fermentation here and there, force your heart to break away from unworthy objects to which, due to your inattention and oversight, it clung so tightly that it forgot about the first object of his love - God; behave in such a way that your actions will not be ashamed to be exposed to the judgment of your conscience and to the judgment of people and God. “You know that an unrighteous thought is an abomination to the Lord, that God asks Himself of your heart, which you have given to the will of passions, that no one who is deceitful (Ps. 5:5) and unclean will settle down with Him. If you want to be with God, if you want to be eternally prosperous, then you must agree that you need to fast with your soul, collect your mind, correct your thoughts, cleanse your thoughts, and instead of the rags of unrighteous deeds, adorn yourself with the precious clothing of good deeds. Physical fasting was established to make it easier for the soul to fast. Should we still talk about the benefits of fasting after this, since having said about its necessity, we also pointed out in part its benefits? He pacifies our sinful, whimsical flesh, frees the soul from under its weight, giving it, as it were, wings to soar freely to the sky; gives room for the action of God's grace. He who fasts freely and correctly knows how light and bright the soul is during fasting; then good thoughts come easily to the head, and the heart becomes purer, more tender, more compassionate - we feel the desire for good deeds; Contrition for sins appears, the soul begins to feel the disastrousness of its situation and begins to lament for sins. And when we do not fast, when thoughts are in disorder, feelings are unbridled and the will allows itself everything, then you rarely see a saving change in a person, then he is dead in his soul: all its forces act in the wrong direction; the main goal of action - the goal of life - is lost sight of; there are many private goals, almost as many as each person has passions or whims. A strange work takes place in the soul, the result of which is, apparently, some kind of creation: you see the materials for construction, the beginning, the middle and the end of the thing, but in fact the end of it all is nothing. The soul goes against itself, against its own salvation, with all its might: mind and will and feeling. Whoever fasts in a Christian way, wisely, freely, according to the false promise of the Lord, is awarded reward for his feat from the Heavenly Father. Your Father, the Savior said about the true faster, who sees in secret, will reward you in reality (Matthew 6:4). And this reward, without a doubt, is always generous, truly fatherly, serving our most significant benefit. Brethren! We recognize that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, that we are not our own, but God’s, because we were bought with the price of the blood of the Son of God. Don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit living in you, which you have from God, and which you carry your own? bought with natural price (1 Cor. 6:19–20). Let us respect our nature, exalted to the communion of the divine nature; Let us eat and drink as much as is necessary to maintain life and strengthen our strength; We will not give it over to the power of unclean passions, we will make it a shrine, which we ourselves would not be ashamed to look at, and in which God would recognize the work of His hands. Hitherto we have sinned and indulged in the pleasures of gross sensuality; Let us live chastely and holyly now. Until now we were far from God in our carnal affairs; although now let us draw closer to Him; Let's find out how good He is. Look, He gives us His flesh and blood to eat. If you are convinced that on your own, without God, you are nothing more than unclean decay, dust, a sinner, alien to a life of grace, then you will understand how great the goodness of the Lord is in feeding us with His flesh and blood. He is the Source of life of all creatures and wants to settle in you, through union with Him in the sacrament of communion, His life, His perfections, His peace, His bliss and make you eternally alive. Let us always keep in mind that our soul must strive for godlike perfection, for dear freedom of spirit, and that it cannot achieve this perfection if we earth it with carnal deeds, fettering it with close and heavy chains of matter. May the Lord help us to meet Lent with joy. Amen. Word in the week of raw food (second) “If you forgive men their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you” (Matthew 6:14). This Sunday is called among the Russian Orthodox people Forgiveness Sunday from the good and pious custom of saying goodbye to each other, i.e. ask each other for forgiveness before Great Lent and fasting. And this custom came into force from the command of the Savior, who commands us in the present Gospel to forgive each other’s sins, if we wish for our sins to be forgiven by the Heavenly Father, whom we grieve and anger without number every day and hour. Since Great Lent begins tomorrow, and we are all, according to Christian custom, going to throw off the heavy burden of sins, and since this casting off of the sinful burden requires some self-sacrifice on our part and some goodness, the Lord teaches us what exactly is required from ourselves so that our sins will be forgiven us all, without a trace, - or what we must sacrifice on our part, since the Lord God, for His part, He is always ready to have mercy and save repentant sinners; namely, He says that what is required of us is simplicity and forgetfulness of malice, lack of anger, forgetfulness of grievances, friendliness, love for enemies. Your salvation is in your hands, in your power, man. You will forgive others for their insults, mistakes, annoyances, and begging; and your sins will be forgiven, and you, with your worries and frequent petitions from God, will never leave Him empty-handed and will be honored with great and rich mercies from Him. You will forgive your neighbor’s few sins, compared to your sins before God, and God will forgive you countless sins; ты простишь сто динариев, а тебе Господь простит тьму талантов. Но какое злопамятство часто обладает людьми! While the Lord demands little from us - forgiveness and forgetting the insults of our neighbors - which are like drops in the ocean in comparison with our sins before God, and demands for our own good and wanting to accustom us to meekness, kindness, patience, humility, brotherly love, forbearance, peace - we lose our temper, present our rights, violated by our neighbors, kindle in ourselves and the flame of enmity towards our neighbors, and thus we madly and boldly push away from ourselves the right hand of God that saves us - we add sins to sins - and we ourselves rush headlong into destruction. A great good, a great virtue, is gentleness before God and people: it covers a multitude of sins. In the Old Testament, the following were especially beloved and glorified by God for this virtue: Abel, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David the Godfather, king and prophet, and many others; and in the new Testament there are countless righteous people who imitated the meek and humble Lord and God and our Savior Jesus Christ, who says in the Gospel to all of us: learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you will find rest for your souls (Matthew 11:29). So, let us not obey the devil, who teaches us to harbor evil against our neighbors, but in the simplicity of our hearts we will forgive the insults caused by our neighbors, also at the instigation of the enemy. Let no one think evil against each other; Let no one be carried away by evil suspicion regarding his neighbor; ибо это прелесть врага нашего спасения, всемерно усиливающегося разрушить в нас союз любви и братства и насадить демонскую вражду и неприязнь. Let us remember the Savior’s commandment: I give you a new commandment, that you love one another (John 13:34), and the words of the Apostle Paul: love one another, and fulfill the law. So, the fulfillment of the law is love (Rom. 13:8, 10). Далее Господь научает нас нелицемерному посту и говорит, чтобы мы вступали на поприще поста не с унылыми, а с бодрыми лицами, как истинные и верные воины Христовы, вступающие на борьбу с грехом и многострастною плотию своею, при помощи и содействии всемощной благодати Христовой, и пред лицем Отца небесного, у Которого готова награда всем, истинно подвизающимся против прелести sinful. Anoint your head, says the Savior, and wash your face; anoint your head, i.e. елеем милостыни умасти душу твою, и елеем чистоты лице души умой, и Отец твой, видящий тайное, воздаст тебе явно . Further, the Lord teaches us to renounce our hearts from earthly treasures and from earthly passions and encourages us to desire and seek heavenly treasures, firstly, because our souls are of heavenly origin and immortal, and earthly blessings, as coarse, corruptible and transitory, are unworthy of us, created and redeemed by the blood of the Son of God for the enjoyment of spiritual and eternal blessings, - and secondly, because clinging to with our hearts for earthly blessings, we thereby make them earthly, rude, low, passionate, and ourselves - incapable of loving God and our neighbor - whereas love is the main goal and duty of our life. Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break through and steal, for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also (Matthew 6:19–21). St. John Chrysostom speaks about it this way: it will be a great harm to you if you cling to earthly things, become a slave instead of a free one, fall away from heavenly things, and be unable to think about heavenly things, but only about money, about interest, about debts, about profits and vile greed. What could be worse than this? Such a person falls into slavery, the worst slavery of any slave, and, what is most disastrous of all, arbitrarily rejects the nobility and freedom inherent in man. No matter how much I talk to you, but you, having a mind nailed to wealth, cannot hear anything useful and necessary for you... for where your treasure is, there is your heart... But if you lay the treasure through alms - in heaven, then you will not only be awarded heavenly honors for this, but you will also receive a reward here, ascending to heaven, thinking and caring about heavenly things. For it is obvious that you will transfer your mind there too, where you will place your treasure; and on the contrary, you will experience something completely opposite when you place your treasure on the ground 8 . So, let us apply to our hearts the teaching of our Savior, offered to us in this Gospel regarding the forgiveness of offenses, regarding godly fasting and the detachment of our hearts from earthly treasures, and love for heavenly, incorruptible blessings. Let us try, in the words of Chrysostom, to prepare ourselves for leaving here. For although the day of universal death has not yet arrived, the end of everyone, both old and young, is already at the door... So, while we have time, let us prepare for ourselves boldness before God; Let us store up oil in abundance and transfer everything to heaven, so that in due time and when we especially have need, we may enjoy all this through the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and dominion, now and ever and unto ages of ages. (Chrysostom). Amen. Lesson for the week of raw food (first) “If you forgive people their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive people their sins, then your Father will not forgive you your sins,” says the Lord (Matthew 6:14–15). This Sunday is colloquially called Forgiveness Sunday, because today we are supposed to read the Gospel, commanding us to forgive the sins of our neighbors, so that our heavenly Father will forgive us our countless sins. As a result, since ancient times, it has been a custom among pious Christians on this day, and throughout Cheese Week, to ask each other for forgiveness for what one has sinned against the other. This is a wonderful custom, truly Christian, because who among us does not sin against his neighbor either in word, or in deed, or in thought; and asking forgiveness from another proves our faith in the Gospel, our humility, kindness and peacefulness; on the contrary, the reluctance to ask for forgiveness from those against whom we are really guilty shows in those who do not want reconciliation a lack of faith, pride, conceit, remembrance, disobedience to the Gospel, resistance to God, agreement with the devil. And we are all children of the Heavenly Father by grace, members of Christ God, members of the one body of the Church, which is His body, and members of each other; God is love (1 John 4:8), and more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices, he requires from us mutual love, a love that is patient, kind, does not envy, does not boast, is not proud, does not act rudely, does not seek its own, is not irritated, does not think evil, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth. He bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things, and never ceases (1 Cor. 13:4–8). Весь закон Божий состоит в двух словах: люби Бога и ближнего. Meanwhile, the human heart is extremely proud, impatient, capricious, evil and vindictive: it is ready to be angry with a neighbor not only for direct evil, but also for imaginary, not only for an offensive word, but also for an unpleasant or truthful, harsh, even for a glance that seemed unkind, or ambiguous, crafty, proud, it almost becomes angry even for the very thoughts of the neighbor, which it imagines in one's neighbor. The Lord, the knower of the heart, says this about the human heart: from the heart come evil thoughts, adultery, fornication, murder, theft, covetousness, malice, deceit, lasciviousness, an envious eye, blasphemy, pride, madness (Mark 7:21–22). Having lived amicably with each other for several years, for some reason they later developed enmity and hatred towards each other; mutual anger continued for a very long time; and they, without reconciliation with each other, dared to offer a bloodless sacrifice to God. No matter how much the brothers advised them to put aside their anger and live among themselves in peace and harmony, it was all in vain. One day the priest Titus fell seriously ill. Despairing of life, he began to cry bitterly about his sin and sent to his enemy to ask for forgiveness; but Evagrius did not want to hear about it and began to cruelly curse him. The brethren, condoling over such a grave error, forcibly drew him to the dying man. Titus, seeing his enemy, with the help of others, rose from his bed and fell before him, tearfully begging him to forgive him; but Evagrius was so inhuman that he turned away from him and exclaimed in frenzy: “I don’t want to be reconciled with him either in this life or in the future!” He escaped from the hands of the brothers and fell to the ground. The monks wanted to raise him, but how amazed they were to see him dead and so cold, as if he had died long before! Their amazement increased even more when the priest Titus, at the same time, rose from his sick bed healthy, as if he had never been sick. Horrified by such an extraordinary incident, they surrounded Titus and asked one another: what does this mean? He answered: being in a serious illness, while I, a sinner, was angry with my brother, I saw the Angels retreating from me and crying about the destruction of my soul, and the unclean spirits rejoicing - this is the reason why I most of all wanted to be reconciled with him. But as soon as they brought him here, and I bowed to him, and he began to curse me, I saw that one formidable Angel struck him with a fiery spear, and the unfortunate man fell dead to the ground; а мне тот же Ангел подал руку и восстановил от одра болезни. The monks mourned the cruel death of Evagrius and from that time began to watch out more than ever so that the sun would never set on their anger. Brothers and sisters! Memory malice is a most terrible vice, and just as it is abominable before God, it is also destructive in society. We are created in the image and likeness of God: meekness and gentleness should be our unchanging properties; for God always deals with us according to His meekness, is patient and forgives us without number. And we must forgive. “And the one who is malicious in memory does not have in himself the image and likeness of God: he is more a beast than a man.” Amen. Lesson for the week of raw food (second) “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break through and steal, for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:19–21). (Words from the gospel read today). This is the saving commandment of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for all of us. Who among people has not sinned against this will of our most loving Lord? Whose heart is not more or less attached to earthly things, to earthly treasures, of whatever kind they may be? Whoever, for example, is not partial to his flesh, to earthly honor and glory, to earthly wealth, to earthly beauty, to earthly pleasures of various kinds, in general, to all sorts of earthly objects, sometimes to the point of forgetting God and His holy commandments and His saving intentions regarding us, to the point of forgetting the heavenly nature of his soul, its image and likeness of God, its purpose for eternal life in God and with God - her deep fall and the need for her uprising through sincere, deep and irrevocable repentance - her correction, purification and sanctification by grace? Whose treasure is God alone and His holy laws - holy virtue, and the flesh with its passions and lusts in contempt and humiliation, as transitory and constantly besetting its mistress - the soul, and only enjoys the attention and care of the soul to the extent that it serves its highest, spiritual goals? – Who does not have various idols of the heart placed in this holy place, which should always be the throne of the Lord Almighty? - So, we must all admit this, beloved brothers and sisters in the Lord, - that we are collecting treasures on earth, in this temporary shelter of ours, which must pass and disappear - and where the moth and rust of pride and passions, sins destroy these treasures, as corruptible and unclean, and where thieves-demons, and perhaps people, dig up and steal - both the heart itself and its treasure. Here, approximately, is your treasure - money, or carnal pleasures, or impersonal personalities, which your bestial passions made impersonal and turned into an object of crude pleasure, and you yourself were made an immoral and impersonal being; or is your treasure only earthly knowledge, arts, industry, crafts? - Well, how long will these treasures belong to you? - Not today or tomorrow, or not long after, your earthly church - your body will be destroyed, and your treasures, and with your body, will leave you; - What will be left of them for you, your soul? - Nothing. But she is eternal and in that century she will need eternal treasures that are characteristic of her, such as: in Christ, hope and love for God and neighbor, mercy, humility, purity, righteousness, kindness, in general - works of virtue. Where do you have them? Have you stocked up on spiritual oil? Have you stocked up on spiritual treasures? Oh, stock up quickly while there is still time. Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break through and steal; since, I will add, there is a kingdom of incorruption, a kingdom of righteousness, there is no devil there. For, says the Lord, where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Here is a great truth that we often forget, and others always forget: where our treasure is, there is our heart. And since our treasures are on earth, then our hearts are right there - on earth - with earthly treasures, pleasures, for the most part, coarse and unclean; they passionately clung to them - and therefore not in heaven, not with God, not with His holy commandments, advice, promises, consolations. Here the priest, during the liturgy, on behalf of the Church, proclaims before the celebration of the heavenly sacrament: woe is our hearts! that is, let us raise our hearts to God - let us renounce everything earthly: - and who is able to decisively rise above grief, even in these terrible and all-saving moments, if our thoughts and hearts are so occupied with earthly treasures and pleasures, worries, the objects of our worldly passions? – How often in these moments do spiritual thieves undermine our hearts and steal our attention, our faith and love for God and our reverence for the saving sacrament, for this universal Sacrifice - intercessory, propitiatory and grateful? - Why? – Оттого что, где сокровища наши, там и сердца наши. Because, going to the church to be present at the celebration of the heavenly sacrament, we did not prepare our souls for a worthy presence in the church, did not put aside all everyday worries and worries, did not cleanse our hearts from vicious passions, did not leave all sin outside the threshold of the church; забыли, что, стоя в храме, мы должны стоять как на небе; ибо здесь – престол Божий и небесная, страшная и спасительная Жертва; here, invisibly, the Heavenly Powers serve with us - and with them - the Most Holy Queen of Heaven and Earth - the Most Holy Theotokos and all the saints who are remembered secretly at the Liturgy - before and after the consecration of the Holy Gifts; ибо и за них приносится благодарственная от Церкви Богу жертва. Here come the days of fasting and repentance, in which we must recognize our sins, bring them to memory, grieve over them, break our hearts, repent and correct ourselves. What will our fast be? What will repentance be like? – If God is our treasure, His holy will, His truth and eternal life with its endless blessings, then our fast will be sincere, unhypocritical, and our repentance will be sincere, ardent, firm, unchanging; for only such repentance again returns to us our priceless treasure lost by sins - the Lord God and His grace; but if our treasure, our idol, continues to be our many-passionate flesh, the adulterous and sinful world with its charming, tempting, although soon disappearing blessings, then our fast will be insincere, or it will not exist at all, and repentance will be only superficial, and therefore insincere, indecisive, mediocre, fruitless - from which God will deliver each of us; for such repentance is sinful insensibility, ingratitude before God, who, out of infinite mercy, gave the gift of repentance to sinners for the sake of eternal life - it is trampling on the gifts of the Holy Spirit, who cleanses our sins for the sake of the merits of Christ and sanctifies our souls and bodies. Итак, все внимайте себе тщательно, где сокровище ваше: на земле или на небе? – Ибо где сокровище ваше, там будет и сердце ваше . Amen. Поучение в среду первой недели Великого поста Now, beloved, we have been fasting for the 4th day and going to divine services for the 4th day. Is there any benefit for our soul from fasting? Each of us needs to ask ourselves this question and then pay attention to our heart: is there a holy change in it, does it cease to love and commit sin? Next, you need to give yourself an account: does the divine service have any effect on me, do I leave the church in a pious mood, or does it pass by as something alien to me, so I stand in the church with cold indifference, pray only out of habit, bow to the ground without heartfelt contrition for my sins. So, beloved brethren, we must certainly give ourselves an account of the holy work of fasting: is it going successfully, is the labor not being wasted in vain. We give ourselves an account of mundane, often unimportant matters; why not look at this holy work with the eye of testing? Just remember, beloved, what you are preparing for. You are preparing to begin the heavenly, most pure, life-giving and terrible Mysteries of the body and blood of Christ our God, you are preparing to unite with the most pure God Himself. Oh! After this, how can you not turn all your attention to fasting! So, beloved, let us take a stern look at our fasting and take care to turn it with all our might to the benefit of our souls. How can we turn it to our advantage? The main thing, let's do this: let's each take control of our own hearts - the greatest attention should be paid to the heart: - here is all the evil of man; or better - this is what a sinful, ungodly person is, this is the workhouse of sin. Our heart, beloved, has completely turned away from God, its Creator, and has turned completely to the world and its delights; in it are all our lusts, all our passions, everything contrary to God. As you can see, you need to make an important change in yourself: from love for the world, for its pleasures, for sin, - you need to turn yourself to love for God, Whom first and most of all we need to love; and this is not an easy matter, especially for one who loves the world very much: for the love of this world, according to the word of the Apostle, is direct enmity against God (James 4:4). But let us not be afraid of difficulties: what is difficult and impossible for us is easy and possible for God: with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26). And first of all, in our holy work of turning from the world to God, the divine service will help you: just stand and listen to everything with attention, and with a humble spirit, and holy thoughts and feelings will certainly come to you; It cannot be that a humble and attentive person, desiring to unite with God, would not be visited by a spirit of contrition and tenderness. But there is a lot you don't understand; but you understand at least something, and it’s true that you understand a lot; and this is what you understand, absorb into your heart, reflect on it; from the holy words of the Church, produce your holy thoughts and feelings, and the matter, with God’s help, will go successfully. After all, our soul is not entirely a barren land for good. Is this possible when she drank the rain of God’s grace that fell upon her in abundance? Further, consider that many of you may now be fasting for the last time, and perhaps death will soon overtake you by accident, and they will not have to confess and partake of the Holy Mysteries before death. And indeed: the ax is already lying at the root of the tree, and the tree is us; Every tree that does not produce good fruit, i.e. people who do not do good deeds are whipped and thrown into the fire (Matthew 3:10). With what attention to oneself must each person perform his fasting, in order to certainly be cleansed of his sins, perhaps for the last time. Next, imagine more often that after fasting and confession you will begin the most pure Mysteries. But if you approach with an uncorrected heart, unworthily, then you will receive communion in judgment and condemnation for yourself and you will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord (1 Cor. 11:27), and after communion you will not be any better, but on the contrary, you will become even worse. With these and similar thoughts, strengthen yourself in your feat of fasting and pray in church as sincerely as possible, with all your heart; As sincerely as possible, say more often to the Lord who listens to you: God, be merciful to me, a sinner! God, cleanse me, a sinner! Without number of sinners, Lord, forgive! Remember that these words alone: ​​God, be merciful to me a sinner (Luke 18:13), the publican was justified. Why? Because they were said without any pretense, from the depths of the heart, from a complete recognition of one’s guilt before God and the determination to certainly correct oneself. And all of us, beloved, are so sinful that there is no point in answering God in apology; we are not worthy of raising our eyes to heaven. How can we not say with all our hearts: God, be merciful to us sinners! God, cleanse us sinners! Innumerable sins, Lord, forgive! Amen. “If anyone sins, Jesus Christ the righteous makes intercession to the Father: and He is the cleanser for our sins” (1 John 2:1–2). Today, beloved brethren, you will go to repent. Out of duty as a pastor, I would like to instill in you what is required of someone who begins confession—so that his confession is true, pleasing to God and soul-saving. – Namely, the repentant is required to have contrition for his sins, the intention to correct his life, faith in Christ and hope in His mercy. So, first of all, contrition for your sins is required. But this is something that we, confessors, very often do not see in our spiritual children. Quite a lot of people come to the spirit with complete indifference, and if you didn’t ask them anything, they would either say nothing or say only in general that the spiritual father is a sinner in all his sins. And if they had also said this with a heartfelt consciousness of their guilt: - no, then woe is that without consciousness of their sins, and so - in order to quickly finish with confession. Beloved! Let us not turn the work of God’s extreme mercy towards us sinners into a reason for God’s wrath. How insensitive we are! Don't we have anything to grieve about in confession? We don’t have enough sins: if we began to cry all our lives about our sins, then we would not do anything unnecessary, but only what should be done. Oh! If any of us said that he has no sin, he would deceive himself, and in that person anyone would seek the truth in vain. Can't you see your sins? pray to God that He will let you see them; Was it in vain that you often said behind the priest in church: Lord! grant me to see my sins! – Постараемся же хотя теперь общими силами увидеть свои грехи, чтобы после на исповеди с сердечным сокрушением признаться в них. И вот первый весьма важный грех наш тот, что мы, будучи великими грешниками, не чувствуем, что мы грешники, заслуживающие не милость, а наказание Божие! Осудим же себя прежде всего в этой бесчувственности и скажем Господу от всей души: вот я, Господи и Владыко живота моего, – грешник бесчувственный, величайший я грешник, а грехов своих не чувствую; должно быть потому, что грехи мои умножились паче числа песка морского, и я весь – во грехах, как больной оспою – в оспе. Каюсь Тебе, Господу Богу моему, от всего сердца в моей бесчувственности, и молю Тебя: Сам даруй мне чувствовать всем сердцем, как я много прогневлял и прогневляю Тебя. - ABOUT! эта мнимая, фарисейская праведность наша, сколько она погубила и погубляет людей! And to our evil, it strikes our heart precisely during fasting, during the very sacrament of repentance and before the sacrament of Holy Communion. But let's look further - what sins did we sin against God the most? But if we are people of little faith, we live on earth not for heaven, not for God and the salvation of our souls, but for the earth and everything pleasant on earth, in a word - we live for the flesh, for its pleasures, and not for our immortal soul, not for its future life - is this not a great sin? Have we forgotten the suffering for us of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, His most pure blood shed for us on the cross, His glorious resurrection? Was it not for us, that is, in order to raise us to heaven, removed from heaven by sin, His descent to earth, His divine teaching, His miracles, His prophecies - for example, about the future terrible judgment, about the resurrection of the dead on the last day of the world, about the bliss of the righteous and the eternal torment of sinners? - finally, His suffering, His resurrection from the dead and ascension into heaven? - So, if it is true that we must live here for the life of the next century, then is it not a sin not to live for that life, but to live with all our thoughts and with all our hearts on earth and for the earth? And how much sin comes from the fact that we only want to live well on earth and do not believe with all our hearts in the future blissful life? - How much anger, hatred, love of money, envy, stinginess, deception comes from that? Hence all the vices: all carnal lusts, all passions of the soul. Let us repent of this too, i.e. Let us repent that we are of little faith, if not unbelievers, and that for God and for the salvation of our souls we either do not live here, or live very little; also that there is little hope in our hearts, if not none at all - for a future life. – We also suffer from the greatest sin of ingratitude to God, dislike for Him for His countless, ineffable mercies. This, I think, is something everyone is aware of at least from time to time. Here are all of you who move on your own feet, all of you are healthy in body and soul, honored in mind by God the Creator, with free will, and what were you so recently? - Nothing; but the Lord brought you all from non-existence into existence - and from that time on he gave you everything: he gave you a soul with its abilities, a body with its wise and beautiful structure, he gave you and is constantly giving you food - to nourish your body, clothes for his clothing, he gave you a corner on His earth, and shelter for your dwelling; feeds you - with the priceless, life-giving food of His Body and Blood, delights and reassures you with it; makes you glad by hearing His word, forgives you your sins without number, constantly preserves your life - like a mother the life of a child; He gives us His future kingdom, and doesn’t He do anything out of His love for us sinners and ungrateful people? It is impossible to list. So what? How do we respond to His love for us - a love that has no number or measure? - Just lawlessness, just bad behavior, just ingratitude. – So, let us repent with tears of our ingratitude before God, of our dislike for Him, and also with tears we will ask Him for the gift of love. ABOUT! Bless my soul the Lord, and do not forget all His rewards (Ps. 103:2)! The repentant is also required to have the intention to correct his life: and pay attention to this. When going to confession, say to yourself: after confession, I will try with all my might to correct myself from those sins that I now want to repent of. I won't deceive myself any longer; I will not lie to God; I will no longer insult the sacrament of repentance. Help, Lord, strengthen my spiritual strength, Lord! What is the benefit of such repentance, after which they again, without a twinge of conscience, indulge in the same sins of which they repented? On such people the proverb is fulfilled: a dog returns to its vomit, and a pig, having washed, returns to its puddle (cf. 2 Pet. 2:22). Finally, faith in Christ and hope in His mercy are also required from the repentant. Anyone approaching confession must believe that during the sacrament Christ Himself stands invisibly and accepts his confession; that only Christ can forgive sins, since He, through His suffering, His honest blood and His death, sought for Himself the right from the Heavenly Father to forgive us all our iniquities, without offending divine justice, and that He, in His mercy, is always ready to forgive us all sins, if only we would admit them with contrition of heart; If only we had the intention to live better from now on, if only we had faith in Him in our hearts. Вера твоя спасе тя: иди в мире ( Мк. 5:34 ). This is what He says internally to everyone, after permission from the priest, who repents as they should. Let us all repent sincerely; позаботимся все об исправлении жизни; принесем Богу плоды покаяния. Amen. Беседа о причащении Святых Таин “Receive the Body of Christ, taste the immortal Source” (Participated). Before you, Christ-named flock, in this cup is the divine Body and divine Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, and you have prepared by fasting and confession to receive these holy, immortal and life-giving Mysteries. - In order to worthily accept this, it is required from each of you: 1) childlike, simple-hearted faith that you accept, under the guise of bread and wine, the most pure body and the most pure blood of the Savior - that you accept the Savior Himself with your lips into your heart, become one flesh and blood with Him, one spirit, as it is said: you are His body, of His flesh and of His bones (Eph. 5:30); ядый Мою плоть, и пияй Мою кровь, во Мне пребывает, и Аз в нем ( Ин. 6:56 ); и – прилепляяйся же Господеви, един дух есть с Господем ( 1Кор. 6:17 ); for in this part of the body and blood of Christ God, which you receive, the whole Jesus Christ is found, as a soul in a body. What is required of you, 2nd, is complete, unshakable trust in the mercy of the Savior, that He, like divine fire, will burn and cleanse with His blood all your sins; therefore, each of you, recognizing your unworthiness to accept the Divine Mysteries, surrender yourself completely to the mercy of the Lord, so that He Himself, by His grace, makes you worthy of receiving His holy Mysteries; everyone be trustworthy; no one hesitates, do not be faint-hearted, do not become despondent, presenting your wretchedness and lewdness; from the cup the mercy of the Lord and great forgiveness and cleansing of sins are given to everyone. Just believe and trust. What is required, threefold, is the great, ardent, angelic love of the participants for the Savior; Each of you must respond to the love of the Lord with love: for, tell me, what kind of love of God for us sinners was revealed in the fact that God Himself, having become incarnate for us, suffering, dying and rising, gave us His divine Body and Blood for food and drink, and through this He united with us in the closest union, dissolved or mixed with us, making us sharers of His divine nature! Какая мать, какой отец любили так когда-либо своих детей, как возлюбил нас Господь? – And why does the Lord unite with us in the Holy Mysteries? – Для того, чтобы очистить нас от скверны грехов, от скверны, которой нет отвратительнее и убийственнее, – чтобы сообщить нам святость Свою, жизнь Свою божественную, мир, отраду, радость, легкость, сладость, свободу, которых нет ничего дороже, желаннее на свете; – чтобы нас очищенных от грехов, измененных, обновленных взять к Себе на небеса, на вечную жизнь, на вечное блаженство: ибо с грехами, со страстями никто не может быть в раю: ядый Мою плоть, и пияй Мою кровь, имать живот вечный , говорит Господь, и Аз воскрешу его в последний день ( Ин. 6:54 ). Итак, имеющие причаститься божественных Таин, воспламените сердца ваши любовию к Спасителю. Holy Soul, Comforter, Treasure of the good, pour Thy love into our hearts! What is required of you is 4) a change of heart. Until now, many of you loved sin, yet - willingly or unwillingly - you indulged in sin; now try to hate him with all your might: for sin is the product of the devil, resistance to God; try to change everything in the very depths of your soul. You have the opportunity to taste the body and blood of the divine Lamb, the meek and gentle Lord Jesus Christ: be meek lambs yourself, gentle, patient, submissive to the will of God, the Church, the will of your parents, superiors, and elders. You will accept the body and blood of the Savior, and He is all love, and enmity and malice are disgusting to Him: let us also try to live in mutual love; forgive insults, do not repay evil for evil, or annoyance for annoyance. Come to the Lord, the Heavenly King, who leads us all to heaven; – try to think about heavenly things; strive to acquire heavenly morals; give up your addiction to earthly things, which are perishable and enslave and corrupt souls; love the mountainous fatherland, the mountainous city of Jerusalem, where the Mother of God and all the saints are, and where we should all strive; leave all impurities and sinful passions; everyone show a change for the better, everyone show a correction; everyone bring some good fruit of good deeds to the Lord; everyone create fruits worthy of repentance. God! You yourself change us, renew us yourself! Finally, in order for us to preserve this heavenly gift - the most pure body and blood of Christ - we are required to - 5) attention to ourselves, to our thoughts, to our heart, to all its feelings and inclinations, curbing our sinful desires and aspirations, as well as abstinence in food and drink; abstinence from idle talk, profanity, desecration and all lies; словом: всякий береги себя от всего, что противно Христу, Спасу душ наших; помните, что чрез причащение Господь обожает вас, делая вас божественными; divinely and try to live in all holiness, righteousness and truth. You are children of God and Christ: what kind of life befits the children of God? May the Lord vouchsafe all of you to accept the Divine Mysteries worthily and fruitfully. Whoever eats and drinks the divine Body and divine Blood unworthily, eats and drinks condemnation for himself (1 Cor. 11:29), says St. Apostle Paul. So, let us draw near by faith and love, so that we may be partakers of eternal life. Amen. Homily for the first week of Lent, the Sunday of Orthodoxy (first) “From here you will see the heavens opened” (John 1:51). I congratulate myself and many of you, beloved brothers and sisters, on the ineffable mercy of God, on the spiritual renewal received through the feat of fasting, prayer, fasting and repentance, and especially through communion of the most pure and life-giving Mysteries of the body and blood of the Lord. And in this short time we could experience for ourselves the benefits of fasting and prayer, not to mention the benefits of fasting, confession and communion; if, of course, we sincerely took advantage of this time to our salvation and sincerely fulfilled the condition of fasting and fasting; if you abstained from excess in food and drink, sincerely prayed, humbled yourself before God and your neighbors, were merciful, recognized many of your untruths and iniquities and deeply regretted them, accepting the firm intention not to do them anymore, and, finally, sincerely confessed to them and received permission and forgiveness of them, and were honored to taste the life-giving Brashn. But did we all really benefit from the past week? Have our hearts become closer to God, to the Most Pure Mother of the Belly, to the Church, to the holy Guardian Angel and to the saints of God; have we sincerely loved truth and virtue, and hated all untruth and lawlessness; Do we sincerely love God and our neighbors? Do we feel a greater spiritual affinity with each other, as members of the one body of Christ, as the ouds of Christ, for there is one bread of the sacrament, one body we are many: for we all partake of one bread (1 Cor. 10:17)? Do we feel in our hearts that the streams of iniquity do not flow with such impudence and violence into our soul as they did before fasting and communion, and have they significantly dried up in us, and have we become purer, freer, calmer, more dispassionate, kinder, more kind-hearted, more inclined to everything good and useful? Has our greed for carnal pleasures and self-interest become less? Have you become meeker, more patient, more condescending towards your neighbors? Have we begun to look more often at heaven, at the true and eternal fatherland, and with less passion do we turn our gaze to everything earthly, as temporary, momentary, transitory? “For look how many people among us are delighted with death in a short time, and death constantly carries away its victims. If so, if we have become the best and most prudent, then I again congratulate myself and you on the great mercy of God, and together I pray that the Lord will confirm this good disposition and mood of the heart in me and in you; - but let none of us be deceived by the evil thought that now, thank God, we have thrown off the burden of sins and can again live as we lived, and sin as we sinned, for who is without sin - we would say! It is true, brothers and sisters, that no one is without sin, but living as you lived and sinning as before, after renewal through repentance and communion, should not, should not, is indecent for a Christian. The Holy Church, through a confessor, gives the following admonition to everyone who has repented: from now on, you must guard yourself from all these sins, having already been baptized with the second baptism, according to the Christian sacrament, and make a good beginning, with the help of God, and, moreover, do not mock the sameness by turning, and do not make people laugh, because this is not proper for a Christian: but honestly, and rightly, and Live reverently, may God help you with His grace. This is what the Church instills in the repentant. Yes, and sound reason inspires us with the same thing; for who, having washed himself, would want to deliberately get dirty again? As soon as the pig has washed itself, it goes back to wallowing in the mud; only a dog tends to return to its vomit (cf. 2 Pet. 2:22). Behold, you are healthy: let no one sin, lest it be worse (John 5:14), says the Lord to the healed paralytic. And something very bad can also happen to us if we neglect virtue after repentance; then the grace of God will leave us for our inattention and carelessness about ourselves. Repentance and communion opens heaven and the kingdom of heaven to us, for, says the Lord, he who eats My flesh and drinks My blood will have eternal life - and he abides in Me, and I in him (John 6:54, 56). How can we not value the gift we have received—eternal life and Christ’s abiding in us, and our abiding in Him? Heaven has been opened to us through repentance and communion, according to Scripture: from now on you will see heaven open; what wonderful mercy! It was concluded by our sins, like the strongest gates and castles, but by repentance it was opened; - let us take advantage of this mercy of God before it is closed again for us: for God knows whether it will open again for us when we again close it with arbitrary sins. For many it was concluded forever. The foolish virgins knocked on the closed doors, saying: Lord, Lord, open to us; and it was said to them: Amen, I say to you, I know you not; and we are all told: watch for you, for you do not know the hour of the day, in the same day the Son of man will come (Matthew 26:11–13). Amen. Word for the Week of Orthodoxy “Behold, he is an Israelite indeed; in him there is no flattery” (John 1:47). Our Lord Jesus Christ spoke the words just spoken about one Israeli, a resident of the city of Cana in Galilee, Nathanael, when he, on the advice of his acquaintance Philip, went to meet Jesus Christ to make sure whether He was the Messiah promised to Israel. Philip said to Nathanael: We have found the One about whom Moses in the law and the prophets wrote, Jesus the son of Joseph from Nazareth. But Nathanael said to him: Can anything good come from Nazareth? Philip says to him: go and see. Jesus, seeing Nathanael coming to Him, said of him: Behold, he is truly an Israelite, in whom there is no guile. Nathanael says to Him: Why do You know me? - Jesus answered him: Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you, i.e. knew all your thoughts, your faith, your aspirations for the Messiah, your future ministry. The Lord, the knower of the heart, apparently touched the most living string of Nathanael’s heart, his most sincere thought, sincere desire, aspiration, showing him with his own eyes His divine omniscience; and so Nathanael was caught into the faith of Christ. He exclaims: Rabbi! You are the Son of God, You are the King of Israel - and then you become His disciple, under the name Bartholomew, which means - one of the twelve (John 1:45-60). But why is it that on this Sunday, called the Week of Orthodoxy, that the Church is supposed to read this Gospel, which tells about the Lord’s conversation with Nathanael? – Because the Lord’s words to Nathanael show the character of a true, or Orthodox Christian, and the character, in general, of the true Orthodox Church of Christ. Вот, подлинно израильтянин, – сказал Господь о Нафанаиле, в котором нет лукавства, т.е. here is a man who rightly and directly, firmly thinks, reasons, believes, hopes, speaks and acts - since Nathanael directly, immediately believed in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and never wavered in faith and hope, did not change his thoughts regarding His divine Face. Isn’t this how a true Christian should be? Isn’t this how the entire God-established society of Orthodox Christians should be? Isn’t this how the Orthodox Church should be, as it is? Какая высокая похвала Нафанаилу от Испытующего сердца и утробы в словах: вот подлинно израильтянин, в котором нет лукавства! What high praise is there for that Christian about whom the Lord said: here is a true Christian, in whom there is no guile, and for that Church about which the Lord says: here is the Church in which there is no guile or vain inventions of men, i.e. which is all true in all its teaching, sacraments, worship, administration, in all its structure. And that’s exactly what all our saints are; such is the entire Orthodox Church from its beginning to the present, as evidenced by the impartial history of the Church and by God Himself through various signs and wonders performed in the Church. She is, according to the Apostle, the pillar and foundation of the truth (1 Tim. 3:16); there is a glorious Church, not having filth or vice, or anything from such (Eph. 5:27). And by what bloody deeds, by what struggle with the enemies of the truth, by what and how many deaths of the zealots of the purity, holiness and Orthodoxy of the faith and the Church, you and I, my brothers, acquired the Orthodoxy of our faith, our guide to eternal life! Just as for the preservation and integrity of our fatherland and in it our Orthodox faith, rivers of blood were shed by our ancestors - Russian soldiers and leaders who fought with pagans, and with Mohammedans, and with Christians alien to the Orthodox Church - so for the preservation of the Orthodox faith, rivers of apostolic, prophetic, martyr's blood were shed; The reverend fathers and other champions of the faith endured much suffering. But what about us, children of the Orthodox Church? Do we preserve this most precious heritage - the Orthodox faith, do we follow its teachings, commandments, rules, statutes, advice? Do we love to offer service to God, the fruit of those who confess with their lips His name (Heb. 13:15)? Are we renewed by it, are we sanctified every day, do we correct ourselves, do we achieve the perfection that the saints achieved? Are we improving in love for God and our neighbors? Do we value our faith? Do we consider it the greatest mercy of God, the greatest and primary good of life, that we have the happiness of belonging to the Orthodox Church, which is one, holy, catholic and apostolic? How do we answer these questions if we want to answer according to our conscience? To our shame, we must admit that many, many Orthodox Christians not only do not have the Orthodox faith in their hearts and lives, but not even on their tongues, and it has completely evaporated for them or has turned into complete indifference regarding any faith: Catholic, Lutheran, Jewish, Mohammedan, even pagan. We hear from many that in any faith one can please God, i.e. as if all faith is pleasing to God, and as if lies and truth, truth and untruth are indifferent to God. This is what ignorance of their faith has reached for many, ignorance of the spirit and history of their Church, alienation from its life and Divine services - how the concept of Orthodoxy, non-Orthodoxy and other faiths has become eclipsed! The chronicle of modern incidents tells the story of how somewhere in Russia one boss, while testing his students, called the story of the sacrifice of Isaac absurd. This is darkness, chaos, disastrous ignorance! A Christian, as a member of the Church, must know his faith and try to live by faith, be saved by his faith - because the enemies of our salvation do not sleep and seek our destruction at every hour - and not throw away his faith as some specialty of some people, or as an unnecessary toy, characteristic only of childhood, or as the property of supposedly only the uneducated mob. If today many Orthodox Christians live worse than the Mohammedans and pagans, so that the head of the Mohammedans in Russia publicly and publicly recently in St. Petersburg proclaimed the praise of his co-religionists for the fact that among them there are no such wicked people as among Christians who encroach on the lives of kings; - then such a truly wicked life of Christians should not, of course, be in the least reproached by the Orthodox faith, which is unshakable in its principles of truth and holiness, according to the promise of the Savior Himself and according to the testimony of history. Although such people came from us, they were not ours in essence, but only in name. Yes, my brethren, only the Orthodox faith cleanses and sanctifies human nature, defiled by sin, and renews corrupted nature, especially through the sacraments of baptism, repentance and communion; the darkened enlightens; He heals those wounded by sins; the icy warms; what stinks of passions is made fragrant by the grace of the Holy Spirit; what is dead is brought to life; He reunites what has been rejected from God, and appropriates what is alienated from Him to Him; what is weakened strengthens; what is disfigured represents and beautifies; restores the fallen; work makes you free; the hostile fulfills love, like Paul the Apostle and many others; he fulfills blasphemy with constant praise to God; the desperate is filled with hope; the sad is comforting; guilt saves you from condemnation and punishment in Gehenna; the troubled calms; strengthens the weak; the oppressed spreads; unrighteousness enriches with righteousness; makes the evil simple; evil - good; He corrects what is corrupt; He does the greedy to the abstinent; prodigal to chaste; stingy to generous; the foolish makes wise; what is earthly creates heavenly; the rough is refined; the fleshly spiritualizes; the lover of things makes the lover of God; self-loving - selfless and all-loving; demon-like - god-like and - lo and behold! - divine! These are the miracles the Orthodox faith works in a person! Want to make sure of this? Read the history of the lives of the saints, the history of the Church, and you will see with your own eyes all these miracles in the lives of the saints. You will see wolves turned into lambs, fornicators and harlots into righteous people and equal to the angels; you will see lovers of money in the merciful, voluptuous in abstinent, people of power and earthly greatness and luxury in the humble attire of a monk. These were truly true Christians; here are angels in the flesh; on earth - heavenly citizens, and together - faithful servants of the earthly fatherland, just like the 40 martyrs of Sebaste remembered today! This is what our Orthodox faith can do with those people who sincerely support it and follow its guidance! – Why doesn’t it produce such a saving change in us? – From our lack of faith or lack of faith, from frivolity, from depravity and unrepentance of the heart; from the passions that have intensified in us and taken possession of us, from moving away from the Church, from the fact that many are not in the least imbued with the spirit and life of the Church, and many only weakly and more formally, insincerely adhere to it. From the same thing, all modern social vices have degenerated among us: murder, suicide, regicide, arson, theft of public property, excessive luxury, debauchery, extravagance, the pursuit of all kinds of sensual pleasures. In order for us to be true Orthodox Christians, we first of all need to have living, constant communication with the Orthodox Church, or participation in its prayers, teachings, and sacraments; - diligently study your faith and be imbued with and live by its spirit, be guided by its rules, commandments, statutes, the main thing is to restore in yourself through true and deep repentance the image of a true, Orthodox Christian in the image of the ancient and new saints, or better - in the image of our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, who says: an image I have given to you, that even as I created you, you also create (John 13:15), so that the Lord speaks of us also as once about Nathanael: behold, truly a new Israelite, in him there is no flattery. Amen. Conversation in the second week of Lent (first) “Son, your sins are forgiven you” (Mark 2:5). The paralytic was brought to Jesus Christ apparently for healing from the disease of paralysis that had beset him. And Jesus Christ first heals his soul from sins, and then his body from illness. Child, He says to the paralytic, your sins are forgiven, and after the remission of sins He said to him: Arise, and take up your bed, and go to your house (Mark 2:11). What does this method of healing mean? This means that the diseases that befall us are the consequences of our sins and that it is impossible to completely get rid of diseases without first being cleansed of sins, just as it is impossible to destroy the consequences without destroying the cause. Since even now there are often many sick people among us who are looking for remedies for their illness, then for general edification and benefit, let us now talk about the close connection of our sins with bodily illnesses. Is there really such a close connection between sins and bodily illnesses and sufferings that illnesses of the body, more or less severe and prolonged, are the consequences of sins? Truly, there is such a connection between illnesses and sins: sin is destructive for the soul, at the same time it is destructive for the body. The Holy Apostle speaks about sin: the pattern of sin is death (Rom. 6:23), i.e., sin, like a cruel tyrant, collects tribute from the people who work for him - and everyone works for him. This tribute is death. So, death is our necessary tribute to sin, and death is almost always preceded by illness, more or less prolonged. Hence it is clear that there is a very close connection between sin and illness. When there is no sin, then there will be no sickness and death. That is why there will be no diseases in the next century. There will be no death for anyone, no crying, no crying, no sickness (Apoc. 21:4), testifies the mystic John, in Divine Revelation. Often, for human sins, God sends diseases, for example, he gives them over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh (1 Cor. 5:5), as was the case with the incestuous man mentioned in the letter of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians, or deprives the use of certain senses and members, or exposes him to various other diseases. In this case, illnesses are the work of the goodness of the Lord, who does not want the sinner to die eternally, but rather to turn the wicked from his way, and to live for him (Ezek. 38:11). People are extremely seduced by the temporary sweetness of sin and perish, but God, in His goodness, does not want our eternal destruction, but wants to make everyone participants in bliss. But how can this be done when a person does not want to pay attention to future bliss or eternal torment, and when with his whole being he is devoted to earthly entertainment and pleasures? He feels full of strength and thinks that he should live here as he wants while he lives. How to make him think about God, about eternal life for which he was created, how to make him resort to faith and virtue so that they turn into the life of his heart? Illness and suffering in this case are the best remedy. One has only to look at someone who is sick or subject to some other misfortune to be convinced of how beneficial illnesses and misfortunes are sometimes for us here. Man comes to his senses at this visitation of God, enters into himself, sees that he is insignificant and fleeting, like grass, like a flower of the field (Is. 40:6), that everything earthly is dust and vanity, that only God and virtue are eternal, that man needs in this life to serve God in spirit and truth and stock up on good deeds for eternal life. Brethren! We all are sick or unhappy in some way and we all want, according to the natural law of self-preservation, to be healthy and prosperous. Let us remember that our illnesses, being often the fruit of our iniquities, our own carelessness or intemperate life at the beginning, are very often God's punishment in their strength and duration for our sins. If we want to be free from diseases, we must first destroy their internal cause - sins: then the external misfortune will pass by itself. Let us remember that sickness and death would not have existed in the human race if sin had not entered the world through the first man. Let others imagine the causes of disease as they please; but if they delve deeper into the essence of the matter, then in their explanation they will come to the same main reason for them, namely, that the bodily nature of man was once greatly damaged and is now being damaged by some internal, hostile force, and that is why it is so sensitive to the slightest spontaneous changes, that is why it has become so weak and easily destructible. Now is the time for spiritual healing. Let us move away from the sins with which the soul painfully suffers, and our healings will soon shine (Isa. 58:8). Amen. Conversation in the second week of Lent (second) “Jesus came into Capernaum: and it was heard that there was food in the house; and many gathered together, as if none could be accommodated at the door: and you spoke a word to them. And she came to Him, lax in her veins, carried by four" (Mark 2:1-3). If the king of the earth or the king’s son visits any city or village and stays in some house, then huge crowds of people gather around that house, because everyone wants to see the clear royal eyes, carefully turned towards the entire vast kingdom and all the subject peoples, everyone wants to hear the merciful royal word. So high is the rank of the king, so important is his service to God and people on earth, that everyone feels an involuntary reverence for his person; and often the sight of him delights him. But there was a time when the Heavenly King Himself, the King of the whole world, the beginningless God, the Creator of heaven and earth, the King of the kings of the earth, appeared on earth and lived with people, wandering from city to city, from village to village. Oh, what happiness, what bliss it was to see the Heavenly King Himself; these bright, unsleeping eyes, looking at the whole universe, this gaze, joyful to the Angels and terrible for demons, and to hear from His sweetest lips His words, giving life, peace, joy, joy to every sincere, direct soul! You envy these happy people who lived during Jesus Christ's stay on earth. Don't be jealous. Even now He is inseparably with us through His Divinity, His grace, His life-giving Mysteries, His divine body and most pure blood: we are not at all offended in this regard compared to the contemporaries of Jesus Christ; they were not deprived of anything, they even received more than them: because they did not have the bliss of eating His life-giving Body and Blood, but we eat them and are adored. The liturgy, during which this sacrament is performed, depicts before us the entire life of Jesus Christ from His cradle to His ascension to heaven; - and the holy Mysteries reveal His personal presence, the immeasurable love of the Lord for His rational creation; and the sublime appearance of God in the flesh and in the form of man shows, my brethren, the dignity of human nature, created in the image of God, but humiliated, disfigured, weakened and mortified by sin. It assures us that if a person lives on earth righteously and holy, then he will be equal to the Angels and will live with them forever and rejoice for endless centuries; that with God, after the Mother of God and the holy Angels, there is no one else higher and dearer than man - the man to whom He was likened, for whom He suffered, died and was resurrected; that all heaven and the kingdom of heaven is the inheritance of man, and besides him there are no more heirs to whom it would be said: come, blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world (Matthew 25:34). But let us turn to what is said in the Gospel. Below, it is said, Jesus was in Capernaum, and it was heard that there were people in the house, and many people had gathered, as if there were no one who could be accommodated at the doors. The Jewish city of Capernaum was located at Lake Gennesaret near the confluence of the Jordan River and was one of the flourishing and populous cities of Galilee under Jesus Christ. The Lord, during His three-year public ministry for the salvation of the human race, repeatedly visited Capernaum, preached in Jewish synagogues and performed many miracles. By the way, a paralytic man who was unable to walk, about whom we read in the Gospel today, was healed here. Here the following were healed: the servant of one Roman centurion, the mother-in-law of the Apostle Peter with many others, a bleeding woman, two blind men, a demoniac, and the daughter of Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue, was resurrected. Happy, a hundred times happy, you say, are the inhabitants of this city, in which Jesus Christ had His frequent stay. – Но я этого не скажу. No, I cannot call the inhabitants of Capernaum happy just because the Son of God often stayed with them; I can’t because the inhabitants of Capernaum, who had seen His miracles many times, His benefits to their fellow citizens, remained ungrateful before their Benefactor and Wonderworker - unfaithful, unrepentant sinners. The Lord Himself convicted this city of unrepentance, saying to it: and you, Capernaum, who ascended to heaven, will be cast down to hell; ибо если бы в Содоме явлены были силы , т.е. чудеса, явленныя в тебе, то он оставался бы до сего дня , т.е. would repent; but I tell you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you (Matthew 11:23–24). Now you see that the inhabitants of Capernaum are unhappy people, because, having often seen the miracles of the Lord and heard His teaching, they remained unrepentant sinners and were condemned to hell. My brothers! Let's think about ourselves: are we less blessed by the Lord than the inhabitants of Capernaum? Мы отрождены в крещении водою и Духом Святым и усыновлены Богу; в миропомазании освящены Духом Святым; - in communion we are worthy to partake of the most pure body and the most pure blood of the Lord; in repentance we are granted forgiveness of sins after sincere repentance for them; in the priesthood we have constant teachers of faith and Christian life, performers of saving sacraments and leaders to God and to eternal life; в елеосвящении имеем врачевство от болезней телесных чрез покаяние во грехах. What do we render to the Lord for all His mercies towards us, for all the miracles of His long-suffering towards us? - Ingratitude, ill-will, hard-heartedness, unbelief, absent-mindedness, obstinacy and unrepentance for sins. But will it always be like this? Не исполнится ли скоро мера долготернения Божия к нам? Не висит ли уже меч Божий над головами нашими? Не простерта ли уже секира смертная к корню древа, к сердцу нашему? Ад кромешний не раскрыл ли зева своего, чтобы поглотить нас? Let us come to our senses, come to our senses, and repent from the heart while we still have time to repent. Let us study the word of God, diligently visiting the church of God, and engage in charity and almsgiving. It is true that during Great Lent, our church is sometimes filled with people praying, like the house in which Jesus Christ was, and the people can barely fit in it. God bless! Oh, if only it were filled with Christians more often! But still the theater fills up much more often. But let’s continue with the explanation of the Gospel. And speak to them the word. Everywhere the Lord appeared with a word - and this word was sweeter than honey from the honeycomb; it healed souls and bodies; bowed and transformed hearts, as in Saul; revived the dead, drove away demons, cast down the daring to the ground, commanded all the elements: and they obeyed the voice of the Almighty; transformed the creature into an instant; this word is heard in the church even now. Why are there so few people listening and performing? From our absent-mindedness, from love for the world, for vain goods and pleasures. You cannot, the Lord said once and for all, work for God and mammon (Matthew 6:24), i.e. to the world. But remember: this word will judge us on the last day. Let us pay more attention to what we hear, lest we fall away (Heb. 2:1) inwardly from God. This is why the Holy Church demands our attention when the Gospel is read. And she came to Him, weakened by her veins, carried by four: and those who were unable to approach Him for the sake of the people, opening the cover of where she was, and having dug a hanging bed, lay weakened on it (Mark 2:3-4). How pitiful is a person when, being fully conscious, he cannot walk on his own due to extreme weakness and must constantly use the services of others: he is a burden to himself and to others. Such was the paralytic mentioned in today's Gospel, such are those among us who are overcome by paralysis and some other diseases. But there is spiritual relaxation from sins, from passions, which is incomparably more dangerous and more worthy of regret than relaxation of the body, because it often entails eternal death. In this regard, every sinner is weak. Every sin is accompanied by relaxation of the soul, as a consequence of falling away from God, in Whom is our life and strength, as a fall into death. And just as we all sin, we are all weakened. How to heal from this relaxation, from this predestination of eternal death? – Through sincere, deep, complete repentance for sins. That is why, of course, it is now necessary to read the Gospel about the paralytic, so that his situation, which was a consequence of sins, touches our hearts and disposes us to fervent repentance. That is why Jesus Christ healed the paralytic, granting him forgiveness of sins in advance. Having seen their faith, i.e. porters, the verb to the paralytic: child, your sins are forgiven you (Mark 2:5). Hence it is clear that the patient suffered for his sins. My brothers! When you are sick, first of all, bring repentance to God for your sins, resort to the Almighty Physician - eat His life-giving Body and life-giving Blood. There is a secret and close connection between sin and illness. But the scribe sits and thinks in his heart that this one speaks blasphemies? who can forgive sins except there is only one God (Mark 2:6–7)? The crafty, envious and ambitious scribes, i.e. To the learned Jewish teachers, the good deed of Jesus Christ seemed blasphemous and confused them. So now, brethren, the evil man is led into temptation by good deeds: you go to church to pray to God, you read holy books, you move away from entertainment, amusements, shows, companies; They say: what a hypocrite. You give alms; they say: he breeds parasites. But isn’t it better for these crafty people to look at themselves for what they are, rather than to judge and condemn others? We must remember the words of the righteous Judge: do not judge, lest you be judged (Matthew 7:1). Jesus Christ, as the Knower of the Heart, exposed the evil thoughts of his opponents: He said to them: What are you thinking in your hearts? What is more convenient, say to the weakened: your sins are forgiven? or say: Arise, and take up your bed, and walk (Mark 2:8–9)? In fact: isn’t it equally impossible for a simple person to forgive sins against God to a person similar to himself and to heal illnesses with words? It goes without saying that it is impossible. Who can do this? – Only to God; therefore, if the word of Jesus Christ was a deed, that is, if it resolved sins and healed all kinds of illnesses, as all people saw this, including the scribes, then how could they reproach the Lord for blasphemy? Looking at the matter simply, they had to believe that Jesus Christ is God, because He forgives sins and heals all diseases with His word; and they say: he says blasphemy. What did the Lord answer them? But let him know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins, saying to the paralytic: I say to you: Arise, and take up your bed, and go to your house. And he arose, and arose from his bed, and went out before all: to be amazed at all, and to glorify God, who said, as no one else had seen (Mk. 2:10–12). You see, the word has become deed: sins are forgiven, relaxation has passed, the person has become completely healthy and strong; and forgiveness of sins and healing of illness - both showed that Jesus Christ is the Judge, the Giver of Life and God, and not a blasphemer, as the scribes thought. My brothers! The power to forgive the sins of people belongs to God alone, as the Creator and Lawgiver, and who among you has not experienced for yourself that Jesus Christ forgives and absolves us from all sin? Oh, how easy and calm and joyful your soul can be when you repent with all your heart of your sins before the Lord and hear the word of forgiveness: child, your sins are forgiven you. How joyful it is in your soul when, with faith and love, you taste His divine Brush - His most pure body and blood! As now, the sick are often healed soon after they repent before the priest and partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ! We have all experienced without number that Jesus Christ is our Judge, Savior, Life-Giver and God: let us always diligently run to Him with faith, so that we may receive from His ordinary, proven mercy - forgiveness of sins, peace of mind and, at the same time, health to the body. The treasury of mercy is always open to everyone: draw from it at least a thousand times a day; our countless sins will not defeat the infinite mercy of the Lord, unless we are sinners - sincerely repentant. May there be glory to Your mercy, O Lord, forever and ever! But we, brothers, will also be merciful to our neighbors. I turn again to your love with a word about alms to the poor of our parish care. Deign to do this in the name of God: whoever gives to the poor, by God's mercy, will not fail (Prov. 28:27). Amen. Sermon for the third week of Lent To facilitate the feat of fasting, the Holy Church established the wearing of the life-giving cross of the Lord in the very middle of fasting. Whoever truly fasts must inevitably endure the sorrow of the flesh, the persistent struggle of the spirit against it, and, to top it all, the machinations of the devil, acting on our soul through various thoughts that bring great sadness, especially to those who are not yet firm and perfect in the Christian life. May the life-giving cross of the Lord, now brought out for worship and for heartfelt contemplation and kissing, comfort such fasting people and make their feat easier. May all those who do not fast with true fasting, and those who do not fast at all, not be deprived of its consolations; Let everyone come with faith and love and kiss the Savior on him. May the divine Sufferer teach everyone from His cross the important duty of a Christian - fasting and mortification of our sin-loving flesh. Since the cross itself evokes a word about love, we will now say something about the greatness of God’s love for us, revealed on the cross, in order to arouse in the cold hearts of Christians love for God and for a life worthy of a Christian. Indeed, what an abyss of love the Creator God expressed on the cross for His creation, man! Creator of heaven and earth, of everything visible and invisible, He who shone the sun, the month and countless stars in the sky; He who poured out the air for the breathing of all living things, who poured water over the face of the earth, who covers the whole earth with vegetation and bears fruit, grows and nourishes all living creatures, the only begotten Son of God deigned to become man to save man who fell by his own will from life to death; endures for him the most painful suffering on the cross and the most blasphemous death, so that His sufferings would be imputed to the just Father in heaven, as if the own sufferings of all humanity of all times and places, and so that, thus, humanity devoted to Him with faith and love would be delivered from unimaginable eternal torment in hell and from the second death. A person with undarkened heart eyes, seeing such endless love of the great, omnipotent God for sinful man, cannot help but cry from the feeling of God’s boundless love - and sheds tears of love and gratitude, not having anything to bring more than his own tears - to the One to whom our tears of love are dear. But how do most of us respond to such love of God? Insensibility, readiness to crucify the Son of God a second time with all possible vices, the most intensified servility of our sinful flesh, so that most of us, as if forgetting about the suffering of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, live not at all for heaven and not for our souls, but for the earth and for our body, and barely, according to the establishment of the Church, agrees to deny our flesh excess food and drink for only a few days. So, we ourselves are moving away from our salvation by all means; The Savior suffered for us on the cross, but we do not want to know this suffering; He commanded us for our salvation to each take up our crosses and follow Him to heavenly glory, but we don’t even want to hear; It was indicated to us as a medicine - the mortification of our flesh with passions and lusts - but we try even harder to satisfy our passions, to fulfill our lusts. So what? this will be the end. And we will be consumed by eternal fire and will not receive a single drop of coolness in the flames of Gehenna - because here we had all possible coolness, all possible pleasures for the sinful flesh, Lord forbid! rather, for the cross, while the Crucified One still continues His mercies to us. Amen. Received May 21 from Ust-Pinega. Received by mail from Karpogora (Arkhang province). Received by mail from Kotlas. Received by mail from Cherepovets. Prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian. St. Gennady, about faith and Christian life, Art. 39. Interpretation in Hebrew Matthew. You might be interested in: