Homily for Wednesday of the 1st Week of Great Lent at Great ComplineOn Fasting and Repentance

Behold, now is the time of acceptance, behold, now is the day of salvation. (2 Corinthians 6:2) In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit! Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ! Entering upon the podvig of the Holy Forty Days, we must thank the Lord with all our hearts that He, the Merciful, Who desires salvation for all, has vouchsafed us this year to live to the holy days of Great Lent, and here, under the arches of this ancient church, to pray and be edified by the touching Lenten hymns, and, testing ourselves, to bring repentance of our sins to God. The Holy Church has now clothed herself in mourning garments, and with the slow, drawn-out ringing of bells, touching Lenten hymns and prayers, she calls us to repentance, trying to awaken our sleeping conscience and arouse in us a zeal for correction. Just as in the spring the whole nature of animals, birds, and trees strips off its old veil and puts on a new beautiful garment, so we must in these holy days cleanse ourselves, put off the filthy rags of sin - by fasting, prayer and repentance - and clothe our souls in clean garments acceptable to the Lord. O my soul, my soul, arise, why are you sleeping? The end draws nigh, and you are troubled. Arise, that Christ God may have mercy on thee, Who is everywhere present and fulfills all things... [1] Thus St. Andrew of Crete addresses his soul in his touching Canon, which we heard at the evening service. With the same words, dear ones, let us turn to our sleeping soul and try to awaken it from its heavy, sinful sleep. O my soul, my soul, arise! Arise from your attraction and addiction to earthly things. After all, you were created not for earth, but for Heaven, not for enslaving yourself to passions, but for glorifying your Creator and Redeemer. O my soul, my soul, arise, that thou sleepest! See how your Redeemer and Creator, the Lord Jesus Christ, your Guide, the Heavenly Mother, the Most Blessed Mother of God, your Guardian Angel and all the saints are waiting for your awakening! They say to you, poor soul: "Lift up your eyes from earth to Heaven, arise from the sleep of sin! Can you sleep now, when your tender, sincere friends show such concern for you and want to heal you, a sick woman, with prayers and Sacraments, while your enemy puts you to sleep and tries to destroy you!" O my soul, my soul, arise, why are you sleeping? The end is approaching! Why do you not take care of yourself, my poor soul, why do you spend a few days of your life in the diaspora? Do you not know that soon, soon you will be called to the test that will take place at the Dread Judgment of God? Terrible, truly terrible will be this Judgment, although the Lord is good and merciful. For the same Jesus, Who now mercifully calls all to Himself, will then send away from Himself all unrepentant sinners, saying: "I do not know you, depart from Me, all you who do iniquity" (cf. Matt. 7:23; Lk. 13:27). The end is approaching. Do you not know, my poor soul, that a man, as soon as he has time to enter this world with one foot, is already standing in the grave with the other? The first hour of earthly life is already a step that brings us closer to death. A day passed, and we came closer to death, and a year passed, and we came even closer to the limit of our lives. Time now flies with terrifying rapidity, not only hours and days, but also months and years flash, and you, poor soul, are dozing and do not feel that death is imperceptibly approaching you with swift steps. If the souls of the righteous did not think without fear and confusion about the coming death, then what confusion will you feel when the time comes for you to be separated from the body! That terrible day and hour will come when you will really be embarrassed; then no one will protect you: neither your relatives, nor your brother, nor your father, but then only your deeds will appear with you. And then you will be frightened and confused by your abominable earthly deeds, which will be revealed to you with all clarity. If you wish to reform, but it will be too late, you will cry out for mercy, but then the doors of repentance will be closed, and you will be tormented forever. But arise, that Christ God may have mercy on thee, Who is everywhere present and fulfills all things! While the doors of repentance are open for us, let us, dear ones, hasten to this Mystery and make use of its grace-filled healings. There is no other way to salvation for us than repentance! We are all sinners. There is not a single person who would live and not sin. We sin hourly in word, deed, thought, and all feelings, will and bondage, knowledge and ignorance, day and night. The Sacrament of Repentance is a ladder that leads us to where we have fallen. We should be disposed to repentance not by blind imitation of the example of others, not by unaccountable adherence to a long-established custom, but by the awareness of our sinfulness and abhorrence of sin. Whoever turns to repentance, following a long-established custom, imitating the example of others, his repentance always turns out to be fruitless, such a person repents every time, but in his life he does not correct himself in the least: as soon as he comes out of this font, he again plunges into sinful mire and takes up his lawless deeds. The one who resorts to repentance from the awareness of the perniciousness of his sinful state and abhorrence of sin burns with the desire to untie himself from sin, to abandon the path of vice and to take the path of virtue. What, for example, prompted the prodigal son to return from a foreign land to his compassionate father? Was it not the consciousness of his hopeless situation, was he not disgusted with his depraved life, which had made him languish from hunger? Yes. When he came to his senses, the Gospel relates, he said: "How many of my father's hired men have bread in abundance, and I am dying of hunger; I will arise, and go to my father, and say to him, Father, forgive him! I have sinned against heaven and against thee (Luke 15:17-18). "Know that you have sinned and that sin is a terrible evil, and you will have a desire to atone for it," teaches St. Nilus of Sinai. Having recognized ourselves as great sinners, we should not blame others for our falls, but only ourselves. Our forefathers tried to lay the blame on one another: Adam on Eve, Eve on the serpent and the devil, but God did not take into account their justifications and gave each of them the punishment they deserved. Neither the temptations of the world, nor the seductions of evil people, nor the temptations of the devil can draw us into sin, unless there is our evil will to do so. In vain do some justify themselves in their falls by the weakness of their own nature and the general weakness of man, or by the fact that "everyone does so." Holy Scripture assures us that the weaker we are, the better we are and the more capable we are of doing good, then grace abounds more. My strength is made perfect in weakness, – said the Lord to the holy Apostle Paul (2 Corinthians 12:9), while depravity reigns when physical strength abounds, as it was before the flood during the time of the sojourn of the giants on earth. Sin is not made less by the fact that it is common; on the contrary, it is then that the wrath of God is more kindled. If Noah had lived as his contemporaries lived, then he too would have perished in the waters of the flood: there will be a place in hell for all the wicked. It is best and most reliable in one's sins to condemn only oneself in everything, to reproach oneself alone for everything. Self-condemnation will turn away from us the severity of God's judgment, incline His mercy to us, and intercede for our forgiveness of sins. "He is on a good path and can expect forgiveness for his sins who is dissatisfied with himself: with the Righteous and Merciful Judge, he excuses himself who accuses himself," writes Blessed Augustine. "If the soul accuses itself before God, the Lord will love it," says St. Pimen the Great. Why was the Pharisee condemned by God? Isn't it for self-justification? How did the publican gain favor for himself? Is it not self-condemnation? In condemning ourselves for our sins, we must heartily grieve over them and shed bitter tears in proportion to our iniquities. "Whoever wants to be cleansed from his sins is cleansed from them with tears," teaches Abba Pimen. By temporary weeping we can save ourselves from eternal weeping. "Whoever does not weep for himself here will weep forever there. Thus, it is necessary to weep: either here - voluntarily, or there - from torment," says the same great Father. If our fall is small, a few tears are enough for us, but if the fall is great, then there must be a stream of tears. Blessed is he who constantly weeps over his sins. As after a pouring rain the air becomes pure and pleasant, so after the shedding of tears there comes silence and clarity, and the darkness of sin is dispelled. And how can we not weep over our sins, when through sin we incur the wrath of the Heavenly Father, become crucifiers of Christ, insult the Holy Spirit, arm against us the Heavenly Angels and all creation, heaven and earth, enslave ourselves to the age-old enemy the devil, destroy soul and body, become communicants with demons and prepare for ourselves hell with eternal and endless torment! Is it possible not to mourn one's sins after this? The Apostle Peter in all the time following his renunciation could not indifferently hear the midnight crowing of a rooster, but immediately got up and shed bitter tears, beseeching the Lord not to remember his grave sin. Being in such a mood, he preserved himself faithful and devoted to the Lord until his very martyr's death. On the contrary, our insensitivity to sin directly speaks of our unwillingness to part with it. St. Mark the Ascetic writes: "If anyone falls into any sin and does not grieve according to it, then he will easily fall into the same snare again." That is why the Lord does not so much turn away from sinners as from those who, having committed a sin, do not want to be reformed. "God is irritated not so much by the sins we have committed as by our unwillingness to change," says St. John Chrysostom. However, when we are grieving over our sins, we should not give ourselves over to sorrow immoderately, because even immoderate sorrow for sins becomes fatal. We should not reach despair from the idea of the multitude and greatness of our sins: despair is a satanic deed – it can lead us into the very abyss of evil, settle hell in the soul before it brings it down to hell. No matter how many sins there are and no matter how grave they are, God has even more mercy. Even if our sins are equal to the sins of the whole world, then we should not despair, because our Savior is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the whole world. The blood of Jesus Christ is powerful to cleanse us from all sin, if only our repentance is accompanied by firm faith in the divinity of Him, Who was crucified for us, and a strong hope in the redemptive power of His death on the cross for human sins. How were robbers, fornicators, tax collectors and other grievous sinners saved? Is it not tearful repentance, combined with faith in the Redeemer and hope in God's mercy? On the contrary, why did the fratricide Cain and Judas the traitor die? Because they despaired of the forgiveness of their sins. This means that it is not the greatness of sins that destroys a person, but an unrepentant and hardened heart. Having recognized our sins, condemning only ourselves in them and weeping over them, we must confess our weeping, combined with faith in the Redeemer of the world, before the priest, who received from God the authority to be a mediator between Him and people and to bind and absolve sins. Through confession before the priest, we seem to spew out of ourselves the poison of sin, with which the serpent has bitten us. On the contrary, unrepentant sin remains unresolved and nests in our soul to its greater corruption. As cancer eats away at all the limbs, if the tumor is not removed at the very beginning, so does unrepentant sin corrode the soul. There is no need to be ashamed to confess one's sins before the priest, because the priest is also a weak person and also has weaknesses. Moreover, the priest should not reveal the sin confessed to him to anyone. According to the rules, this remains a mystery to everyone. Having confessed our sins before the priest and received through him their forgiveness by God, we must try not to repeat them again, otherwise our repentance will be nothing more than hypocrisy and deceit before the Lord. Blessed Augustine writes: "It is good to confess sins, when correction follows. In this case, the Lord will act with us in the same way as the king did in the Gospel with the unmerciful debtor (cf. Matt. 18:23-34), and will deprive us of the forgiveness granted to us, and we will remain unrepayable debtors before Him. When, after confession, we feel such disgust for sin and disgust that we agree to die rather than sin again before the Lord, then we can believe that our sins are really forgiven, teaches St. Basil the Great. In order for us to preserve ourselves more faithfully after confession from repeating our sins, let us try, especially at first, while we have not yet become morally strong, to avoid encountering sin: to avoid those persons and those places that can give us a reason for falling. The Nun Mary of Egypt, after confessing her sins in Jerusalem, did not return back to Egypt, but went and settled in the wilderness beyond the Jordan, fearing that she would fall again into the same sins. Everyone should act in the same way. But if, through our weakness, we have to fall again into the same sins of which God's mercy has forgiven us, then we must not despair. For if we sin a thousand times, and then again resort to repentance, then we will again be cleansed from the defilements and from the iniquities we have committed. The Lord commanded the Apostle Peter to forgive his brother seventy times a week (cf. Matt. 18:22), all the more so would He Himself do so. A certain brother once asked Abba Sisoi: "Abba, what should I do, I have fallen?" The brother said, "I got up and fell again." "And get up again," the elder answered again. The brother asked: "How long will this be?" - "Until you are taken from this life good or vicious," said the elder, "for whoever then turns out to be what he is, he will go like that." The hope of repentance will not do us any good when we find ourselves in hell. That's where this medicine will be powerless. And as long as we live, then, even if we resort to repentance in extreme old age, or even at the gates of death itself, with our last breath, the Lord will not reject our repentance, teaches St. John Chrysostom. Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, earnestly striving in the field of struggle against sin through repentance, we will become merciful to the Heavenly Father, we will be accepted into the number of friends of His Only-begotten Son, and, cleansed of vice and iniquity, we will be able to exclaim together with the Most-Pure Virgin Mother of God: My soul magnifies the Lord, and My spirit rejoices in God My Saviour! (cf. Luke 1:46-47). Grant, O Lord, that we all prudently and salvific spend the holy days of fasting and, having lived, greet the Radiant Resurrection of Christ with spiritual joy and glorify the Resurrected Savior, to Whom may honor and glory be from us forever and ever. Amen. 1964 Kontakion of the Great Penitential Canon of St. Andrew of Crete, tone 6. ^

Homily for Thursday of the 1st Week of Great Lent after Great ComplineOn Fasting and Its Meaning

Do not be afraid, little flock! for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. (Luke 12:32) In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit! Beloved brothers and sisters of God, as we embark on the podvig of Great Lent, we must thank the Lord with all our hearts that He, Who desires salvation for all, has vouchsafed us to live this year to the holy days of Great Lent. We must consider it a blessing and a great mercy of God that we have the opportunity to pray to God under the arches of this holy church, to be edified by touching Lenten hymns and prayers, and, examining ourselves, to bring repentance to God for our sins. The Holy Church, our tender, child-loving mother, is now clothed in mourning garb, and with the slow, mournful ringing of bells, the touching Lenten service, calls us to repentance, trying to awaken in us our sleeping conscience and arouse zeal for correction. Just as in the spring the whole nature of animals, birds, and trees strips off its old veil and puts on a new and beautiful garment, so we must in these holy days purify ourselves, strip our souls of the filthy rags of sin by fasting, prayer, and repentance, and clothe our souls in clean garments acceptable to the Lord. O my soul, my soul, arise, why are you sleeping? The end draws nigh, and you are troubled. Arise, that Christ God may have mercy on thee, Who is everywhere present and fulfills all things... Thus St. Andrew of Crete addresses his soul in his touching Canon of Repentance, which we heard at the evening service. Let us, dear brothers and sisters, turn with these words to our souls and try to awaken it from its heavy, painful, sinful sleep. O my soul, my soul, arise! Arise from your attraction and attachment to earthly things! For you were created not for earth, but for Heaven, not for enslavement to corruptible things, but for serving Your Creator and Redeemer and glorifying Him. O my soul, my soul, arise, that thou sleepest! See how your Creator and Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, your Guide, the Heavenly Mother, the Most Blessed Mother of God, your Guardian Angel and all the saints are waiting for your awakening. They say to you: "Lift up your gaze, poor soul, from earth to Heaven; Arise from the sleep of sin! Can you sleep now, when your sincere friends show such tender care for you and want to heal you, weak and sick, with prayers and the Sacraments, while your enemy puts you to sleep and tries to destroy you!" O my soul, my soul, arise, why are you sleeping? The end is approaching! Why do you not care, my poor soul, about your fate, why do you spend a few days of your life in the diaspora? Don't you know that you're about to be called? They will be called to a test open to the whole world, to the Dread Judgment of God. Terrible, truly terrible will be this Judgment, although the Lord is good, although He is merciful. For the same Jesus, Who now calls all to Himself, will then send away from Himself all unrepentant sinners, saying: "I do not know you, depart from Me, all you who practice iniquity" (cf. Matt. 7:23; Lk. 13:27). The end is approaching. Do you not know, my poor soul, that a man, as soon as he has time to enter this world with one foot, is already standing in the grave with the other? The first hour of earthly life is already a step that brings us closer to death. A day passed, and we came closer to our death, and a year passed, and we came even closer to the limit of our lives. Time now flies with terrifying rapidity, not only hours flash, but also days, months, and years. You are asleep, soul, and death is imperceptibly approaching you with rapid steps. After all, in this way you lose precious time that you need for your correction! If the souls of the righteous did not think about death without confusion, then what confusion will you experience when the time comes to separate from the body! The day and hour will come when you will really be embarrassed. That terrible hour will come when no one will protect you: neither brother, nor kinsman, nor authority, nor wealth, nor fame, nor honor, but then only man and his deeds will be brought to the Judgment. That's when you will be troubled, poor soul, you will be confused and frightened. You will be afraid of the fruits of what you have sown on the earth, you will be afraid of the fiery Gehenna. All your earthly deeds will seem abominable to you, which you will then remember to the smallest detail. If you wish to reform, but it will be too late, you will cry out for mercy, but then the doors of repentance will be closed, and you will be tormented forever. But you, poor soul, can avoid all this. Arise! Wake up, shake off your sinful impurity, and repent sincerely. For there is no other way to correction than repentance. Do not postpone your correction until tomorrow, because the enemy, who is always on guard, will certainly take advantage of your slowness, but begin repentance immediately. If you truly arise, then may Christ God have mercy on you. May your sins be like purple, and then the Lord will cleanse them in the abyss of His mercy. And then the Lord Jesus Christ, Who is everywhere present and fulfills all things, will penetrate into your being and reign in you. If you do not rise up and rise up, then such grief and such a fate will befall you, all the horror of which you cannot even imagine now... Dear brothers and sisters! The Holy Church has united the podvig of repentance with the field of fasting, as with the time that makes our soul cheerful and light. We have now entered the great field of the Great Lent of the Lord, established in imitation of the forty-day fast of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the Saviour, out of His love for us, before preaching the Gospel to the people and His sufferings on the Cross, fasted for forty days, did not eat or drink anything. And since the life of Jesus Christ is for us the rule of a pious life, His forty-day fast cannot but be an indispensable rule for us, unless we bear the name of Christians in vain. The Lord Himself legalized fasting for His disciples. When some came to Him, asking, "Why do the disciples of John and the Pharisees fast, but Thy disciples do not fast?" (Mark 2:18), then in response to this the Lord said: Can the sons of the bridal chamber fast when the bridegroom is with them? As long as the bridegroom is with them, they cannot fast, but the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days (Mark 2:19-20). With these words, the Lord says that whoever sincerely loves Him, who shares with Him participation in His great work and shares His feelings, will be crushed and fast, when His Lord is taken to suffering and death, he will sanctify the time of separation from the Lord with a touching fast. This is what the Holy Orthodox Church does, sanctifying the time of Christ's sufferings with a special fast. Fasting is a holy deed, because it curbs the passions that live in our body. Fasting is a means to acquire holiness, for just as intemperance opens the door to depravity of thoughts and deeds, so abstinence imparts light to thoughts, purity to feelings, freedom and strength to the spirit. One of the Holy Fathers says: "When a king wants to take an enemy city, he first of all withholds water and food, and the enemies, dying of hunger and thirst, submit to him. So it is with our carnal passions. If a person lives in hunger and fasting, then the enemies, weakened, will leave the soul." According to the words of St. John Chrysostom, whoever fasts extinguishes his evil passions. Fasting makes the soul cheerful, elevates it above the earthly and draws it to the Heavenly. All the saints respected fasting and revered it as the most favorable time for their correction and perfection. The great ascetics came into close contact with the Divinity and were vouchsafed great Revelations and visions precisely through strict fasting, which spiritualized them, weakened their attraction to earthly things, facilitated this contact for them, and brought down upon them the great mercies of God. Thus, for example, the holy prophet Moses, during his forty-day stay on Mount Sinai, during a strict fast, was vouchsafed to receive from the Lord stone tablets, on which was inscribed the God-given Law for the people of Israel. The holy Prophet Elijah, after a forty-day fast, was vouchsafed the Revelation of God on Mount Horeb. The Ninevites imposed a fast on themselves and through this they were pardoned. The people of Israel very often resorted to fasting when they wanted to be worthy of some mercy from the Lord or to escape His righteous wrath. St. Basil the Great says that fasting is contemporary with humanity, because already in paradise the commandment about fasting was given. By the commandment not to eat fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the Lord established a fast in paradise, and if our forefathers had observed it, then we would not have had to observe it. Fasting is the mother of chastity, the protection and adornment of virginity of youth. With such a meaning of fasting, should we, sinners, not observe it! Let us cleanse our souls by fasting and repentance from all sinful defilement, and then the Lord will come to us and bring with Him the radiant Kingdom of the grace of Christian virtues, and with joy we will exclaim, as the Most-Pure Virgin exclaimed: My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour! (cf. Luke 1:46-47). Grant us all, O Lord, to spend salvific times of fasting and repentance, and, having survived, to greet the Radiant Resurrection of Christ with spiritual joy. Amen. 1963

Homily on the Prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian

Do not be afraid, little flock! for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. (Luke 12:32) In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit! Beloved brothers and sisters of God, as we embark on the podvig of Great Lent, we must thank the Lord with all our hearts that He, Who desires salvation for all, has vouchsafed us to live this year to the holy days of Great Lent. We must consider it a blessing and a great mercy of God that we have the opportunity to pray to God under the arches of this holy church, to be edified by touching Lenten hymns and prayers, and, examining ourselves, to bring repentance to God for our sins. The Holy Church, our tender, child-loving mother, is now clothed in mourning garb, and with the slow, mournful ringing of bells, the touching Lenten service, calls us to repentance, trying to awaken in us our sleeping conscience and arouse zeal for correction. Just as in the spring the whole nature of animals, birds, and trees strips off its old veil and puts on a new and beautiful garment, so we must in these holy days purify ourselves, strip our souls of the filthy rags of sin by fasting, prayer, and repentance, and clothe our souls in clean garments acceptable to the Lord. O my soul, my soul, arise, why are you sleeping? The end draws nigh, and you are troubled. Arise, that Christ God may have mercy on thee, Who is everywhere present and fulfills all things... Thus St. Andrew of Crete addresses his soul in his touching Canon of Repentance, which we heard at the evening service. Let us, dear brothers and sisters, turn with these words to our souls and try to awaken it from its heavy, painful, sinful sleep. O my soul, my soul, arise! Arise from your attraction and attachment to earthly things! For you were created not for earth, but for Heaven, not for enslavement to corruptible things, but for serving Your Creator and Redeemer and glorifying Him. O my soul, my soul, arise, that thou sleepest! See how your Creator and Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, your Guide, the Heavenly Mother, the Most Blessed Mother of God, your Guardian Angel and all the saints are waiting for your awakening. They say to you: "Lift up your gaze, poor soul, from earth to Heaven; Arise from the sleep of sin! Can you sleep now, when your sincere friends show such tender care for you and want to heal you, weak and sick, with prayers and the Sacraments, while your enemy puts you to sleep and tries to destroy you!" O my soul, my soul, arise, why are you sleeping? The end is approaching! Why do you not care, my poor soul, about your fate, why do you spend a few days of your life in the diaspora? Don't you know that you're about to be called? They will be called to a test open to the whole world, to the Dread Judgment of God. Terrible, truly terrible will be this Judgment, although the Lord is good, although He is merciful. For the same Jesus, Who now calls all to Himself, will then send away from Himself all unrepentant sinners, saying: "I do not know you, depart from Me, all you who practice iniquity" (cf. Matt. 7:23; Lk. 13:27). The end is approaching. Do you not know, my poor soul, that a man, as soon as he has time to enter this world with one foot, is already standing in the grave with the other? The first hour of earthly life is already a step that brings us closer to death. A day passed, and we came closer to our death, and a year passed, and we came even closer to the limit of our lives. Time now flies with terrifying rapidity, not only hours flash, but also days, months, and years. You are asleep, soul, and death is imperceptibly approaching you with rapid steps. After all, in this way you lose precious time that you need for your correction! If the souls of the righteous did not think about death without confusion, then what confusion will you experience when the time comes to separate from the body! The day and hour will come when you will really be embarrassed. That terrible hour will come when no one will protect you: neither brother, nor kinsman, nor authority, nor wealth, nor fame, nor honor, but then only man and his deeds will be brought to the Judgment. That's when you will be troubled, poor soul, you will be confused and frightened. You will be afraid of the fruits of what you have sown on the earth, you will be afraid of the fiery Gehenna. All your earthly deeds will seem abominable to you, which you will then remember to the smallest detail. If you wish to reform, but it will be too late, you will cry out for mercy, but then the doors of repentance will be closed, and you will be tormented forever. But you, poor soul, can avoid all this. Arise! Wake up, shake off your sinful impurity, and repent sincerely. For there is no other way to correction than repentance. Do not postpone your correction until tomorrow, because the enemy, who is always on guard, will certainly take advantage of your slowness, but begin repentance immediately. If you truly arise, then may Christ God have mercy on you. May your sins be like purple, and then the Lord will cleanse them in the abyss of His mercy. And then the Lord Jesus Christ, Who is everywhere present and fulfills all things, will penetrate into your being and reign in you. If you do not rise up and rise up, then such grief and such a fate will befall you, all the horror of which you cannot even imagine now... Dear brothers and sisters! The Holy Church has united the podvig of repentance with the field of fasting, as with the time that makes our soul cheerful and light. We have now entered the great field of the Great Lent of the Lord, established in imitation of the forty-day fast of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the Saviour, out of His love for us, before preaching the Gospel to the people and His sufferings on the Cross, fasted for forty days, did not eat or drink anything. And since the life of Jesus Christ is for us the rule of a pious life, His forty-day fast cannot but be an indispensable rule for us, unless we bear the name of Christians in vain. The Lord Himself legalized fasting for His disciples. When some came to Him, asking, "Why do the disciples of John and the Pharisees fast, but Thy disciples do not fast?" (Mark 2:18), then in response to this the Lord said: Can the sons of the bridal chamber fast when the bridegroom is with them? As long as the bridegroom is with them, they cannot fast, but the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days (Mark 2:19-20). With these words, the Lord says that whoever sincerely loves Him, who shares with Him participation in His great work and shares His feelings, will be crushed and fast, when His Lord is taken to suffering and death, he will sanctify the time of separation from the Lord with a touching fast. This is what the Holy Orthodox Church does, sanctifying the time of Christ's sufferings with a special fast. Fasting is a holy deed, because it curbs the passions that live in our body. Fasting is a means to acquire holiness, for just as intemperance opens the door to depravity of thoughts and deeds, so abstinence imparts light to thoughts, purity to feelings, freedom and strength to the spirit. One of the Holy Fathers says: "When a king wants to take an enemy city, he first of all withholds water and food, and the enemies, dying of hunger and thirst, submit to him. So it is with our carnal passions. If a person lives in hunger and fasting, then the enemies, weakened, will leave the soul." According to the words of St. John Chrysostom, whoever fasts extinguishes his evil passions. Fasting makes the soul cheerful, elevates it above the earthly and draws it to the Heavenly. All the saints respected fasting and revered it as the most favorable time for their correction and perfection. The great ascetics came into close contact with the Divinity and were vouchsafed great Revelations and visions precisely through strict fasting, which spiritualized them, weakened their attraction to earthly things, facilitated this contact for them, and brought down upon them the great mercies of God. Thus, for example, the holy prophet Moses, during his forty-day stay on Mount Sinai, during a strict fast, was vouchsafed to receive from the Lord stone tablets, on which was inscribed the God-given Law for the people of Israel. The holy Prophet Elijah, after a forty-day fast, was vouchsafed the Revelation of God on Mount Horeb. The Ninevites imposed a fast on themselves and through this they were pardoned. The people of Israel very often resorted to fasting when they wanted to be worthy of some mercy from the Lord or to escape His righteous wrath. St. Basil the Great says that fasting is contemporary with humanity, because already in paradise the commandment about fasting was given. By the commandment not to eat fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the Lord established a fast in paradise, and if our forefathers had observed it, then we would not have had to observe it. Fasting is the mother of chastity, the protection and adornment of virginity of youth. With such a meaning of fasting, should we, sinners, not observe it! Let us cleanse our souls by fasting and repentance from all sinful defilement, and then the Lord will come to us and bring with Him the radiant Kingdom of the grace of Christian virtues, and with joy we will exclaim, as the Most-Pure Virgin exclaimed: My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour! (cf. Luke 1:46-47). Grant us all, O Lord, to spend salvific times of fasting and repentance, and, having survived, to greet the Radiant Resurrection of Christ with spiritual joy. Amen. 1963

"Do not give me the spirit of idleness, despondency, covetousness and idle talk"

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit! Dear brothers and sisters, during Great Lent we hear how at each Divine Lenten service the priest reads a short but touching prayer: O Lord and Master of my life, do not give me the spirit of idleness, despondency, covetousness and idle talk. Grant the spirit of chastity, humility, patience and love to me, Thy servant. O Lord the King, grant me to see my sins and not to condemn my brother, for blessed art Thou unto the ages of ages. Amen. This prayer consists of only ten petitions, but in its repentant spirit and ability to bring a person to contrition of heart, it surpasses many other prayers, which is why it is customary to read it during Great Lent, when the Church calls us to the renewal of the soul, to the feat of self-examination, to intensified prayer and repentance, to the cleansing of our sins. Each of its words resonates in our souls, and helps us to realize our vices and desire virtue, and disposes us to prayerfully appeal to God for help in the struggle with our passions. The compiler of this prayer, St. Ephraim the Syrian, wept all his life, and therefore it is filled with such a deep repentant edifying feeling and consolation. The Monk Ephraim begins his prayer with an appeal to God: Lord and Master of my life... The Word of God reveals to us that our life is connected with God, depends on Him and is held together by Him. In His merciful hands is the fate of the righteous and the unjust, the good and the evil, and of all the animal and plant world. No one and nothing can exist even a day or an hour without His creative power of the Holy Spirit, which sustains the existence of every created living creature. Therefore, feeling God in our hearts, we cannot begin, continue, or complete any work on earth without prayer to Him, without His blessing. God is indeed the Master, the Boss, the Master of our life. In the first petition the Monk Ephraim asks God not to give him the spirit of idleness. Idleness is understandable to everyone - it is laziness and negligence about the most urgent affairs and, above all, about one's own salvation. It can bring a person to immobility, to complete stagnation both in the spiritual life and in the necessary daily activities. Outward idleness is understandable to almost everyone, because all of us, to one degree or another, are partakers of this spiritual illness when we give ourselves over to negligence and dissipation and allow ourselves to neglect our home prayer, when we omit going to church, or when we allow ourselves to be hasty in prayer in order to finish it as soon as possible and give ourselves over to rest or vain talkativeness; But when this illness strikes all our spiritual strength, then a difficult moral, spiritual state sets in. Then a person no longer lives a normal, real life, because he does not have in his soul a constant life-giving principle for full-fledged human activity, but lives a ghostly, imaginary, useless, useless life. He loves to indulge in useless dreams and idle vain conversations and is incapable of any good work. This idleness, this weakness and negligence lead us away from our main concern – salvation. Therefore, we pray that the Lord will deliver us from this ailment. In the second petition the Monk Ephraim asks the Lord to deliver him from the illness of despondency. Despondency is such a gloomy, dreary state of mind when everything in life is shown to a person only from the dark side. He rejoices in nothing, nothing satisfies him, circumstances seem intolerable to him, he grumbles about everything, he is irritated on every occasion - in short, life itself is then a burden to him. Despondency comes, as the Holy Fathers teach, from the same idleness, from lack of faith, unbelief, from unrepentance of one's sins. Previous anger or insults inflicted on someone, lack of fear of God, verbosity, or failures in personal life, work, and similar troubles can also lead to despondency. At the same time, very often despondency itself leads to another, more dangerous state of mind, called despair, when a person often admits the thought of premature death and even considers it already an essential good on the path of his earthly life. To give way to despair means to cut off contact with the world around us and not to have communion with the Source of our life - God. "I don't want to live, I have lost interest in life, and there is no meaning in it" - such words can be heard from a person obsessed with despair. Since this illness is very serious, the monk also asks the Lord to deliver him from it. This vice is such that it is necessary to pray against it with persistent, unceasing prayer. This is what the Saviour Himself teaches us in the Gospel, saying that we should never lose heart, but should always pray (cf. Luke 18:1). Persistent, constant prayer, combined with faith in the power of prayer and God's help, will restore the connection with the surrounding world and preserve us from despondency. Prayer must also be combined with the work of cleansing one's conscience in the Sacrament of Repentance, by which the grace of God is also given, strengthening our spiritual strength. To read spiritual books and live according to God's commandments - all this will be the best way to protect from the destructive spirit of despondency. In the third petition the Monk Ephraim asks the Lord to deliver him from the spirit of covetousness. The passion of lust is inherent in our sinful prideful nature, and it manifests itself in all areas of human life. For example, in the relation of the father of the family to the family, the boss to his subordinates, the mentor to his students, the elders to the younger: everyone wants to subordinate others to his influence, to dictate his will to them. Such a spiritual disposition is contrary to the teaching of the Gospel, the teaching of Christ, Who Himself showed an example of the deepest humility and repeatedly said that he who wants to be greater let him be a servant of all (cf. Matt. 20:26-27; Mk. 10:43-44; Lk. 22:26). A hidden secret pride is associated with this vice, and therefore when we have a passion to teach others, to instruct, to rebuke, then this is a sure sign of our soul's possession by the spirit of lust for power, lust. This spirit makes a person disgusting to all those around him, and moreover, incapable of fighting his passions and vices. That is why we pray to the Lord that He would deliver us from it and not allow it to take possession of our souls. In the fourth petition, the Monk Ephraim asks the Lord to deliver him from the spirit of idle talk, to which almost all people also participate. Everyone loves to talk about it, while the gift of the word is given so that we may glorify God with our lips, and through the word we may have fellowship with one another, serving for mutual edification. There is a wise folk proverb that says that the word is silver and silence is gold. And this truth was held by many saints, who closed their mouths, although it was necessary - for edifying purposes - to open them for conversation. By verbosity, a person empties his soul, weakens it and makes it scattered. Let us look at the Saviour, how brief He was in His teachings and instructions! The Lord's Prayer is given in only seven petitions, and the Beatitudes are given in nine verses. The angels praise God briefly: "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God of hosts!" Just as a vessel that is often opened does not retain the strength and aroma of the most fragrant substance placed in it, so the soul of a person who loves to talk a lot does not preserve good thoughts and good feelings for a long time, but spews out streams of condemnation, slander, slander, flattery, etc. That is why the Church prays during fasting: Set up, O Lord, a guard over my lips and a door of protection over my lips. Turn not my heart into words of wickedness (Psalm 140:3-4). As weeds litter the soil and prevent good grains from growing on it, so empty, rotten words kill the soul and do not allow good thoughts and feelings to grow in it. Thus, dear brothers and sisters, remembering and preserving the good lessons hidden in the prayer of St. Ephraim, and by following them, we will surely attract to ourselves the grace of God and become dear to our Heavenly Father, we will be vouchsafed to behold the Heavenly Jerusalem and to be blessed with all the Heavenly Powers and the souls of the righteous. And therefore, always, and especially during the days of Great Lent, let us cry out more often: O Lord and Master of my life, do not give me the spirit of idleness, despondency, covetousness, and idle talk. Grant the spirit of chastity, humility, patience and love to me, Thy servant. O Lord the King, grant me to see my sins and not to condemn my brother, for blessed art Thou unto the ages of ages. Amen. 1962

"Give me the spirit of chastity, humility, patience and love, Thy servant"

Во имя Отца и Сына и Святаго Духа! В предыдущей беседе мы с вами, дорогие братия и сестры, останавливались на молитве преподобного Ефрема Сирина и говорили, что эта глубоко содержательная молитва исполнена покаянного и смиренного чувства и что каждое слово ее находит отклик в нашей душе и помогает нам познать свои страсти, пороки и возжелать добродетели, без которой никто не может приблизиться к Богу. В прошлый раз мы разобрали первые четыре прошения, в которых преподобный Ефрем Сирин просит Господа, чтобы Он не дал ему духа праздности, уныния, любоначалия и празднословия. И ныне мы продолжим нашу беседу. В пятом прошении Преподобный просит Господа дать ему дух целомудрия. Под целомудрием в его общем понимании нужно разуметь общее благодатное неиспорченное состояние человека: его честность, правдивость, чистоту сердца и ума, благое направление его воли и т.д. У целомудренного человека вся жизнь целомудренна, он чужд лукавства, двоедушия и колебаний, грубых удовольствий и тайных вожделений. Основа такой жизни - в крепкой и непрерываемой жизни в Боге. В более же узком и употребительном значении это слово означает чистое девственное состояние души человека, когда он хранит себя не только от плотского греха, но бережет и от всякого сладострастного помысла и желания. Ничто так не делает нас приятными и любезными Богу, как целомудрие, и ничто так не украшает человека во всяком возрасте, как чистое, целомудренное состояние его души. Как свежий, чистый цветок благоухает своей нежностью и бывает приятен для всех, так цел, свеж и чист целомудренный человек. Между тем слово Божие открывает нам, что в мире господствует растление похотью (см.: 2 Пет. 1, 4), что в похоти превращаются самые заботы людей о плоти (см.: Рим. 13, 14), а потому увещевает нас оно, чтобы мы от плотских похотей удалялись (см.: 1 Пет. 2, 11) и злую похоть в себе умерщвляли (см.: Кол. 3, 5). Слово Божие открывает нам также, что блудник есть не только тот человек, который и на самом деле блудит, но и тот, что с вожделением смотрит на женщину. Поэтому будем оберегать целомудрие, чистоту и девственность наших душ и сердец. Будем помнить, что целомудрие - это сокровище, больше того, это наша святыня, как говорит о сем святитель Иоанн Златоуст. Как это делать? Людям свойственна стыдливость. Храните и развивайте ее. В ней - естественная основа нашего целомудрия, девственности душ и телес наших. Надо избегать любования своим телом, ибо это - источник тайных наслаждений и вожделений. Не надо всматриваться в лица и фигуры встречных лиц. Не надо ничего читать соблазнительного и худого. И наконец, необходимо подавлять и искоренять в себе похотливые помыслы и желания и, больше того, возненавидеть их как исчадия низших стихий нашей природы. Почаще надобно взирать на образ вечной и совершенной чистоты Приснодевы Марии и прибегать в молитвенном общении к Ней - корню девства и неувядаемому цвету чистоты, а самое главное - обращаться с молитвою к Господу: Господи и Владыко Живота моего, дух... целомудрия... даруй ми, рабу Твоему. В шестом прошении преподобный Ефрем просит Господа дать ему дух смиренномудрия.

Таковы признаки истинного смирения. Без смирения нет и спасения, потому что только тогда все наши добродетели имеют цену в очах Божиих, когда утверждаются они на смирении. Смиренный человек чем больше получает, тем более бывает признателен Богу и тем более сознает свою собственную нищету. Только смиренномудрием приумножаются все дары благодати, и один только смиренномудрый не падает, потому что он держит себя ниже всех и ему нет места куда упасть. Блаженны нищие духом (Мф. 5, 3), - говорит Спаситель. Сам Господь, начав наше спасение совершать, принял образ раба, смирил Себя и уничижил, а поэтому и нас призывает учиться у Него кротости и смирению: Научитесь от Меня, ибо Я кроток и смирен сердцем (Мф. 11, 29). Основа смирения - в самоуничижении ради Христа, в отказе от своей гордости и самопревозношения. Апостол Петр учит: Все… подчиняясь друг другу, облекитесь смиренномудрием, потому что Бог гордым противится, а смиренным дает благодать (1 Пет. 5, 5). А нам как раз, дорогие, подчиняться друг другу и почитать других выше себя бывает очень нелегко, нелегко потому, что все мы явно или тайно ставим себя выше других, и оттого искренне, от глубины души признать себя хуже и грешнее, слабее, ничтожнее, виновнее всех для нас составляет большую трудность. Поэтому-то наша гордость и держит нас в самообольщении, заставляет давать своим качествам повышенную оценку. А между тем ничто так не низводит на нас благодать Божию, как смирение. Смирение возвышает человека, гордость же, напротив, унижает его и делает противным для всех окружающих. Преподобный Исаак Сирин пишет, что, как только человек смирится, немедленно его окружает милость Божия, сердце его ощущает Божественную помощь, ибо на кого воззрю, - говорит Господь Пророку, - токмо на кроткаго и молчаливаго и трепещущаго словес Моих (Ис. 66, 2). Быть смиренным - великое блаженство, поэтому и должны мы просить Господа: Господи и Владыко живота моего, дух... смиреномудрия... даруй ми. В седьмом прошении Преподобный просит, чтобы Господь даровал ему дух терпения. Терпение необходимо нам для получения вечного спасения, потому что только претерпевший до конца, - говорит Господь, - спасется (ср.: Мф. 10, 22). Только тот получит спасение, кто перенесет все напасти земной жизни с верою в Бога и Его милосердие. "Терпение нам потребно иметь", - говорит святой апостол Павел (см.: Евр. 10, 36), потому что узким путем надобно идти в Царство Небесное (см.: Мф. 7, 13-14). И его, как всякой добродетели и всякого дара, должно просить у Бога, молясь Ему прилежно с надеждою на милосердие Его: "Господи, даруй ми терпение не для угождения людям и страстям, а для угождения Тебе, претерпевшему за меня неизмеримые скорби и страдания. Когда станут против меня нужды и печали житейские, когда встречу сильные оскорбления от неправды или зависти человеческой, когда понесу горькие для сердца моего утраты, тогда подкрепи меня, немощного, и предохрани от ропота на людей и на Тебя Самого. Когда болезни изнурят тело мое или внутренние смущения - дух мой, когда душа ослабеет в служении Тебе и тьма уныния покроет душу мою, тогда наипаче пошли мне, изнемогающему, Твою силу, и даруй терпение с упованием, и сохрани меня от отчаяния…" В восьмом прошении преподобный Ефрем Сирин просит даровать ему дух любви. Ничто так не родственно нашей природе, как добродетель любви, потому что в наше естество вложено Творцом стремление к благорасположению, стремление любить друг друга. Сам Бог в Своем Существе есть Совершеннейшая Любовь, и ничто так не приближает нас к Нему и не делает Ему подобными, как добродетель любви. Любовь есть корень и вершина, начало и венец всех добродетелей, союз совершенства (см.: Кол. 3, 14). Любовь есть источник жизни и сама жизнь, ибо без нее человеческая жизнь давно бы угасла. Сердце наше не может жить и развиваться без любви. Вне ее оно томится, тоскует, духовно замирает. И наоборот, любовью оно живится и ею привлекает благодать Божию и очищает себя от множества грехов (см.: 1 Пет. 4, 8). Христианская любовь долготерпит, милосердствует, не завидует, не превозносится, не гордится, не бесчинствует, не ищет своего, не раздражается, не мыслит зла, не радуется неправде, а сорадуется истине; все покрывает, всему верит, всего надеется, все переносит (ср.: 1 Кор. 13, 4-7). Высокий пример такой любви показан нам в лице Единородного Сына Божия, Господа нашего Иисуса Христа, Который, пригвожден будучи ко Кресту, молился за Своих распинателей. Он долготерпит нашим согрешениям, Он ниспосылает нам Свои милости. Ему противны гордость и бесчинство, раздражение и всякое зло. Он Один - Истина, Он всех и всегда любит. Поэтому и каждый из нас призывается подражать своему Господу и Учителю. Возлюбите Бога, братия и сестры, за Его к нам милосердие; любите и Матерь Его Святую за Ее ходатайство о нас, грешных; любите и всех святых за их молитвы о нас, недостойных; любите отцов и матерей, вас родивших; любите и всех ближних ваших, даже и врагов ваших, и молитесь за них Богу, твердо памятуя, что в заповеди о любви к Богу и ближним состоит весь закон и пророки (Мф. 7, 12). Люби всех, и с Богом будешь, и Бог в тебе будет. А посему да не престанем молить Господа, чтобы Он даровал нам дух любви. Дорогие мои, время быстро бежит, пробегают месяцы и годы, приближая нас к тому исходу, к тому концу, когда навечно решена будет наша участь. Добрая жизнь оправдает нас, худая, нерадивая - осудит. Поэтому будем с умилением просить Господа: Господи и Владыко живота моего, дух... целомудрия, смиреномудрия, терпения и любве даруй ми, рабу Твоему. Аминь. 1962 г.

О добродетели смирения

Господи и Владыко живота моего, дух... смиреномудрия... даруй ми, рабу Твоему... яко благословен еси во веки веков. Аминь Во имя Отца и Сына и Святаго Духа! Дорогие братия и сестры, в начале Великого поста, когда мы еще только вступали в первые дни Святой Четыредесятницы, Церковь предлагала нам наставление, чтобы мы, постясь телесно, постились и духовно. Церковь указывала нам, что истинный и приятный Богу пост есть злых отчуждение, воздержание языка, ярости отложение, похотей отлучение, оскудение лжи и клятвопреступления [1]. Таким образом, если мы, удерживаясь от пищи и пития, не удерживаемся в то же время от злобы, зависти, ненависти, зложелательства, осуждения, то, не евши хлеба, мы поглощаем ближнего и одною рукой созидаем, а другою разоряем. Поэтому Святая Церковь нам с самого начала предлагала глубоко содержательную молитву преподобного Ефрема Сирина, которая своим покаянным смиренным духом пробуждала в нас стремление к стяжанию добродетелей и отвращению от пороков. В шестом прошении этой молитвы преподобный Ефрем просит у Бога дать ему дух смиренномудрия: Господи и Владыко живота моего, дух... смиреномудрия... даруй ми, рабу Твоему. В чем состоит смиренномудрие? Смиренномудрие есть такое состояние души, в котором она, познав всю слабость и нечистоту свою, бывает далеко от всякого высокого мнения о себе, постоянно старается раскрывать в себе доброе, искоренять все злое, но никогда не почитает себя достигшею совершенства и ожидает его от благодати Божией, а не от собственных усилий. Святые Отцы и учители Церкви не находят слов для восхваления этой добродетели. "В душах смиренных почиет Господь" - так говорят они. Не спасет нас ни подвижничество, ни бдение, ни другой какой труд, если не будет при сем истинного смирения. Но, несмотря на высокое достоинство и значение этой добродетели, в нас христианского смирения очень мало. Дух явной или тайной гордыни и тщеславия обладает нами, так что почти каждый из нас много и высоко думает о себе и мало и низко о других. Даже те, кому по самому положению своему должно было бы смиряться, не хотят смиряться перед старшими, но каждый возвышает себя и превозносит, а унизить и смирить себя не желает. "Да хуже ли я других!" - говорят обыкновенно. Высоко себя ставя и желая первенства, почти никто не помышляет о необходимости смиренно служить всем и каждому. Возвышая, восхваляя себя и унижая, презирая ближних, станем ли мы со смирением служить им? Отсюда в семье и обществе вместо любви, согласия и взаимных услуг царят взаимная неуступчивость, взаимное недоброжелательство, зависть и ненависть друг к другу, ссоры, распри, раздоры. А добродетель смирения приходит чуть ли не во всеобщее забвение. Между тем эта добродетель есть самая любезная Богу. Сам Господь свидетельствует о том: На кого воззрю, токмо на кроткаго и молчаливаго и трепещущаго словес Моих (Ис. 66, 2). "Смиренномудрие, - говорит преподобный Симеон Новый Богослов, - заключает в себе послушание, терпение, признание человеческой немощи, благодарение Богу за все: за славу и бесчестие, здоровье и болезнь, богатство и бедность". Еще более признаков истинного смирения указывает преподобный Ефрем Сирин. Сюда относится: никого не осуждать, не унижать и не оклеветывать, говорить тихо, спокойно, редко, ни в чем не выставлять себя за меру, ни с кем не спорить ни о вере, ни о другом чем (но, если говорит кто хорошо, сказать ему: "Да", а если худо, отвечать: "Сам знаешь"), быть в подчинении и гнушаться своей воли, никогда не празднословить, не пустословить, не лгать, не противоречить высшему, с радостью переносить обиды, уничижения, любить труд, никого не огорчать, не уязвлять ничью совесть. Основа смирения и смиренномудрия - в самоуничижении ради Христа, в отказе от себя, от своей гордости и самопревозношения. Все же, подчиняясь друг другу, - говорит святой апостол Петр, - облекитесь смиренномудрием, потому что Бог гордым противится, а смиренным дает благодать. Итак смиритесь под крепкую руку Божию (1 Пет. 5, 5-6). Но как трудно подчиняться друг другу и почитать других выше себя! Все мы явно или тайно ставим себя выше ближних, и кажется, что ничего нет невозможнее для нас, нежели искренне, от глубины души признать себя хуже, грешнее, слабее, ничтожнее, виновнее всех других людей. Если мы иногда на словах и готовы признать это, то неискренне, лукаво, горделиво, ибо в душе остаемся при том же мнении, что если мы не лучше, то уж, во всяком случае, и не хуже других. Для нашей гордости признать себя хуже, ничтожнее других значит совершить над собой самоубийство. Поэтому она не позволяет нам сказать правду о себе самих. Она всегда держит нас в самообольщении, заставляя давать своим качествам повышенную оценку. Кто из нас от всего сердца может сказать о себе эти слова: "Я - ничто, я - худейший, последнейший из всех"? Мало кто, хотя бы и был самым преступным человеком. А это и значит, что смирение, смиренномудрие как небо от земли далеко от нас. Если мы желаем быть истинными христианами, то должны всеми силами стараться возбудить в себе дух христианского смирения и стремления служить ближним. Чтобы мы полюбили смирение и не думали, что оно может унизить нас, а напротив, понимали, что служит оно к нашему возвышению, мы должны всегда помнить, что гордость ненавистна и Господу, и ближним нашим, в то время как смирение привлекает благоволение и Божие, и людей и ему прямо обещана от Господа награда. Кто высоко думает о себе, высоко ставит себя, гордится, собой занимается, а к другим относится с небрежением, тот мал, низок и мерзок пред Богом. Что высоко у людей, - говорит нам слово Божие, - т!о мерзость пред Богом... всякий возвышающий сам себя унижен будет (ср.: Лк. 16, 15; 14, 11) - опять-таки и перед Богом, и перед людьми. Напротив, кто имеет смирение и смиренно служит другим, тот будет возвышен Богом и почтен людьми. "Блажен, - говорит преподобный Исаак Сирин, - кто смиряет себя во всем, потому что будет он возвышен. Посему умаляй себя во всем пред всеми людьми, предваряй всякого своим приветствием и поклоном, и будешь почтен. Унижай себя ради Бога, и не узнаешь, как умножится слава твоя. Всю жизнь свою признавай себя грешником, чтобы во всей жизни своей быть оправданным. Будь невеждою в мудрости своей, а не кажись мудрым, будучи невеждою. Будь по учению Спасителя слугою и рабом во благо всем ближним, и ты придешь к совершенству и превосходству". В целях побудить себя к смирению, мы должны всегда иметь в виду, что без смирения все добродетели наши и все подвиги не могут иметь истинной цены пред Богом. "Без смирения, - пишет святитель Тихон Задонский, - неполезна молитва бывает. Без смирения истинное покаяние быть не может, но есть притворное и ложное, которое только на устах, а не на сердце имеется". "Без смирения, - утверждает преподобный Исаак, - напрасны все дела наши, всякие добродетели и всякое делание". И это воистину так. О преподобном Арсении Великом рассказывается, что некогда Ангел Господень показал ему такое видение: стояла отворенная церковь и два мужа несли к той церкви бревно и хотели пройти в двери церковные, но не могли, так как несли бревно не в длину его, как следовало бы, а в ширину. Не желая уступить один другому, они хотели пройти в церковные двери оба разом, а потому и остались за дверями, не будучи в состоянии войти в отворенный храм. Преподобный Арсений спросил Ангела: "Что значит видение сие?" И Ангел объяснил ему. "Сии люди, несшие бревно, - сказал он, - изображают собой мужей добродетельных, но гордых, которые не хотят смириться друг перед другом и посему не входят в Царство Небесное, но остаются вне по гордости своей". Также, чтобы возбудить в себе дух смирения и стремление служить другим, мы должны чаще взирать на пример Господа нашего Иисуса Христа. "Сын Божий тебя ради смирился, тебе ли гордиться? - восклицает святитель Тихон Задонский. - Сын Божий умыл ноги ученикам Своим, тебе ли стыдно послужить братии своей?" Сын Божий не для того приходил на землю, чтобы Ему служили, но чтобы послужить и отдать душу Свою для искупления многих (Мф. 20, 28). Нам ли высокомудрствовать о себе и уничижать других? Нам ли не нести трудов и не приносить жертв для блага ближних? Все добрые христиане в высоком примере своего Господа находили сильнейшее побуждение к тому, чтобы смирять себя пред Богом и людьми, и всегда показывали друг другу взаимную уступчивость и услужливость. Так, например, великий святой муж - преподобный Макарий Египетский - не постыдился и не поленился однажды сходить из пустыни в Александрию только для того, чтобы доставить утешение жившему в пустыне больному отшельнику - купить и принести ему некую пищу, которой больной пожелал. Подобного рода услуги ближним своим старались оказывать и все истинно великие и истинно святые люди. Будем же стараться обучиться этой добродетели и мы, дорогие братия и сестры, памятуя, что смирение возносит человека, а гордость низвергает в бездну и лишает благодати Божией. А наипаче будем усердно молиться и просить Господа: Господи и Владыко живота моего, дух... смиреномудрия... даруй ми, рабу Твоему... яко благословен еси во веки веков. Аминь. 1961 г. См. 1-ю стихиру на стиховне на вечерне понедельника 1-й седмицы Великого поста. - Ред. ^

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