The Apostle Paul says that the stars of heaven differ in their glory. The same is true of the saints: some of them are more glorified by God, and others to a lesser degree. "There are greater and lesser gifts of God," says St. Isaac of Syria, "although they are all high and wondrous, but one surpasses the other, and the degree is higher." Great glory in the Kingdom of Heaven is enjoyed by those who loved God more here, during their earthly life.

Or we can make another comparison: the saints are like flowers in a beautiful garden. After all, flowers are also very different: in size, and in appearance, and in color, and in aroma. In the same way, the saints: they are all different, but they all dwell in one and the same heavenly garden of God.

When we speak of the saints, we must first of all remember that all of us, Christians, are called to come to the same place where they came, that is, to the Kingdom of God. Each of us in due time must become one of the heavenly stars or one of the flowers in the heavenly Garden of Eden. After all, this is what it means to be saved and please God.

How can we come to the Kingdom of God? And how did the saints come there? Although the saints are very different, they all have one thing in common: they loved Christ and dedicated their lives to fulfilling His commandments. So we must devote our lives to this, brothers and sisters, and we must try to fulfill the commandments of Christ in our lives. And we must learn to fulfill these commandments from none other than the saints themselves. To do this, we need to get to know them better, to establish communication with them. After all, according to St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, conversation and the company of neighbors have a strong effect on a person. Conversation and acquaintance with a scientist gives a lot of information, with a poet – a lot of lofty thoughts and feelings, with a traveler – a lot of knowledge about countries, about the manners and customs of the people. Obviously, conversation and acquaintance with the saints impart holiness.

And so, brothers and sisters, it is absolutely necessary for us to make friends with the saints. How can you buy their friendship? It can be acquired through reading their lives and works. If we read the lives and works of the saints, if we try to imitate them as much as we can, then we become their close and unanimous friends, continuers of their work on earth. If we are unanimous friends of the saints, then we will undoubtedly come in due time to where they dwell, that is, to heaven. That's when each of us will become one of the beautiful flowers in the garden of the Heavenly King, one of the eternal stars in the Kingdom of Christ and our God. Amen.

On non-condemnation

Is there an easy way to salvation? Of course, we immediately want to answer this question in the negative. After all, it is known that it is impossible to be saved without labor, without exertion of strength, and consequently there can be no easy path to salvation. However, the Holy Fathers answer it positively: yes, there is an easy way to salvation. What is this path? It consists in fulfilling Christ's words about non-condemnation: "Judge not, that ye be not judged." After all, it follows from these words that if we do not condemn, then we will not be condemned at the Last Judgment, and if we are not condemned, it means that we will be justified and thus be saved.

So, it turns out that there is a simple way to salvation: do not condemn others, and you will be saved. At the same time, it does not even require any special and extraordinary feats – strict fasting, night vigils with prostrations, and the like – only non-condemnation is required. It would seem that everything is simple, but, alas, we do not want to go this way, because we love to condemn people too much. We constantly judge everyone and everything: family, relatives, acquaintances, friends, neighbors, colleagues, rulers and bosses. We are so accustomed to condemnation that we no longer even notice it – it has become our second nature, as it were. It is not in vain that the Holy Fathers say that any habit, both bad and good, having taken root in a person through long-term adherence to it, acquires the power of nature, the force of nature. Folk wisdom tells us the same thing: habit is second nature.