From the publisher

Probably, the name of Archimandrite Raphael (Karelin) [1] is already familiar to many. Some read a collection of his sermons published by the publishing house of the Moscow Representation of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, others read the words on the "Great Christian Feasts", the brochures "Mysticism of Earthly Time" and "The Icon "Glory of the Georgian Catholicos Church"". Someone came across his teachings in Orthodox prayer books. However, most of Fr. Raphael's works remain unknown to a wide range of readers. Meanwhile, his work – sermons and conversations, teachings and articles – is an outstanding, bright and original phenomenon in modern Orthodox literature. Our time is a period of the return (or simply coming) to the Church of a huge mass of people, those who were torn away from it and from the very faith in God by years of apostasy and oblivion. However, even having come to the Church, many still remain as if in front of "closed doors." The life of the Church is hidden, it cannot be "examined", it is necessary to merge into it, to live it. But everything in it is new and unfamiliar and so different from what surrounds us in this world. Sacraments and rites, hymns and words of prayer - all this amazes with its majestic, unearthly beauty. But their true meaning, their very essence, often remain undisclosed, incomprehensible. It is even more difficult to come to a correct understanding of the inner, spiritual life, the principles of asceticism and Orthodox asceticism. The Holy Scriptures, the works of the Holy Fathers – this is the key to understanding the life of the human spirit, its heavenly destiny, indicating the path to the knowledge of God and communion with God. However, how many questions arise in the soul when reading books? The word of Scripture often appears to us to be obscure, hidden, and the life of the Fathers and their teaching are unattainably lofty and unique... And then nothing is more helpful than the word of a priest, pastor and spiritual father, strengthened by the experience of one's own podvig and filled with love for those who hear it. Sometimes it is a word of teaching, sometimes of admonition, often of consolation. But it is always necessary, life-giving and joyful, relieving and cheering the soul, dispelling the darkness of sorrows and enlightening the eyes of the heart. An example of such a word is in the sermons of Fr. Raphael. All of them were pronounced at different times and on different occasions, but there is something in common in them that unites them: the author uses every opportunity to direct the path of his listeners to the Heavenly Jerusalem. It is as if it leads and reveals a new, spiritual world to those who listen to it. In these sermons one can find, perhaps, everything – from denunciation and indication of the means to cure the vices of the modern world to practical lessons in the struggle against demonic enemies and our own passions. The liturgical life of the Church, and the innermost life of the human heart, the paths by which man goes to God or moves away from Him, are successively revealed to us. From explaining the meaning and significance of the church sacraments, Fr. Raphael proceeds to reveal the mystery of approaching God through unceasing prayer. He constantly reminds us: we, Christians, are not only called to eternal, heavenly life, but we are already people taken as an inheritance (1 Pet. 2:9) and therefore not our own (1 Cor. 6:19). And our very home, where we live, even though we are bodily on earth, is the Church. "The house in which the Father," as Fr. Raphael repeats, is God Himself. The Mother is the Most Holy Mother of God. Angels and Saints are our elder brothers. And we ourselves are brothers and sisters to each other." Here we are safe, protected from any enemy. No one is able to kidnap us, to tear us out of the church fence, so long as we ourselves do not leave it. And those who are outside, hearing the voice of the pastor, should hasten to enter it. Unfortunately, we have no opportunity to report anything about Fr. Raphael himself, about his life – we do not have the author's blessing to publish any biographical materials about him. ^

The Way of a Christian

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit! Brothers and sisters, in the Gospel read before the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, brief in its size, but infinitely profound in its content, in its inner mystical meaning, the Lord says: "No one ascended into heaven except the Son of Man who came down from heaven and is in heaven" (John 3:13). The Son of God, incarnated from the Virgin Mary, became the Son of Man. Having descended to earth, He dwelt with the Father and the Spirit in His Divinity. Many philosophers wanted to comprehend the mysteries of the universe, many religions promised to reveal to us the secrets of eternity and salvation. But the Lord resolutely said: No one ascended into heaven... only... The Son of Man. Therefore, the only true teaching is the teaching of Christ the Savior. Other religions and philosophies are mere dreams of the human mind, mere shadows of truth, not truth. The Lord says: No one has ascended into heaven... Consequently, the founders of other religions – Buddha, Zoroaster and many others, without ascending to heaven, descended with their souls down to the depths of hell and there drew their inspirations and revelations. From the words of the Savior we can see that all other religions that claim to be true are lies and the offspring of the spirit of lies. There are people who say: "All religions are the same, believe in what you want, just do good and you will be saved." But Christ said: "All that have not come before Me are thieves and robbers" (John 10:8). Robbers and murderers take away a person's life, false teaching takes away his eternal salvation. There are people who say: "We are Christians, but at the same time we recognize the presence of truth in other teachings, we do yoga, we go to Krishnas, etc. In this way, we deepen the faith, as it were." Brothers and sisters, if medicine is mixed with poison, it will turn into poison. Truth mixed with falsehood becomes falsehood. In today's Gospel we hear the testimony of Christ Himself, the Son of God Himself, that no one was in heaven, but only the Son of Man, He alone – God Who took on human flesh. Other religions that claim to be the truth, to reveal some unknown mysteries – this is all satanic delusion. And where there is a lie, there is the father of lies. Further in the Gospel, which we have heard today, it says: "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up" (John 3:14). When the people of Israel were in the wilderness, there were many poisonous snakes in one place where they stopped. These snakes hid in the sand, in the crevices of the rocks, attacked people. Their bites were fatal, thousands died. The camp of the Israelites, filled with corpses, began to resemble a cemetery. And then, by Divine revelation, Moses made a serpent out of brass and lifted it up on a pole. As the Holy Fathers say, this pole had the shape of a cross. Moses ordered it to be raised above the camp, so that all the people could see the image of the serpent, and the one who, after being bitten by an echidna, had time to look at the cross with the copper serpent, did not die. The Holy Fathers explain that here is a prophecy, here is an omen of the Cross of Jesus Christ, and the serpent is sin and a demon defeated on the Cross. Earthly life is like a path. And we're walking among spirit serpents and scorpions. Snakes are demons, poison is sins. If we have time to look at the Cross, and to "look" means to repent from the heart, then we will not die, we will be saved, if only our repentance is sincere. The Lord says that everyone who believes in Him has eternal life. We believe in Jesus Christ, we call ourselves Christians, but will we all be saved? The Lord speaks of another – deep faith, of faith that becomes the rule of our life, the inner content of our soul. This is the faith in which, reading the Gospel, we perceive every word as light and truth. In this reading of the Gospel, we perceive what is written as the words of the Lord, addressed to us personally. The believer who lives by faith will be saved. It is said in the Gospel that we have heard today: "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:16). God is Love. The creation of the world is an act of Divine Love. Great mercy, brothers and sisters, and the very creation of man! The Lord gave us the ability to pray, to converse with Him. The Lord did not abandon mankind, which had fallen into sin. The Lord has revealed to us the infinite distances of spiritual perfection, He has revealed to us the Heavenly Kingdom! And most importantly, the greatest love of the Lord is His Cross. The cross is the sun of love. Brothers and sisters, the Cross and the Crucifixion are the foundation of our faith, they are the foundation of our life. If we do not sacrifice ourselves for others in our daily lives, our faith is extinguished, our hope is lost, and our love dies. In order to be believers, we must always try to sacrifice something for others, to help others, to bear their crosses. When we strive for our own happiness, but forget about others, then we do not achieve happiness, our soul remains empty and cold. Even if we have experienced all the pleasures of this world, we will still feel dissatisfied, sad and dead, as if we were covered with some kind of black veil. Those who give their lives for the sake of others are the happiest people, and especially those who bear the cross of martyrdom. In the life of the Holy Martyr Perpetua, a Roman aristocrat, her story is recorded. She was thrown into the dungeon, into the prison, where decomposing corpses lay with the dying. A Roman patrician, whose feet did not touch the ground, which was carried down the street by slaves on stretchers, now lay in a dirty, stinking prison among the corpses, and she wrote: "Never have I been so happy as now, when I suffer for Christ, this prison seems to me paradise itself!" The Lord said: "I have not come to judge the world, but to save the world" (John 12:47). The first coming of Jesus Christ was the coming of the Redeemer, with Him salvation was revealed to us. God's mercy is ineffable, incomprehensible for us – evil and sinners. Our sins before God's mercy are pebbles before the abyss of the sea, which will swallow them up. God's love is the flame in which a person's sins will be burned, in which the soul itself will become pure as gold. If only we had the will to be saved. The Lord has promised eternal life to those who believe, to those who believe in Him. The book "Spiritual Meadow" tells how a robber was executed and a certain monk went with a crowd of people to the place of execution. The condemned man saw this and asked: "Father, why do you not sit in your cell, but have come here?" He answered: "My brother, I suffer from insensibility, I forget about death, and therefore I have come to the square to see how you are executed, so that my heart trembles, so that I feel that death awaits each of us." The thief said, "Father, don't you know that since Christ came, no one dies? This means that this thief brought such repentance in his last days that the Lord made him feel before his execution that he was forgiven, that eternal life was open to him. Brothers and sisters, but at His Second Coming the Lord will come as Judge! The Patericon tells of a certain abbot who asked God that in eternity all his brethren, whom he loved more than the father of his children, would be with him. And so in the neighboring monastery there was a feast. According to the existing custom, the monks of the monastery where this abbot also went there. The brethren went ahead, and he himself was delayed, leaving the monastery last. He had already walked some part of the way, when he saw: a man was lying on the road, bleeding, crippled by a beast, and crying, asking for help. The abbot was surprised: "Did not the monks pass here shortly before me and did they not see you?" "We saw it, but they said that they were on foot and could not help me in any way." And then the elder-abbot put the crippled man on his shoulders – he could not walk at all – and carried him to the village, where they could help him. The burden was heavy, but only he felt how the weight diminished with each step. And then it disappeared completely, the person he was carrying became weightless, invisible. The hegumen stopped in bewilderment and heard the following voice from heaven: "You constantly pray for your disciples, that they may be vouchsafed eternal life, but you have one thing to do, and they have another. If you want your request to be granted, persuade them to do as you do. I am the Righteous Judge: I reward each one according to his deeds." Brothers and sisters, the Apostle Paul says: "Behold, now is the day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:2), that is, today we must begin repentance. When grace touches a person, he must immediately begin to repent, to change his life, without postponing it until the next day. Here is an example of how a well-known prostitute in Alexandria repented. She decided to first sell what she had and give it to the poor. But her repentance was so strong that she could not bear the very sight of the house where she lived and sinned. She left it and everything in it, without even closing the door behind her, and went to a monastery to lead a monastic life there. She reached the very gates of the monastery, knocked on them and fell dead. And the abbess of the monastery had a vision: demons and angels approached this dead woman. The demons said: "She has served us all her life, she has destroyed so many souls and has done nothing good!" The angels answered: "This sinner repented with all her heart, and the time of death does not depend on man, but on God." Thus the Lord accepted her repentance, although she had not yet had time to accomplish any feats and good deeds. But this no longer depended on her, such was the special Providence of God, and, perhaps, here the Lord wanted to show all His mercy. By the power of her fiery, sincere repentance, she gained the Kingdom of Heaven only in a few hours. What if she had postponed repentance for a few days? It is possible that her resolve would have been shaken and her soul would have been lost forever. Brothers and sisters, remember: the Lord promised us that if we repent today, He will forgive us. But the Lord did not promise that we would live to see tomorrow! Amen.

On the Elevation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit! Brothers and sisters! Today is the feast of the Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord. The history of the Tree of the Cross dates back to the time of the ancient patriarchs. The holy forefather Lot, the nephew of the great saint of God Abraham, being for a long time in the land of Sodom, corrupted and cursed by God, lived blamelessly and holy. But finding himself with his family in solitude, in the wilderness, on Mount Zoar, he fell into a terrible sin and, bringing repentance for his crime, he besought Saint Abraham, that he would ask forgiveness for him from God. Abraham gave Lot three dry branches—of a pine, a cedar, and a cypress—and said, "Plant them side by side and water them every day with the water of the Kidron Stream. If these branches blossom, then the Lord has forgiven you." Lot did so [1]. Every day he went to the Kidron Stream, collected water in a clay vessel, in a jar with a wide neck, and carried it up the mountain. Thorny bushes blocked the way, and therefore his body was wounded by thorns and needles. But one day he met a stranger in this deserted place. He asked Lot, "Will you give me water to drink?" Lot answered, "I have commandments from my parents: to receive a stranger, to give drink to the thirsty, and to feed the hungry; drink, my brother." He took the jug and drank. When Lot came to the place where he had planted three branches, he saw that the jar was empty. The stranger drained the huge vessel in one gulp. After a while, he met Lot for the second time and asked again: "Let me drink." Lot hesitated what to do, but he could not break the commandment – give the thirsty one to drink – and again gave him water to drink. And again the jug was empty. And he watered the branches only with his tears. And then he went to Abraham, told him about a strange stranger. Abraham listened, and folding the two branches crosswise, said: "Cover your pitcher with this, and when you meet that stranger, say, 'Take it and drink,' and see what happens." And so Lot did. The stranger took the jug again, but when he opened it, he saw the cross and disappeared with a scream. Abraham later said to Lot: "It was a demon. Remember what the dark spirit fears." ... And three years later, the branches bloomed and miraculously united into one tree, which surprised everyone who saw it. King Solomon himself is said to have said of him, "Blessed is the tree through which the nations shall be saved." When the Jerusalem Temple was being created, it was decided to use the trunk of this tree for construction. The tree was cut down, but either the work was already completed, or the builders did not know how to use it, only it was abandoned near the walls of the temple. And then it was turned into a small bridge over a stream that flowed nearby. This is how people walked along it for centuries. It was trampled under the feet of thousands and thousands of people and was covered with a layer of centuries-old dust and dirt. When Jesus Christ was given over to be crucified, His enemies decided to make a cross out of this tree in mockery of Him. And the Lord carried the Cross, as if signifying that He had taken our spiritual dirt on His shoulders and wiped it away. After the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, His Cross, together with the crosses of the thieves, was buried in a deep ditch. Since then, no criminals have been executed on Golgotha, and the enemies of Christ, in order to desecrate this place, threw garbage and sewage on the hill. However, this did not prevent Golgotha from becoming the greatest shrine and place of pilgrimage for the first Christians. In the second century, a false messiah named Varkochba raised a rebellion against Rome. He decided to put to death all the Christians living in Judea, who, of course, did not accept him as a savior and messiah. And they were forced to leave their homeland to save themselves. Thus, the place where the Cross of the Lord was kept was forgotten. And only after the accession of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine the Great did the search for him begin. The emperor sent his mother, Saint Helena, to Palestine. She was told that an elderly Jew, Judas, knew where the Cross was kept. At first he did not want to point out this place, but then, being compelled, he discovered it. In the ditch there were three crosses: Jesus Christ and two thieves crucified with Him. Crosses were alternately placed on the body of the deceased, who was carried past Golgotha at that time. And when the Cross of the Savior touched the deceased, he immediately arose and came to life. Also, from touching the Cross, many other miracles were performed. Nails lay near the Cross. The nails of the robbers were rusty and crumbled to dust when they were touched. The nails with which the Savior's body was nailed were like new and glittered like silver. At the same time, during the reign of Emperor Constantine, a huge magnificent church of the Resurrection of Christ was built in Jerusalem on the site of Golgotha and the burial of the Savior. Part of the Golgotha Hill was demolished, and the cave where the body of Jesus Christ lay was inside the temple. Above it (already in the temple itself) a small chapel was built, the altar of which was the bed that once received the lifeless body of the Savior. The place where the Cross stood is outlined and the words are written on it: "Come, let us worship His footstool!" At the end of the sixth century, the Byzantine state, of which Palestine was a province, was ruled by the pious Emperor Maurice. But he committed a grave sin before God. During the unsuccessful war with the Scythians, several thousand Greeks were captured. The barbarians asked for a small sum for them, but Maurice did not send the money in time, and they killed his soldiers. This caused discontent and indignation of the army. The commander Phocas rebelled against Maurice. And when he came to Constantinople with his army, Maurice, abandoned by almost everyone, asked his attendants: "Who is Phocas?" One of the courtiers answered: "He is a well-known coward!" And indeed: Phocas ordered the death of not only Maurice, but also his family. In front of the emperor's eyes, his children were killed one by one. And Maurice repeated: "Glory to Thee, O Lord, and glory to Thy righteous judgments: what I deserve, that I receive, if only Thou wouldst save my soul." And when the nurse wanted to give her son to be killed instead of the youngest, still suckling child Maurice, the emperor forbade her, saying: "May the will of God be done!" Phocas was a cowardly and cruel tyrant. Having reigned with the help of troops and fearing that the troops would also depose him, he took the path of destroying his own people. The country was disintegrating, the army was halved. The Persian king Khosroes took advantage of this, who invaded the borders of Byzantium and, practically without resistance, seized its provinces, including Palestine, where he destroyed the shrine and took the Life-Giving Cross to Persia. It seemed that Byzantium was threatened with complete destruction. And then the governor of North Africa, Heraclius, rebelled against Phocas. With his army, he took Constantinople. Phocas, seeing no possibility of resistance, began to shout: "Long live the Emperor Heraclius!" What empire have you left me?" and ordered him to be executed. After that, the emperor Heraclius turned to the clergy for help, and the Church gave him everything it had. The emperor gathered a large army and, concluding an alliance with the Khazar khan, invaded Persia himself and won a number of brilliant victories. This was not enough: his sons rebelled against Chosroes, killed their father, made peace with the Byzantines and gave away the wood of the Life-Giving Cross. Heraclius himself carried the Cross to the Jerusalem Temple on his shoulders, but was stopped by an invisible force and could not move. In amazement, he asked the Patriarch: "What is this?" The Patriarch answered: "You are following the path by which Jesus Christ left Jerusalem, but He came out wearing a crown of thorns, in clothes stained with His blood! And you are walking in a royal crown adorned with jewels." Then the emperor Heraclius put on rags, took off his shoes and went barefoot to the Jerusalem temple, carrying the Cross. And he entered the church without hindrance. But soon another thunderstorm broke out. The Arabs, who were then more powerful than the Persians, opposed Byzantium. Emperor Heraclius suffered several defeats and, leaving Jerusalem, said: "Palestine, farewell forever!" Later, the Orthodox no longer owned Palestine and Jerusalem. The rule of the Arabs was replaced by the rule of the Turks. The Western Catholic Christians, the Crusaders, liberated Jerusalem for a time, but they began to persecute the Orthodox, and therefore the Lord abandoned them. In the battle with Sultan Sala al-Din on the Mount of Beatitudes, where the Lord delivered His Sermon on the Mount, the Crusaders were defeated: two hundred knights surrounded the Cross and all two hundred perished. Only when the last of them fell dead were the Muslims able to seize the shrine. After a while, for a large ransom, they returned the Cross to the Christians. Gradually, it was divided into parts and sent to all corners of the world as a sign that the Lord had come to save everyone, that His grace, like the rays of the sun, illuminated the whole world. Brothers and sisters! During the time of Emperor Constantine, a part of the wood of the Life-Giving Cross and one of the nails were sent to Georgia. At first, the Tree was kept in the Manglis temple, and then parts of the Life-Giving Cross were embedded in two crosses, one of which was located in Mtskheta, and the other in Jvari. The cross with a particle of the Golgotha Cross is still in the Svetitskhoveli Cathedral, on a pillar on the left side, opposite the altar. As for the nail from the Cross of the Lord, the Georgian king Archil, having left for Russia, took this shrine with him. After his death, the Georgian king Vakhtang IV, who also emigrated to Russia, asked Empress Anna to remain in the possession of the Georgian princes, for which he received permission. At present, the nail is in the Sion Cathedral, kept in its altar. Brothers and sisters! There are many shrines in Georgia: the Lord's tunic, particles of the Life-Giving Cross, a nail, the relics of saints, part of the relics of the Holy Great Martyr and Victory-Bearer George and even the head of the Apostle Thomas. Some, however, ask: "After all, the Apostle Thomas was martyred in India, how did his holy head end up in Georgia?" The fact is that at the end of the IV century, part of the relics of the Apostle Thomas was transported to Byzantium. The Byzantine government sent a whole fleet to take this shrine from India. Then, probably during the fall of Constantinople, when many shrines from Greece were taken to neighboring countries, the head of the Apostle Thomas was transferred to Georgia. Already in the XVII century, the Russian traveler - Hieromonk Arseny (Sukhanov) saw it in one of the Georgian monasteries, which he wrote about in his book "Pilgrim". Golgotha, the place where the Cross of the Lord was located, the enemies of Christ tried to desecrate. In the II century, Emperor Hadrian built a pagan temple in the name of the pagan goddess of love Venus, where vile rites took place. However, brothers and sisters, it is impossible to desecrate a holy thing, just as a man cannot extinguish the light of the sun with his spit. A shrine cannot be desecrated, just as gold covered with dirt does not lose its value. The book "Spiritual Meadow" tells how a monk, who accidentally entered an empty cave, saw an angel praying there and asked him: "Who are you?" The angel answered: "Once there was a sacred altar here, and I was sent by God as the guardian of the throne of this temple. A long time has passed, and since the altar was destroyed, there has been no one here, but I guard this place, for it is holy." And how many holy places there are in Georgia, how many ancient temples! Of some of them only ruins or stones remain, but the grace of God rests on them, and they exude an invisible spiritual light, which we can also partake of, if we approach with faith, reverence and love. Brothers and sisters! I congratulate you on today's feast – the Exaltation of the Life-Creating Cross of the Lord – and wish you to bear your cross, the cross of your life, the cross of redemption with patience and love, looking with your mind's eyes at Christ the Savior crucified for us. Amen. According to legend, on the place where Lot planted these branches, the future tree of the Cross of the Lord, the Cross Monastery was later erected. – Auth. ^

On the feast day of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit! Brothers and sisters! The Gospel narrative that we have heard today tells about the preaching of Jesus Christ on the shores of the Lake of Galilee. The Lake of Galilee, or the Sea of Tiberias, is one of the most beautiful places in Palestine, and perhaps in the whole world. Compressed by steep banks, it looks like a crystal bowl. Its clear waters, in which the sky is reflected, are like blue topaz in the emerald frame of coastal forests and flowers. From the north, the sacred Jordan River flows into the Sea of Galilee. Its turbulent jets, like a silver blade, pierce deeply into the calm waves of the lake. To the south, the Jordan, flowing out of the Sea of Tiberias, rushes to the Dead Sea. It rises up between the rocks that squeeze it like a stone embrace, then spreads widely over the valleys, then noisily falls from the rapids. And thousands of diamond drops in the rays of the sun surround him like a rainbow, like a crown. The Jordan flows into the Dead Sea, where there is no life. How similar this sea is to the soul of an unrepentant sinner! The grace of God calls him, but he remains deaf and dead. The Lord preached on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. The people surrounded Him, crowded around Him. Some were attracted and captivated by the heavenly sweetness of the words that came from the mouth of Jesus; others longed for healing, wanted at least to touch the hem of His garments. Others, grieving, with broken hearts, wished that the Lord would look at them with His radiant gaze, and under the warmth of His eyes the bleeding wounds of their hearts would be healed. Others saw in Jesus Christ the Savior of the world. These were the happiest people who, recognizing in Him the Messiah, the Son of God, Who had come to earth, as if silently, with their hearts, cried out: "Hosanna!" – forgetting about everything: about their illnesses, sorrows, about the whole world. Brothers and sisters! The Lord said of the Holy Spirit, that no one knows when He comes, and no one knows how He goes away (John 3:8). But if a person's heart feels grace, then it will be revealed to him that there is no joy stronger and brighter in the world; In a few such moments, a person could give his whole life. The Lord got into a boat and from there preached to the people crowded around the shore. Then He told Peter to cast the net into the sea, and the net to be filled with fish (Luke 5:4). The boat, the boat on which Christ stood, symbolically depicts the Church of God, and the sea represents our life. The sea is now calm, as if gentle, then suddenly the sky darkens, is covered with leaden clouds, and the sea is covered with waves, which rush like horsemen, ready to destroy everything in their path. When we are in the Church, Christ the Savior is invisibly next to us. No matter how terrible the storms are, no matter how high the waves rise like mountains, no matter how the waves rage like awakened wild beasts, this ship is not afraid of thunderstorms, nor lightning that cuts through the sky, nor thunder, which seems to shake even the mountains themselves, because in this ship is the One Who created Heaven and Earth. In church symbolism, fish mean Christians. Just as a fish can live only in water, so a Christian receives eternal life only in the Sacrament of Baptism, so he lives in the grace of God. In ancient times, fish was a conventional sign for Christians in times of persecution. If one person, when meeting the other end of the staff, drew a fish on the ground, then he recognized in him his brother in faith – a Christian. It should be noted that the Greek word "fish" consists of the first letters of the words (ychshhi – Greek): "Jesus Christ the Son of God the Savior." The anchor of a ship in church symbolism means hope. Some people ask why on the domes of the Church the cross is sometimes depicted as if in a crescent moon. In ancient times, the cross was depicted at anchor, as on a pedestal, because faith in God is the only affirmation, the only peace, the unshakable hope of our soul. And secondly, the moon symbolically means the Church. As the moon reflects light from the sun, so the Church receives spiritual light, spiritual strength, grace from Christ the Savior. Digressing a little, brothers and sisters, I want to answer your question: "Why is there an oblique crossbeam on the cross, and a human skull under the foot of the cross?" The lower end of the crossbeam symbolically marks Christ's path after death through mankind to hell, where He preached the Gospel to the souls of the dead, and its end, directed upwards, signifies the path from hell to paradise, which was opened by the death and Resurrection of Christ the Savior. The skull means the head of Adam. There is a legend that before the flood, Noah took the head of his forefather into the ark as a great shrine, and then blessed his eldest son, Shem, with it. And when Shem founded Jerusalem, he laid the head of Adam in a stone casing near Jerusalem. Jerusalem itself means "the peace of God," that is, the place where mankind must be reconciled to God, the place of the crucifixion of Christ the Savior. And, according to ancient tradition, Christ was crucified over the place where Adam's head was, and the blood flowing from His most pure wounds seeped deep into the rock through a crevice in the ground and stained Adam's skull. This meant that the sins of mankind were washed away by the blood of Christ the Savior. This, brothers and sisters, is the symbolism of the Cross. The net means apostolic preaching. The apostles worked all night and could not catch anything. This means that when a person is left to his own strength, he cannot preach the word of God. Only the grace and power of the Holy Spirit can accomplish this great mission – to help the spiritual enlightenment of the people. All of us in our lives, all believers, are trying to turn our friends and loved ones to the Lord. But how often such attempts are unsuccessful! Our word turns out to be weak and powerless. It repels and irritates a person rather than attracts him to faith. How can this be explained? By the fact that our word is not filled with love. In order to talk to a person about faith, you must first of all pray to God for the salvation of this person. Then, brothers and sisters, we should never rely on our human strength. You need to say: "Lord! Thou Thyself live in me, Thou Thyself speak through me, Thou Thyself create and accomplish salvation!" Then we must examine our soul to see if it is peaceful. If we are irritated, our word will only carry the poison and poison of anger. Then we have to decide whether we love this person. If there is no love for a person in our hearts, then his heart will be closed to us. One theologian said that only through love does the heart merge with the heart. Then we must prepare ourselves not to be upset, not to become embittered, if we are not listened to. After all, the Lord preached to everyone, and how many people did not listen to Him? How many people responded with hatred, ridicule, and terrible malice? Therefore, when you dare to speak about faith, prepare your heart for sorrows and temptations. Moreover, do not only speak yourself, but try more to listen to and understand the other person, to understand his needs, to help him, to understand his sorrow, to console him. Perhaps he does not listen to us, because his heart has turned to stone in sorrow. And under your love, it will melt like ice. Then, a person must be instructed not only by words, but also by his own life to set an example, otherwise our speech will be false and false. Brothers and sisters! Today the Church celebrates the memory of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian, the Apostle of Love. He wrote the Gospel, three conciliar epistles, and a book called "Revelation" or "Apocalypse." St. Basil the Great said about this book: "As many words as there are mysteries in it!" But in general, everything that John the Theologian wrote has a high mysterious meaning. For example, in one of his epistles he writes: "The Elder to the chosen lady... I rejoiced greatly that I found among thy children walking in the truth, even as we received the commandment from the Father (2 John 1:1, 4). What do these words mean? After all, he does not write to any single person, the epistle is called conciliar. The Elder is he, the Apostle. In Greek, an elder is a presbyter. The Chosen Lady is the Church that the Lord has chosen from among all the nations of the world. Her children are Christians, they "walk in the truth," which means that they confess the true faith and their lives are in harmony with the teaching of the Gospel. But our lives, brothers and sisters, almost never agree with the Gospel. This is the terrible mystery that when we do not walk in the truth, we cease to be sons of the Church, then we are spiritually, mystically alien to her, even if we pray and stay in churches. In another place John the Theologian says: I write to you, children, because your sins are forgiven for His name's sake. I am writing to you, fathers, because you have known the Eternal from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I am writing to you, young men, because you have come to know the Father (1 John 2:12-13). What do these words mean? It speaks of the different spiritual ages of Christians. Children are those who have just been baptized; they received forgiveness of all their sins and those of their ancestors. Youths are those who have just entered the path of Christian life and walk in the grace of God. They have come to know God as a merciful Father. Therefore, our spiritual path is always joyful and easy at first. But then the Apostle writes about the young men who defeated the evil one. The period of adolescence is followed by the next spiritual age, when we must struggle with evil, sin, and our passions, when we must follow the path of podvig. Often some people are perplexed: "In the beginning I had grace, and then it was as if I lost it!" It means that he has passed into a different spiritual age. The lad was incapable of fighting, and grace clearly preserved him, like the mother of her child, and now youth has come, and man must show himself a soldier of Christ the Savior: grace is with him, but as if hidden from him. Here the Apostle speaks of the fathers who knew the Eternal from the beginning. This is about those successful Christians, about the degree of holiness when a Christian already becomes a mentor and father, he has come to know the Eternal from eternity, that is, the grace of God enlightens his mind and heart and gives him the gifts of wisdom, love and spiritual knowledge. Brothers and sisters! The Gospel of John the Theologian, in contrast to the first three Gospels, is called the "spiritual Gospel". In it, the Apostle revealed to us the great mystery that God is – Love! He himself testified to this in his life. In the Life of John the Theologian it is told how during a sermon he drew attention to a certain young man, beautiful in face and soul, who did not leave him as his most devoted disciple. Setting out to preach in another place, the Apostle handed this youth over to the bishop of the city, and when he returned, he asked him: "Where is the treasure which I have given thee?" John gave the name of the young man. The bishop said sadly: "He died. He died in soul. He has become a robber!" It turned out that the young man had become the ataman of the robbers and terrified the surrounding residents. Then John went to the place where the robbers were. They seized the Apostle and brought him to his former disciple, who was standing with a knife in his hands. Seeing his mentor, he threw down the knife. His conscience awoke in him, he could not look into the eyes of the elder and rushed to run. John hastened after him with the words: "My son, why do you torture your father! Stop, repent, I will beseech God for forgiveness of all your sins!" Brothers and sisters! At the end of his life, John the Theologian was so weak that he was carried to church in their arms. And here he could no longer preach the Gospel teaching to people as before, but only repeated: "Children! Love one another!" He was asked: "Why do you repeat the same words?" and he answered: "Because this commandment contains the Gospel. Whoever fulfills it will be saved!" Amen.

About the Apostle of Love, about St. Sergius, about today's monasticism

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit! Brothers and sisters! Today is the day of the repose of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian. John the Theologian spent most of his long earthly life in the city of Ephesus, which was called the capital of the East. Here he was visited by the Most Holy Mother of God, and to this day, among the ruins and ruins of this once beautiful city, which has now turned into a small Turkish village, stands the house where the Apostle lived, and which, according to tradition, the Mother of God honored with Her presence. Here St. Mary Magdalene, Equal-to-the-Apostles, preached the Gospel, here she died and was buried by the Apostle John in a cave. Later, during the persecution of the emperor Decius, seven youths, the Martyrs of Ephesus (commemorated on 4/17 August), were immured alive in this cave. After the Dormition of the Mother of God and the destruction of Jerusalem, Ephesus became, as it were, a beacon of the Church of Christ. Many of the apostolic disciples came to John the Theologian, the only survivor of those who accompanied the Lord Jesus Christ in earthly life. John the Theologian lived a long life. In his old age, being infirm, he could no longer attend the temple of God, but he loved the church service so much that he asked his disciples to bring him to church in their arms, and there, lying on his bed, he prayed. But then one day the disciples of Saint John saw that the elder had risen from his bed, as if the years of old age had fallen from his shoulders. He ordered all his beloved disciples to be called and told them: "Today is a great day in my life, I am leaving you, and I am staying with you." They did not understand his words. Elder John said: "Let us go out of the city." Together with the disciples, he went out of the gates of Ephesus, they stopped in the field. John the Theologian said: "This is the last day of my earthly life, we part, but in spirit I will be with you." The disciples began to weep and began to ask that he still remain on earth for their sake, for the sake of his Church. The Apostle answered: "I must go on a long journey," and then added: "Children, let us go still farther." The life of John the Theologian was hidden from the eyes of people, and his death must have been just as hidden. They moved even further away from the city. Elder John blessed each of his disciples, hugged and kissed them, then looked around, looked at the towers and walls of Ephesus and asked again: "Children, let's move on." He stopped for the third time and said: "Build me a dwelling." They asked: "Which one?" The elder answered: "Dig me a grave." With tears, his disciples began to dig a grave. John the Theologian said: "Dig deeper." Then, blessing them again, he said: "Mother Earth, from you I came, to you I come, receive me!" – and went down to the grave. The disciples, at the word of the Apostle, began to pour earth into the grave. It had already reached his knees and chest, and again with tears the disciples began to beg the elder not to leave, to linger on earth for their sake. But John the Theologian answered: "Children, I no longer want to see this light, cover me with earth." For the last time, bending down to the edge of the grave, each of them embraced him and accepted the last kiss from his master. Then he closed his eyes: the disciples did not know whether he was alive or dead, but they filled up the grave. After some time, they wanted to transfer the holy body of the Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian to the temple, but the grave turned out to be empty. His death remained a mystery. No one knows whether he is alive or dead. In the Gospel it is said that the Lord answered the Apostle Peter, who asked Him about John: "If I want him to remain until I come, what does it matter to you? thou shalt follow me" (John 21:22). Some of the Holy Fathers say that John the Theologian, together with Elijah and Enoch, will come to earth before the Last Judgment: Elijah will preach the Gospel primarily to the Jews, Enoch to the nations that have not known the Lord, and John the Theologian to Christians who have forgotten their Savior. Brothers and sisters! Yesterday we celebrated the memory of our Venerable and God-bearing Father Sergius, Abbot of Radonezh, and today I was asked to repeat yesterday's sermon. Every nation has especially revered saints: in Georgia, St. John of Zedaznia is called the abbot of the Iberian land; Sergius of Radonezh is the abbot of the Russian land, the instructor of its monasticism. Just as the heart of the Iveron Church is the Svetitskhoveli Cathedral, so the heart of the Russian Church is the Trinity Lavra, where the body and relics of St. Sergius rest. The Trinity-Sergius Lavra is like a spiritual sun, which pours out its rays over vast spaces from Kamchatka to the Caucasus, from the Urals to the Arctic Ocean. As raindrops gather in streams and rivers and incessantly flow into the sea, so do strings of people go day and night to pray in the Lavra, to the holy relics of St. Sergius. They bear their sorrows, the weight of their sins, in order to put this burden on the relics of St. Sergius. His tomb is surrounded by a spiritual flame that does not burn, but fills the souls of believers with grace, which enlightens their hearts. If in the Siloam font only once a year those who entered its water received healing, then at the relics of the saints people constantly receive spiritual and physical healing. A person feels how dirty, sinful, stinking scales fall from his heart, and he sees the world with different eyes, his heart becomes, as it were, the heart of a child, he feels the joy that only a child feels, not yet burdened with sins and passions. And it seems to people who come to the Lavra that this is their home, where they have returned after a difficult and distant journey. Once upon a time, there was a dense impenetrable forest on this place, and several hermit monks gathered here in search of silence. They cut down centuries-old trees, built huts-cells from logs, sealed the cracks with moss, built a wooden church and gathered daily for prayer. They did not even have wax for candles, and the service was performed by the light of a splinter. But brighter than the flame of fire, their hearts burned with love for God. Their cassocks were worn out like the rags of beggars. St. Sergius celebrated the Liturgy using wooden vessels – a chalice and a diskos: the monks were so poor that they could not purchase vessels made of metal. A dense forest surrounded a small hermitage, the silence was broken only by the howling of wolves and the cries of night birds. Sometimes the animals also came to the skete to the monks. The Monk Sergius shared bread with a bear, and this terrible wild beast took food from his hands and lay meekly, like a sheep, at his feet. Now there is a huge Lavra on this place – the spiritual treasure of St. Sergius is enclosed in it, as in a huge stone ark that reflects the storms of centuries. Brothers and sisters! We say: Sergius of Radonezh is the mentor of monks. But what is monasticism? What vows does a monk make? First: non-acquisitiveness, then chastity, then obedience to one's abbot, bishop and all the brethren. Then – a vow to remain in the monastery until death and to engage in unceasing prayer. What does the word monk mean? In Greek, "monos" means one, lonely, one who has no one in the world except the Lord, for whom all people are alike, both strangers and relatives. In Russian, a monk is also called a monk, which means another, a person who leads a different life, which is different from the worldly life. He lives on earth, but his soul is directed towards God. He is among people, but in his heart he converses with angels and saints. In Georgian, a monk is "beri", that is, an elder who has become wise with spiritual experience. In Old Persian, "monk" means: one who seeks unity with God. What is the main thing in monasticism? Why are modern monks so far removed from the ancient ascetics? After all, they sincerely embarked on this path! And they were ready to leave everything! Why are they now helplessly beating like fish on ice?! Why are their souls not filled with joy and grace, like the souls of the ancient ascetics?! Why are there confusion, sorrow and anguish in them?! I include myself among these monks... Brothers and sisters, it is not only our world that is to blame for this. We are also to blame! Because they have forgotten that there is the most important thing in monastic life. Once Stoic philosophers came to St. Anthony the Great in the wilderness. The Stoics taught to despise the world, to endure suffering courageously, to be dispassionate about everything external. And so, in a conversation with the Monk Anthony, they asked: "You, monks, live chastely and take a vow of purity – we are also celibate; you have renounced the world, and we despise its blessings; our cloaks are as poor as your monastic robes; You talk about fasting, and we eat the simplest food. How are we different from you?" Anthony answered: "We keep our minds and hearts from all impurity, but you do not. We trust in God, and you trust in your own strength." The most important thing in monasticism is to guard the mind and heart! How to keep your mind? Ancient monks put a doll on their heads, it covered their faces, they looked at the ground, seeing nothing else. In the Patericon it is narrated how the abbot of a desert monastery had to visit the bishop in Alexandria out of necessity. When the abba returned, the monks asked him what he had seen on the way. He answered: "Nothing but the ground on which he has trodden." "And what did you see in Alexandria itself?" "I saw nothing, only I was at the bishop's, and when he dismissed me, he returned to you, saw nothing or anyone else, and did not raise his eyes from the ground." St. Syncliticia said: "For a monk, the eyes are the windows of death, through which temptations and temptations enter." If he does not look after his eyes, then his heart is a bitter-salty, ever-agitated sea. A monk must protect his ears from all worldly conversations and news; If a monk does not take care of his hearing, then his soul turns into a sponge that absorbs all the dirt. The life of a monk is a silent life. A monk must close his mouth. Some ascetics counted how many words they said in a day, and regretted that they could not say less. St. St. John Chrysostom writes: "In silence blossom the white lilies of contemplation and the scarlet roses of prayer." When a monk is engaged in worldly conversations, it is as if the fence of a garden was destroyed, and animals entered this garden, trampled on plants, broke off tree branches, trampled flowers, and left behind only dirt. This happens to a monk after long conversations. Therefore, brothers and sisters, if you need to ask the monks anything, know that long conversations with them destroy their inner peace. Those who talk to monks for a long time either do not understand the essence of monastic life, or are devoid of spiritual nobility. Thus, a true monk must be blind, deaf and dumb to the world. That is why we, unfortunate modern monks, do not have the grace of God in our souls, but only darkness and confusion! We belong to this world without being able to leave it internally. The Apostle Paul says: "I will not boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world" (Gal. 6:14). The Holy Fathers interpret these words in the following way: "I am crucified for the world" – this means that I have departed from the world; And "for me the world is crucified" means that I have not left a memory of it in my heart. So, brothers and sisters, the main work of monks is to guard their hearts and minds. But here there is still a struggle with the dark forces, with one's sinful memories, with one's dreams. And the Holy Fathers commanded not only monks, but also every Christian to engage in the Jesus Prayer. The Lord said: Enter into thy chamber, and shutting thy door, pray to thy Father... and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly" (Matt. 6:6). The fathers said that this mysterious room, the cell, is our heart. We must enter there with the Jesus Prayer. The first gift of grace will be a vision of one's sins. Then man will see a dark force – a hellish dragon that shakes his thoughts, and the Name of God will enter into battle with the demons in the heart of man. Then a person passes through hell, as it were, through the darkness of struggle and spiritual suffering. But in this darkness the Lord gives him rays of heavenly light, and this light is more beautiful than all the beauties of the visible world, and the one who sees it, feels it in his heart, is ready to give his whole life in a moment. St. Anthony the Great said: "If people knew how difficult the monastic path is, then no one would become a monk. But if people knew what joy a true monk experiences and what reward he will have in eternity, then no one would remain in the world, everyone would rush to monasteries and deserts." Once the Monk Pachomius the Great had a vision: he saw the already deceased Equal-to-the-Apostles Emperor Constantine the Great. Emperor Constantine said to him: "Pachomius, how blessed are you, monks! If I had known this earlier, I would have gone to a monastery." He objected: "Equal-to-the-Apostles Tsar, how much good you have done to the Church: you have stopped the persecution of Christians, you have erected churches and monasteries, you have helped to preserve the purity of the Orthodox faith, defending it from heretics." Emperor Constantine answered: "Pachomius! If I knew what reward is prepared for true monks, I would leave my kingdom, take off the royal crown and go into the wilderness." Brothers and sisters! St. Sergius of Radonezh is the abbot of the Russian land! His relics rest in the Trinity Lavra, but in his spirit he is where his name is called, where they pray to him. St. John of Zedaznia is the abbot of Georgia. From the height of Zedazeni, from this peak, as from a high throne, he surveys the whole of Georgia (they say that from Zedazeni you can see most of Georgia), with his spiritual eyes he sees all its people. The Monk Sergius lies with his body in the tomb, but people are constantly coming to him – more than if he himself went around the cities where these people live, and called them to him. May St. Sergius of Radonezh and St. John of Zedaznia give each of us what we need, what is necessary for our salvation! Today is the memory of the Apostle John the Theologian: in his old age he could not preach a sermon in church, but only repeated a few words: "Children, love one another!" The disciples asked him: "Father, why do you repeat the same words?" He answered: "Because in them, in these words, everything is contained: if you love one another, you will be saved, where there is love, there is God!!" May the Apostle John the Theologian, the Apostle of Love, give us this gift of grace, breathe love into our petrified, dark hearts! Amen.

About the Hieromartyr Cyprian and the Martyress Justinia

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit! Brothers and sisters! Today the Church celebrates the memory of the Holy Martyr Cyprian and the Holy Martyr Justina. [1] The Lord called many of His saints from their youth – their whole lives are marked by the seal of special chosenness; Their path is straight and bright, it looks like a snow-white ladder, the top of which goes to the height of the heavens. Each day of the life of these saints is a new illumination of the Divine light. Their life is an unceasing ascent from strength to spiritual strength. The Lord allowed the devil to approach even Him with temptation, the devil tempts every person, but these saints pass through the fire of temptations unharmed, he does not scorch their angelic wings. They walk on the earth without defiling their feet with the filth of sin. There are also saints whom the Lord calls in adulthood, some in old age, others just before death. But there are, brothers and sisters, such saints who have traversed the terrible path of temptations and falls, who have drunk to the bottom of the cup of earthly delights, and who willingly fulfilled the will of the demons; it is as if they were brought back to life from eternal death, plucked out of the jaws of the devil, brought out of the most hellish abysses. The Church has preserved for us their lives in order to strengthen us in our hope in God, so that we do not despair of our salvation, even having the burden of the gravest sins behind us, seeing the past life empty as smoke and black with earthly filth, so that we do not fall into despair, so that we know that the light of hope shines even for the most bitter sinners. This is a great miracle of God, when sinners become saints, lechers become chaste, robbers become ascetics, when murderers end their lives with martyrdom for Christ. But an even more striking miracle is when a servant of demons becomes a devoted servant and hierarch of the Church of Christ. Thus, St. Cyprian, even in his infancy, was consecrated by his parents to demons. From childhood he was taught to sorcery, he participated in demonic mysteries. The demon gave him the power to work miracles, he could send illness and death, he could heal incurable ailments, he could cause storms and thunderstorms, he could dry up the earth with fire and drought. The pagans trembled at Cyprian and revered him as a certain deity. Later, St. Cyprian said that he was shown the kingdom of Satan, that he, accompanied by demons, approached the throne of Lucifer, around this throne flew a multitude of fallen spirits of hell, demons stood, as if warriors, surrounding the throne of the king. A light emanated from him, like lightning, which illuminates the darkness of the night with its blue brilliance. His eyes shone with fire like flame. At the sight of Cyprian, Satan rose from the throne, embraced him as if he were his friend, kissed him, and placed him on the throne with him. Once Satan took off his crown and put it on Cyprian's head, saying that of all people he was his most faithful son. He said to Cyprian: "As long as you live, my servants will fulfill all your wishes, and when you die, your soul will turn into one of the princes of hell, and you will be near me." Satan often exhorted Cyprian to be firm and cruel in sorcery and never to pronounce the name of Jesus Christ and never even to ask anyone who He was. Cyprian lived outside the city in a palace that belonged to him. People saw how during the day this palace was surrounded by a dark cloud, and at night - by some mysterious light. Pagans, passing by this place, fell to the ground and worshipped Cyprian as their deity. The whole country trembled with him. And so the Lord showed His great mercy, showed by the example of Cyprian that the path to salvation is open to every sinner – to each of us. Cyprian saw that his sorcery was powerless before the prayer and sign of the cross of the Virgin Justina, and he understood that the true God is Jesus Christ. He repented and became a Christian. Coming to the local bishop, Cyprian asked him for baptism. He was extremely amazed: this famous sorcerer, who caused so much harm to people, wants to be a Christian! He ordered Cyprian to give away all the books that he used for his sorcery. A whole mound was erected from these books, written in unknown Oriental languages. The bishop ordered them to be burned, they burned with difficulty; a stinking black cloud emanated from them, and voices were heard from the flames, groans and cries like human ones: "Woe to us, woe to us!" After this, the bishop ordered Cyprian to bring repentance before the whole Church. And so he began to confess: his confession was terrible, it chilled the blood of those who heard it. The Church prayed to God for the forgiveness of the former sorcerer and sorcerer, the former magician and murderer. The demon raised terrible temptations against Cyprian: in a material form he attacked him, inflicted blows and wounds on him, covered his body with festering ulcers – Cyprian endured all this as retribution for his former sins and glorified God for everything. The demon sometimes appeared to Cyprian and begged him to renounce Christ and return to him, promising him great riches and power over the whole world in return. Cyprian answered: "Now my only treasure is Christ God, and the highest honor for me is not to rule over the world, but to be a slave of Christ's servants." He began to serve as a doorkeeper in the church, stood at the door; As much as his life had been sinful and terrible before, so now it has become bright and holy. After the death of the bishop, Christians unanimously elected him their bishop, and during one of the persecutions against the Church, Saint Cyprian was condemned by the pagans to torture and death and was vouchsafed a second baptism – baptism in the blood shed for Christ. Brothers and sisters! Satan is the fallen first angel, he has retained his power to this day, only this power is directed towards evil. The ancient Christian writer Tertullian says that in hell the demons celebrate a black mass to Satan in a blasphemous imitation of our Liturgy, serving him as their god; And excerpts from this Mass are repeated on earth by the Magi and sorcerers. The Holy Church equates the sin of sorcery, fortune-telling, sorcery, and "healing" with conspiracies with the sin of murder and excommunicates those who commit it for twelve years from Holy Communion, and excommunicates those who go to sorcerers, fortune-tellers, and healers who perform these miracles with demonic power, as accomplices of murderers. Does this Black Mass still exist? The Lord came to destroy the kingdom of hell, but in this kingdom includes a person who voluntarily, that is, consciously (or even unconsciously) turns to the forces of Satan and hell. I am talking about those who seek healing and help from so-called psychics, hypnotists, occultists, spiritualists, adherents of Eastern mysticism, yoga and various branches of Buddhism. In our age, these occult satanic teachings have spread in a wide stream throughout the earth. There are two types of magic: "black" and "white". Black magic openly does evil to a person, causes him misfortune, illness and death - black magic is like a murderer with a blood-spattered axe in his hands, it is easy to recognize it. At first glance, white magic is a different kind of magic, it is hidden, disguised under the guise of good. People who practice it talk about some kind of "healing powers" that they possess. This magic is covered by external complacency, and, like a murderer, he can sometimes come not with an axe in his hands, but like his best friend – in order to disguise himself and do his dirty deed with even greater ease. People who voluntarily give themselves up to what is now called "mass hypnosis" are included in the dark world. The Lord has granted man free will; free will distinguishes him from the animal. If man did not have this free will, he would be a simple mechanism, an automaton. In hypnosis, a person gives his will to an unknown force. He becomes a toy, becomes a machine, an automaton in someone else's hands. If any of you have been present at hypnosis sessions, you know in what ridiculous, ridiculous positions the hypnotized person can find himself, he is the spiritual victim of the hypnotist. Subjected to hypnosis, they become susceptible to any influence, these people, under the influence of someone's stronger will, can commit various, the most terrible, crimes. Brothers and sisters! Hypnosis, even when it is aimed at healing, is the power of Satan: a person here gives up his soul for his temporary well-being, for his body, which will still undergo illness, death and decay after a while, he inwardly rejects Christ the Savior. During hypnosis, a person is presented with a non-existent picture – he sees mirages in reality. And the devil in the Holy Fathers is precisely called an artist and a painter. Thus, a person, under the influence of a hypnotist, enters a non-existent world of lies, a world of illusions. Then those who were hypnotized said that at that moment they had such a feeling as if everything was floating in front of their eyes, they lost consciousness, like a person who had taken a drug. In our time, so-called psychics have appeared, claiming that they can heal people with some inherent powers, calling these forces either living electricity, or bioenergetics, or biocurrents, etc. But, brothers and sisters, this is also a demonic force! Yes, many saints performed healings, but before that they cleansed their hearts of passions for a long time, lived an ascetic life, and moreover never sought the gift of healing; they sought from God only the forgiveness of their sins, and the gift of healing was a reward from the Lord or a form of their service to people. And these so-called "psychics" are not people of high morality at all: they can be "believers", they can also be non-believers – it is indifferent to them. Few of them live spiritual lives. Moreover, these psychics agree on one thing – they say that the power they possess is the power that the Eastern mystics knew, who allegedly used it, but then its origins were lost. And who are these so-called "Eastern mystics"? These are oriental sorcerers and occultists. This is black magic, its terrible rituals. For example, in Eastern Tibetan monasteries there were rituals during which human flesh was eaten. Brothers and sisters! In the West, there is an organization called the "Church of Satan," if the word "church" can be used here to refer to this terrible society. There is also something similar to a black mass. St. Basil the Great said: "Satan is the monkey of God," – just as the monkey imitates us, as if teasing man, so Satan imitates, tries to imitate Christ, but to imitate in order to mock Christianity itself, humiliating it. And so in the "church of Satan" there is a kind of cruel parody, a caricature of our worship: wine is poured into human skulls, and these "cups" go around all those present, and they blasphemously call it "sacrament of Satan" – and each time new skulls are used. Much will become clear if you pay attention to what hypnotists and psychics say about themselves. One of them, I will not name him, said: "Something special happens to me: from eleven o'clock at night to four o'clock in the morning, I hear voices around and inside me – these voices tell me what I should do, how I should treat people. And after that, I feel a special power in myself, I can muffle the consciousness of any person!" Of course, these are not good spirits. Another hypnotist said publicly, "I am as sure of myself as Satan himself..." The third psychic said: "I can penetrate the body of any person with my spirit, and not only see it, but also live in it." So, at the present time, magic and the occult are embracing the world. The Holy Fathers wrote that in the last times the dark spirit will try to seduce, to lure into its nets the elect, that is, even those who are in the Church of Christ. Just as Caiaphas gave Judas thirty pieces of silver, so the devil tries to bribe us with his pieces of silver – our temporal well-being, so that we renounce Christ and betray Him inwardly. Brothers and sisters! What should we, Christians, do? First of all, pray and repent! When the light is on in the house at night, the thief does not dare to get inside, but waits until the light goes out. As long as prayer is in our hearts, Satan cannot harm us, but he waits for it to fade away. One of the Holy Fathers, St. John Kolov, said: "I am like a man who is surrounded by wild beasts. He climbed a tree, grabbed the branches and sat on it, and the animals were below..." The disciples asked him what this meant, and he answered: "Wolves are demons, and the tree is prayer. When the demons approach me, I pray intensely, and they cannot approach me, but keep a watchful eye to see if I will not abandon my prayer." Thus, we can oppose these demonic forces only with repentance, humility and prayer, as well as the sign of the cross, which our Lord Himself gave us as a weapon against the devil. Brothers and sisters! Now is the time of universal lack of spirituality, which is why the dark forces act so decisively, so openly, with such power and success. Maybe some of you have seen how the leaves around the nuclear power plant fall from the trees in early summer, as in autumn, the grass is stunted and yellowed. In the same way, our earth – spiritually – is affected by radiation, sin and pride. All the more lofty podvig is required of a Christian, a feat of love and prayer. The Hieromartyr Cyprian served Satan, then he entered into a terrible, painful battle with him, and the Lord for this feat granted the holy grace to help us in the struggle with the devil. Therefore, in moments of temptation and danger, call upon the names of Saints Cyprian and Justina. The demon forbade Cyprian, when he was still a sorcerer, to pronounce the name of Jesus Christ. And St. John of the Ladder writes: "In the name of Jesus Christ, beat the adversary." The name of Christ and the memory of death are a great weapon against the demon. The name of Christ not only protects our soul, but also, like fire, scorches the demon, like a sword, smites him. Brothers and sisters! I congratulate you on the feast day – the day of remembrance of the Holy Martyrs Cyprian and Justina; Their lives remind us that our earthly path, and even more so in this terrible time, is the path of a fierce struggle with the devil. May the Lord help us! Amen. Commemoration of St. Cyprian and St. Mts. The Church celebrates St. Justin's on October 2/15. –Red. ^

About the Apostle Thomas

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit! Brothers and sisters, today the Church celebrates the memory of the Holy Apostle Thomas. After the crucifixion and burial of Christ the Savior, this apostle dwelt in heavy and gloomy despondency. It seemed to him that all hopes had been completely destroyed, and the Kingdom that Christ had promised would never come. Having heard the news of Christ's resurrection from the dead, the Apostle Thomas was afraid to believe it: if it turned out to be false, one could fall into hopeless despair. The news of the resurrection of Christ the Savior filled the hearts of the myrrh-bearers and disciples with unearthly joy, filled the entire primitive Church with invisible light. But the heart of the Apostle Thomas was immersed in gloomy doubts and anguish. To the testimony of the Apostles that the Lord Himself appeared to them, Thomas answered: "Except I see in His hands the wounds of the nails, and put my finger into the wounds of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe" (John 20:25). Brothers and sisters! In the Jerusalem Church of the Resurrection of Christ, a wondrous miracle occurs every year. They try to keep silent about this great miracle, but no one can refute it. On Holy Saturday, the Patriarch of Jerusalem or the eldest of the metropolitans, wearing one cassock and with a bundle of 33 candles in each hand, enters the small church – the Edicule of the Holy Sepulchre. In the Church of the Resurrection, the lamps and lights are extinguished, it plunges into silence and twilight. The Church prays that the Lord would reveal His miracle – the Holy Fire. And so the candles in the hands of the First Hierarch light up by themselves. Palestine from the seventh century was in the hands of the Mohammedans, and now in the hands of the Jews. The Turks and Arabs would like to refute this miracle. Before the Patriarch or the senior metropolitan enters the Edicule of the Holy Sepulchre, the Mohammedans search him to see if he is secretly carrying some flint with him. Then they look at what is happening in the chapel of the Holy Sepulchre and witness for themselves how the candles suddenly burst into flames. The First Hierarch brings out two sheaves of candles and distributes them to the people. Those standing in the church light candles for each other. In a few minutes, the entire church is illuminated, as in daytime, from a multitude of candles and lamps. It seems to turn into a sea of fire. The Holy Fire has special properties. In the first minutes, it only shines, but does not burn. People try to touch this heavenly flame with their faces. Miraculous healings often occur. The descent of the Holy Fire takes place in Jerusalem every time before Easter, on Holy Saturday (Old Style) and only when the Orthodox Patriarch serves. The Holy Fire descended this year as well. The Holy Fire signifies the victorious news of the Resurrection of Christ. And the candle of the Apostle Thomas seemed to be still extinguished. But Christ did not reject His doubting disciple. The Lord again appeared to the Apostles and said to Thomas: "Put thy finger hither, and see My hands; Give thy hand and put it into my side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing (John 20:27) (that is: believe in My Resurrection). The Apostle Thomas confessed his faith, exclaiming: "My Lord and my God! Jesus Christ, meekly rebuking him, said, "Thou hast believed, because thou hast seen me; blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed" (John 20:28-29). Brothers and sisters! What do these words mean? The Apostle Thomas wanted to replace faith with knowledge. He wanted the testimony of faith not to be in his soul and heart, but as if on the tips of his fingers, with which he touched the wounds of Jesus Christ. If the Lord gave us an obvious proof of His existence (and many of us wonder why the Lord did not clearly prove to everyone that He is the Creator and Master of the world, and, as King Solomon put it, as if He hides His face in a fog), if we saw with our own eyes and knew that God exists, then there would be no reward for our faith. The existence of God would not require faith from us, but would only be an evidence, a testimony of our eyes. The Lord wanted faith to be something else, that is, a spiritual insight, an inner vision of the human heart; that man may seek God with his love. So, brothers and sisters, our faith is rewarded by God; our faith is a moral act because it is free, for man is free to determine himself before Eternity: whether he is with God or without God. St. John Chrysostom asks: "And why did the Lord not appear in the midst of Jerusalem after the Resurrection? Why didn't the Lord put to shame those who crucified Him?" "Then," writes St. John Chrysostom, "perhaps those who rejected Him would have believed if they had seen the Risen One?" If the Lord had descended from heaven to Jerusalem, those who crucified Him yesterday would have wanted to crucify Him again!" After all, this is absurd! But St. John Chrysostom says that in general any sin is absurdity and madness. When sin takes possession of a person, he becomes his own enemy. A person in a fit of anger can punch himself in the face, throw himself into an abyss, or stab himself with a knife, being as if insane. Is it possible to wish for the death of God? Can. Satan is an example of this. He knows that there is an Almighty God, and at the same time he fights against Him. Satan knows that God is good, and at the same time he tries to tear people away from Him through their sins. Satan knows that God is love itself, and yet he hates God. Therefore, the unrepentant sinner, being like Satan, also hates Christ the Savior in his heart. There are various demonic societies in the world. People who are part of them are called Satanists. In America, for example, there is a "church of Satan." The rites of this "church" and the special demon services – the black masses – are a monstrous blasphemy and a vile parody of Christian worship. In France, there are tens of thousands of so-called Luciferians, worshippers of Satan. They also have their own special journals. And in these magazines there are special pages called "How would you like to kill Jesus Christ if you tried Him?" and on these pages is a picture of Christ being burned, chopped to pieces, and subjected to other terrible torments. Therefore, even those who know that God exists can hate Him with all their hearts. And the Lord, out of His mercy, did not appear to everyone in Jerusalem, but only to the apostles and disciples, so that the burden of new sins would not be imposed on His enemies. The God-Man Jesus Christ was crucified and resurrected, His Sacrifice on Golgotha redeemed all mankind. A second death at the hands of enemies would only be a second curse on them. Thus, brothers and sisters, the Lord hides Himself from us, so that we may seek Him with all the strength of our souls. He also hides Himself from us so that the unworthy, knowing that there is a God – the Lord of the world, will not respond to this with one immeasurable satanic hatred. Unbelief has different causes: there is simple ignorance and there is false knowledge. For example, for a long time religion was laughed at, it was humiliated, and it was caricatured. As a result, people had a false idea of what faith and Christianity were. This is wrong knowledge. Ignorance and incorrect knowledge can disappear when a person becomes more familiar with Christianity. There is still another ignorance – volitional ignorance, unwillingness to know because of sins and sensual passions, with which a person does not want to fight. True faith requires a continuous change in oneself, an unceasing struggle with sin and passions. And a person who is given over to passions does not want to know about God, so as never to part with his favorite passions and to avoid the hard work of purifying his soul. And finally, there is unbelief due to spiritual pride: a person does not want anyone, not even the Lord, to be above him. At first the Apostle Thomas showed unbelief, but then, according to the words of St. John Chrysostom, he showed great zeal and with the preaching of the Gospel he reached South India. Here he was executed and buried. In the IV century, part of his relics was transported from India to Byzantium, and from Byzantium the head of the Apostle Thomas was transferred to Georgia during the fall of Constantinople and is now kept in the Zion Cathedral in Tbilisi. Many of us have unbelieving relatives. How we wish that the eyes of their hearts would be opened, that they would feel the reality of eternal life, and that they would confess the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior! But often, when you talk to them, it seems that you are addressing a sleeping person or a person with a petrified heart. What is needed to convert them? Prayer is needed most of all. We must pray to the Apostle Thomas, that through his prayers the Lord would grant faith to those who doubt and do not believe. The Apostle Thomas himself experienced difficult days of doubt and unbelief, which were then replaced by ardent repentance and unshakable devotion to Christ the Savior. In addition, brothers and sisters, we must pray to the Apostle Thomas for the strengthening of our weak, weak faith. We believe in God, but we live as if He does not exist and Christ the Savior did not come to earth. We believe in God, but we do not fulfill His commandments, and therefore our faith is not like the life-giving light of the sun, but like the cold brilliance of distant stars. The Apostle Thomas ended the days of his life in India as a martyr. A Christian temple was built over his tomb. And there is the following narration in the life of the Apostle: "Once, early in the morning," said a priest who served in this church, "two men with long hair and waist-length beards came into the church. Their clothes were only narrow loincloths made of branches and leaves. The eldest of them called the priest and said, "I myself am descended from an ancient Brahmin family, and even in my youth I wanted to remain celibate. But according to the law, a Brahmin must have children so that they can perform a funeral rite on him when he dies. And against my will, according to the covenant of the caste, I took a girl from the Brahmin family. Only once in my life did I know her in order to have a child. And we had a son. When he was a few years old, I left home and went with him to the forest. Our food was the fruit of trees and roots. Day and night we sang hymns to the One God. And then a man of splendid appearance met me and asked: "Do you want to know the Truth and be saved?" The stranger answered, "You do not yet know the true God, but the Lord, seeing your hearts, has sent me to you. I am Thomas, a disciple of Jesus Christ." We were surprised, "Sir, we don't know anything about Christ. Who is He?" Thomas continued: 'Go to the temple dedicated to me, ask the priest, and he will tell you, and then be baptized and be saved.'" "And here I and my son," said the Brahmin, "have come hither. Baptize us." The priest told them about the Savior Jesus Christ. They accepted his story with great joy and said that they were ready to be baptized. He baptized them, and then celebrated the Divine Liturgy. They prayed so fervently that the priest was surprised: he had never seen such a fervent prayer. Then the newly-baptized communed of Christ's Holy Mysteries, and their faces shone, especially the youngest, who began to look like an angel. Father and son bowed to the priest and went back into the woods. He did not see them again. Brothers and sisters! May the Apostle Thomas strengthen our weak and feeble faith! In order to truly believe in God, you need to live according to the commandments. Whoever lives according to the commandments of God, who has the name of Jesus Christ in his heart, is a preacher of the Gospel. Whoever fulfills the will of God silently proclaims to the world the greatness of Christ the Savior without words, because such a person is full of unearthly love and himself exudes light from his heart. But he who truly believes in Christ is also a martyr in this world, because the malice of Satan and unrepentant sinners rises up against him. If you take a lit candle and bring it to a hole where snakes or scorpions live, they will not turn to the light, but will want to bite the hand that carries the candle. In the same way, the world has always persecuted and will continue to persecute true Christians. Therefore, all truly believing Christians, on the one hand, are great sufferers on this sinful earth, and on the other, the happiest people, for the Lord says: He who has My commandments and keeps them loves Me; but whoever loves Me will be loved by My Father; and I will love him, and I will appear to him Myself (John 14:21). He will appear in the grace of the Holy Spirit, who will illumine the human heart. And even a drop of this Divine grace will absorb and dissolve the sea of human suffering. And then, feeling the Lord in the Holy Spirit, the soul will exclaim, like the Apostle Thomas: "Thou art my Lord and God forever!" Amen.