Then the Archangel Gabriel announced the joy to the prophet Daniel about the liberation of the people of God from the captivity of Babylon and about the time of the Messiah. He announced to Zachariah the joy of the birth of the Forerunner from a barren mother and said to him: "Fear not, Zacharias, for thy prayer has been heard, and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John, and thou shalt have joy and gladness, and many shall rejoice at his birth" (Luke 1:13-14). Again, pious tradition testifies that Gabriel proclaimed to the holy righteous Joachim and Anna the joy of the birth of the Most Holy Virgin to them. He said to Anna: Anna! Anna! Thy prayer has been heard, thy sighs have passed through the clouds, thy tears have appeared before God, and thou shalt conceive and give birth to the Most-Blessed Daughter; through Her all the families of the earth will receive blessing, and salvation will be granted to the whole world; Her name shall be Mary."

At the same time an angel appeared to Joachim in the wilderness and said: "Joachim, Joachim! God has heard your prayer and is pleased to grant you His grace: your wife Anna will conceive and bear you a Daughter, whose birth will be a joy for all the world" (Thu Min. Sept. 9). Finally, the Archangel Gabriel is also called the messenger of joy because he proclaimed to the Most Holy Virgin the joy of the conception and birth of the Savior from Her. He said to Her: Rejoice, O Blessed One, the Lord is with Thee.. behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bear a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God shall give Him the throne of David His father, and shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and His kingdom shall have no end (Luke 1:28-33).

Thus, brethren, the Holy Archangel Gabriel is called the messenger of joy because he proclaimed joy to people. Let us revere him as a messenger who proclaimed salvation to the whole world; let us honor him with reverent worship and prayerful singing, joyfully celebrating his memory and giving thanks to him for such great blessings to his human race, which he formerly rendered and now renders, unceasingly praying for us to the incarnate Lord. Through the prayers of the Holy Archangel Gabriel, may we all receive the forgiveness of sins. (Thu.-min. March 26). Amen.

One must be prudent in petitions to God

(The story of our venerable father Daniel about Eulogius the stonecutter)

Fortunately, brethren, there are still quite a few God-loving souls who, being poor themselves, do not cease to build up their salvation by works of mercy and share it with the poor. Does not the thought ever occur to these merciful: if we were rich, would we do it for the poor? If the Lord would bless us with prosperity, how many widows and orphans would we accommodate! Nor is it often heard among us: "Oh, if so-and-so were rich, how much good he would do, how much he would enrich others!" - Unfortunately, we are mistaken in such judgments. A certain elder, having come to a certain village to sell his handicrafts, met a commoner, who, surrounded by beggars and wretches, was returning from work to his house. The elder together with others came to him, and the commoner washed everyone's feet, fed everyone, gave them water and calmed them down. Learning that this beggar-lover was the stonecutter Eulogius, who every day shared all his wages with the poor, the elder thought: what if this man were rich, how much good he would do! And he began to pray to God that He would give Eulogius wealth. The elder's prayer was heard, and the Lord said to him: "It is better for Eulogia to remain as it is now; but if thou wilt, I will give him riches, but wilt thou be a surety for him?" -- "O Lord," answered the elder, "seek his soul from my hands!" Eulogius, according to custom, having come to work, began to strike the stone rock with a hoe, and, having punched a hole, he saw through it in the rock a cave filled with gold. Eulogius pondered and decided to carry the gold secretly: to bring it home. And now the beggars are forgotten, and Eulogius takes gold to him at night. Then, he withdrew to Byzantium, bought palaces, and became a nobleman. Two years have passed. Only once did the elder see in a dream that Eulogius was being expelled from the presence of the Lord. The hermit was horrified and went all over, for the first time he met Eulogius. Searching for him for a long time and not finding him, he turned to one old woman with the question: "Do you have any beggar lover in your village?" The elder exclaimed: "What have I done, see that I am a murderer!" He got into a ship and set off for Byzantium. Finding the house of Eulogius, he sat down at its gate and waited for the owner to come out. He waited: Eulogius came out, surrounded by slaves, proud, haughty. The elder fell down before him and exclaimed: "Have mercy, I want to tell you something!" On another occasion he met Eulogius and was again beaten. I met him in the third, and again they inflicted wounds on him. In despair, he wanted to return home, so he boarded a ship and, entering it, fell unconscious. At this time, in a dream, he again saw the Lord with an angry face, surrounded by angels: and the Lord commanded the latter to cast the elder away from His presence, as the culprit in the death of Eulogius. But the Mother of God appeared and begged the Lord for forgiveness. Then the Lord said to the elder: "Do not ask for anything that you should not. I will restore Eulogius to his former position." The elder woke up joyfully and with tears he thanked the Lord and His Most-Pure Mother. What happened? Justin, the emperor who loved Eulogius, died in Constantinople, and the new one gave orders to take away the latter's estate to the treasury and kill him himself. Eulogius fled and finally reached his place. His first act was to go to the rock, wondering if he would find gold in it again. But there was no gold. Then he came to his senses again and again became a beggar and a lover of strangers. The elder, having learned about the seven, glorified God.

And so, now you yourselves, brethren, how erroneous our assumptions can sometimes be, how dangerous our dreams of changing our external situation are. In addition to this, they waste time for doing good works, distract from them, and thus hinder the very work of our salvation. Let us work for the glory of God, not where we want, and not with the desire for some other means that we have not had before, but where God has commanded, and with the means that we have. Amen.

The Lord also rewards merciful people with earthly blessings

(Homily on Him Who Despised Possessions, but Loved God)

We all know the words of the Lord: seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things (i.e. all that is necessary for life) shall be added unto you (Matt. 6:33). We know, but we act differently: first of all, we care not about the Kingdom of God, but about earthly goods. And this comes from our lack of faith. Most of all, we are haunted by the thought: what will happen to me when I am old? Who will feed me? Who will need my children? And a person is immersed in worldly calculations, and concern for the soul is for him almost the last of his care. But what usually happens? And a man destroys his soul, and worldly goods are not given to him, which is very natural; for where there is no blessing of God, there will never be anything. If he had acted according to the word of the Lord, he would have saved his soul, and earthly contentment would have been given to him. Not seeing the righteous man is forsaken, begging for bread below his seed, says the holy king and prophet David (Psalm 36:25).

Once one of the Holy Fathers happened to be in Constantinople. When he was in church, a man unknown to him came up to him and, greeting him, began a conversation about the salvation of the soul. "Truly blessed is he," he said, "who puts all his hope in God and entrusts himself entirely to Him." And then he continued: "I was the son of a rich father, who at the same time was extremely merciful to the poor. Once, having called me, he showed me all his treasures and said: "My son, what do you want me to leave behind you: all my wealth or Christ?" After this, my father became even more merciful and distributed all his possessions to the poor. After his death, I became a poor man, and I placed all my hope in the Lord. What happened? There was in our city a rich and glorious, and at the same time pious man, who had the same wife. They had an only daughter. When the latter reached the age of the bride, the pious mother said to her husband: "Behold, we have a daughter; we have a lot of wealth; This means that we must seek for her a bridegroom, not a rich one, but a meek and God-fearing one, who would make her happy and preserve our possessions." The husband answered: "You speak rightly, and I think the choice is left to God Himself. Let us go to church, pray fervently, and then whoever the Lord sends first to church, let him be the husband of our daughter." They went, prayed, and waited for the one to come in. That's when I entered. Soon they sent a slave to call me to them, and when I arrived, they began to ask who I was, where I came from. And when I told them my father, whom they knew well, and heard that I was not married, they glorified God, and exclaimed, "Christ himself chooses you to be the husband of our daughter; take it, and our possessions, and live with the fear of God." I consented, and became the husband of their daughter, and with her I received their estate. And now I am concerned only that in all things I should act as my pious father did."

And so, do you see how the Lord rewards with earthly goods those who seek first of all the Kingdom of God, His righteousness? And this is not the only example. Read the lives of the saints, and you will be convinced of the truth of my words. Philaret the merciful distributed everything to the poor; but when only bare walls remained in his house, a royal embassy came to him, and his granddaughter became the wife of the emperor. And how many examples, when the holy abbot of some monastery distributed everything to the poor, and the brethren were left without a piece of bread - suddenly, by an invisible hand, the monastic granaries were overflowing with bread, and it was even difficult to open their doors from the excess. There are many examples of this. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Amen.

Where are the souls of sinners after their separation from their bodies

(Homily about a certain soldier named Taksiot, who rose from the dead, Prol. Mar. 28)