On True Fasting and Love for Your Neighbor

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit! We, dear ones, have entered the days of the strict Dormition Fast. The Holy Church, in order to prepare us for the worthy celebration of the great Christian feast – the Dormition of the Mother of God, specially establishes fasts. I want to remind you of the words of the stichera, a hymn in which the Church teaches us what fasting is, how it should be celebrated: Let us fast with a pleasant fast, pleasing to the Lord. True fasting is the alienation of the wicked, the abstinence of the tongue, the deferral of wrath, the excommunication of lusts, the reproach, the falsehood, and the transgression of perjury. This is a true impoverishment, and an auspicious one (2nd sticheron for Vespers on Monday of the 1st week of Great Lent). This is a true and favorable fast for the Lord. Removal from these vices, from the vicious state, constitutes true fasting. And first of all, we need to pay attention to the retention and curbing of our language. This is a small member, but if we do not restrain it, then it will drag us through the thickets of all kinds of lies, slander, condemnation and backbiting during the days of fasting. It is also necessary to pay attention to trying to remove from one's heart all hatred and hostility towards one's neighbor, to try to be quiet, meek, humble-minded, gracious and loving in everything and to everyone. In particular, it is necessary to acquire love as the mother of all virtues. Once, in the previous conversation, I already spoke about this virtue, about how important this virtue is, how necessary it is for our salvation. Because love is the highest good in our Christian life, and without love, all our deeds of piety, such as fasting, prayer, abstinence, chastity, charity, will have no moral value. All this has no true dignity if there is no love for one's neighbor. And all the difference of a Christian is precisely in love for one's neighbor. Without love, a Christian is not a Christian. And Christianity is not Christianity. Love is the law of the human heart, the law of every moral, rational being. This law unites all living things, all creatures into a single whole, harmony. And if humanity does not submit itself to this law, then it condemns itself to suffering, error, and death. Why? Because God by nature, in essence, is a God of love and a God of peace. And the holy Apostle Paul in the 13th chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians sang a hymn of Christian love. He pointed to the greatness of Christian love, to those unearthly qualities of Christian love, which our Lord Jesus Christ commanded to the world. In the Epistle he writes that love is long-suffering, merciful, love is not envious, love is not exalted, is not proud, does not riot, does not seek its own, is not irritated, thinks no evil, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices in the truth; He bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things (1 Corinthians 13:4-7). Love is long-suffering. That is, he complacently endures all troubles, all insults, all vain, not succumbing to the movements of anger and revenge. Long-suffering is the root of all prudence. And so, according to the word of the Most Wise, a long-suffering man is much in understanding. But the weak are strong for foolishness. And, extending the thought further, the Most Wise compares this virtue with the fortress of a city, saying that it is stronger than even the strongest city. Love is merciful, it endures many troubles from others, but it does not do any harm to its neighbor at all. On the contrary, it accepts all the sorrows of its neighbors as its own. And, having compassion for his neighbor, he tries to console and help in trouble. It pours itself like oil on wounds in order to console and calm one's neighbor in sorrow and misfortune. And he does not rest until he has done it, until he has brought comfort to the grieving. Love envies neither talents nor distinctions, nor the success of one's neighbor in his affairs, nor his external well-being. She does not envy any good and perfection of her neighbor, because it is contrary to her nature. On the contrary, the essence of love is to desire and do only good, good to all people. She does not want to be happy alone, but strives, wants all people to be happy. Such is the quality of true Christian love. Love is not exalted, that is, it is not arrogant, it is not boasted. It is love that makes a person prudent, sedate, decent. Arrogance and frivolity are characteristic only of those people who love others with carnal love. And whoever loves with truly spiritual love is free from it. Love is not proud. No matter how gifted a person may be, if he has truly Christian love, he never dreams of himself having something better in comparison with another living being. And no matter how many good deeds he has done, he still believes that he has not done anything special. Such is the quality of true Christian love. Love is not irritated, does not think evil. That is, even if the one to whom a Christian does good causes him some trouble, Christian love is still not upset. She still tries to do good deeds, regardless of any, perhaps, bad behavior on the part of the person to whom love has been given. Love does not even think evil. She thinks no evil in evil. Just as love itself is alien to all deceit, to all evil, so it does not see this evil in others, in the loved one. Others, perhaps, see this evil in a person, but love does not see it in him - because it loves. Love endures everything, covers everything, all shortcomings, all weaknesses, infirmities. A person has to endure all sorts of troubles, perhaps even reproach, beatings. But a loving person covers all this. An example can be given from the Old Testament - the life of the holy king and prophet David. David was a very loving man, possessed the gift of love. And when his own son Absalom rebelled against him, who planned to seize power and destroy his father for the sake of lust for power, David endured all this very calmly. He did not utter a single reproachful word to his son. And even after his commander had killed Absalom, the prophet David wept for him like a child: "My son Absalom! (2 Samuel 18:33), - not remembering the evil that his own son had done him. Love believes everything. Love believes a loved one, no matter what he says, not suspecting, perhaps, that there is some slyness in the words. But love believes everything, endures everything and hopes everything. In short, these are the qualities of true Christian love, which the Lord commanded us. One must acquire it and love one's neighbor with this love. And by neighbor one must understand every person, whoever he may be. I have already said that all our deeds of outward piety – fasting, prayer, chastity, mercy – will have no moral value if they are not combined with love for one's neighbor. Among these works of piety, prayer stands in the first place. But prayer is pleasing to God only when it is combined with love. If, on the contrary, hatred, rancor, ill-will towards our neighbor live in our hearts, then let a person be both pious and pious, the Lord will not accept such a prayer. God, our Father, is also the God of the world. Therefore, alien to love and peace, they only offend God with their prayers. They are not even allowed to go to church until they are reconciled with their neighbor. And how can they ask God for forgiveness, forgiveness of their sins, their debts, but they themselves do not yet forgive their neighbor! And until they forgive their neighbors for their sin, until they are reconciled with them, the Lord does not forgive them and does not accept their prayers. Not only prayer, but even suffering for the faith is not pleasing to God if the suffering person does not forgive the sins of his neighbor. The history of the Christian Church knows many such examples. One of them is the example of Sapricius the presbyter. In the first centuries of Christianity, during the persecution of Christians, he endured much torment and suffering for the faith in Christ. And the crown of martyrdom was already being prepared for him. But just before the execution, his friend Nikifor, who quarreled with him because of something, turned to him. Now he asked him for forgiveness. But Sapricius did not forgive him. And immediately the grace of God departed from him. And he was afraid of the death penalty, renounced the cross and deprived himself of the crown of martyrdom, which was received by the same Nicephorus, who confessed himself a Christian, and was immediately executed. The deeds of our chastity, our fasting, our asceticism will have no value in the eyes of God, if they are not connected, united with love for our neighbor. Again, let us turn to the Gospel narrative. A rich young man who asked the Savior: "What should I do to inherit eternal life?" (Mark 10:17). The Savior pointed out to him the fulfillment of the commandments. The young man replied that he fulfilled these commandments. The Saviour, seeing in his soul that he is greedy, that he is addicted to riches, says: "All that thou hast sell and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come, follow me" (Luke 18:22). The young man was greedy, he had an addiction to wealth, and greed cannot be combined with love for one's neighbor. A covetous person, on the contrary, often acts unjustly in order to acquire his illegal wealth to the detriment of truth, to the detriment of love for one's neighbor. That is why the young man departed with sorrow, and was deprived of eternal life, although he seemed to have fulfilled all the other commandments. The main commandment was and still is love for one's neighbor. Therefore, it must be remembered that in Christianity there are two basic commandments: to love God with all one's heart, with all one's soul, with all one's being, with all one's mind, and one's neighbor as oneself (cf. Matt. 22:37-40; Mk. 12:28-32; Lk. 10:25-27). There are no commandments greater than these.

Without this, our retreat will not bring us success. A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another, saith the Lord (John 13:34-35). So let us try to spend these days of fasting to the best of our ability in abstinence and in Christian perfection, purity and piety, trying not to offend our neighbor either in word or deed, trying to gain love for one another. Let us imitate the first Christians, who, as I have already said, although they endured terrible persecution: they were robbed, their property was taken away, Christian blood was shed, but they were united by such a strong union of love that they had one heart and one soul (Acts 4:32). And therefore they endured all kinds of misfortunes and persecutions from the pagan world. May the Lord help us to spend these days as it pleases Him, our God. Glory to our God for ever! Amen.

On the Struggle Against Temptations

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit! Thanks be to the Lord God, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, that the Lord preserves us, that the Lord loves us. Two weeks of the Great Lenten race have already passed, two weeks since we are here, in this holy place, meeting our salvation and bringing repentance. In the days of Great Lent, the Holy Church offers us remembrance of Christ's sufferings for the deepening of our repentance, for our zeal for the correction of ourselves. For nothing is more conducive and conducive to sincere repentance than the remembrance of the passion and death of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because it was nothing else but our sins that led the God-Man to the Cross, to death. And today, dear ones, you have heard how the Holy Gospel has painted us a terrible picture of the terrible torments, sufferings and death of the God-Man, Who took all these unbearable, grievous sufferings and torments for you and me. Terrible was the night that began for our Lord Jesus Christ with the sorrows of Gethsemane. Both the morning and the afternoon of Friday were terrible... Yes, this night began for the God-Man with terrible, heavy temptations. First of all, He endured a fierce inner struggle with Himself, painful spiritual sufferings, which were a foretaste of His torments and sufferings on the cross. He grieved, He was terrified before the cup of His sufferings. And this night ended with His foreboding sufferings in the courtyard of the high priest Caiaphas. Friday morning and afternoon were already the morning and afternoon of His most terrible sufferings and His most humiliating, most grievous death. But that night, dear ones, it was not only the Savior who was subjected to a heavy temptation. On that terrible night, His beloved disciples, the apostles, as well as His enemies, were subjected to heavy temptations. His disciples were faced with the question: either to overcome temptations and share the fate of their Divine teacher, that is, to accept suffering and death together with Him, or to succumb to fear and change their love for Him, to leave Him alone in the midst of sufferings, sorrows, and among His enemies. And before His enemies there was another temptation: either to heed their common sense, the voice of conscience and to renounce their evil plans - to betray Him to death, or to take advantage of the opportunity and satisfy all possible passions and deliver up the Savior to death, thus becoming the perpetrators of the monstrous crime - murder of God. So that on this terrible night, this terrible time, the greatest temptation and trial awaited everyone, and everyone had to watch and protect themselves with the shield of prayer, in order to triumph over temptations with its help. That is why on this night the Saviour Himself was spiritually awake as never before, and He prayed intensely as never before, and He inspired His disciples to watch and pray in the same way, saying: watch and pray, that ye may not fall into temptation: the spirit is strong, but the flesh is weak" (Matt. 26:41). But none of them, except the Savior, was awake or praying. His disciples did not pray because they were burdened with sleep. They were asleep. The enemies were also not spiritually awake. If they were awake, it was sinful. They built their own shackles: how to betray the Savior to death, how to satisfy their various passions. Therefore, all of them fell that night under the burden of temptation - both the apostles and the enemies - they fell. And only the Saviour, who was spiritually awake and tirelessly prayed to His Heavenly Father, gained victory over these temptations. The course and outcome of this temptation, to which the Savior, His disciples, and enemies were subjected on this terrible night, are very instructive for you and me, dear ones, and must always be before our eyes, so that we may gain victory over our temptations. First of all, the history of this trial shows us that under certain circumstances, sometimes even slight temptations prevail over those who are tempted. And vice versa: it happens that even the strongest temptations are overcome by a person. And this is what a Christian should strive for: to gain victory over the temptations that await him. First of all, it should be noted that the enemies of Christ were subjected to the weakest temptation that night. They cannot give any valid reason for their fall. There was no danger to their personal lives, to public order, and there could be no fear of losing their property or losing their legal rights. Nothing compelled them to commit such a villainous deed. In these evil intentions they were guided exclusively by inexcusable passions and vices. None of them could, hand on heart, without remorse of conscience, directly say that by committing murder, he was thereby doing a God-pleasing deed. Although the enemies of Christ justified their evil deeds by the fact that they were allegedly protecting the Jewish people from a dangerous false teacher and disturber of the people's peace, this was a lie, a slander. They could justify themselves in this way before strangers, but not before their conscience. Their conscience, undoubtedly, cried out to them about the innocence of the Saviour they were giving up to death, about the purity of His life and about the salvific nature of His Divine teaching. Therefore, it was not this that prompted them to betray the Savior to death, but namely the passions that seized their souls. Malice, envy, revenge - this was what agitated their souls, this was the reason that prompted them to lay hands on Christ the Savior and give Him over to death. There were many circumstances that seemed to help them change their minds and not become God-killers. First of all, the very horror of this matter is to put a man to death for no reason. So is the betrayal of Judas. Not some danger, but his low self-interest, addiction to money, desire to get 30 pieces of silver, to take possession of money - these are the passions that took possession of his soul. These passions were the reason why he became a traitor. And the wrong sentence of Pilate... Nothing threatened Pilate. What he was frightened with that he would not be a friend of Caesar is all a phantom danger. But his contemptible servility before the people, this mad crowd, his self-interest, his cowardice - this was the true reason that from his lips came the sentence to deliver the Savior into the hands of the Sanhedrin. And despite the fact that his wife also sent a messenger and begged and asked him not to do any harm to the Righteous One, the Lord's betrayal to death was accomplished. In a word, the enemies had no valid reasons not to fall. They might well have resisted their temptations, but they fell. Why did they fall? Because their souls were possessed of many different passions, but none of them sought a cure for their passions, no one struggled with their passions. The passionate impulses of the soul are prevented only by constant, vigilant observation, by constant struggle with them, but none of the enemies was awake, no one tried to struggle with his passions. On the contrary: their vigilance, all their attention, was directed to finding the means to satisfy their passions. And now the passions have received complete freedom, and they go from one crime to another. Thus, they roll into perdition. In addition, human strength is weak - they are strengthened only by grace-filled help from above, which is requested only through prayer. And a person who asks for God's help triumphs over temptations. Because it is impossible to overcome temptations on your own. And the enemies of Christ - they did not pray. And how could they pray when their souls were drowning in all kinds of malice, in all kinds of passions? Therefore, it is not surprising that with their weak human powers, moreover, perverted passions, they could not resist temptation, and under the blow of temptation they fell, and fell irrevocably. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ! There are many people among us who are also subject to various passions and vices, people for whom for this reason any slight temptation, which inevitably happens to everyone, can turn out to be fatal in the matter of their salvation, disastrous. It can very easily happen that we, too, will begin to act evil, like the enemies of Christ, become traitors to our friends and acquaintances, and destroy our neighbor, and in general cause much trouble to our neighbors, if we do not watch over ourselves and protect ourselves. In order to avoid such an outcome, it is necessary to constantly cleanse your soul of various passions that live and fight in it, to strengthen your soul morally, thereby giving it strength to fight temptations. And if temptation befalls our uncleansed soul, then in this case it is imperative to redouble our vigilance and intensify our prayerful feat. Only through these virtues can we save ourselves from temptations and gain victory over them, extinguish the flaming arrows of the evil one. Of course, the disciples, the apostles of Christ, were subjected to a stronger temptation, although they loved the Savior, loved sincerely, loved with all their hearts. When they promised to be faithful to Him, they were sincere and ready to lay down their lives for Him. But the enemy of the human race has reserved for them a great temptation to test them. He exposes them to danger, the danger of death together with the God-man. And with the fear of death, of suffering, it shakes their courage, their patience, their faithfulness, their love for the Savior. And so, unprotected by prayer and vigilance, the disciples of Christ fell. Although, of course, they did not fall irretrievably, not without restoration, like the enemies of Christ. This is also a good lesson for us - not to be presumptuous, not to meet temptations and dangers, if we rely only on our own strength. The less hope there is in ourselves, the less spiritual slumber, the greater the hope for God's help, the greater the success in repelling temptations. And let this be a lesson for everyone! And, finally, our Lord Jesus Christ was subjected to the most powerful temptation, Who victoriously repelled all these temptations. All the arrows of the evil one, all the evil of hell were concentrated, directed at the Savior. He had to endure the most severe, terrible mental and physical suffering. First of all, the infidelity, the cowardice of His beloved disciples, the betrayal of Judas, the denial of Peter. He had such love for his disciples, brought them up for apostolic ministry! And they turned out to be so wrong! And, of course, in doing so, they caused deep pain to the loving heart of the Savior. And many other temptations awaited the Saviour, when unrighteous judges accused Him, the Judge of the entire universe, when impious slaves condemned Him, accused Him, crucified Him. Of course, He could, as the Creator of all creation, reveal His Divine power, put to shame all His enemies. But, obedient to the will of His Heavenly Father, He accomplishes the salvation of the human race not with glory, not in power, but with self-abasement, with the humble endurance of sufferings and His death. Thus, the Lord triumphantly repelled all temptations. He repelled it because He was preparing for His temptations: He watched, prayed to His Heavenly Father. And it was with this all-powerful Heavenly help that He repelled all these temptations. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ! Many temptations meet each of us. Especially now, in our troubled and anxious times, when a black cloud is approaching over the world, including our country and the Church. And we now stand in anticipation of all kinds of trials. Everyone should remember this and protect himself with vigilance and prayers. We must never forget the warning of our Saviour, Who will come a second time to earth: "Watch, for ye know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man shall come" (Matt. 25:13). Watch, be sober and pray, because before the Coming of Christ the Savior there will be great fears on earth, terrible manifestations. As the Holy Gospel reveals to us: false Christs and false prophets will arise and give signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. Be careful... (Mark 13:22-23). There will be great signs, wonders. And therefore the Saviour warns and says: "As lightning proceeds from the east and is visible even to the west, so shall be the coming of the Son of Man" (Matt. 24:27). And to all these false prophets, who will come precisely for the purpose of deceiving and deceiving even the elect, the Lord says: "Do not believe" (Matt. 24:26). In a word, the great await the trial of every believer in Christ. The Lord calls: "Take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with gluttony and drunkenness and the cares of life, and lest that day come upon you suddenly" (Luke 21:34). And the Apostle Paul says: "As in the daytime, let us behave decently, not giving ourselves up to feasting and drunkenness, nor to sensuality and debauchery, nor to quarrels and envy" (Romans 13:13). But clothe yourselves, as God's elect, holy and beloved, in mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering, bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against anyone: as Christ has forgiven you, so have you. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which is the sum total of perfection. And let the peace of God reign in your hearts, to which you are also called in one body, and be friendly. Let the word of Christ dwell in you abundantly, with all wisdom; teach and admonish one another with psalms, doxology, and spiritual songs, singing in grace in your hearts to the Lord (Col. 3:12-16). Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, be vigilant, be sober, and keep your Orthodox faith in our Crucified and Resurrected Lord Jesus Christ. And above all, say these words in your heart more often: Jesus, Son of God, remember us when you come into Your Kingdom. Amen.

Homily for Pascha

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit! Christ is Risen! I congratulate you, dear brothers and sisters, on the great, joyous feast, universal joy of the Bright Resurrection of Christ! In the language of church hymns, the feast of the Bright Resurrection of Christ is called the feast of all feasts and the triumph of all feasts. The radiant Resurrection of Christ is the triumph and affirmation of our Christian faith, the triumph of our Christian hope and the affirmation of Christian love. The triumph and affirmation of all that is good, bright and holy, dear to us. We have said that the Radiant Resurrection of Christ is the affirmation, the triumph of our Christian faith. Our Lord Jesus Christ, having become incarnate on earth, having taken upon Himself our human nature, taught the human race the true teaching about all that exists. And about God, about His essence, about His nature, and about His works; and about the origin of man, his nature, purpose, present state and future fate; and about the world, the origin of the world, its nature, purpose and future fate of the world. But what can be a firm guarantee that the true teaching about all that exists, handed down to us by our Lord Jesus Christ, is the Divine teaching, the true revelation of God? The one who taught it is the true God. And for this reason the very teaching of Christ bears the stamp of Divine origin both in its character and in its content and dignity, and it is, of course, more sublime and holier, and fundamentally differs from the teaching of the sages of this world. It does not have the foreign admixture of truth, falsehood, and error that we notice in the writings of people with limited human intelligence. But in spite of this, in the teaching of Christ there are such mysteries that perplex and doubt some people who think humanly, that is, in a limited way. Therefore, His inner dignity cannot give a complete witness to the divinity of Christ's teaching, for confirmation a stronger external testimony of His Divinity and the Divinity of His teaching is required. Such external testimonies of the Divinity of Christ, of His Divine teaching, are, first of all, the miracles that the Saviour performs during the preaching of the Gospel. Announcing to people about His Divinity, announcing to them eternal life, the Lord at the same time opened the eyes of the blind, restored the hearing of the deaf, healed the paralytics, cast out demons from the possessed, fed the five thousand people, and resurrected those who were already decaying. And these testimonies fully confirm the truth that our Lord Jesus Christ is Almighty God and the teaching taught by Him is the Divine teaching. And these testimonies would have been quite sufficient, indisputable, if not for one event in the life of the God-Man, which for a time shook this truth. This event is the death of Christ the Savior. The Savior voluntarily went to it for our salvation. By the path of humility, by the path of extreme self-abasement – for the sake of our salvation, the Lord goes to the podvig of the cross, but those of little faith do not want to appreciate and understand this mystery of the redemption of the human race and see in Him Whom they revered as the Great Miracle-Worker and God, they see in Him only powerlessness. Evil and cunning enemies try to shake this truth with malicious ridicule. And if the life of the Saviour had been limited only to suffering and death, and if there had been no His Resurrection from the dead, then what could we say to these worst enemies and their malice? The Apostle Paul says: "If Christ is not risen, then our preaching is vain, and your faith is also vain" (1 Corinthians 15:14). Consequently, our faith stands in close connection with the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our faith stands if Christ is risen. It falls if Christ is not resurrected. This is how great is the significance of the Resurrection of Christ for our faith. But Christ rose from the dead. And He rose again by His own power. In this way He showed that He is the true God, because only God has power over death and life. And our Lord Jesus Christ, Who rose from the dead, revealed Himself to be Lord over life and death. Therefore, He is the true God. And since our Lord Jesus Christ is the true God, then the teaching taught by Him is the Divine teaching. And our faith in Him is salvific, but the distrust that Christ's enemies have shown is false. The miracles of Christ are also true. It was the Resurrection of Christ that resurrected this faith, this power of Christ's miracles, gave them meaning again, and people understood that the Lord Jesus Christ accepted suffering and death only for the sake of our salvation, condescended to extreme self-abasement, that He could, as Almighty God, both abolish and avoid this death, these sufferings, and descend from the Cross, and destroy His enemies. But He did not want to avoid the cup of suffering that was prepared for Him by the Heavenly Father. Thus, the Resurrection of Christ is a triumph, a confirmation of our Christian faith. It is also the affirmation of Christian hope. The good hope of every Christian in his life is the joyful hope that after temporary earthly sufferings, sorrows, deprivations, misfortunes, after bodily death at the time appointed by God, people who believe in Christ will rise from the dead and enter eternity for an endless blessed life. This good joyful hope delights the bitterness of earthly life, helps the believer to bravely and patiently endure all his sorrows and, without falling under their burden, courageously bear the cross laid upon each of us by God's providence. But what can be a firm guarantee that this hope for a future resurrection, for eternal blissful life, will not put to shame, that after death there will be a resurrection, a reunion of soul and body? In both the Old and New Testaments there are many indications that, in addition to temporal life, there is eternal life, that there will be a universal resurrection. Thus, the ancient prophets spoke about this: Thy dead shall live, dead bodies shall arise! (Isaiah 26:19). The prophet Ezekiel with his prophetic eye beheld the greatest miracle, when, by God's command, the bones approached each other, converged, then were covered with sinews, flesh, blood, and then the spirit entered them, they stood on their feet - the greatest multitude of people (cf. Ezekiel 37:1-10). In the Gospel, our Lord Jesus Christ says that the time is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that have done good shall go forth into the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil into the resurrection of condemnation (John 5:28-29). These words of the Divine Scripture give wings to the soul of a believer and, of course, inspire hope. But in order to preserve this hope, a strong faith in the word of God is required, because we constantly see death before us, when the body is destroyed, but we do not see anyone resurrected. Although we have examples of the resurrection of the dead – the prophets Elijah and Elisha raised the dead, and our Lord Jesus Christ raised the dead, and His disciples – this resurrection is not the universal resurrection that will take place at the end of the world. For here the resurrected people were resurrected in the same mortal form in which we live. And then they died again. And with the general resurrection, people will rise incorruptible, spiritual and immortal. But there is a stronger testimony from the life of Christ the Saviour, which fully confirms in the hope of our own universal resurrection and eternal blessed life – this is the resurrection from the dead of Christ the Saviour Himself. Christ rose from the dead, trampling down death, and death no longer has power over Him. Christ does not die. Christ was resurrected as the firstborn of the dead. And the time will come when all who believed in Christ will also be resurrected, but they will be resurrected in a new, glorified body, just as our Lord Jesus Christ was resurrected. Consequently, the resurrection of Christ is both the affirmation and the triumph of our Christian hope. Finally, faith in the resurrection of Christ is also the greatest affirmation of Christian love. Love, especially truly Christian love, requires great sacrifices and self-denial from the believer; sometimes - up to self-sacrifice, to death. To love God means to devote one's whole life, all one's strength to serving God. This requires self-denial and self-sacrifice, a willingness to sacrifice one's life for the glory of the name of God, for the sake of holy faith, for the sake of the Law of God. Love for one's neighbor requires tireless labor, concern for their eternal spiritual salvation and well-being, for their bodily life, and also requires a willingness to sacrifice one's property and life for the good of one's neighbor. Such are the sacrifices that love requires. But how can we dare to make these sacrifices, when our selfish nature is always looking for benefit, benefit only for itself? When does our self-love instill in us that we should live only for our own pleasure, for our own benefit? Isn't it really better to live for your own pleasure? But no. What a man sows, that he will also reap. He who sows in his flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, but he who sows in the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit (Gal. 6:8). And the love of Christ is an example of this. The more selflessly a person sacrifices himself for the good of his neighbor, the more fruitful love is. And we see this in the example of Christ the Savior. The Lord loved God the Father with boundless love. For Him, food was to do the will of the Heavenly Father. And out of love for the Heavenly Father, out of obedience to Him, the Lord took upon Himself the greatest feat – redemption, the salvation of the sinful human race. And out of love for Him, the Lord laid down His life for His neighbor. The Lord also loved the sinful human race. He gave Himself up for his sake, for the sake of his salvation He went to all his sufferings and to a shameful death. And what is the result of His boundless love? The results are priceless. First of all, the Lord rose after suffering and death - also for people. He was resurrected in a new, glorified body and received from God the Father power in Heaven and on earth, ascended to Heaven with glory and sat down at the right hand of the Father. The Lord redeemed mankind from sin, curse and death, granted it freedom, opened for it a free entrance to the Kingdom of Heaven, resurrected the human race. The Saviour glorified the Heavenly Father by His suffering: He founded His Heavenly Kingdom on earth – the Church of Christ. And many believers, following the example of Christ the Savior, in response to His love, kindled in their hearts the flame of love for God the Father, for the Savior, and for their neighbor. And this love brought joy to the whole world. Such are the priceless fruits of Christ's love. Therefore, the Resurrection of Christ is also the affirmation of our Christian love. May this day – the day of Christ's Resurrection – be a day of joy for us. And always remembering that this feast is precisely the affirmation of our Christian faith, let us love our holy faith, cherish it and try to govern our lives according to this faith. And remembering that the Resurrection of Christ is the affirmation of our hope, let us hope, and endure all the labors, sorrows, and deprivations with joy in the expectation of our future resurrection and our future eternal life. And remembering that the Resurrection of Christ is the triumph of our Christian love, let us clothe ourselves with the virtue of Christian love and bear abundant fruit, let us love one another. In this way we will show that we are real followers of Christ, Who came down to earth out of love for the human race. By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another, saith the Lord Himself in His Gospel (John 13:35). May this radiant feast, the radiant Resurrection, always be for us a feast of joy, a feast of the victory of life over death. And may he help us patiently, without complaint, to endure all the hardships of earthly life in the hope that the time will come when we will hear the longed-for voice of our Saviour: "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (Matt. 25:34). Amen. Christ is risen!

On honoring parents

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ! The Holy Apostle Paul writes: "Let the man of God be perfect, prepared for every good work" (2 Tim. 3:17). In order to be prepared for good works, one must learn from the word of God, from the law of God, in order to be able to recognize the holy will of God and fulfill it. Today I wanted to talk to you about one of the greatest Christian virtues - the reverence of children for their parents. Honoring parents is the first duty of children. Even in pre-Christian times, it was a custom among all peoples that the younger ones always revered and respected the elders. Especially the children of their parents. However, despite all the importance and naturalness of this virtue, to everyone's chagrin, at the present time this commandment of God is neglected. We see and hear many cases when children do not show respect to their parents. Not only do they not show respect, but they even allow a gross insult to their parents. And so, in order to remind us of the importance and necessity of this virtue, which is taught by the fifth commandment of the Law of God, we will talk about it today. First of all, nature itself requires the reverence of parents: after all, thanks to parents, children are called to life. And for this alone, they should appreciate their parents. But not only for this. Their parents brought them up, gave them an education, cared for them, kept a watchful eye on their every step, helped them when they needed outside help. They endured in their hearts the greatest sorrows, difficulties, illnesses, and, perhaps, they cried, grieved over the illnesses of their children, their failures. And, of course, all this teaches children to honor and respect their parents. The Apostle Paul writes that love suffers long, love is merciful (1 Corinthians 13:4). And if any love is long-suffering, merciful, then first of all it is parental love. What a father will not forgive his son! Absalom grievously insulted his father, king and prophet David, by rebelling against him with his worthless subjects. But listen to what David says to his military commanders: "Save me the lad Absalom" (2 Samuel 18:5). Fatherly love is ready to forgive everything. Even worthless, prodigal children. Therefore, children should remember this and try to be grateful to their parents. The whole of Holy History teaches us this tender parental love for the children of fathers. Thus, it is narrated that when the sons of the high priest Aaron were struck down by the fire of the Lord, Aaron stood and was silent in sorrow. Let us also remember the lamentation of the righteous Jacob for his lost son Joseph: "With sorrow I will go down to my son into hell" (Gen. 37:35), he said. Let us remember how David grieved for his lost son Absalom. He wept and wept, and said, "Absalom my son! my son, my son Absalom! Oh, who would let me die in your place... (2 Samuel 18:33). Thus David wept and wept. Remember also from the New Testament history what spiritual sorrow was filled with the appeal to the Savior of the father who asked for the healing of his demon-possessed son: Lord! have mercy on my son; at the new moon he is possessed and suffers greatly, for he often throws himself into the fire and often into the water, I brought him to Thy disciples, and they were not able to heal him (Matt. 17:15-16). And also the cries of the Canaanite woman, also addressed to the Saviour: "Have mercy on me, O Lord, son of David, my daughter is cruelly possessed" (Matt. 15:22). The daughter suffers, but the mother suffers doubly. Therefore she says: have mercy on me, O Lord! This is the tender love of parents towards their children. And children should not forget this. Children should also respond to this parental love with reciprocal, tender love for them. I will give you another example from civil history, about such an amazing, one might say, all-powerful love of parents for their children. In the year 390 after the birth of Christ, in the city of Thessalonica, by order of the emperor Theodosius, about 7000 people were killed for rebellion in the circus. At the same time, the guilty and the innocent were executed - it did not matter. Both citizens and foreigners suffered, both small and large. Among the others who were doomed to death, there was on that unfortunate day a certain man with two boys, sons. When the turn came to them, the father persuaded the murderers to take pity on him and to pardon at least one son, to let him live. The executioners agreed to pardon one, but told the father that he had to make his own choice: which of the two to leave alive, and which to kill. At this point my father's heart wavered. Both sons were dear to him. He felt sorry for both of them. Therefore, he did not make any choice, and all three of them gave themselves into the hands of cruel executioners. Parents suffer when their children experience some kind of sorrow. In particular, the parental heart is worried, it hurts when children are in illness. At this time, nothing pleases them, nothing pleases them. Only when the merciful Lord raises their children from illnesses, they breathe a sigh of relief, then the joy of their parents knows no bounds. But if parents grieve over the illnesses of their sons and daughters, worry when they are possessed by a bodily illness, then their heart grieves even more when their children suffer from a moral, spiritual illness. This is a double misfortune for parents. We must also honor our parents for the reason that if we reflect on the very commandment of the Lord, which commands us to honor our father and mother, we will see that it contains the promise of God. Namely: for piety, children are promised long life and prosperity. For irreverence - the brevity of life with all kinds of disasters and misfortunes. History and the illustrative examples that we ourselves observe convince us of the power and justice of God's words. Indeed, people who treated their parents with respect, took care of them, live to a ripe old age and spend their lives in every kind of well-being. On the contrary, impudent, disrespectful children usually live only until the mid-day of their days. And they spend their lives in all kinds of disasters and misfortunes. Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long on earth," says the fifth commandment of the Law of God (Exodus 20:12); and again: "He who curses his father or mother, let him die" (Matt. 15:4). And there are many such examples when a parental blessing brought down grace on the souls of their children. And vice versa - the parental curse subjected disobedient children to terrible suffering, torment. Blessed Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, relates an incident. Once, in one of the cities of his diocese, an entire family was subjected to such a curse. The mother of nine sons, an old woman, was once very upset by her eldest son, who not only verbally insulted her, but also dared to beat her. Offended, upset by such an act of the eldest son, the mother grieved for her other sons: why did they not restrain him and help, did not protect her when he struck her? And in a fit of such indignation, anger, she indiscriminately cursed them all. And the judgment of God, the inevitable judgment, was accomplished. The eldest son was stricken with paralysis on the same day. His hands, and then all the limbs of his body, began to tremble. He was completely exhausted, he could not even walk. The same fate befell all the other sons within one year alone. So they, unable to endure shame, not tolerating disgrace from their fellow citizens, left this city and wandered somewhere throughout the Roman Empire. Here is a clear example, an obvious example of how God's judgment is carried out quickly on impudent disrespectful children. This example also convinces us that mothers also sin when they dare to pronounce such reckless curses on their children. And children who force their parents to such extreme actions - curses - sin doubly. Yes, you should always remember your responsibilities to your parents. St. Tikhon of Zadonsk says in this regard: "Always give due to those who gave birth to you, and for this you will be greatly benefited. Remember that your parents are your greatest benefactors. Remember all their sorrows, labors, and experiences that they took up during your upbringing. And, remembering this, always thank them worthily for this. Do not insult them, show them obedience in everything. But this obedience must be reasonable. Obedience must be in accordance with the word of God and not contrary to the will of God. Do not do or undertake anything without the advice and blessing of your parents. If your parents punish you, if you consider this punishment to be just, if you are really guilty, then bear this punishment with meekness. Because your parents punish you for a good purpose, to correct you, to make you kinder. If you think that this punishment is unfair, you are not guilty, then tell them about it, because you are their child. Do not leave your parents in need, help them, especially in their old age. If you notice any infirmities or weaknesses of your parents, then be afraid to condemn them, much less to divulge them to others. Do not imitate Ham, the son of Noah, who saw the nakedness of his father, and told his brothers about it. And if you offend your parents in any way, then by all means ask their forgiveness as soon as possible. The Word of God commands us to ask forgiveness from every neighbor who has been offended by us, especially from our parents, whom we must love and honor more than other people." Such are the instructions of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk about the relationship of children to their parents. Children who are disrespectful to their parents are deprived of God's blessing. They are deprived of God's mercy. Once, to a certain holy ascetic, parents brought their son, who was possessed by an evil spirit, tormenting him. The parents with tears besought the venerable father, that he would heal their son by his prayer. But the monk, who treated all the suffering with great indulgence, even without an outside request, helping them with his prayer, this time did not show any attention to this youth. He looked at him with displeasure. The parents beseech him, but the ascetic says: "Your son is not worthy of healing, and the evil spirit has been given to him as a punishment for having treated you so boldly. He often did not listen to you and behaved boldly with you, didn't he?" Father shook his head and said, "Yes." - "Didn't you pray, asked the Lord to punish him?" - His parents said with tears: "Yes, we really asked the Lord to punish him for his disobedience." - "So let him suffer for his sins." But the compassionate parents fell down to the saint with tears, and began to pour their tears on his feet, asking him to have pity on them and have mercy on their dissolute son. And then only the monk, laying his hand on him, prayed, and immediately the lad was healed. And here is another example of how the Lord punishes disrespectful children for their impudence towards their parents. An old mother had an only son, whom she loved, whom she raised, in the hope that he would be the breadwinner, her support in old age. But her son, when he came of age, often brought her to tears with his disrespect, rudeness, and insult. One day he began to beat his wife. The mother stood up, but in irritation and rage, the son grabbed her by the chest and pressed her against the wall, began to strangle her. And only the moans of his mother, the cry of his wife, the crying of the children made him stop and leave the house. And then the offended and distressed mother stood before the icons and said: "Lord, You see how my own ungrateful son treats me, what he repays me for my love and care for him. May neither my blessing nor yours, Lord, be upon him." At the same hour, on the same day, he was struck by a terrible illness. All his limbs became paralyzed, his hands trembled. Every day his health deteriorated and deteriorated. He was extremely exhausted, so much so that even his wife fed him with a spoon, with her hands. In this state he was repeatedly taken to the holy saints of God, to Kiev and other holy places. But nowhere did he receive healing. The Lord did not heal him. And now, thirteen years later, he was already so exhausted, so relaxed, that he even lost the gift of speech. Then they decided to call a priest to commune him with the Holy Mysteries. When he received the Holy Mysteries of Christ, the gift of speech returned to him. He summoned all his relatives and children to him and spoke convincingly about how grave the sin of disobedience and disrespect for his parents was, and after these words he died peacefully. These examples, dear ones, they teach us all how we should treat with caution and attention our parents, who gave birth to us, to whom we owe our very lives, who raised us. After all, in our early childhood, parents seem to replace God for us. All authority is based on the authority of God, confirmed by the Lord. Moreover, parental authority is confirmed by the Lord. Therefore, the Lord fulfills the will of the parents in this case. So, having been forewarned about this, dear ones, let us try to fulfill this commandment of God in our lives. And let us write on the tablets of our hearts: Honor thy father and thy mother, that it may be good for thee, and that thou shalt live long on the earth (Exodus 20:12), and whosoever curses his father or mother, let him die (Matt. 15:4). Amen.

On the Christian Faith and Life According to the Gospel

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ! From the time when the Divine Sufferer, our Lord Jesus Christ, shed His Divine priceless blood on Golgotha for the salvation of the whole world, the foundation of the Christian faith was laid on earth. The teachings of Jesus Christ, as we know them from the Gospel, began to spread rapidly throughout the world. And people who accepted Christ, believed in Him as the Son of God, accepted His teaching, and began to be called Christians. And at the present time many millions of people consider themselves Christians and, therefore, recognize the Gospel as the first book in the world. A book that contains the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ about how one should live here on earth, in order to be vouchsafed after death, beyond the grave, eternal blissful life, and also in this life - earthly well-being. But what is surprising, to our sorrow, very few follow what is written in the Gospel. Most do not even take the Gospel in their hands and do not examine themselves according to the Gospel. Have you taken the Holy Gospel into your hands in order to check whether you are following the path indicated in it by our Lord Jesus Christ? If you do not do this, then you are making a fatal mistake, disastrous for you. By doing so, you show that you do not value the Divine Blood shed by the Lord on the Cross, and that you do not regard the Holy Gospel proclaimed by Him, which is the way, the truth, and the life for the whole world as a whole, and for each person in particular. Just as there is not a single name under Heaven given to us that could save us, except the name of Jesus Christ (cf. Acts 4:12), so there is no other teaching in the whole world that would point out the direct path to the attainment of eternal bliss and earthly well-being, except the teaching of the Gospel. We are surprisingly frivolous, and sometimes even criminal, in our attitude to the organization of our lives. After all, any builder will not start the construction of a building before he has made the necessary calculations, made estimates and made other preparatory actions. No bricklayer will lay a row of bricks unless he first measures them. And we often arrange our lives in such a way that we do not think at all about any issues that have meaning and significance for us. We have no measure to judge the right course of our lives. Therefore, it turns out that our life's buildings very often crash and break us gravely under their ruins. And this will happen, we will not escape this breakdown and contrition, because we neglect the only true and correct path shown to us by the Lord in His Gospel teaching. Not a day goes by that we do not look at ourselves several times in front of the mirror: whether our clothes are clean or whether our face is dirty. Nevertheless, for years, and perhaps even for the rest of our lives, we never check the neatness and purity of our moral character, contrasting ourselves as a mirror with the perfect image of Christ the Savior, imprinted on us in the Gospel. If we respect, revere a writer or thinker, then we certainly try to learn about the content of his works, we are interested, we learn. Their books become, as they say, a reference book for us. So why do we, Christians, who are called to love goodness, truth, justice, brotherly love, why do we neglect Jesus Christ, His teaching? After all, Jesus Christ lived and suffered out of love for the human race. Why do we neglect Him? Why don't we have even a simple curiosity to read and study the Holy Gospel? Why is the reading of the Gospel in some kind of pen in our country? We want to know the truth, we seek the truth, but we will never find it, because we neglect the source of truth, the Holy Gospel. If we want to look at the sun, we must turn our gaze to the sky. Thus, if we want to know the way of our life, we must turn to Christ. Nowhere will we find such a clear, such a complete answer to all the needs of our spirit except in the Gospel, in the teaching of Him Who said: "I am the way, the Truth, and the Life" (John 14:6). People languishing under the burden of unrighteousness and lawlessness – thus says the Savior in the Gospel, addressing the entire human race. "The life you have chosen for yourself cannot give you happiness. Evil begets only evil, and truth and happiness - the highest goods - are good, which is born exclusively of love and goodness. If you want to find it, if you are burdened by the evil that exists in the world, then come to Me, learn from Me. My words will pour out a healing balm on your tormented, sick souls. I will show you the way and give peace to your soul. Surrender wholeheartedly to My teachings, and walk the path that I have laid before you. And you will see that My yoke is truly easy, and My burden is easy to bear. After a long dark night, with My coming into the world, a bright, quiet day came. The Kingdom of God drew near. It is near you, it is near you, it is only necessary that it penetrate, seize your heart, the source of all rational moral activity, the beginning of human life. Clear a place in your heart for God. Give scope in your life to goodness and truth and free yourself from the lies, violence and coarse selfishness that oppress you (cf. Matt. 11:28-30). If we really want to take seriously the question of how we should live, then we cannot ignore the Gospel. Because only in it can we find the answer to the question of the meaning of life. Christianity amazed the Judeo-pagan world with the novelty of its moral teaching. This novelty lay in the fact that Christianity indicates the only way to achieve salvation - a righteous life as a necessary condition. But this righteous life is made dependent on faith in our Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God, faith in His redemptive merits, which the Lord accomplished by His suffering on the Cross, by His light-bearing Resurrection. Without this, no human righteousness can grant us salvation. And before the coming of Christ, there were righteous men in the Old Testament. And they sought salvation, sought salvation, and did good works. But they did not receive salvation. Salvation came only with the coming of Christ the Savior to earth. Without suffering on the Cross, there could be no absolution of sins for people. Only after the sufferings of the Cross, only after the glorious Resurrection and Ascension of the Lord into Heaven, only from this moment are people granted eternal life, and people are delivered from the danger of eternal perdition. Therefore, if we wish ourselves well, if we seek salvation for ourselves, then we must first of all be a true follower of Christ. And for this, you need to fulfill His commandments. And in order to fulfill the commandments, one must know Christ's teaching, that is, the Gospel teaching, and be a faithful, constant, worthy disciple of Christ. One must have a constant thirst for the search for God's truth. If we so constantly, persistently strive for Christ, seek justification from Him, do His will, then this will put us among His disciples, among His chosen ones. To become a disciple of Christ means to take upon oneself a great responsibility, to take seriously and carefully one's whole life, to each of one's actions. The Kingdom of Heaven, says the Lord, is wanting, and those who use force take it away (Matt. 11:12). You see that without effort, without effort, it is impossible to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. An inner struggle is required, a struggle with all kinds of bad inclinations, inclinations, passions. Because if we do not watch over ourselves, then an accident or a crash can easily happen to us. You yourself know that when a large building is built, they carefully watch each brick so that it is laid correctly. If it is placed incorrectly, it can serve as a cause for the destruction of the entire building. So it is in the life of a Christian. If a person does not sober up, stay awake and puts some improperly molded brick or some bad deed in the building of his soul, then this can cause his collapse, his death. After all, we know from everyday experience that a small drop of swamp mud, if it falls into a stream of pure water, then, although it may be inconspicuous to the eye, but dissolved in pure water, spoils it and becomes the source of all disease. This is a law both in the physical world and in the spiritual world. Poison, in whatever dose it is taken, remains poison. The same is evil. No matter how much evil there is, it still remains evil and causes the greatest harm to the soul. Therefore, I repeat once again that we must be attentive and serious about the ways of our lives, especially about the arrangement of our spiritual salvation. Without this inner composure, without this inner struggle, there can be no fruit, there can be no success in our spiritual life. We are talking about the meaning of the Gospel, about its importance. And so we can see how beneficial the Gospel is to human souls. Let's take our ancestors. The country was called "Holy Russia". Why? Because our ancestors were brought up, learned from what? On the Psalter and on the Gospel teaching. That is why piety flourished. They were pious people. How many people from the world went to monasteries! Streams of people wanted to asceticize, to serve in the monastic rank. There were more than one and a half thousand monasteries in Russia. And there were not enough: there were so many aspirants to monasticism that they could not accommodate them all. And now? Now the monasteries are being revived, restored, but there are not enough people who want to go to the monastery. This is the result, the consequence of the fact that if then people were brought up in pious teaching and therefore there was a desire for piety in them, now people are "educated" by television, and this is what fruits it gives! We bless our mentors, we bless St. Sergius. They, too, drew piety from Christ's teaching. It is said of Venerable Seraphim that he never parted with the Gospel. He always carried it either in his bosom or in his bag on his shoulders. And in his instructions, St. Seraphim especially points out the importance of reading the Gospel. He says: "One must know the Gospel in such a way that the mind floats in it, as it were." And we, dear ones, have no other way, if we want to be saved and inherit eternal life, than the path of the Gospel commandments, the path of attention to ourselves, the path of strict examination of ourselves before God. There are many things in this world, teachings to which people are attached, which they follow, but only in the Gospel is the truth, for only the Gospel is the teaching of the Lord Himself, His word. And according to the Gospel the Lord will judge us on the day of His Last Judgment, and our eternal fate will depend on whether we have fulfilled what is written in it or neglected it. Whoever 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, says the Lord (John 14:21). Let us love the Lord, brothers and sisters, let us do His commandments. And knowing this, let us make the Gospel the main book of our lives, let us not part with it, but let us always learn from it, remembering that this is the word of God, the will of God, in the fulfillment of which is eternal life. And in non-fulfillment - destruction. Amen.

I walked with the Gospel and was not afraid...

The name of the spiritual father of the Holy Trinity-Sergius Lavra, Archimandrite Kirill, is probably known today by the majority of believers in our country. Very little is known about him, about his life, about the past. This interview (and in its form it is more like a sermon or a Word), devoted to a large extent to memories of the Great Patriotic War, which Father Kirill gave to the journalist of "Sovereign Russia" is one of those rare occasions when he himself tells something about himself. This great terrible Patriotic War, of course, was the result of God's allowance for our apostasy from God, for our moral, ethical violation of the law of God, and for the fact that in Russia they tried to put an end to religion, to faith, to the Church altogether. It is no coincidence that almost all churches were closed just before the war. By this time, there were very few of them left in Russia. The opponents of the Church had just such a goal - to finish everything off in general. According to Khrushchev, they would do away with religion in Russia by 1980 and show the last priest on television. Such was the enemy's plan: that complete atheism should reign everywhere. The Lord foresaw these enemy plans, and in order not to allow their implementation, the Lord allowed war. It is no coincidence. And we see that the war really converted people to the Faith, and the rulers reacted to the Church in a completely different way. Especially when Stalin's decree on the opening of churches in Russia was issued. This, undoubtedly, moved God's mercy to our country, to our Church, to our people. Humanly, of course, we can say that the high military spirit of our soldiers won. And we must pay tribute to the leadership of the country, which erected such a brilliant commander as Zhukov. In former times, the Lord raised up Suvorov and Kutuzov for Russia. In our time, Georgy Zhukov was God's mercy. We owe him salvation. Immediately, our military equipment rose, strengthened and improved. Humanly speaking, we attribute all this to the fact that people united and successfully worked on the front line and in the rear. That's right. But the Lord gave them strength, energy and intelligence. When I read the memoirs of Marshal Zhukov, I was struck by the moment where he writes about how he was amazed at the genius of the strategic plans of the German generals at the beginning of the war. Then he was surprised at the mistakes and miscalculations that they later made. This is what Zhukov says for his part. For my part, I will say: all this was done by the wisdom of God! The Lord, whom He wants to punish, always deprives of reason, mind... And the same person who showed wisdom in the beginning, when the grace of God departed, makes mistakes. When the Lord had already decided to give help to our people, our army, He darkened the minds of the fascists, and gave wisdom, military ingenuity, courage and success to our military leaders. The Lord gave strength, energy, and intelligence to our designers and engineers in order to win. As the saying goes: "Without God, there is no threshold!" The trouble is that we do not see God's Providence and do not give the Lord glory for the fact that He showed such providence, such care. It's sad... Strictly speaking, Russia has risen from insignificance, has grown into a great power only by the grace of God, only by the power of God, by miracles... And no one wants to talk about it... How much mercy our country received at all times when Russia was attacked. And only heavenly help saved from ultimate destruction. And we are so thick-skinned that we do not understand this mercy of God, we do not want to thank the Lord. Without Me ye can do nothing" (John 15:5). We attribute all this to ourselves. We say "I", we show pride, and this is just harmful. And for this the Lord gives us to our enemies, in order to humble us, so that we do not forget God... In the first months of the war, our country entered it in a difficult state: defeat followed defeat. The enemy marched without any resistance. And he reached Moscow, Stalingrad. When the Church, the faithful prayed with tears, asking the Lord in prayers for the victory of Russian weapons, the prayer reached the Lord. And He soon changed His wrath to mercy. Moscow was saved by a miracle... If the Germans had been braver, they would have taken it with their bare hands. Moscow hung by a thread. Indeed, the Lord held back the Germans with fear... And when they began to open churches, there was such an upsurge among the people. People went to churches. And I myself was an eyewitness to this... After the Battle of Stalingrad, when we arrived in the Tambov forests to rest, one Sunday I went to Tambov. The only church had just been opened there. The cathedral was all bare, only walls... There are a lot of people. I was in a military uniform, in an overcoat. The priest, Father John, who later became Bishop Innocent of Kalinin, delivered such a heartfelt sermon that everyone in the church wept loudly. It was a continuous scream... A hundred!, and you are involuntarily captured, such touching words were uttered by the priest. Of course, such a cry, the prayer of a simple believing soul reached God! I believe in it one hundred percent! And the Lord helped... To ordinary people, God's help seems invisible. People do not see God, do not know Him. But the connection between the invisible world and the material world is direct. The Lord also raises up the right people, we give them experience and courage. He gives successes in the rear and at the front... I remember how at the beginning of the war our tanks and planes burned like plywood. As soon as Messerschmitt appears, he will give a burst - and our planes will crash. It was painful and sad to look at this. And later, during the Battle of Stalingrad, I was directly delighted: "Katyushas", artillery, our planes dominated, and I was happy for the country, for our power. There was an upsurge in the troops. Everyone was excited. It was the Lord who helped us! And then, thank God, we went through the whole of Ukraine, liberated Romania and Hungary, Austria... After the liberation of Stalingrad, our unit was left to carry out guard duty in the city. There was not a single intact house here. It was April, the sun was already warming. One day, among the ruins of the house, I picked up a book from the garbage. I began to read it and felt something so dear, dear to my soul. It was the Gospel. I found such a treasure, such a consolation for myself.. I gathered all the leaves together - the book was broken, and that Gospel remained with me all the time. Before that, there was such embarrassment: why war, why are we fighting? There were a lot of incomprehensible things, because there was complete atheism in the country, lies, you can't learn the truth. And when I began to read the Gospel, my eyes simply saw everything around me, all the events. It gave me such a balm for the soul. I walked with the Gospel and was not afraid. Never. It was such an inspiration! It's just that the Lord was with me, and I was not afraid of anything. He reached Austria. The Lord helped and comforted. And after the war, he brought me to the seminary. There was a desire to learn something spiritual... In 1946, I was demobilized from Hungary. When I arrived in Moscow, I asked in the Elokhovsky Cathedral if we had any religious institution. "There is," they say, "a theological seminary has been opened in the Novo-Devichy Convent." I went there right in military uniform. I remember that the Vice-Rector, Father Sergius Savinsky, warmly greeted me and gave me a program of tests. And I began to prepare with great enthusiasm. After all, I was not introduced to church life. He grew up in a peasant family, his parents were believers. But from the age of 12, I lived in an unbelieving environment, with my brother, and lost my spirituality. The Lord gave me such energy, such a desire! I had to learn a lot by heart. Prayers, reading in Church Slavonic. In spite of everything, I worked, studied everything with such a desire. Burned. At the exam they gave me to recite the fiftieth Psalm by heart... I only read half of it - that's enough, thank you. I read it in Church Slavonic. Also good. Then the essay was on the Gospel theme. And I knew the Gospel well. He wrote an essay with an "A". And they sent me a notice that I was accepted. Then I took off my overcoat and went in a sweatshirt. And all of us who were there then, who, like me, came from the front, some from the coal mines, were tested by life... In short, I believe that our unbelief, our ignorance, our ignorance of God, and our violation of moral laws cannot go unpunished. We do not know that the Lord provides not only for each person, but for the whole country in general. That's why there was a war. And this is not without God's permission. If not a hair falls from our head without the will of God, then how much more will there be a war. This is God's allowance for our immorality, for our godlessness, for apostasy. The Lord allowed this to be stopped. Because they tried to completely stifle faith. Churches are all closed. They thought they were finished. No! It wasn't like that! It is difficult to go against the. So it will be in the future. The Lord knows how to humble enemies. He allowed military trials, and were forced to reopen the churches. Because the people demanded it... Today's chaos is, of course, also God's permission. And all these wars on the outskirts of Russia - too. If the people do not come to their senses, do not deeply repent, and the decay of morals does not stop, then there is nothing good to expect. We can only expect death. Is it permissible that in our country, in Holy Russia, freedom is now given to demons? Sorcerers, magicians, psychics, sects of various kinds... This, of course, moves God's truth to anger. The Lord cannot put up with this. The Gospel says: "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth with unrighteousness" (Romans 1:18). The Lord gives a test: come to your senses! turn to me. And the fact that demonism was allowed is a terrible thing! And I don't know what to expect?! Because, according to the biblical legend, the seven Canaanite peoples were exterminated only because they allowed the worship of demons. Human sins are due to weakness. But when people began to turn to the dark demonic power, then the Lord did not tolerate this. And we have opened the way for them. Previously, sorcerers were burned at the stake. And quite recently, in our Criminal Code, black magic was punished. And now psychics code people. This is a terrible thing. We are on the verge of life! And if we do not come to our senses, do not repent, do not condemn ourselves, do not turn to God, punishment will inevitably befall us. In the meantime, the Lord endures all this at the expense of believers. The Church still exists. She prays and beseeches the Lord: do not let it go, I pray You! And the Lord will destroy all the evil spirits! Man himself is to blame for having departed from God, from the truth, for having joined the lie. And lying never gives a person satisfaction. A lie is a lie. That is why people suffocate - because they are in a lie. And if they turn to the truth, they will feel life, joy! Recorded by Andrey PECHERSKY "Derzhavnaya Rus", No 7-9 (19), 1995