This edition contains sermons by the outstanding Russian archpastor, confessor of the Orthodox faith and surgeon, St. Luke (Voino-Yasenetsky), Archbishop of Crimea. These sermons mainly relate to the last period of the life and work of the saint – to the period of his stay at the Simferopol cathedra, and are devoted to the consideration and interpretation of various Gospel readings, which should be read at the Liturgy throughout the church year. The words of St. Luke is filled not only with moral and doctrinal content, but also with many examples of the subtle and profound, and at the same time understandable to the inexperienced listener, exegesis of Holy Scripture (the New Testament), which is closely connected in its nature with the work of the Holy Fathers and Teachers of the Church (in particular, with the exegetical heritage of St. John Chrysostom). In addition, the words of the holy ascetic and confessor of the 20th century are an excellent example and model of how a priest should build his sermon and organize preaching activity in a parish.

For students of homiletics, pastoral theology, moral theology, biblical studies, modern interpretations of the Holy Scriptures. For the clergy. For a wide range of Orthodox readers. The publication can be used as a practical guide for pupils and teachers of theological seminaries, students of theological universities and faculties (academic subjects: "Moral Theology", "Homiletics").

ru Alexander Mikitenko http://www.Domstroy.eparchia.ru a-mikitenko@ya.ru ExportToFB21, FictionBook Editor Release 2.6 10.07.2011 OOoFBTools-2011-7-10-14-11-53-149 1.0 Gospel gold. Conversations on the Gospel Parish of the Church of the Holy Spirit of the Descent 2007 5-98891-077-7 Hardcover, 336 pages Circulation: 4000 copies. Format: 84x108/32 (~130x205 mm)

Preface

The history of the book that you, dear reader, are holding in your hands is not like the history of most books published before and are published now. Its author, then Archbishop of Simferopol and Crimea, and now St. Luke, did not prepare for publication his sermons, read from the episcopal cathedra in 1949-1952. After all, in the years of official atheism, it was dangerous to even dream of publishing original theological works, especially apologetic (defending faith from godlessness). It was a reckless feat of the archbishop that he addressed his flock with such a bold verbal word of God's truth.

But his grateful listeners could not reconcile themselves to the fact that this priceless word would be kept only in their hearts. They wanted it to penetrate the souls of as many people as possible, through thorns, through space and time. And God gave them such an opportunity. As in the distribution of St. Luke's book "Spirit, Soul and Body", the faithful became associates of their beloved archpastor by implementing "samizdat". But in this case, they did not just reproduce the written text. From week to week, from month to month, from year to year, they took shorthand (after all, at that time a tape recorder was the greatest rarity), retyped sermons on a typewriter. And it was risky, since all the cars were registered under numbers in the NKVD. They bound these sheets on home bookbinders with such love and care that no official publication of either that time or later had ever been honored. On the binding of one of the volumes of such "samizdat" that has come down to us, the Holy Cross is even imprinted. And this, too, threatened with severe punishment in atheistic times.

And one more important detail. This manuscript has come down to us thanks to works of mercy. It was carefully kept by the nun Elizabeth, who was vouchsafed not only to be personally acquainted with St. Luke, but also to become a patient of the outstanding surgeon Voino-Yasenetsky. He saved her life by operating on her for purulent appendicitis. The nun lived to a ripe old age in a squalid hut without amenities, and for the winter she was usually taken to live in her comfortable apartment by the servant of God Tamara, who sang with her in the choir of the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Simferopol, where the relics of St. Luke have rested since 1996. In gratitude for the shelter, the nun left Tamara the most precious thing she had before her death – the typewritten volume of the VI Sermons of Archbishop Luke in Simferopol, 1949-1952. Tamara, who is still a parishioner of Holy Trinity Cathedral, gave our diocesan publishing house the opportunity to reprint the manuscript and publish it in the form of a book, which can now be read by thousands of people.

The lively voice of our dear hierarch, blessing his faithful flock, resounds from the pages of this wonderful book. We were given the opportunity, as it were, to be present at the sermons that he, like everything he did in his great life, read with boundless love for our All-Merciful Savior Jesus Christ and for the people who are so in need of the Word of God.

Glory and thanks to the Lord for everything!

METROPOLITAN OF SIMFEROPOL AND CRIMEA

In the week of fronds

We are now celebrating one of the greatest events in the earthly life of our Lord Jesus Christ – His triumphal entry into Jerusalem.

It is necessary that all of you understand what the meaning of this feast is, that you understand what is the meaning of the Lord's entry into Jerusalem, for when someone first becomes acquainted with the Gospel, his thought stops at the chapter that tells about the Lord's entry into Jerusalem, stops with surprise, even with bewilderment, for they have read in many other places of the Gospel that our Lord Jesus Christ always and unfailingly rejected all honors from Himself, all exaltation, for He was meek and lowly in heart.