What we cannot finish due to our weakness, the Lord Himself, in His mercy, corrects by giving us such medicines. True, they are bitter and difficult, but if we want to save our souls from sin, to gain freedom, then we must accept it. Therefore, what happens to us, all sorrows, illnesses, must be accepted with joy, we must greedily drink the cup of suffering, because this heals us from sin. Although the demon whispers to us all the time: avoid suffering, find some way out so that you just don't suffer. He wants to suggest that it will be good for us only if we indulge the demon, but in fact he deceives us. No matter how much you eat in the evening, even a whole truck of food, tomorrow you will want to eat even more. This is the law. The more a person sleeps, the greater his need for sleep. The more a person drinks, the more he needs to drink. The more he fornicates, the more he must fornicate. The more money he has, the more and more and more he needs.

For example, we read in the newspaper: we stole 250 thousand rubles from the state - and we are surprised: the question is, well, what to do with this money? And they know what to do with them, and it is not enough for them. They did not just steal and calm down, no, this process goes on and on, because a person cannot be satiated with sin. This is impossible, the demon will not leave him alone, he will constantly pull the string, and the man, like Hampelman, will carry out all his commands: the demon pulled this string - the man raised his hand, the demon pulled that thread - the man turned his head. That is, he is completely a slave of a demon, and not one, but many, and this is what his life consists of. A person lived to death and does not understand that all his life he was pulled by countless threads and he lived on these threads and did not even know that there is Christ, what salvation is, that there is freedom from sin, there is a completely new life.

And Christ came to earth, founded the Church, so that we could be freed and cleansed from this filthy life in which we live. And the example of this demoniac shows us that we can be freed from sin. To do this, we need to fall down to Christ, to hate the sins that we see in our souls - and if we go to church, we will see sins in ourselves each time more and more, and more, and more. When a person comes to church for the first time, it seems to him that he is good, that he has never done anything bad to anyone. This is what the demon arranges, inspires this thought in him, and man, being the very last sinner, thinks to himself that he is profoundly right, that he can teach others, and in general he knows everything as it should be. In fact, this is a deep error, and gradually, knowing himself, knowing God, a person sees that here he is a sinner, and here, and here, and finally sees his sins like the sand of the sea. That's when the healing process begins.

Therefore, we must strive for this, if, of course, we want eternal life, we want the Kingdom of Heaven, we want to unite with the Holy Trinity. And if we want to continue to be beyond the grave in the hell in which we live now, to stew forever in this cauldron of sin, then for health, to each his own, everyone chooses the life that he likes. A person receives what he has actually created for himself. Everyone is either a slave of Christ - he obeys Him in everything, all His commandments; or a slave of the devil - and then he begins to obey demons. There is no other condition.

But since we are believers, since we have come to church, it means that we must strive to receive the Kingdom of Heaven. Our earthly life is only a preparation for eternal life, which begins there. How long will we live here? Well, sixty, well, seventy, rarely ninety years, and that's it. And then the most interesting thing begins. But we are completely unprepared for what begins there. Here we have settled, here we already have everything, but there we have nothing. And we must definitely take care of this. One day I would sit down in the kitchen in the evening, turn off the light and think: I am already so old and how long I will live - let's say, ten or twelve years. Okay, and then what? Here I am dead, lying in a coffin, surrounded by foam flowers, painted with aniline paint, completely ugly. My relatives lined up around me in black kerchiefs, whom I had not seen in the eyes for ten years - and suddenly they came, what, I asked? They are gossiping something among themselves, discussing: to burn - not to burn, to carry - not to carry. Then they took me to the cemetery on the bus and covered my body with earth. What will happen to my soul now? Will she go to the Kingdom of Heaven, to Christ? And in general, who is Christ? Where is he? What kind of Himself is He? Do I know Him? Well, yes, it seems that he went to church, lit candles, commemorated his parents' father and mother. Well, did you know Christ, God? Am I a servant of God?

Can a person say about himself that he is a servant of God? A slave is one who has nothing, and his whole life belongs to his master: if the master wants, he will kill the slave, if he wants, he will have mercy on him; If he wants, he will dress him, if he wants, he will undress him. And the slave completely obeys the master. Do we have such a relationship with God? No, not like that. God is somewhere far, far away. When we need Him, we will come to church and pray. And so we do not need God, we are busy with our lives. And it would be good for us to think that this life of ours will end very soon and we will find ourselves in the stupidest situation, because all our lives we have been trying for something, and all this turned out to be completely unnecessary. As the Lord said: "Martho, Martha, take care and pray for many, but there is only one thing that is needed." One thing is needed: to listen to the words of God and to fulfill them.

Therefore, you see how much we still have to correct in ourselves. And we must try to devote the remaining time to this, so that we do not live in vain, otherwise it will be just a shame. How much they suffered, how much they suffered, and all in vain. If you suffer and suffer, then for the sake of something great, necessary and valuable, for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven. There is no higher value on earth. Therefore, we need to arrange our lives in this way. And for this we need to get rid of what prevents this, to get rid of the demons that sit in our souls and govern our entire life. Amen.

Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross,

September 25, 1986

Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord

The Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord, in addition to the Forefeast and the Afterfeast, in addition to the Giving Away that most of the Twelve Great Feasts have, also has its beginning in the Saturday before the Exaltation. That is, in practice, the Holy Church celebrates this feast not for one week, but for two, liturgically emphasizing its importance and paying special attention to it so that we too may partake of it. Through her spiritual experience, with her spiritual eye, the Church sees the truth and mystery of Christ, and through the divine services, in which we all participate in our own measure, she tries to sow these truths, these mysteries in our hearts.

Here in front of us in the center of the temple lies the Cross, decorated with flowers. It is very beautiful, this Cross, and on it is Christ the Savior bleeding. In Christianity, nothing lends itself to simple logic, but on the contrary, as philosophers say, everything is antinomic. For example, God is a Trinity and God is one - how is this possible? It is impossible to understand this, one can only contemplate it, one can join it through spiritual experience. Any dogma of Orthodoxy cannot simply be logically explained, calculated, calculated, it is beyond purely practical understanding. And in the Cross of the Lord there is the same mystery.

Each of us knows from experience that the cross has great power, and most Christians are afraid to take the cross off their neck for just a minute, so as not to deprive themselves of its protective power. With the cross we begin every prayer, and with the cross we end it. With the cross we cover our bed before going to bed. With the Cross we sanctify our homes, decorate sacred vestments and churches. The cross itself is remarkably beautiful, has a perfect shape, but it is not because of its beauty that it has such power, but because Christ was crucified on it. Therefore, when our souls are gloomy, and this happens because the demonic army brings despondency upon us, it is enough for us to look at the Cross of Christ and compare our sorrow with the sorrow of Christ - and our sorrow will seem to us simply ridiculous in comparison with that which He carried in His heart when He saw our sins. When something hurts us and it is difficult for us to endure the pain, it is enough to look at the Cross of Christ - and we will immediately feel ashamed that we are squeaking and whining from small trials in comparison with those trials that the Lord endured for us. When we are left alone, and it seems to us that we are abandoned by everyone, and in our hearts there is anguish, it is enough to look at the Cross of Christ - and we will feel ashamed, because we are never alone. The Lord said, "I am with you always, even to the end of the age." That is, keeping the memory of the Cross in our minds, we can live without fearing anything.