The Lord said beautifully: ... My burden is easy to eat (Matt. 11:30). What difficulty, what labor, to forgive a brother minor and insignificant sins, and to receive forgiveness for one's own sins, and suddenly become justified? He did not say, "Give me a gift of possessions, or calves, or goats, or fasting, or vigil," so that you could also say, "I do not have this, I am not able to do this." But what is easy, convenient, and short, He commanded, saying: "Forgive your brother's trespasses, and I will forgive you your sins. You will forgive small mistakes, perhaps a few oxen, or three denarii; but I give you thousands of talents. And you forgive only without giving anything as a gift, but I forgive you your sins, and grant you healing and kingdom. And I will accept your gift when you are reconciled with him who is hostile to you. When you have no enmity against anyone, when the sun does not go down in your anger, when you have peace and love with everyone; then your prayer is acceptable, and your offering is acceptable, and your house is blessed, and you yourself are blessed. And if you are not reconciled to your brother, then how can you ask My forgiveness? I, your Lord, command you, and you will not hear; and you are a slave, how dare you offer Me prayer, or sacrifice, or firstfruits, having enmity against anyone? As you turn away your face from your brother, so will I turn my eyes away from your prayer and from your gift."

I beseech you again, brethren. God is loving (1 John 4:16), and what is done without love is not pleasing to Him; how then will God accept prayer, or gifts, or firstfruit, or fruitfulness from a murderer, if he does not repent first, as he should? But no doubt you will say, "I am not a murderer." And I will prove to you that you are a murderer; rather, let John the Theologian rebuke you, saying: "Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer" (1 John 3:15). And so, my beloved brethren, let us finally prefer nothing to the acquisition of love, let us strive for nothing so much as for this. Let no one have anything against another, let no one repay evil for evil to anyone... Let not the sun go down on our wrath, but let us forgive all debtors, and let us affirm love, because it covers a multitude of sins.

What does it profit, children, if a man has all things, but does not have a saving love? If a man makes a great supper to summon the king and the princes, and to prepare everything richly, so that he lacks nothing, but he has no salt; Will it be possible to taste such a dinner? Without a doubt, it is impossible. On the contrary, the expenditure is in vain, and the labor he has ruined, and he has brought trouble for himself from those invited by him. What is the use of working to the wind if there is no love? And without it, every deed, every deed, is impure. Whether a person has acquired virginity, whether he fasts, whether he remains in vigil, whether he prays, whether he gives shelter to the poor, whether he thinks of bringing gifts, or firstfruits, or fruits, whether he builds churches, or does anything else, — without love, all this will not be counted to anything by God; for this is not pleasing to the Lord. Listen to the Apostle, who says: "If the tongues of men speak and the tongues of Aggel... if the Imam prophecy, and the knowledge of all the mysteries, and the Imam of all understanding... For even mountains are to be lifted up, but love is not imam... there is no profit for me (1 Cor. 13:1-4). Whoever has enmity against his brother, and thinks to bring something to God, will be accepted on a par with him who sacrifices a dog or the price of a harlot. Therefore, do nothing without love, for love covers a multitude of sins, Oh, what good we despise! Oh, what blessings, what joy we deprive ourselves of without acquiring love for ourselves! Not wishing to acquire it, Judas withdrew from the ranks of the Apostles, leaving the true Light, his Teacher, and, hating his brethren, began to walk in darkness. That is why the Supreme Peter said: ... and Judas fallen, go to his place (Acts 1:25). And again John the Theologian says: ... He that hates his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and hath not known where he goeth, for darkness hath blinded his eyes" (1 John 2:11).

But if you say: "Though I do not love my brother, I love God," then the same Apostle rebukes you, saying: "If anyone says that I love God, and hates his brother, it is a lie: for if you do not love your brother, who has seen God, who has not seen Him, how can you love? (1 John 4:20). Therefore, whoever has love for his brother, and has no enmity against anyone, who fulfills the word of the apostles: ... let not the sun go down on your anger (Ephesians 4:26); he truly loves God, he is a disciple of Christ, Who said: "Of this ye understand, that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another" (John 13:35). Thus, it is evident that the disciples of Christ are known here by true love. And whoever hates his brother, and thinks that he loves Christ, is a liar, and deceives himself. For the Apostle John says: ... this is the commandment of the Imams from Him, that he who loves God also loves his brother (1 John 4:21). And again the Lord says: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God... as unto himself (Matt. 22:37, 39). Wishing to show the power of love, He added: "In this commandment hang all the law and the prophets (Matt. 22:40).

What an extraordinary miracle! Whoever has unfeigned love fulfills the whole law; because the fulfillment... the law is love, as the Apostle says (Romans 13:10). O incomparable power of love! O immeasurable power of love! There is nothing more precious than love, neither in heaven nor on earth. For this reason the Apostle Paul, teaching that there is nothing equal to love, thus wrote and sent to all the ends of the world: "And to no one, brethren, ye shall love one another, and lay down your lives for one another" (Romans 13:8). Such is love, the head of all virtues; Love is the fulfillment of the law, love is immutable salvation. It originally dwelt in the heart of Abel. She was Noah's pilot; it assisted the patriarchs. She saved Moses; it made David the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit; it dwelt in the prophets; she strengthened Job. And why not say the most important? "She brought down the Son of God to us from heaven. For the sake of love, the Bodiless One is incarnated, the Ageless One is incarnated for us in time, the Son of God becomes the Son of Man. By love all things are built unto salvation; death is abolished, hell is cast down, Adam is called, Eve is set free. Through love, angels and men have been made into a single flock. By love the oath is resolved, paradise is opened, life is revealed, the Heavenly Kingdom is promised. She, catching the fishers in the darkness, made them fishers of men. She asceticized with the martyrs and strengthened them; she turned the hermitages into comfortable dormitories. She sang psalmody from the mountains and caves. She made angels out of men; She taught husbands and wives to walk the strait and narrow path. But where shall I stop, pursuing the unattainable? Who is able to depict all the advantages of love? I think that the Angels will not depict it as they should. O blessed love, giver of all blessings! O blessed love, which makes blessed those who love you! Blessed, truly blessed is the man who has acquired love from a pure heart and a clear conscience!

When you hear about love, do not suppose worldly and carnal love, in taverns and at feasts, between people to whom glory and God are the belly. Their love is limited to the time of the meal, their love is enmity against God. Friends are called here, not enemies; there is no place for the poor; there is laughter, applause, and noise; there is drunkenness and dishonor. Of this love the Apostle said: "For whosoever willeth to be a friend of the world, there is an enemy of God" (James 4:4). Of this love, or rather to speak of this delusion, and, in order not to express it even more strongly, of this love, which God does not look upon, God Himself said, that even the heathen women do the same: for if you love those who love, what grace is there for you... Or what is the bribe to imate? (Luke 6:32; Matt. 5:47). But we do not speak of such love, we do not proclaim it, we do not seek it, but we mean love that is unhypocritical, irreproachable, undefiled, not selfish, all-embracing, and distinguished by every good deed, to which our Lord pointed out, saying: "Let a man lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13). For the Lord Himself taught and created this, and laid down His life for us, not only for friends, but also for enemies. For God loved the world, as He also gave His Beloved Son to eat for us (John 3:16). Of this love, having Divine love in himself, the Apostle Paul said: "Love does not harm to one's neighbor, does not repay evil for evil and reproach for reproach, but is always longsuffering, merciful, does not envy love... he is not irritated, he thinks no evil, he does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but he rejoices in righteousness, he bears all things, he bears all faith, he trusts all, he endures all things. Such loves fall away (1 Cor. 13:4-8). Whoever has this love is blessed, both in this age and in the age to come. Whoever has this blessed love is not proud, does not envy, does not hate anyone, does not despise the poor, does not abhor the poor, does not leave the orphan, widow, and stranger unattended. Whoever has it loves not only those who love him, as the pagans do, but also those who insult him. Having this Divine love, the Protomartyr Stephen prayed for those who stoned him, saying: "Lord, do not put this sin on them" (Acts 7:60). I say again, and I will not cease to say: blessed is the man who has despised all earthly and perishable things, and has acquired love! His reward grows every day, the reward and the crown are ready for him, the Heavenly Kingdom has been granted to him. He is blessed by all the Angels, he is praised by all the Heavenly Powers, and he will be gladly received by the faces of the Archangels. The gates of heaven will be willingly opened before him, and he will enter boldly, and stand before the throne of God, he will be crowned with the right hand of God, and he will reign with God for endless ages. Who is more blessed than he, who is higher than him, who is more honorable than he? See to what heights the love of those who have it raises! The Apostle said beautifully: "Ye owe no one but love one another" (Romans 13:8). God is love, and abides in love, abides in God, and God abides in him (1 John 4:16) forever. Amen.

About the Psalm

(According to the Slavonic translation, part II, Homily 3)

This and even more can be said about love. But we will return to what has been assumed, and we will speak of repentance and of the future judgment. It is always necessary to meditate on this: for the day of the Lord, as a thief in the night, so shall it come (1 Thess. 5:2). Wherefore behold the last hour day and night, and in the law of the Lord we shall learn day and night (Psalm 1:2). Tell many things to God, and not much to men; and although you stretch out your hand to work, let your lips sing, and let your mind pray. Let the Psalm be in your mouth without ceasing. The invoked name of God drives out demons, sanctifies the psalmist. The psalm is the silence of the soul, it rewards with peace. The Psalm is the mediator of friendship, the unity of the disunited, the reconciliation of the warring. Psalm — the attraction of angelic help; a weapon against powerful fear, comfort from the day's labors, safety for infants, adornment for the elderly, consolation for the elderly, the most fitting adornment for women. He inhabits the deserts, chastizes the assemblies of the people; it is the initial instruction of the newcomers, the increase of the prosperous, the confirmation of the perfect, the voice of the Church. He makes the feasts bright; he produces sorrow for God. A psalm evokes tears even from a heart of stone. The Psalm is the work of the Angels, the heavenly dwelling, the spiritual censer. In it, brethren, let us never cease to learn both in our homes and in our ways: and when we go to bed and rise from sleep, let us converse with ourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs (Ephesians 5:19). The Psalm is the joy of God-lovers; it drives away idle talk, stops laughter, resembles judgment, arouses the soul to God, and unites with the Angels. Where there is a psalm with contrition, there is God with the Angels. And where there are songs of a stranger, there is the wrath of God and the sorrowful recompense for laughter. Where there are holy books and readings, there is the joy of the righteous and the salvation of the hearers. And where there are harps and faces, there is the darkening of husbands and wives and the feast of the devil. Oh, what an evil cunning, what an invention of the devil! How skillfully he stumbles and deceives everyone and persuades them to do evil as good. Today they seem to sing psalms, and in the morning they give themselves up to dancing with zeal; today the Christians, and the next morning the pagans; today they bear a glorious name, and in the morning the Greeks; today they are servants of Christ, and in the morning they are apostates from God. Do not go into error: no servant can work for two masters, as it is written (Matt. 6:24). You cannot work for God and dance with the devil.

As true servants of Christ, let us work for Christ; Let us worship Him, let us not depart from Him, let us remain with Him until our last breath, and let us not obey the serpent; for like a roaring lion walketh about, seeking whom he may devour, whom he may deceive. Resist the firmament (1 Pet. 5:8, 9), as Christ's soldiers, working with Christ and abiding with Him. Do not make it so that today you sing psalms, and in the morning you dance! today to repent of your sins, and in the morning to gallop to your own destruction; to read today, and in the morning to svirat (to play the pipe); today to observe abstinence, and in the morning to spin, and to be a laughing stock for everyone. No, brethren, let us not thus ruin the time of our salvation by playing, and serving as a plaything for others. Like a good farmer, cultivate and guard your guilt. Do not be burdened, brother, by the paths to eternal life, do not reject dry eating, do not withdraw from vigil, do not consider reclining on the bare ground as nothing, do not abandon psalmody. For all these things and the like send you into eternal life, and joy, and gladness, and rest. Love silence during evil conversation; worldly conversations separate the mind from God.