To the most venerable and holy brother, Bishop Secundinus, Gregory, servant of the servants of God.

Between the liturgical rites of the Liturgy, I explained forty readings from the Gospel, from among those which, according to custom, are read in our Church on certain days. The explanation of some of them was read to the people before the people by the scribe, and the explanation of others before the people I spoke myself; and in the latter case it is written as I said. But some of the brethren, burning with zeal for the sacred word, passed on to others what I had said, before I had time to carefully correct what I had said as I had intended. These brethren I would call in some respects like hungry people who impatiently want to eat food before it is fully cooked. And the Scripture: Jesus was led up by the spirit into the wilderness, to be tempted by the devil (Matt. 4:1), although before I explained with some doubt, yet afterwards I corrected the doubt by an exact explanation. It was these same discourses that I took care to write in the order in which they were spoken, in two books, so that the first twenty, which were written from my own words, and the last, the same number that were told by myself, would be divided into separate books. As for the fact that some things were offered by me before, while in the Evangelist it was written after, and some things were offered after, while in the Evangelist it was written before, your brotherly love should not be disturbed at all, because the discourses, as I said at different times, were also copied into books in this order by those who wrote from my words. And so, if your brotherly love, which is always attentive to the sacred readings, should find the above-mentioned passage from the Gospel interpreted doubtfully, or these same discourses not arranged in the way I said above, then know that these are uncorrected discourses, and correct them according to those which I have taken care to convey to you through the present messenger, and in no way allow them to remain uncorrected. The original ones (my discourses) are kept in the book depository of our Holy Church, so that those who live far from your brotherly love may find them here and be convinced of the corrections I have made.

Discourse I, delivered to the people in the church of St. Up. Peter on the second Sunday after the Nativity of Christ. The reading of the Holy Scriptures. Gospels: Luke 21:25-32

At the time of it, Jesus said to his disciples, "There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars: and on the earth the tongue is stiff because of the noise of the sea, and the disturbance, and the dying man with fear and expectation of those who are coming into the world: for the powers of heaven shall be moved, and then shall they see the Son of man coming upon the clouds with power and much glory. And to those who are beginning these, lift yourselves up, and lift up your heads: for your deliverance draweth nigh. And he spake unto them a parable, See the fig tree and all the trees, when they are already broken, seeing for themselves that the harvest is near. In the same way, when you see this happening, know that the Kingdom of God is near. Amen I say unto you, For this generation shall not pass away, until all these shall be.

1. Our Lord and Redeemer, most beloved brethren, desiring to find us ready, foretells the calamities that must follow in the moribund world in order to turn us away from love for it. He makes it known beforehand what shocks must precede his approaching death, so that we, if we do not wish to fear God in tranquillity, at least fear His imminent judgment, struck by such upheavals. A little higher, ahead of the present reading of the Holy Scriptures. In the Gospel, which your brotherly love has only now heard, the Lord says: "Tongue shall arise against tongue, and kingdom upon kingdom." And the cowards are in their places, and smooth (Luke 21:10). And after a few intermediate thoughts, he added what you have just heard: there will be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars: and on the earth there will be a tight tongue, because of despair, the noise of the sea, and the disturbance.

Of all these events, we see some as having already taken place, and others we fear as having to take place soon. For we see the rising of tongue upon tongue and their tightness on earth in our times more than we read in books. That an earthquake destroys countless cities, you know how often we hear from other parts of the world. We endure plagues unceasingly. But the signs in the sun, moon, and stars are not yet clearly seen; and that they are not far off, we conclude from the very changes of the air. However, before Italy was given over to the pagan sword for desolation, we saw fiery points in the sky, resplendent with the very blood of the human race, which was afterwards shed. The noise of the sea and indignation is by no means new. But if many prophecies have already been fulfilled, then there is no doubt that those few that remain unfulfilled will also be fulfilled; for the certainty of subsequent events is vouched for the fulfillment of those that have passed.

2. This, most beloved brethren, we say in order to awaken your souls to increased caution, so that you do not give way to carelessness, so that you do not become slackened by ignorance, but that you may always be troubled by fear, and strengthened by concern for good, especially if you will think about what our Redeemer says: "A dying man with fear and expectation of those who come to the world: for the powers of heaven shall be moved. What does the Lord call the heavenly powers, if not the Angels, Archangels, Thrones, Dominions, Principalities, and Powers, which at the time of the coming of the Righteous Judge will visibly appear to our eyes, in order to demand from us an accurate account of what the invisible Creator now graciously allows us to do? Immediately it is added: and then they will see the Son of man, coming to the clouds with power and much glory. It can be said more clearly thus: in power and glory they will see Him Whom they did not want to listen to in humiliation, so that they may then feel His power the more strongly, the more reluctantly they now incline the neck of their hearts to obedience to Him.

3. But this is said against the wicked; and after this the speech immediately turns to the consolation of the elect. For immediately it is said, "To those who are beginning these things, lift yourselves up, and lift up your heads, for your deliverance draweth nigh." Truth exhorts its elect, saying to them, as it were, in this way: when the calamities of the world are multiplied, when, in the movement of the Forces, the dreadful Judge appears, then raise up your heads, that is, rejoice, because when the world which you did not love ends, then the redemption which you desired is near. For in the Holy Scriptures. In the Scriptures, the head is often taken for the mind: as the head governs the members, so the mind disposes of the thoughts. Thus, to raise heads means to elevate minds to the joys of the Heavenly Fatherland. Consequently, those who love God are commanded to rejoice and rejoice at the end of the world, because they immediately find the One whom they love, when the one whom they did not love passes away. It is impossible that the faithful, who desires to see God, should grieve over the upheavals of the world, knowing that in these upheavals he dies. But it is written: "Whosoever willeth the friend of the world to be, there is an enemy of God" (James 5:4). Consequently, whoever does not rejoice at the approach of the end of the world discovers that he is a friend of the latter, and through this very fact is an enemy of God. But away from the minds of believers, away from those who know by faith that there is another life, and by their deeds love it. For grieving over the destruction of the world is characteristic of those who have planted the roots of their hearts in love for it, who do not desire the future life, who do not even believe in its existence. We, knowing about the eternal joys of the Heavenly Fatherland, must hasten to them as soon as possible. We should be willing to go faster and take the shortest way to reach it. For what misfortunes is this world not subject to? What sorrow, what vicissitude does not oppress us? "What is this mortal life if not the way?" "And think, my brethren, what it means to be tired of the difficulties of this path, and yet not to want it to ever end. But that this world must be rejected and despised, our Redeemer explains this by a providential comparison, when He adds: "See the fig tree and all the trees: when they are already broken, seeing for themselves that the harvest is near." In the same way, when you see this happening, know that the Kingdom of God is near. Obviously, His thought is as follows: just as the nearness of summer is known by the fruit of trees, so the nearness of the Kingdom of God is known by the destruction of the world. With these words it is clearly shown that the fruit of the world is destruction. He rises in order to fall, he grows in order to destroy everything that grows by death. But the Kingdom of God is well compared to summer, because when it is opened, the clouds of our sorrow pass away, and the days of life are illuminated by the light of the eternal Sun.

4. All this is affirmed as an indubitable truth, when the following thought is added: Amen, I say unto you, For this generation shall not pass away, until all these shall be. Heaven and earth pass by, but My words cannot pass away. In the nature of sensible things there is nothing firmer than heaven and earth, and nothing in nature passes so quickly as the word. For words, until they are spoken, are not words, and when they are spoken, then they are no more; for they can only be pronounced in successive order, one after the other. Therefore (the Saviour) says: heaven and earth pass by, but My words have not passed away. The meaning of His words is as follows: Everything that is firm with you is not firm for eternity without change, but everything that seems to pass away with Me is decidedly firm and holds without change; for My apparently passing word expresses thoughts that are constantly unchanged.

5. Behold, my brethren, we already see what we have heard. Every day the world is subjected to new, more and more multiplying disasters. Look around, how many of you are left out of the innumerable people; And in spite of this, scourges still befall us daily, unexpected events oppress us, new and unforeseeable blows strike. Just as in youth the body blossoms, the chest is strong and unharmed, the neck is muscular, the sinews are full, but in the years of old age the body becomes contorted, the withered neck bends, the chest is cramped by rapid breathing, strength weakens, and the speaker's words are interrupted by shortness of breath, and even if there is no fatigue, for the most part health itself is already a disease for the senses, so the world in its first years, As if in his youth, he was powerful, strong for the spread of the offspring of the human race, flourishing in bodily health, fat in abundance in everything, but now he is burdened by his very old age and as if being drawn to imminent death from hour to hour by multiplying calamities. "And so, my brethren, do not love him whom you see not being able to stand long. Impress upon your soul the admonitions of the Apostle, which he gives us, saying: Love not the world, nor that which is in the world. If anyone loves the world, there is no love for the Father in him (1 John 2:15). "Three days ago, brethren, you learned that by a sudden storm the vineyards of many years were devastated, the houses were destroyed, and the Churches were overthrown to the ground. How many people, healthy and unharmed, thought in the evening that they would do this and that tomorrow, and that very night they died an accidental death under the ruins!

6. But we, most beloved, must reflect that in order to accomplish this, the invisible Judge moved the breath of the subtlest wind, stirred up a storm from one cloud, and shook the earth, shook the foundations of so many buildings. What will this Judge do when He Himself comes in person, and His wrath is kindled for vengeance on sinners, even if it is unbearable, when He strikes us with the thinnest cloud? What flesh can stand before His wrath, if He raised up only the wind, and shook the earth, gave only motion to the air, and overthrew so many buildings? Speaking of such power, Paul says: "It is terrible to fall into the hand of the living God" (Hebrews 10:31). The same power is expressed by the Psalmist when he says: "God will come, our God, and will not be silent: a fire shall be kindled before him, and a storm shall be round about him" (Psalm 49:3). The direction of this Last Judgment is accompanied by storm and fire, since the storm suffocates those who are burned by fire. And so, most beloved brethren, keep that day before your eyes unceasingly, and that which seems difficult to believe is made easier by comparison. For of this day the Prophet says: "The great day of the Lord is near, near and swift, the voice of the day of the Lord is bitter and cruel. Mighty is the day of wrath, that day, the day of sorrow and need, the day of needlessness and vanishment, the day of darkness and gloom, the day of clouds and mist, the day of trumpets and cries (Zeph. 1:14-16). About the same day the Lord also says through the Prophet: "I will shake heaven and earth (Hagg. 2:22). If, then, as we said before, He shook the air, and the earth could not stand, who will stand when He shakes the heavens? "But what shall we call those horrors which we see, if not harbingers of the wrath to come?" For this reason it is necessary for us to consider that the horrors of today are as different from the last fear as the face of the forerunner is from the power of the Judge. And so, most beloved brethren, think about that day with full attention, correct your life, change your habits, overcome temptations to evil by resistance, and cleanse the sins you have committed with tears. For it is all the safer to behold the Coming of the eternal Judge, the greater fear you now anticipate His striving.

Discourse II, delivered to the people in the church of St. Up. Peter on the 50th Sunday. Gospels: Luke 18:31-44

At the time of it, we sing (Jesus) about his tenth disciple, and said to them, Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all that is written about the Son of man will come to an end. For they shall betray Him with their tongues, and mock Him, and reproach Him, and spit upon Him, and kill Him that smote Him: and on the third day He shall rise again. And they are not of these understandings: and this word is hidden from them, and I do not understand those who speak. And when he was approaching Jericho, a certain blind man sat down by the way, begging. And when he heard the people passing by, he asked what it was. And she told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. And he cried out, saying, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. And the previous ones to him, let him be silent. And he cried out more and more: Son of David, have mercy on me. And when Jesus arose, he commanded him to be brought to him. And when I draw near unto him, ask him, saying, Whatever thou wilt, I will do thee; and he said, Lord, that I may see. And Jesus said to him, "See: thy faith shall save thee." And he regained his sight, and followed Him, glorifying God. And all the people saw it, and gave praise to God.

1. Our Redeemer, foreseeing that the souls of the disciples would be troubled by His sufferings, foretold them long ago, both of His suffering and of the glory of His Resurrection, so that when they saw Him dying according to the prophecy, they would not doubt that He would rise again. But since the disciples, still fleshly, could not understand the words of the mystery, He proceeded to perform a miracle. Before their eyes, the blind man receives sight so that the heavenly deeds may confirm in the faith those who did not understand the words of the heavenly mystery. But the miracles of our Lord and Saviour, most beloved brethren, must be understood in such a way as to believe in the truth of their events, and moreover to understand that they inspire us with something special in their significance. For His works by His power point to one thing, and by mystery they speak of another. From history we do not know who this blind man was, but we know whom he mysteriously represents. The blind man is the human race, which, in the person of the progenitor, having been expelled from the paradise of sweetness, having no idea of the clarity of the light above, suffers in the darkness of his condemnation; but by the appearance of the Redeemer he is enlightened to the point that he begins to see and desire the joy of the inner light, and on the path of life he turns to good activity.