Before the end of the Liturgy, Tikhon III said a touching sermon over the coffin of the deceased [106] on the text: "Blessed is the man who does not go into the counsel of the wicked, and does not stand in the way of sinners, but his will is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he shall learn day and night" (Psalm 1:1-2). This word is remarkable for us, as a testimony and expression of the respect that people who knew and understood him closely had for St. Tikhon. Let us cite here those few fragments that have been preserved to us from this word and which can serve as an abbreviated repetition of the entire life of the saint of God – Tikhon, which we depict.

Having briefly explained these words of the Psalmist, the preacher applied them to the departed saint, and having enumerated his virtues, such as: avoidance of honor and glory, Christian simplicity, meekness, humility, zeal for the faith, love for one's neighbors, vigilant concern for teaching one's neighbors piety and true Christian virtue, – he showed that the departed had disposed all his life in accordance with this blessing of David and therefore worthy of the name of blessed. Then, depicting sorrow for the greatness of the loss, which his listeners and himself felt at the sight of this lifeless body, the preacher continued: "This saint is blessed, but by his death has not our pleasure on earth diminished? Are there not just (righteous) reasons for the tears that we shed over his tomb? So the listeners! I myself am now deprived of not only my brother and concelebrant, but also my friend. I, the just (righteous), shedding tears, lose in him the one to whose heart my feelings were open and whose experience often supplemented my trials... Now tell us your feelings, all those who enjoyed the same trust and friendly frankness of this virtuous man, tell us the righteous sorrows of your heart. But why? I believe in their sorrows, measuring them to the sorrows of my own heart... Come now to you, to whom he gave fatherly instruction and teaching, you to whom he solved the doubts of conscience, whose hearts he soothed with sweet consolations, to whom he gave soul-saving advice; Tell me, are your tears righteous over the ashes of this virtuous teacher of yours? But all this is not such a great loss for you, who have benefited from his teachings. For for all your needs, for all the perplexities of conscience, for all the sorrows of the soul, he has left you rules, advice, medicines, in his books and in his epistles.

Therefore you have not all lost in the death of this shepherd. He will be immortal for you and others like you in His pious and instructive writings. But you, you who groan under the yoke of worldly misfortunes and calamities! You, orphans and needy! You who are homeless and homeless, who have no clothing, who hunger for bread! You who are condemned to imprisonment in gloomy prisons and chains! Have you not lost the most? Whom are you burying with us now? Whose remains are you now giving your last kiss on earth?..

Behold, the heart that burned with compassionate love for you has grown cold with sweeping scum, those lips that have comforted you in sorrow, which have greeted you like children, which have often even kissed you condescendingly. Those hands that stretched out to help you with generous alms are frozen, those legs are motionless, which always hastily flowed to your sorrowful dwellings, as to the dwellings of joy. Come, turn your tearful eyes to your benefactor, all those who have run to him in every need, and weep now with worthy weeping. Remember that he was like the righteous Job, the eye of the blind, the foot of the lame, the garment of the naked, food to the hungry, the refuge of all the sorrowful, the strength of the weak, the comfort of the sorrowful, the healing of spiritual exhaustion. Depart, when you weep under the burden of misfortunes, when, burdened by illness, you will be without a comforter and helper, when you melt from hunger, wander without cover, freeze without clothing; then your Tikhon, who once sought you himself, will not come to you. You will approach his dwelling, look at the doors from which he appeared to you as a heavenly Angel of comfort, – you will wait and not see the one who opens, you will not see the right hand stretching out to you for alms and almsgiving; you will not find him who asks you about your needs. You, remembering Tikhon, will be overwhelmed with tears, and with increased sorrow of heart you will depart from his dwelling without help, without consolation. You will look for him, and they will show you his tomb, over which you will fall down with sobs in the grievous sorrows of your hearts." Then, offering consolation to his hearers, and exhorting them to imitate his virtues, he concluded his speech with these words: "O holy man! Stand before the throne of the all-good God, remember us who love and revere you." [107]

At hearing this word, all those present shed sincere and unfeigned tears.

Before the last kiss of the body of the departed, the first hierodeacon read the spiritual testament of St. Tikhon, or his farewell conversation with his neighbors, in which he first thanks God for all His blessings, and then bids farewell to everyone, thanks the benefactors, asks forgiveness from everyone, and forgives everyone in return.

"Glory to God," writes St. Tikhon in his testament, "for He created me in His own image and likeness!

Glory to God, for He redeemed me, who was fallen!

Thank God, for he cared for me, unworthy!

Glory to God, for He called me, who had sinned, to repentance!

Glory to God, for He gave me His holy word, like a lamp shining in a dark place, and thus guided me to the true path!

Glory to God, for He enlightened my heart's eyes!

Glory to God, for He hath given me to know His holy name!