The words, conversations and speeches of St. Innocent of Kherson.

Source: http://keliya.org

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Homilies and sermons on visits to flocks, on the occasion of processions of the cross, to individuals and on special occasions

I. HOMILY FOR VISITING THE FLOCKS

 Sermon on the Entry into the Vologda Flock, Spoken in Vologo

Peace be with you! (Luke 24:36)

With all the use of this holy greeting on occasions like the present, and with all my desire that the peace of God always dwell in your hearts and souls, I would not dare to use these words of the Gospel in greeting now, if I were to pronounce them to you in my own person.

And yet I come to you, brethren, from those holy mountains from which the light of faith shone forth for the whole land of the Fatherland, from the bosom of that Church which is worthily and righteously called the mother of all the Churches of Russia. Coming from such a place, from such a Church, how can you not bring with you a certain spiritual gift? - And I, leaving the holy city, diligently prayed for this to all the saints of God, who rest there incorruptibly. Daring for their intercession at the throne of God, for their spiritual riches, I now open my mouth, so that on behalf of the Church of Kiev I may pronounce peace and blessing to the Church of Vologda. Peace and grace to you from God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, the One-in-Essence and Indivisible Trinity, Who is equally confessed and glorified in the south and the north, the east and the west, enlightens everywhere, gives life to everyone and everything and saves. Peace and blessing to you from the Most-Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, Whose image I reverently contemplated and kissed in Her self-chosen home on earth – the holy and wonderworking Lavra of the Caves! Peace and blessing to you from the Synaxis of the Archangels and Angels, to whose name the monastery is dedicated, where I have lived until now! Peace and blessing to you from the Holy Great Martyr Barbara, to whose incorrupt relics I have reverently stood for several years! Peace and blessing to you from the venerable and God-bearing Fathers Anthony and Theodosius and other wonderworkers of the Caves, at the foot of which I performed my last service before traveling to you! In the prayers of many and such intercessors at the throne of grace, I dare to hope that my desire for peace and blessing for you will not be just an idle greeting, that the grace of God will truly overshadow your souls and hearts.

And is it only what has passed and what I have left that encourages me? When I look around the flock of Vologda in my mind, it seems to me that I have moved from one spiritual paradise to another, similar one. Wherever I look, I see whole faces of saints. Shall I look to the east? - There, St. Procopius of Ustiug diverts with his prayers a stone cloud hanging over Ustyug; there St. Theodosius of Totema discovers a new inexhaustible storehouse of spiritual salt, among the sweet springs, and he himself becomes in the earth the salt of Totema, which saves from decay of soul and heart. Will I turn to the west? - Here the monasteries of St. Paul of Obnorsk, Saints Cornelius and Arsenius of Komelsk rise, like spiritual strongholds, in the refuge and stronghold of the soldiers of Christ, in repelling enemies, visible and invisible. Will I look to the north? "Here, among the waves on a stone rock, I see the indestructible reliquary of the Holy Right-Believing Prince Joasaph, the Monks Peter and Basil. Will I lean to the south? - There rest, or rather, stand on guard of the spiritual the holy founders of the Church of Vologda - the hieromartyrs Gerasim, Jonah and Pitirim. Will I look around me? - Behold, the Monk Demetrius of Prilutsk! Behold, the Monk Galaktion of the Saviour! Behold, St. Gerasim of Kiev! Behold, in this very church, Anthony of Vologda!

Thus guarded on all sides by holy intercessors and intercessors, possessing, let us say in the words of the Apostle, a cloud of witnesses (Heb. 12:1) of faith and hope, can we not complacently go out to the podvig of salvation that is set before us and you? - It is impossible that the holy saints will abandon us with their help, if we turn to them for it with fervent prayer, and walk unswervingly in their holy footsteps. And we will do this, we will go ourselves, and we will lead you to the same place where they went and reached.

What exactly should we do for this? What should our ministry among you consist of? What do you have the right to expect and demand from us? What should we want from you? - When I asked myself these questions, I always heard these words of the Apostle in response: And He (the Lord Jesus) gave sheep to eat, because the Apostles... and the sheep are evangelizers, and the sheep are pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of ministry, for the edification of the body of the Church of Christ (Ephesians 4:11-12).

That is, my brethren, the pastors of the Church, according to the testimony of the Apostle, are given in order to guide us on the path to eternal salvation, to serve us in our spiritual regeneration into eternal life, to edify us in faith, love and Christian hope, to protect us from the temptations of the world and the slanders of the spirit of malice, to heal the infirmities of the soul and the wounds of our conscience, in order to make us by the grace of Christ living temples of the Holy Spirit, in order to prepare us in the (earthly - ed.) world for the transition to a higher and better world.