And we will forever preserve with love the memory of you, not only as valiant warriors, but also as a new warlike institution, to which the Fatherland is directly indebted to the Royal House, and to which in due time an eminent future awaits it. Amen.

IV. HOMILY FOR HIGHLY SOLEMN DAYS

Sermon on the Day of the Holy Coronation of the Most Pious Tsar Nicholas Pavlovich, Emperor and Autocrat of All Russia, Delivered in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra on August 22, 1831

The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I make Thy enemies Thy footstool. The Lord will send Thee a rod of power from Zion, and rule in the midst of Thy enemies... The Lord has broken Thee at Thy right hand in the day of His wrath kings: He judges... at the head of many lands. He drinks from the stream on the way: for this reason he will lift up his head (Psalm 109; 1-2, 5-7)

Thus in the book of Psalms of David the great destiny of the great king is described: Jehovah is pleased with him and guards him as the apple of his eye; but at the same time it allows us to be the object of human enmity and unrighteousness, to endure attacks and slander. He is full of grace and truth, worthy of all the blessings of earth and heaven; meanwhile, the crowds of the violent are stirring to shake his throne. With all his love for the world, it is necessary for him to wage battles and execute judgment on nations; With all compassion for the calamities of mankind, he must crush the heads of many. In short: this ascetic king is destined to go from above and lead his people to glory and prosperity by way of temptation and patience: he drinks from the stream on the way: for this reason he will lift up his head.

There is no need to inquire who is this king portrayed by the Psalmist, and from whom the features so wondrous have been removed. By the revelation of Heaven itself, we know that they depict the venerable face of the Messiah, the Divine prototype of all earthly kings and rulers, and at the same time the highest example of all ascetics of truth and virtue. But therefore this prophesied image itself can be applied to the fate of each of those (few) crown-bearers, who are destined from above to overcome evil with good, to combine greatness with patience and meekness. Such was David, a man of God after his heart, faithful to the justifications (covenants - ed.) of Jehovah, and yet he went through a series of temptations with his people so severe that most of the Psalms are filled with his prayerful cries. Such were Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, Josiah, and other examples of royal glory acquired by patience and asceticism.

Shall we hesitate to add to these splendid names another victorious name, which is now close to the lips and hearts of every son of the Fatherland? Shall we dare not notice the sacred thorns with which the hand of Providence adorns the crown and our beloved monarch? Ah, who does not know that our beloved Fatherland is suddenly struck by those calamities from which David once feared to choose (2 Samuel 24:14)? For whose head is the weight of the searching right hand of God more perceptible, if not for the head of the people? In whose heart do the blows of fate resonate more strongly, if not in the heart of the father of the Fatherland? More than once the royal lips were opened to humbly confess the inscrutable ways of God; the autocratic hand more than once, instead of commands, wrote a prayer of contrition and devotion: David himself would not have rejected the expressions of this sorrow and would not have hesitated to admit that his image of the ascetic king in the person of our monarch had once again found its fulfillment.

Reverent before such signs of autocratic humility, it is our duty, however, to tell you that the bright side of the God-inscribed image of David is very clearly and faithfully reflected in the fate of our anointed. Our task is to announce in the ears of all that the grave temptations with which the Providence of the Most High was pleased to visit our Fatherland (meaning the cholera epidemic of 1830, which occurred in the European part of the Russian Empire, and the Polish uprising of 1830-1831 (Ed.)), serve to reveal the high qualities of the Tsar's soul to the whole world; that all his enemies and the kingdom are visibly clothed with frost and one by one lie at the footstool, that the time is approaching for the final triumph of good over evil, loyalty to duty and order over violence and impunity.

So the longed-for time is approaching! The angel of death, pursued by the humility of the tsar and the prayers of the people, is apparently hastening from the borders of our Fatherland; the earth, hardened under the feet of the frightened laborers, has opened its bowels, and in great abundance bears life and joy; the monster of rebellion has already been struck at the head, and those who thought to drown out the cry of truth with the noise of weapons are themselves beginning to heed the voice of duty; the very capital of treachery (Warsaw - ed.) is already trembling within its walls, if only they still dare to stand in the face of the Russian army. Let us also see the final end of the calamities! A series of victories will be followed by the triumph of generosity and mercy. The same right hand that now punishes disobedience and violence will stretch out even more willingly to heal ulcers and dry tears. Those people who have hitherto seen no other way out of the abysses of rebellion than victory or death in the darkening of their minds, will find a beneficial middle ground in the bosom of gentleness and meekness of the same tribe, and the brothers, separated for a time by a spirit of sedition alien to them, will be all the more closely united forever under the autocratic sceptre of one common father.

And what could have so horribly dissolved the sacred union of two peoples, which, according to the intention of Providence itself, are forever bound together by the unity of origin, the affinity of language, the sharing of all the advantages of location, the antiquity of intercourse, and the recent vow of oath? Oh, truly, if anything is good, or what is beautiful, let these brethren live together (Psalm 132:1)! Only the pernicious spirit of falsehood, which now flatters almost the whole world (Rev. 12:9), could drown out the voice of truth and prudence with its charms. But what will this tempter of Eden bring with him? At his mere appearance his silence and security vanished, social activity ceased, order gave way to violence, family and civic virtues were replaced by mad outbursts of despair. What followed the adoption of the "serpentine" advice? - The overthrow of that in which the cities and villages found their prosperity; the desolation of that which has been built and adorned for centuries; the fear of some, the shame and repentance of others, the misfortunes and tears of all: And the eyes were opened... and razumsha, as if nasi besha... And he heard the voice of God walking in paradise... and hid themselves (Gen. 3:7:8): this is the inevitable end of all mad rebellions against the King of Heaven and the kings of the earth! The first reason for temptation in such a case is usually the dream of a better one: "Ye shall be as God" (Gen. 3:5). And indeed, there is nothing more laudable than to desire perfection for oneself and others; And it cannot be denied that in the poor earth inhabited by the human race there is much that could be better. The Word of God directly says that we are all in a state of exile from Eden. And when is such a state perfect? But who can guarantee that everything that seems to us to be a defect in social life is really so? "Especially since the means we have devised for the correction of the civil order will certainly lead to the end and avert all defects?" How difficult it is sometimes to judge correctly what is truly useful or harmful for one person - even for ourselves! It is all the more difficult to comprehend what the well-being of an entire people depends on in the nearest way. For this it is necessary to know him in all his composition and parts, to see his abilities and shortcomings, needs and desires, to grasp with consideration his past, present and future state; to distinguish with precision in his fate the possible from the actual, the accidental from the essential. How many can boast of such knowledge? And without it, one can easily fall into the grossest errors and wish one's Fatherland such perfections that are either impossible for it, or would turn into real evil. Is it not so true that they sometimes murmur against the Providence of God, which, without a doubt, is the most wise and righteous? - they murmur because they do not see all the ways of Providence and do not know how to correctly judge what seems to be disorder in the world.

He who knows all the limitations of nature, and even more so of human works, will not be in the least shaken in his faithfulness and love for the social order and in noticing real shortcomings in it. Is there perfection on earth that has nothing to do with shortcomings? It is easy to imagine the best, but how difficult it is to put it into action! And it is impossible to suddenly educate one person and make him happy, especially nations. Everyone is his own best well-wisher; but does he do all that is possible for his true good? And when he does, does he achieve all that he imagined? The struggle with shortcomings is our lot on earth, and moderation and patience are the first virtues.

And should I tell a truth that is unpleasant for some? We must thank Providence that it did not allow human societies, as well as people in particular, to reach complete perfection in their present state on earth! And now, when various misfortunes and shortcomings of earthly life constantly awaken in our souls a longing for the primitive perfection that we have lost, and for the Heavenly Fatherland that awaits us, even now we remember little of this future Fatherland, where only truth lives; and then, clinging to the earth, no one would want to think about it.

From what has been said, it does not in the least follow that anyone is allowed to remain a completely idle spectator of the shortcomings (if any) of public life, which are supposedly inevitable and therefore inviolable. On the contrary, this is the place for true diligence. The laws cannot embrace all particular needs and occasions, which are innumerable: [thus] cover the unsuitable under the shadow of the law with your love for humanity! Earthly justice is not able to strike directly at all possible abuses: stand against them with firmness where you can; do without command what you would like to see prescribed in the law; Be better than the law, if possible.