Even today they help us to be saved; for there is neither selfishness nor envy in them: it is a joy for them that as many husbands and women as possible should be saved and enter into the same glory as they are. They all conquered by faith. All of them extinguished the power of fire, which in the form of passions burns weak human beings. Many of them experienced mockery and beatings, as well as chains and prison, and were stoned. Many of them, of whom the whole world was not worthy, wandered, enduring deficiencies, sorrows, embitterment, in deserts and mountains, in caves and gorges of the earth. But this life is a practical test, and rewards are given in the other world. They passed this exam brilliantly and now help us too, so that we too may not be ashamed, but pass it, so that we may be like them in the Kingdom of God. Truly wondrous and wondrous is God in His saints!

The Church dedicated this Sunday to All Saints deliberately, as the first after the celebration of the Descent of the Holy Spirit, for our enlightenment. So that we may understand from this that all the saints, like the apostles, showed themselves to be the greatest heroes in the history of the human race, not so much because of their own strength, but with the help of the grace-filled power of the Holy Spirit. The bread of God nourished them, the Providence of God provided for them, and the weapons of God armed them. Therefore, they could withstand the struggle, endure everything and conquer everything.

St. Macarius the Great, on the basis of his own experience, teaches that first a person himself must practice virtue for a long time, with great labor and self-compulsion, and "at last the Lord comes, dwells in him, and he abides in the Lord, and the Lord Himself effortlessly creates His own commandments in him, fulfilling his spiritual fruit" (Discourse 19). Both the example of the apostles and the example of all the saints clearly reveals to us the great and sweet truth that God does not send His servants into the field without food, His messengers into the field without equipment, His soldiers into battle without weapons. Glory and thanksgiving for this to the Most High God, Who glorifies His saints with victories and is glorified in them!

And many will be the first last, and the last first. With these prophetic words, the Lord concludes His speech addressed to the Apostles. Those words have been fulfilled even now, but only at the Last Judgment will they be fulfilled in their entirety. The apostles were considered the last people in Israel, and the Pharisees and hypocrites who persecuted them were the first: we are like dung to the world, like dust, trampled under foot by all until now, writes one of the apostles (1 Corinthians 4:13). But the apostles were the first, and their persecutors were the last, both in heaven and on earth. Judas the traitor was among the first, but because of his apostasy, he became the last. Many saints of God were considered the last, but they became the first, while those who tortured and despised them fell from the first places of honor and glory of this world to the last places before the face of God. And at the Last Judgment everything will be fulfilled, and we will see how many, many who are now considered the first among us will take the last places, while many who now, in this life, consider themselves the last and whom people consider as such, will sit in the first places.

This saying also has its own inner meaning. In each of us there is a struggle between the lower and the higher man. When the low, the vile, the sinful, the terrible reigns in us, then the lower man in us is the first, and the higher is the last. A person confesses his sins, repents, communes of the Living Christ – then the lower man in him is cast down from the first to the last place, and the higher is elevated from the last to the first. And, on the contrary, when the beauty and grace of Christ reigns in us in humility and obedience to the Lord, in faith and good works, then the higher man is the first, and the lower is the last. But it happens, unfortunately, that in such a case a good and pious person becomes overly self-confident, and such self-confidence gives rise to pride, while pride is all other evil, like a ladder by which the lower man crawls to the first place, pushing the higher to the last. And so the first become the last, and the last become the first.

Therefore, it is necessary to be constantly vigilant over oneself and never rely too much on oneself, but to place all one's hope in prayer in the Lord and in His victorious weapon of grace-filled power. I can do all things through Jesus Christ who strengthens me (Phil. 4:13), says the Apostle Paul. Let us also say this: we can do all things, O Lord Almighty, through Thee and Thy everlasting power in us. On our own, we can do nothing but sin. We hunger without Thee, our Householder. We are naked without Thee, our Father. We are unarmed and powerless without Thee, our Commander. And with Thee, our victorious Saviour, we possess all things and can do all things. Thanking Thee for everything, we beseech Thee: do not depart from us, and do not forsake us with Thy help until the end of our lives. Glory to Thee, Lord Jesus Christ, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, the Trinity, One in Essence and Indivisible, now and ever, at all times and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

The second Sunday after Pentecost. The Gospel of the Calling of the Apostles

 Matt. 9 rec., 4:18-23.

Why are people in such a hurry nowadays?

To see the successful result of their work as soon as possible. And success comes and goes, and leaves behind a trail of sadness.

Why are the sons of men in such a hurry in our time?

To reap the fruits of his labors as soon as possible. And the fruits come and go, and leave behind a trace of bitterness.