(1 Corinthians 1:22-24)

Homily for Great Monday, at Matins

"The Lord is coming to free passion, the Apostle said on the way: Behold, we ascend to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be given up, as it is written about Him. Come, for we also come to Him purified in our senses, and let us be crucified and mortified for His sake with the sweetness of life, that we may also live with Him."

(on Praise, Stanza 1)

With this morning, brethren, began the holy week of Christ's sufferings — the most important time in the whole year: for this reason each of these days has long been called "Great and Pure." And these days are truly great because of the extraordinary events that took place in them; are truly pure in that special purity with which true Christians spend them, and which they can bring to anyone who sees them off properly. For this reason, the Holy Church now, at the very beginning of the great and holy days, announces to our ears with a special appeal, inviting us to a worthy celebration of them; and in order that this appeal may be all the more effective, he addresses it to us on behalf of the Lord Himself: "The Lord is coming to free passion, the Apostle has spoken on the way," and so on.

The Lord spoke of His way to the Apostles; but is it possible not to attribute what He said to everyone who only hears it? He aroused attention to His sufferings in His first disciples; But what last disciple would not feel obliged to do the same? We celebrated all the important events in the earthly life of our Lord: His miraculous conception, His most glorious birth, His wondrous Bringing into the temple, His even more wondrous baptism, and yesterday's entry into Jerusalem; can we not share with Him even His last moments? Now, now, especially must be shown love and zeal, when all forsake Him!

And before death men speak and act more strikingly; all the more the God-man. Thus, let us increase our attention, and above all purify our thought. For just as with eyes full of dust it is impossible to see well the greatest and most obvious objects, so with a mind filled with impure thoughts about earthly goods, it is impossible to contemplate the Divine greatness of Christ's sufferings.

But, unfortunately, for many, the meaning and the whole soul are never so impure, filled with the vanities of life, as in this holy and pure week. Worries about the completion of various things before the feast, worries about the preparation of various things for the feast distract the mind on all sides and dissipate the feeling on the most vain subjects.

Ah, brethren! It is not such a meaning, scattered, suppressed by earthly feelings, that Holy and Great Week demands of us!

It was not in vain that the Lord Himself said to the Apostles at the onset of His sufferings: "Whosoever hath the moisture, let him take it... but whosoever hath not, let him sell his garment, and buy a knife" (Luke 22:36). This means that in these days it is necessary to free oneself from everything superfluous and entertaining. A knife is needed – the determination to slay all cares, all sinful and carnal desires. Sell, O believing soul, sell everything now, and buy this wondrous knife: it is not Malchus that you need to smite with it, but that old man, who often cries out in you against Christ: "Take, take, crucify Him" (John 19:15).

"But what to do with everyday worries?" someone will say. "The onset of a great and long feast necessarily requires a great deal of care for the things of life." We know, brethren, this situation, and we grieve that when Christ is on the Cross, Christians are in the marketplace from morning to evening; when Christ in agony exclaims: I thirst! (John 19:28) and drunk by the father, Christians prepare a variety of food and drink; when Christ gives up His spirit to the Father, Christians can hardly take a breath from the vanities of life. All this has become inevitable for many; But why? Who has made it legitimate for all our worldly needs to flock precisely in the terrible days of the Lord's death and burial? By whose command do our flesh and blood then lay claim to us and make us their slaves, when Christ gives up His Flesh and Blood for us? Was it not possible to satisfy the greater part of the needs, if not all, in the past days, in order to devote this week, especially the last days, entirely to the Lord? Are there not such people who act in this way, and in whom the flesh therefore does not hinder the spiritual? What prevents everyone from acting in this way: paying tribute to the world and the flesh in advance, so that now they may be free for the spirit? "But then the marketplace is empty." And who has caused them to be full on the most sacred days, and to make the temples of God empty, if not our dispersion and love of peace? Marketplaces will follow people as soon as people go where they should.

But let us not, perhaps, demand a change in the order of things, however bad and unworthy it may be for Christians; let us leave the world to rule in its place, even in these days. And at the same time, it is possible to fulfill the requirements of the Church, it is possible to have a purified meaning and to descend to Christ in the midst of His sufferings in the spirit of faith and love. The coming holiday requires preparations: but how much? A good Christian will easily find a way to meet all the requirements of the feast, without being distracted by thoughts and feelings, without losing sight of his Savior. And the apostles went into the city to shop, and they prepared the supper; And the Equal-to-the-Apostles wives bought perfumes: but look, how holy and pure everything is with them! Why can't it be like this in our country? Only our vanity invents a multitude of petty, unnecessary needs, and by satisfying them it torments itself and others; Only the insatiability of our flesh increases to measure the needs of bright days, which, being in themselves nourishing for the spirit, therefore require less food for the flesh.

Thus, brethren, the approaching feast requires little, because it contains in itself a great deal: much spiritual food and drink, much pleasure and sweetness of the heart. If in the course of it there seems to us too much that is necessary for the flesh; this is because our spirit does not enjoy the joys contained in the feast itself; but does not enjoy because he is incapable of tasting spiritual blessings; but he is incapable because, being in slavery to the flesh, he has always hungered only for sensual pleasures, neglected to purify his taste and other senses. For this reason, in general, after being present, often with one body, during the Divine services, we do not know what else to set up the feast for, except in a multitude of brashen, in the noise of amusements, often extending to the darkening of the meaning and all the senses.