(1 Peter 5:5)

 The abominable sin is pride, but few people know it, because it is hidden deep in the heart. The beginning of pride is ignorance of oneself. This ignorance blinds man, and so man becomes proud. Oh, if man knew himself, knew his poverty, misery, and wretchedness, he would never be proud! But all the more accursed is man who does not see and does not know his poverty and wretchedness. Pride is known by deeds, as a tree is by its fruits. But let us see what are the fruits of the bitter seed of pride. 1) A proud person seeks honor, glory and praise in every possible way. He always wants to show himself something, and to instruct, command and command others, and if anyone hinders his desire, he is very angry and angry with him. 2) Having lost his honor and authority, he murmurs, is indignant and blasphemes. What have I sinned? What am I guilty of? Are my labors and merits worthy of this? And it often happens that a person kills himself. 3) He begins to do things beyond his strength, which he cannot do. Oh, man! Why do you touch a burden that you cannot bear? 4) Arbitrarily interferes in other people's affairs. He wants to point out everywhere and to everyone, although he himself does not know what he is doing. So he is blinded by pride. 5) Without shame, he praises himself and exalts himself: "I have done this and that, I have rendered such and such services to society." O man! You count your merits, but why don't you talk about your faults? If you are ashamed to announce them, then be ashamed and praise yourself. 6) He despises and despises other people: "He is a vile man, he is worthless," and so on. Person! He is a human being like you, for we are all human beings. He is a sinner, but I think that you will not renounce this name either. He has sinned or is sinning in this, and you have sinned in another, and perhaps in the same thing. "For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). 7) He does not submit to authority and does not obey his parents, for the proud have a fierce and unyielding neck. They always want to decide and confirm the will of their will. 8) The good that he has is attributed to himself, his efforts, labors and reason, and not to God. O man! What can you have of your own, who came naked out of his mother's womb? What can you have if God, the source of all good, does not give you? What can our diligence and labor do without the help of Him Who alone can do all things, and without Whom everyone is nothing, like a shadow without a body? 9) He does not like rebuke and exhortation very much. He thinks that it is in good working order, although it is all dirty. 10) In humiliation, contempt, in troubles and misfortunes, he does not endure, he is indignant, murmurs, and often blasphemes. 11) In words and deeds he shows a certain arrogance and pomp, and so on.

 These are the fruits of pride, hateful to God and people. Bitter are these fruits, and so is the seed from which they are born. "What is high among men is an abomination to God" (Luke 16:15). That is why it is written: "Everyone who exalts himself will humble himself" (Luke 14:11). The virtue opposite to pride is humility. As vile and vile as pride is, so much is humility favored and loved by God and people. There is nothing that the great and lofty God looks upon so kindly as a humble and tender heart. That is why the Most Holy Theotokos says of Herself: "He looked upon the humility of His servant" (Luke 1:48). When pride departs from a person, humility enters him, and the more pride decreases, the more humility increases, for one gives way to the other, as the opposite. The darkness goes away, and the light comes. Darkness is pride, and humility is light. If we consider ourselves and recognize our misfortune and wretchedness, then we will have sufficient reason for humility. We are born naked and weeping; we live in troubles, misfortunes and sins; we die with fear, fear, and sighing; we are buried in the earth and turned to the earth. Here you cannot see where the rich are, where the beggar, where the noble and where the rootless, where the master and where the slave, where the wise and where the foolish lie. Everyone there was equal, because everyone turned to the ground. So, why does the earth and pus ascend? Beloved Christians! Let us know our poverty and wretchedness, "and let us humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt us in due time" (1 Peter 5:6). Let us know, beloved, that we are Christians from Christ, meek and humble in heart. It is shameful and very unseemly for Christians to be proud if Christ, the Great and High God, humbled Himself. It is shameful for servants to be proud when their Lord is humble. There is nothing so indecent and unseemly for Christians as pride, and nothing shows a Christian so much as humility. From humility a person is known that he is a true disciple of the meek and lowly in heart Jesus. Thus, if we want to show a testimony that we are true Christians, then let us learn from Christ to be humble, as He Himself exhorts us: "Learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart" (Matthew 11:29). Let us write and deepen in our memory the Apostle's words: "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." Amen.

Homily 23: On Malice

 Malice is an inveterate and inveterate anger. Anger, if it is not subdued soon, turns into malice. That is why the Apostle exhorts and teaches us at the very beginning and immediately to put off anger: "Let not the sun go down on your anger; and give no place to the devil" (Ephesians 4:26-27). And from this we see that he gives place to the devil who keeps anger and malice against his neighbor. Over such a person, the devil, as a spirit of malice, has already prevailed, and leads him as his prisoner. Malice is born either from envy, as Cain had malice against his brother Abel, envying his welfare, was angry with him and killed him (see Genesis 4:8), or from an offense inflicted on a person. Thus people are angry and angry with those who have offended them, and want to repay them with evil for evil, and thus avenge their offense. An abominable and laughable sin is malice. Other sins are either a kind of gain or sweetness to the sinner. A thief steals to satisfy his soul. The fornicator commits fornication in order to please his flesh. And the evil one is angry without all this. He sins and is tormented, iniquity and is devoured, he takes revenge and suffers vengeance. Thus, to the wicked, his very malice is punishment and beating. If it were possible to look into the heart of an evil person, then nothing else would appear there but hellish torment. Therefore it happens that evil people darken and dry up, for malice, like poison, devours their flesh. O fierce passion! Fierce and pernicious both for the wicked and for those against whom it rebels and arms. If it is not stopped in the beginning, then it does great misfortunes, just as an intensified fire consumes many houses. "Such a thing is malice that if a person does not stop it at the very beginning, then it multiplies immeasurably, like fire that has found dry materials," says St. John Chrysostom. Malice is committed in different ways. 1) Through the deprivation of health. This is done by those people who, being angry with their neighbor, give him poison, and thus damage his health, from which a person suffers almost incessantly, and dies. This is the action of malice and its pernicious fruit. (2) By taking his life, as Cain killed his brother Abel. 3) Through backbiting and slander. A wicked man, wishing to take revenge on his neighbor and having nothing to harm him, invents a vice in him and thus spreads a false evil rumor about him, or makes great things out of a small thing, that is, he calls a mote a beam. Therefore, it happens that many people endure false slander and reproach. The reason for everything is malice. 4) An evil person, having committed malice, often boasts about it: "I have given him; Let him know me. The words of the Psalmist are suitable for such people: "Why do you boast of malice, O mighty one" (Psalm 51:3)? It is a vile and vile smell of malice to rejoice and boast about the injury and destruction of others. Oh, the fierce and pernicious effect of malice! A man, as one who has sinned against God and his neighbor, should have regretted and repented, but the wicked one boasts and is exalted by this. He sins, and boasts of sin, he commits iniquity, and is exalted in iniquity. It is a vile and pernicious malice that is at work in him. Person! Thou hast now boasted and rejoiced over thy wicked work, but if thou wilt not mend thyself, then thou shalt sigh, weep, and weep, when all thy wicked deeds, as well as those of other wicked ones, shall be presented before thee, and shall be made manifest to all the world. Then you will see your destruction. 5) In some people, malice is so strong and multiplied that they are not afraid to say: "I will perish myself, but I will get him!" Do you not know what perdition is? Put your hand to the fire, and you will taste some of its sorrows. You cannot endure this—will you endure the bitterness of the fire of Gehenna, in which man will be completely immersed and drowned, and will burn and not burn forever! But when you look around, you will find out for yourself that the devil, the spirit of malice, produces and pronounces such words in you. You see, beloved Christians, what a fierce and grievous evil malice is. Evil and bitter are the fruits of malice; evil and bitter is the malice itself, which gives birth to such fruits. Woe to the world from malice! It harms everyone and in every way, as mentioned above, it is impossible for anyone and nowhere to hide from it. When he cannot otherwise harm a person, then through his tongue he releases poison on a person. No matter how many troubles, misfortunes and evils there are in the world, the reason for all of them is malice. So, woe to the world from malice! But greater woe to the wicked themselves! They harm the bodies of others, and their own souls; they kill the bodies of others, but they take away their own souls, they take away the temporal life of others, and their own eternal life; they destroy others temporarily, but themselves forever. Malice leads to such grave evil. Those who are angry, if they do not want to perish forever, must correct themselves and change their evil hearts. This is facilitated by the following: 1) It is terrible for Christians to be angry, who are commanded to love not only their friends, but also their enemies by the Lord Jesus Christ. It is terrible for Christians to do evil, who are commanded to do good even to those who hate it (cf. Matthew 5:44). It is terrible for Christians to take revenge, because they are commanded to forgive the sins of people (cf. Matthew 6:14). The Avenger will fall into the hands of the Avenger, God. "It is terrible to fall into the hands of the living God" (Hebrews 10:31)! Let the wicked soul heed this, and let him mortify the poison of his malice with repentance and contrition of heart. Otherwise, he will appear with his sins at the Dread Judgment of Christ, and according to his deeds he will receive (cf. Matthew 16:27). 2) It often happens that the wicked, wishing to harm others, first harm themselves: the poison that is prepared for others, they themselves eat; with the sword which they draw against others, they kill themselves, and their sword enters into their hearts (see Psalm 36:15); and into the ditch that others are dug, they themselves fall. This is what the Psalmist sings: "He dug a pit and deepened it, but he will fall into the pit that he made. His wickedness shall be turned upon his head, and his iniquity shall come down upon the crown of his head" (Psalm 7:16-17). And the Lord says: "With what measure ye measure, it shall be measured unto you" (Matt. 7:2). Beloved Christians! Let us listen to the Apostle's admonition: "Let not the sun go down on your anger," and let us subdue and tame anger at the very beginning, and while this lawless child is small, let us kill him, so that he may not grow up and take possession of us. Putting aside all malice, and all deceit, and hypocrisy, and envy, and all backbiting, as newborn babes, let us love the pure milk of the word, that from it we may grow unto salvation (1 Peter 2:1-2). "Beloved! Let us not imitate evil, but good. He who does good is from God; but he who does evil has not seen God." (3 John 1:11). Amen.

Homily 24: On Love

 We talked about malice, now let's talk about love. Love is a virtue opposite to malice. As bitter as anger is, so sweet is love. As harmful and pernicious as malice is, so useful is love; and as evil and bitter are the fruits of malice, so good and sweet are the fruits of love. Malice is bitter both for the wicked and for others; Love is sweet for both lovers and loved ones. Malice eats up and binds the heart; Love unties and expands the heart. Malice kills; Love revives. Dead is he who lives in malice, and alive is he who dwells in love. Malice saddens; Love comforts, brings joy and cheers. Malice is cruel and ferocious; Love is gentle and meek. Malice is proud and arrogant, but love is humble. Malice is merciless; Love is merciful. Malice is impatient; Love is long-suffering. Malice does evil; Love does not do evil, but does good. Malice is hateful and abominable to all; Love is favorable and loved for everyone. Everyone condemns malice; Love is praised and exalted by everyone. He who lives in malice is poor and cursed; He who lives in love is blessed and blessed. Both God and men abhor those who live in malice; God and men rejoice in him who abides in love. Malice is the seed of the devil; love is the seed of the Divine. Thus, accursed and miserable is the condition of wicked people, even though they are worshipped as gods in the world; Blessed and comforting is the state of hearts filled with love, even if they are trampled on like earth and pus. They are outwardly beautiful, but inwardly vile; These are outwardly ugly, but inwardly sweet. They shine outwardly, but inside they darken and turn black; These do not look like something valuable on the outside, but inside they have everything. They are outwardly healthy, but inwardly rotten; These are outwardly unsightly, they do not know how to speak beautifully and smoothly, but inside they are healthy, beautiful and pleasant. They are like apples, beautiful on the outside, but bitter and wormy on the inside; these are like apples, outwardly unpleasant, but inwardly sweet and delicious. So these are the evil tree, and these are the good tree. For "a tree is known by its fruit" (Matt. 12:33): as the fruit is, so is the tree. But let us look at the fruits of love, that we may know how a tree is by its fruit, so love is by its works. For love is known by deeds, and not by words. Beloved Christians! If we had true love, it would take away from us all trouble and introduce all well-being: our cities, villages, villages, and homes would be a place of paradise filled with joy and sweetness. For there is no love without it. If there were love in people, we would not be afraid of robbery, murder, violence, robbery, for "love does no harm to one's neighbor" (Romans 13:10). If there were love, there would be no theft, theft, and other evil, because "love does no harm to one's neighbor." If there were love, people would not touch their neighbor's bed, because "love does no harm to one's neighbor." If there were love, people would not tolerate slander, reproaches, reproach, desecration, dishonor, and other evils, for "love does no harm to one's neighbor." If there were love, people would not deceive us, deceive us, and lie to us: "Love does no harm to one's neighbor." If there were love, we would not need judgments, for there would be no what and for what to judge and condemn, since there would be no evildoers and transgressors. The courts are established because of the crimes of the law. He who truly loves is free from judgment, as he is free from sin. If there were love, we would not need guards, locks, and storerooms to store our possessions, for we would not be afraid of thieves and robbers. If there were love, people would not be in prison for debts, rents and arrears, love would not allow this, for "love is merciful" (1 Corinthians 13:4). If there were love, people would not walk half-naked and in rags, because love would clothe them, for "love is merciful." If there were love, homeless people would not wander, because love would not allow this, but would give them a place of rest, for "love is merciful." If there were love, there would be no beggars and wretched, because the love of the rich would complement their shortcomings. If there were love, the authorities would not complain about the ruled and the ruled about the authorities, because the authorities would build society, and the ruled would be obedient to them. For the same reason, pastors would not complain about people and people against pastors, masters against slaves and peasants, and slaves and peasants against masters, parents against children and children against parents, and so on. If love were in us, it would be for us instead of a strong wall against the Turks and our other enemies and all our visible and invisible enemies. For where there is love, there is God Himself, the Helper and Protector of love. O love, dear and sweet love! Without love, everything is bad and unhappy, but with love, everything is good and prosperous. Nowadays Christians like to live in rich houses, to sit at a rich meal, to dress in rich clothes, to ride in rich carriages and on horseback, although they see the shortcomings and poverty of their neighbors. And from this it can be seen that they love only themselves, and not God and their neighbors. Therefore, in people there is all kinds of trouble, calamity and wretchedness. For the cause of all evil is self-love. Therefore, the Loving God, having care for our well-being, gave us the following commandment: "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" (Matt. 22:39). Once upon a time, Christians had "one heart and one soul" (Acts 4:32). Now we see the opposite: now Christians have heart against heart and soul against soul. Now the lips of all are filled with love, or rather flattery, but very few have love in their hearts, because "because iniquity has abounded, the love of many has grown cold" (Matt. 24:12). Christians, woe to us without love! Where there is no love, there is no faith, for there is no faith without love, and where there is no faith, there is no Christ and salvation. Christians! We confess God, who is Love (1 John 4:8). "Let us love one another, that we may with one mind confess the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit" (Eucharistic Canon). Amen.

Homily 25: On the Love of God

 "Whoever has My commandments and keeps them loves Me"

(John 14:21)

 Beloved Christians! All Christians say: "How can we not love God!" or: "Whom should we love if not God?" God is the highest, uncreated, beginningless, infinite, natural, and unchangeable Good. As the sun always shines, as fire always warms, so God is naturally good and always beneficial, so that "no one is good but God alone" (Matt. 19:17). God also does good to us when He punishes us, for He punishes us in order to correct us; He beats us in order to have mercy on us; grieves us in order to truly comfort us. "The Lord chastens whom He loves; but he smites every son whom he receives" (Hebrews 12:6). So, how can such a Good – God – not be loved? God is our Creator, He created us out of nothing. We were not, and now "we live, move, and have our being" (Acts 17:28). His almighty hands created and created us. He created us, O men, not like the rest of creation, senseless and dumb, but created us by His special Divine Council: "Let us make man" (Gen. 1:26). Of other creatures it is said: "He spoke, and it was, commanded, and they were created" (Psalm 32:9). But it is different about a person. What then? "Let us make," he said, "man." O most holy, O most gracious counsel! The Triune God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit said of man: "Let us make man." What kind of person? "In the image," he said, "in our likeness, and in the likeness." O wondrous goodness of God to man! O highest human honor! Man was created in the image of God and in the likeness of God. What creature has been vouchsafed such an honor from God? We do not see it. The man was vouchsafed this, and was honored by the image of God from God. O most amiable and most beautiful creature of God – man! The image of God, like the royal seal, has in itself. Glorious is the Tsar, and so is his portrait. God, the King of Heaven, is worthy of all honor, and His image, man, is worthy of honor. Such goodness, O Christians, has God poured out upon us in our creation. So, how can we not love Him? We have fallen and perished, which we cannot mourn enough. "Man, being in honor, did not understand, was made equal to senseless beasts, and became like unto them" (Psalm 48:13). But even then the Loving God did not abandon us: He invented a wonderful image of salvation for us. He sent His Only-begotten Son to us to save us and bring us to Himself. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him" (John 3:16-17). How can we not love God, Who loves us so much? God is the Lover of Mankind, as we all call Him, and man must also be a lover of God. For love cannot be repaid in any other way than love and gratitude. God is our Providence, He cares for us and cares for us. He gives us food, clothing, and a house. His sun, moon and stars illuminate us. By its fire we warm ourselves and cook our food. We wash and cool down with its water. His cattle serve us; His air enlivens us and preserves our life. In a word, we are contained in His blessings and love, and we cannot live without them even for a minute. How can we not love Him who loved us so much, such a Benefactor, God? We love a man as a benefactor, much less should we love God as a benefactor. For all creatures, including man himself, are God's riches: "The earth is the Lord's, and the fulfillment thereof" (Psalm 23:1). God is our Father. To Him we pray and say: "Our Father, Who art in heaven," and so on. How can we not love God the Father? Good children certainly love their father. If we, too, wish to be sincere children of God, and to call Him Father without hypocrisy, then we must love Him as a Father. So, everyone is right: how can one not love God? Like any virtue, love must be in the heart. When the heart does not have it, then it is not really there. God does not say to our lips: love, humble, be merciful, pray, ask, call upon Me, and so on, but to our hearts. Thus, we must have love, humility, mercy, prayer, and so on in our hearts. And if it is in the heart, then it will certainly turn out to be outside, like belching from the stomach. For the hidden fire shows itself by its warmth, and the fragrant balm by its good smell. Thus St. David showed the love that he had for God in his sweet songs to God: "I will love Thee, O Lord, my strength! The Lord is my strength, and my refuge, and my Deliverer, my God, my Helper, and I trust in Him, my Defender, and the horn of my salvation, and my Advocate" (Psalm 17:2-3). Love, although it is hidden in the heart, cannot be hidden, and shows its signs from the outside. But let us see what are the signs of love for God, so that instead of love we do not have a false dream of love. For in nothing is a man deceived so much as in love. The signs of love are as follows. 1) The Lord Himself points out, saying: "Whoever has My commandments and keeps them loves Me" (John 14:21). For he who truly loves God shuns everything that is repugnant to God, and tries to fulfill everything that pleases Him, and therefore he keeps His holy commandments. And from this it follows that those Christians do not have God's love who neglect His commandments. These include those who are wicked and otherwise harmful, fornicators, adulterers, and all defilers; thieves, robbers, robbers, and all in some way unjustly appropriating the goods of others; slanderers and scoffers; cunning and cunning, deceiving others, deceivers and hypocrites; sorcerers and those who call them to themselves, and all transgressors of the law. All of them, both the law of God and God Himself, do not love. They love themselves and their whims, not God and His holy law. 2) A clear sign of love for God is heartfelt joy in God. For what we love, we rejoice in. In the same way, God's love cannot exist without joy. And as many times as a person feels the sweetness of God's love in his heart, so many times does he rejoice in God. For love, as a sweet virtue, cannot be felt without joy. As honey delights our throat when we taste it, so does the love of God rejoice our heart when we taste and see "how good the Lord is" (Psalm 33:9). Such joy in God is depicted in many places of the Holy Scriptures, and especially in the holy psalms. This joy is spiritual, heavenly, it is a foretaste of the sweetness of eternal life. 3) He who truly loves God despises the world and everything that exists in the world, and strives for his only beloved God. Honor, glory, riches, and all the pleasures of this world, which the sons of this world seek, are counted as nothing. He needs only God, an uncreated and all-loving good. In Him alone he finds perfect honor, glory, riches, and consolation. For him, God alone is precious beads, and therefore everything else is something small. Such a person desires nothing in heaven or on earth except God. Such love is depicted in the words of the Psalms: "What have I to do in heaven? And without You, what can I desire on earth? My heart and my flesh are faint, O God of my heart, and my portion is God for ever" (Psalm 72:25-26). Such a person uses food, drink, clothing, etc., only for the sake of need, and not for the sake of voluptuousness. And from this it follows that he does not love God who loves the world, according to the testimony of the Apostle: "He who loves the world has not the love of the Father in him" (1 John 2:15). Such are those who want to live in the pride and splendor of this world, to live in rich houses, to ride in rich carriages, to dress in rich clothes, to be glorified and honored by everyone, and so on. Such are "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life" (1 John 2:16), that is, everything that is contrary to God, they love, and not God. 4) He who truly loves God keeps God, His love for us and His blessings in unforgettable memory. We also see this in human love. For whom we love, we often remember. Thus, he who loves God often remembers Him, meditates on Him, and is comforted by Him, and admires Him: "For where his treasure is, there will his heart also be" (Matt. 6:21). For him, God is an invaluable and most beloved treasure, and therefore his heart is always with Him. That is why He often commemorates His holy name with love. For the heart, filled with God's love, also manifests outward signs of love. And from this we see that those who forget Him do not love God, for forgetfulness is a clear sign of dislike for God. He who loves his beloved cannot forget. 5) The lover wants to be inseparable from the beloved. Many Christians wish to be glorified with Christ the Lord, but to be with Him in dishonor and reproach and do not want to bear the cross. They pray to Him to be in His kingdom, but they do not want to suffer in peace with Him, and thus they show that their hearts are wrong and that they truly do not love Christ, and, if they tell the truth, they love themselves more than Christ. That is why the Lord says: "Whoever does not take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me" (Matthew 10:38). A true friend in misfortune is known. He is our true friend and the one who truly loves us, who does not leave us in misfortune. Thus truly loves Christ is he who dwells with Christ here in this world, clings to Him with his heart, and endures suffering or the cross with Him without complaint, and desires to be with Him inseparably in the age to come. Such a one says to Christ in his heart: "It is good for me to be united with God" (Psalm 72:28). 6) A sign of love for God is love for one's neighbor. Whoever truly loves God loves his neighbor as well. The source of love for one's neighbor is love for God, but the love of God is known through love for one's neighbor. And from this it follows that he who does not love his neighbor does not love God either, as the Apostle teaches: "He who says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, is a liar, for he who does not love his brother whom he sees, how can he love God whom he does not see? We have this commandment from Him, that he who loves God should love his brother also" (1 John 4:20-21). Such are the signs of love for God that are hidden in the human heart. Beloved Christians! Let us repent and turn away from the vanity of the world, and purify our hearts with repentance and contrition, so that the love of God may dwell in us. "God is Love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him" (1 John 4:16). Amen.

Homily 26: On Love of Neighbor