Elijah left His disciple a mantle, and the Son of God, ascending, left us His flesh. Elijah was left without mercy, but Christ left His flesh to us, and ascended with it.

Amen.

[1] Of course, the 1st discourse, delivered before the revolt in Antioch.

ABOUT STATUES

THIRD DISCOURSE,

on the occasion of the dispatch of Bishop Flavian to intercede with the emperor about the city, also about what true fasting is, that to speak evil is worse than to devour human flesh, about those who were executed for rebellion, and against those who complained that many had been arrested innocently.

When I look at this throne, idle and abandoned by the teacher, I rejoice and weep at the same time: I weep because I do not see my father here; I rejoice, because he went on a journey for our salvation, and went to deliver so many people from the king's wrath, that he is an adornment to you, and a crown to him: to you it is an adornment, that you have such a father; for him it is a crown that he is so loving to his children, and justified by his very deeds what Christ said when he heard that "the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep" (John 10:11), he went with a willingness to lay down his life for all of us, although many things prevented him from going on his journey and compelled him to remain here. These are, first of all, his old age; then - bodily infirmity, and the season, and the approach of the holy feast; finally, his sister, who is alone and is at her last breath. But he despised kinship, and old age, and infirmity, and the difficulty of time, and the hardship of the journey: and, preferring you and your salvation to everything, he broke all these bonds, and like a young man now flies the old man, inspired with zeal.

On the contrary, the better our flock is of that flock, the people are dumb, and the people are God; so much the greater and stronger are we to show care and diligence. He understood well that he now had a matter not only of a city, but of the whole East; for our city is the head and mother of the cities lying in the east. Therefore, he decided to endure every danger, and nothing could keep him there. And I hope that our hopes will not be in vain; for God will not despise such diligence and care, and will not allow His servant to return without success. I know that as soon as he appears and sees the pious king, he will be able to immediately tame his anger by his mere appearance; for in the saints not only the words, but also the very faces are filled with spiritual grace. But he is also full of great wisdom, and, being versed in the divine laws, will say to him the same thing that Moses said to God: "Forgive them their sin, and if not, put me also to death with them" (Exodus 32:32). Such is the heart of the saints that it is more pleasant for them to die with their children than to live without them. He will find protection for us in time itself, will point to Holy Pascha, will remind us of the time in which Christ forgave the sins of the entire universe; he will persuade (the king) to imitate the Lord; He will also bring to his memory the parable of a thousand talents and a hundred denarii. I know the boldness of our father; He will not fail to frighten him with this parable and say: "Take heed, lest you also hear in that day: 'Wicked servant! I have forgiven you all that debt, because you have begged me; Should you not also have mercy on your fellow-man" to release to your minions (Matt. 18:32-33); you will do more good for yourself than for them, because for the forgiveness of a few sins you will receive the remission of great sins. He will add to what has been said the prayer with which those who led the king into the sacred sacraments taught him to pray and say: "Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors" (Matt. 6:12). Then he will explain that the crime was not committed by the whole city, but by several people, strangers and strangers, who do everything not with reason, but boldly with all kinds of disorder; that it would be unjust, for the folly of a few men, to ravage so great a city, and to put to death those who had done no fault. And even though all have sinned, they are punished enough, being tormented by fear for so many days, waiting every day for death, being pursued, fleeing, leading a life more miserable than those condemned to death, feeling that blood flows in their veins, and not having confidence in their lives. Be satisfied with such a punishment, do not prostrate yourself further in anger, propitiate for yourself the supreme Judge, showing humanity to your fellow servants. Think of the greatness of the city, and the fact that we are no longer a question of one soul, nor of two, nor of three, nor of ten, but of innumerable thousands, the head of the whole universe. This is the city in which believers were called Christians for the first time; and almost Christ, respect the city that was the first to proclaim this coveted and sweet name for all. It was the abode of the apostles, the abode of the righteous. This is now his first and only crime against the sovereigns, and all the time that has passed (favorably) testifies to the morals of this city. If there were constant rebellions in him, then he should be accused of ill-temper; but if this happened once in all time, it is clear that the crime did not come from the enemies of the city, but from people who came to it without need and without work.

2. All this and even more than this will be said by the saint with great boldness; and the king will hear it! The king is philanthropic, and the bishop is firm, so that good hopes are given on both sides. But even more than on the firmness of the teacher and the love of mankind of the tsar, let us trust in God's mercy: God Himself will become an intermediary between the beseeching tsar and the imploring saint, softening the heart of the tsar, inspiring the tongue of the saint, granting success to his words, disposing the soul of the tsar to listen favorably to the words and heed the supplications. And our city is more pleasing to Christ than all cities in virtue, both those of our ancestors and yours. As of the Apostles Peter was the first to preach Christ, so of the cities, as I have already said, our city was the first to be adorned, as if with a wondrous crown, with the name of Christians. But if God promised to save all the inhabitants of a city in which there would be only ten righteous men; how can we not expect good things and hope for mercy for all of us, when there are not only ten or twenty faithful servants of God here, and not twice as many, but much more? Many, I have heard, say: "The wrath of the king is like the roar of a lion" (Proverbs 19:12), and because of this they fall into faint-heartedness and despondency. What should I say to them? That He Who said: "The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox" (Isa. 11:6-7), can make this lion a meek lamb. Let us call upon Him and pray to Him, and He will surely tame the king's wrath, and deliver us from all the sorrows that threaten us. The Father intercedes there (before the earthly King), and here we will intercede before the Heavenly King and help him with prayers. The whole church can do a lot if we offer prayers with a sorrowful soul and a broken heart. There is no need to swim across the seas, there is no need to embark on a long journey; each and every one, both those who come to church and those who remain at home, let us call upon God with fervor, and He will certainly bow down to our prayers.

How can this be seen? From the fact that He strongly desires that we should always run to Him, pray to Him for everything, and do or say nothing without Him. People, when we constantly disturb them with our affairs, get irritated, run away from us and harbor hostility towards us. God is quite the opposite: he is not angry when we constantly pray to Him about our deeds, but when we do not do this, then he is most indignant. Listen to what He reproaches the Jews for: "They take counsel," He says, "but without Me, and make covenants, but not according to My Spirit" (Isa. 30:1). Such is the quality of lovers: they desire that through them all the deeds of their loved ones be accomplished, and that without them they do or say nothing. That is why God, not only here, but also in another place, reproaching the Jews for this very thing, said: "They set up kings themselves, without me; they set up princes, but without My knowledge" (Hosea 8:4) Let us not be lazy to constantly resort to Him, and whatever calamity may be, it will certainly have a favorable outcome. Has man frightened you? Have recourse to the highest Lord and you will not suffer any evil. In this way the ancients, not only men, but also women, were delivered from disasters. There was a Jewish woman, her name was Esther; this Esther delivered the whole people of Judah from the destruction that threatened them in this way. When the Persian king gave orders to completely exterminate all the Jews, and no one could stop this anger, this woman, putting off her bright clothes, putting on sackcloth and sprinkling ashes on herself, began to pray to the humane God, that He would come with her to the king, and praying about this, she said: "Grant, O Lord, grace to my words, "Give to my mouth a word of acceptance" (Est. 4:17). Let us now ask the same of God and for our teacher. If a woman who pleaded for the Jews could subdue the wrath of a barbarian, how much more will our teacher, who intercedes for such a city and with such a church, have time to bow down to this most gracious and gentle king. If he has received the power to forgive sins against God, how much more will it be possible for him to blot out and destroy sins against man. And he is a ruler, and a more honorable lord than that: because the sacred laws have betrayed and subjected to his hands even the royal head; And when it is necessary to ask for some good from above, then, as a rule, the tsar has recourse to the saint, and not the saint to the tsar. And he has the breastplate of righteousness, he also has the girdle of truth, he has a much more splendid shoe of "the gospel of peace" (Ephesians 6:15), he has a sword, not of iron, but of the spirit, and he has a crown on his head. This armor is more brilliant, this armor is more glorious, his boldness is firmer, his strength is more powerful. Thus, both in the height of his power, and in the greatness of his soul, and above all in his hope in God, he will speak to the king with great boldness, with great boldness. prudence.

3. Let us not despair of our salvation, but let us send up petitions, prayers, supplications, and intercessions to the heavenly King with many tears. Let this Lent be our companion and helper in this good intercession.

A believer is a farmer, a helmsman, a warrior, a fighter, and a traveler. That is why Paul also says: "We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers. For this reason take the whole armor of God" (Ephesians 6:12-13). Have you seen the wrestler? Have you seen a warrior? If you are a fighter, you must fight naked. If you are a warrior, you must be armed in the ranks. How is it possible to be both naked and unnaked, clothed and unclothed? I'll tell you how. Lay down the affairs of life, and you have become a fighter. Put on spiritual armor, and you have become a warrior. Strip yourself naked from the cares of life, for the time of struggle has come. Put on spiritual armor, for we have a fierce war with demons. For this reason we must be naked, so that the devil, entering into a struggle with us, will have nothing to seize us for; we must clothe ourselves with armor on all sides, so that we do not receive a mortal blow from any side. Cultivate the field of your soul, cut thorns, sow the word of godliness, plant beautiful plants of wisdom and take care of them with great care, and you will be a farmer, and Paul will say to you: "The laboring farmer must first eat of the fruit" (2 Tim. 2:6). And he was engaged in this art, and therefore in the Epistle to the Corinthians he said: "I planted, Apollos watered, but God grew" (1 Cor. 3:6). Sharpen thy sickle, which thou hast blunted with gluttony, sharpen it with fasting. Enter the path that leads to heaven, enter the strait and narrow path, and walk in it. How can you both enter this path and walk along it? Exhausting and enslaving his body; for on the narrow path there is much that fatness hinders from gluttony. Tame the waves of disorderly passions, calm the storm of evil thoughts, keep the boat intact, show great experience, and you are the helmsman. For all this, let fasting be both a field and a teacher for us – I do not mean the fast that many hold, but the true one – abstinence not only from food, but also from sins: for fasting in itself cannot save those who keep it, unless it is in accordance with the established law. And the wrestler, it is said, "is not crowned, if he strives unlawfully" (2 Tim. 2:5). Thus, in order that we, having accomplished the feat of fasting, should not lose the crown for it, let us learn how and in what way this feat should be accomplished. And the Pharisee fasted, but after fasting he went out (from the temple) deprived of the fruits that grow by fasting. But the publican did not fast, and he who did not fast surpassed him who fasted, so that you may know that there is no benefit from fasting, if it is not accompanied by all the rest.

The Ninevites fasted, and attracted to themselves the favor of God; the Jews also fasted, and not only did they not succeed, but they were condemned (Isa. 58:3,6). If fasting threatens those who do not know how to fast, then let us study the laws of fasting, so that we "do not flow in obscurity" (1 Cor. 9:26), do not beat the air, do not fight with the shadow. Fasting is medicine; but a medicine, even if it has been useful a thousand times, is often useless to one who does not know how to use it. It is necessary to know at what time it should be taken, and the amount of the medicine itself, and the physique of the one who takes it, and the quality of the country, and the time of year, and the decent kind of food, and many other things; and if one thing is left unattended, all the rest will be harmed. But if we need such precision when it is necessary to heal the body; it is all the more necessary to analyze and examine everything with all rigor, when we heal the soul and heal the thoughts.

4. Let us see how the Ninevites fasted, and how they were delivered from that wrath. "Neither men," says (the prophet), "nor cattle, nor oxen, nor sheep have eaten anything, nor gone to pasture, nor drunk water" (Jonah 3:7). What do you say, tell me? And do the dumb fast? And horses and mules are covered with sackcloth? Yes, he does. How, after the death of a rich man, relatives dress not only male and female slaves, but also horses, in sackcloth, and, entrusting them to grooms, compel them to follow the coffin, in order to express the severity of the loss and arouse pity in all; so also when the city (Nineveh) was threatened with destruction, the inhabitants clothed the dumb creature in sackcloth and imposed on it the yoke of fasting. The dumb, they said, cannot be brought to reason in anger by the word of God: let them understand by hunger, that God has sent this punishment; for if the city perishes, it will be a common sepulchre not only for us, but also for them; they will have to share the punishment with us, let them share the fast as well.