The Grand Prince of Kiev Vladimir Vsevolodovich, nicknamed Monomakh, whose crown is still crowned by our great sovereigns, was the great-grandson of Prince Vladimir, Equal-to-the-Apostles. He left behind him a beautiful testament, reading which, we seem to hear the simple and wise speeches of the best of our ancient sovereigns, this firm, strong faith in God, beloved by the people Grand Prince of ancient Russia. His testament or instruction is a holy testament of our antiquity, it is a voice from the times when the Holy Fathers of the Caves asceticized in the Kiev caves, now resting there incorruptly. 770 years have passed since this testament was written, and it still has all its force, and now it is instructive for every son of the Russian land. We offer it in an abridged form to our readers in translation into modern language.

I, a sinner, named in holy baptism Basil, and by the Russian name Vladimir, glorify God, Who has preserved me to this day in good health. And you, my children, or anyone else, having read this letter, do not condemn my writing, do not laugh at it, but take it to heart and do not be lazy to fulfill what is written here. The first thing is for God's sake and for the salvation of your soul, have the fear of God in your heart, and give alms with a generous hand: it is the beginning of all good. You, young men, be pure in soul, blameless, gentle in conversation, modest at the table, be silent in front of old people, listen to clever people, obey your elders, treat your equals and younger with love; conduct the conversation without guile, — delve more into the matter, do not get excited about words, do not swear, do not indulge in reckless laughter; Respect the elders, do not enter into a conversation with women who have lost their lives. O Lady Mother of God! Take away pride and foolishness from my poor heart, so that I may not be exalted by the vanity of this world. "Learn, believer, to be a worker of piety in this vain life; accustom, according to the words of the Scriptures, the tongue to abstinence, the mind to humility, the eyes to obedience, the whole body to complete obedience to the soul; destroy anger in yourself, have pure thoughts, compel yourself to good deeds for the Lord's sake. They take away from you what — do not take revenge; they hate, oppress – endure, blaspheme – pray, mortify sin in yourself. Save the oppressed, protect the orphan, stand up for the widow. When the Lenten spring shines and the flowers of repentance blossom, let us cleanse ourselves, brethren, from all defilement of the flesh and soul, crying out to the Giver of Light: Glory to Thee, O Lover of mankind! And truly, my children, how merciful God is to us, and how merciful God is to us. We are sinful and mortal people, and yet, if anyone does us harm, we seem ready to pin him down and take revenge on him at once; but our Lord, the Lord of life and death, suffers our sins for us, although they exceed our heads, and throughout our lives, like a father who loves his child, and punishes us, and draws us again to Himself. He showed us how to get rid of the enemy and defeat him — by three good deeds: repentance, tears, and almsgiving. And this commandment of God is not heavy, my children, so that by these three virtues one may be delivered from sins and not be deprived of the Kingdom of Heaven. And for God's sake, do not be lazy, children, I beseech you, do not forget these three virtues: they are not at all as difficult as a solitary life, monasticism, strict fasts, which some pious people impose on themselves – these virtues are not a difficult task, but you will receive God's mercy for them... And what is man, that Thou rememberest him, O Lord? Great art Thou, O Lord, and wonderful are Thy works, — no human mind can tell of Thy wonders! Great art Thou, O Lord, and blessed and glorious is Thy name for ever and ever, throughout all the earth. And who will not marvel, who will not glorify Thy glory, Thy great wonders and beauties created in this world! How wisely the heavens are made, how the sun, moon, and stars, darkness and light, how the earth is founded upon the waters, and all this is by Thy providence, O Lord! And all kinds of beasts, and birds, and fish, how beautifully created by You, O Lord! We are also amazed at how Thou hast created man from dust, how, in Thy wisdom, the faces of men are diverse, even though they are gathered from all over the world — each has his own face, not like that of others.. We are also amazed at how the birds of the air fly from warm lands, and do not settle in any one country, but both the strong and the weak scatter throughout all the lands, according to God's command, so that both forests and fields may be full of them! And God gave all this for the benefit of man, for his food, for his consolation... Great is Thy mercy to us, O Lord, when Thou didst do all this for sinful man! And the same birds of the air are made wise by Thee, O Lord: when Thou commandest, they sing and rejoice people, but when Thou rebuke, they are silent and dumb, although they could sing. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, for all these wonders and beauties which Thou hast wrought! And whoever does not praise Thee, O Lord, and does not believe with all his heart and with all his soul in the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, let him be accursed! "Reading these words, my children, thank God, Who has given us His mercy — here is a testament for you from my stupidity! Listen to me, and if not all, then accept at least half. And if God softens your heart, then weep over your sins and say: Lord! As Thou didst have mercy on the harlot, and the robber, and the publican, so have mercy on us sinners! Do this in church, and at home, going to bed. Do not sin, do not forget never to make prostrations at night, and if you fall ill, then bow at least three times. Do not forget this, do not be lazy. By these nightly prostrations and singing, a person defeats the devil, and what he sins during the day is delivered from sin. Even on the road, sitting on a horse, if you are not talking to anyone, then instead of thinking vain, repeat in secret the prayer: Lord, have mercy, if you do not know any other prayers. This prayer is easier than any other. And above all, do not forget the poor, but feed them according to your strength, help the orphan; Protect the widow and do not allow strong people to destroy a weak person. In talking about good and evil, do not swear by the name of God, do not make the sign of the cross at the same time – there is no need for this. And when you have to kiss the cross, take the oath, then kiss only when you can stand in this oath, and when you kiss the cross, see to it that you do not ruin your souls by breaking your oath. "Bishops, priests, and all the clergy, honor and love, accept their blessing with love, do not shun them, and provide them with what they need, and they will pray to God for you." And above all, beware of pride both in your heart and in your mind; — let us say so-so: we are mortal people, today we are alive, and tomorrow we will lie down in the grave; — all that You, Lord, have given us. "Not ours, but Yours; You entrusted this to us only in a few days. And do not bury treasures in the ground: this is a great sin. "Honor the old as fathers, and consider the young as brothers. At home, do not be lazy, do not rely on anyone, but look after everything yourself, and then strangers will not laugh at you. If you go to war, don't be lazy, don't waste a lot of time eating and sleeping. Beware of lying, drunkenness, and fornication: in all this both soul and body will perish. Where will you go, and where will you stay, give water, feed the poor. And honor the guest, wherever he comes from: whether he is a simple man, whether he is a nobleman, or an ambassador. If you can't give him something, then at least honor him with a treat. Such people, moving from place to place, spread good or bad rumors about a person throughout all lands. Visit the sick, pray over the dead — and we will all die — do not pass by a person without greeting him, without saying a kind word to him. Love your wives, but do not give them power over you. And the end of all things, have the fear of God above all things. If you forget any of these, read it often: I will not be ashamed, and you will be well. Do not forget what you know that is good, and what you do not know, learn. My father, sitting at home, learned five foreign languages. This is the honor of all lands. And laziness is the mother of all evil. A lazy person will forget what he knows, and what he does not know, he will never learn. Make sure that the sun does not find you in bed. That's what my father and all the good old people did. He met the sun with prayer and glorified God with joy: "Enlighten my eyes, O Christ God," Thou hast shown me, O Lord, Thy red light. Add to me, O Lord, summer to summer, that I may be cleansed from my sins and glorify Thee, O Lord. Reading this letter, children, strive for good deeds, glorifying God and His saints. Do not fear death, children: who can harm you if God does not allow it? And if God destined you to die, no one will protect you. God's protection is better than man's...

406. To Whom Is He Like Who Lives Dissolutely?

"The demons prayed to Jesus, saying, 'If you cast us out, lead us to go into the herd of swine.' And he said unto them, Go" (Matt. 8:31:32).

I would not like to speak of demons and swine, but even to think about them, my beloved brethren! It's scary to talk about demons, it's embarrassing to talk about pigs. It is also frightening to think of the gloomy, ugly demons, the very sight of which, as wise people say, is already more terrible than any torment; it is shameful to converse in the presence of good people and about pigs, which in the Old Testament were abhorred as unclean and filthy animals. But in the Holy Gospel it reads: "The demons prayed to Jesus, saying: If you cast us out (from man), lead us to go into the herd of swine. And he said unto them, Go" (Matt. 8:31:32). Thus, the Gospel speaks of demons and swine: therefore we cannot pass them over in silence; let us talk about them at least briefly, and You, O Lord, Yourself make this conversation for our sinners' benefit, and for Thee from us for glory!

It is surprising that demons, proud creatures, do not ask Christ our God for permission to enter into lions or elephants, but into pigs. It is also surprising that the Lord did not refuse them; before He had never fulfilled their requests, but now He even commands them, saying, Go. Why is that? The demons ask permission to enter the pigs because they love their own kind. Demons are unclean, as the Lord Himself says to one of them: "Get out of man, O unclean soul." Pigs are also unclean, which is why in the Old Testament it was forbidden to eat their meat. Look, says one interpreter of the Holy Scriptures: where does Satan want to dwell? "Unclean animals. This is because he himself loves all kinds of impurity.

That is why the teachers of the Church, interpreting the Gospel story in a mysterious sense, understand by swine sinners who love the impurities of carnal sins, just as swine loves filth. Here is what St. John Chrysostom says, for example: what evil does not sinful pleasing of the flesh do? It makes a pig out of a man, and even worse than a pig: it rolls in the mud and feeds on impurity, while the fornicator feeds his soul with filthy prodigal thoughts. The fornicator is in many ways like a pig: this animal always looks at the earth, and cannot look at the sky; even the sinner looks to the earth, all occupied with prodigal thoughts, and does not want to raise his spiritual eyes to heaven and think about God, the Knower of the Heart. The pig groans; the sinner also groans, constantly suffering in his conscience, cursed himself, seeing that he is perishing, that every day he is being drawn deeper into perdition by an evil sinful habit. Thus, the demons ask the Lord for permission to enter the herd of swine, because these unclean animals represent sinners, and the demons love to dwell in people who live in fornication. St. John Chrysostom says that the prodigal man himself is like a demon: he is as shameless and evil as a demon. Wise people say of the devil that he carries the fire of hell everywhere within himself; everywhere this fire burns and torments him unbearably, so the prodigal living everywhere carries within himself this fire of carnal lust and constantly suffers from it. Demons also like to dwell in those who live in prodigality because such people are the best dwelling place for them. In ancient Carthage there was such a case: there stood in one place an idol of Venus, a pagan goddess, who was depicted shamelessly naked. Once a virgin youth passed by this idol, accidentally glanced at this statue and was tempted. And while he was delighting in his heart with impure thoughts and desires, suddenly a demon entered into him and began to torment him... Do you see how the sin of fornication, not yet fulfilled in deed, but only conceived, already makes a person's soul a den of a thief – the devil! What can be said about the impurity of fornication fulfilled by the very deed?.. Does not the devil live in the prodigal as in his own dwelling? Do you hear this, you who live in fornication?.. Do you know that a demon dwells in you too? Or do you not feel it in yourself, and do not believe what I tell you? The Monk Hilarion once cast out a demon from a certain maiden and asked him: why did he not enter into that youth, who by sorcery sent him to this maiden? The demon answered: In this young man already lives my friend, the lustful demon of prodigal. You see: the demon of fornication lives in the fornicator and torments him with the kindling of fornication! That is why the demons ask the Lord for permission to enter into the swine, but the Lord allows, even commands them to enter into the swine: "Go," he said. Why does He allow it? In order to show that the devil has power over those who live like swine, and in order to manifest His righteous judgment over those sinners, as it is written: "God judges the fornicator and the adulterer" (Heb. 13:4). And truly so! The devil reigns, or rather, reigns, over prodigal people as over his slaves, for, as it is said: "He who commits sin is of the devil" (John 3:8); he does not work for Christ, but for the devil. We know that the devil once reigned over idolaters as over his slaves; but even those who live depravedly, the second idolaters, are slaves of the devil: is not he who denies Christ by the sin of fornication? His idol is his passion, his sinful habit, and in this habit, as in an idol, lives his lord – the demon, to whom he has given his foul heart, like an altar or altar, puts the fire of sinful lust on this altar, sacrifices to it the very deed of fornication, by which he defiles himself and becomes himself like a demon and pleasing to him... The devil rules over such baptized idolaters as over his slaves, and commands them mercilessly: he deprives the sinner of his spiritual strength for repentance, exposes him to the grace of God, throws him into the fire of unbearable prodigal lust and into the water of unclean voluptuousness, and destroys him, drowning him in the abyss of hell, like a pig in the sea, and there he will torment him forever and ever. This is the reward that the devil prepares for his servant, who faithfully and diligently works for him with the sins of fornication!

The Lord commanded the demons to enter the herd of swine also in order to show His righteous judgment and the inevitable punishment that would befall fornicators. For Him, our Lord, the source of all purity and holiness, born of the Most Pure and Immaculate Virgin, every fornicator is an abomination, and He arms Himself against such as His enemy, because "the wisdom of the flesh is enmity against God" (Romans 8:7), that is, whoever has his whole mind occupied only with fornication dreams, is a great enemy to God, and God takes revenge on him as His enemy. And so, you see how the sin of fornication angers God! But they will say to me: What is an insult to Christ God, if a man defiles his body with the sins of fornication? Truly, a great insult! The body of every Christian does not belong to him: it is Christ's, as it is written: "Ye eat the body of Christ, and eat in part" (1 Corinthians 2:27). And again: "Bear your own (you are not your own), for you have been bought at a price" (6:20), at the price of the blood of Christ: you have not been redeemed with perishable silver or gold, but "with the precious blood of the Lamb, as the blameless and most pure of Christ." And so, Christian, the head with whom you dream of carnal fornication is not yours, but Christ's, and it is not fitting for you to dream of filthy unclean deeds as the head of Christ! The feet with which you go to iniquity are not yours, but Christ's, and it is not fitting for you to go to a sinful deed with Christ's feet! The hands with which you act badly are not yours, but Christ's, and it is not fitting for you to do unclean deeds with Christ's hands! Your whole body, which you defile with the sin of fornication, is not yours, but Christ's, and it is not fitting for you to defile Christ's body with carnal filthy sins: for you are the house of Christ, according to the words of the Apostle: "The temple of God is holy, which you are" (1 Corinthians 3:17). And if someone wanted to drive the master out of the house, would he not do him the greatest offense? Of course he would, and the master, who was driven out of his house, would seize a sword and other things, and defend himself. In the same way, Christ the Lord, Whom we expel with filthy sins of the flesh from His own dwelling, bought with His blood, is offended, and takes up the sword to avenge us for this offense. So, brethren, this is why the Lord allowed demons to enter into swine: He wanted to show His righteous wrath against sinners; He will give sinners over to fierce demons for eternal torment! Amen.

407. The Orthodox Warrior – God's Warrior

God loves good-natured peace, says St. Philaret of Moscow, and God blesses a righteous war. There are always non-peaceful people on earth, so it is impossible to enjoy peace without military help. For the preservation of peace, it is necessary that the victor should not allow his weapons to rust." Is it not for this reason that the Lord, the God of peace and love, calls "Himself Lord of hosts? He (the blessed Lord our God) — teaches (His faithful) hands to fight, and their fingers to battle" (Psalm 14:31). He blessed the weapons of the meek Abraham, who fought for the release of his nephew Lot from captivity; He commanded His people to conquer the promised land, He also helped the meek David against the foreigners; by faith in Him, not only the ancient holy men, but also our ancestors, our kings, our Christ-loving warriors-brothers conquered entire kingdoms, defended the holy faith, laid down their souls for the Church of God, for the brethren, for the fatherland... So high is the military rank! "That's how an Orthodox Russian always looked at him. Military service, in his opinion, is the greatest feat of love for one's neighbor, the direct fulfillment of Christ's commandment: "Greater love hath no man, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13). And the first ascetic on the battlefield, the first warrior and commander of the Christ-loving army, is our most pious Orthodox Sovereign, the Autocrat of All Russia. This means that whoever serves faithfully and faithfully the Tsar and the Fatherland, who sacredly keeps the oath given before God when entering the military rank, does not serve people, but God Himself, fulfills His holy commandment; he is always ready to lay down his life for his brethren, for the Holy Church, for the Tsar – his father and Fatherland, and this service will serve him for the salvation of his soul. That is why there were cases when another, being in great sorrow, and wishing to attract God's mercy upon himself, made a promise to go to military service, just as one promises to go to a monastery, or to perform some other feat pleasing to God, and God apparently accepted this vow from him, delivered him from sorrows, and blessed him with His mercy. Here is what one truly Christ-loving soldier tells about himself, who entered the service according to a promise. "I also got into military service by the special mercy of God; for the sake of this service, I see the light of God, and I experience family joys. My parent is a state peasant; Of his three sons, I am the eldest. In the 16th year of my life, it pleased the Lord to test me: I was sick with my eyes. Since my father had no children older than I, and he already had a decent helper in me, my illness grieved him greatly. In spite of his poverty, he sacrificed his last penny to cure me: I was treated a lot; But neither home nor apothecary medicines helped. We turned with prayer to the Lord, and to the Mother of God, and to the holy saints: but even here we were not vouchsafed mercy. In the course of time the disease of my eyes became more and more intense, and at last I became blind. This followed exactly two years after the beginning of my illness. Having completely lost my sight, I began to walk groping, and, out of unfamiliarity, I stumbled. One day my father asked me in a trembling voice: "Andrew, don't you see anything?" There is nothing to say about the feelings of the mother: the mother grieved more than anyone else. "My position was difficult! Once I was left alone in the hut, and a few minutes later my father came in. Putting his hand on my shoulder, he sat down next to me and... Thought. I couldn't stand it. "Father," I said sadly, "do you still grieve for me? Why is that? My blindness is not of me or of you. It pleases God so. Remember what the priest told us on Holy Pascha, when he was with the icons. Do not lose heart, he said, lest you come to a murmur against God. We do not know and are not given to know why the Lord sends this or that misfortune. Of course, it is better to think that they are sent because of our sins. But why know? "Perhaps the word of the Lord Jesus will be repeated over you, which He pronounced about the family of the blind man of the Gospel: 'Neither this one has sinned, nor his parents... but let the works of God be manifested in it" (John 9:3). The Lord is the same with us. Do you remember that, father?" — "That's the way it is, Andrew, but how are we going to live? Your brothers are small, your mother is hunched over from labor and sorrow. Everywhere you look, I'm all alone. You are no longer a worker. It seems that we will not be able to feed ourselves." "How can I not be a worker, father? True, I can't do everything, but some, especially at home, maybe I'll do something; The Lord, it is said, makes the blind wise." - "No, Andrew, what a job you have! But what if... You would go to the blind and learn to sing poems from them. Then you will all help us in any way, and you yourself will not starve." I then understood the gravity of my situation and the extremity of poverty that was devouring my father. Instead of answering, I began to cry and leaned over the table at the edge of which I was sitting. Father began to console me as best he could: "Andrew, Andrew, my child! It is truly God's will that the blind should be fed in His name. And they ask in the name of God and sing... all things are God's." "It's true," I remarked in agitation, "but I can't break myself, I can't force myself to beg. I'd rather work day and night, turn millstones, walk naked, and starve myself, but I won't go through the windows, I won't drag myself around the bazaars and fairs!" This conversation took place at the end of spring. Spring has passed, summer has passed. Autumn came, and my blindness was all in the same position.

Once (it was at the beginning of October), the priest came from the street and, for no reason at all, with enthusiasm, asked me: "And what, Andrew, if God opened your sight, would you go hunting to become a soldier? Your service would have counted for your brothers." "Not only willingly, but with the greatest joy," I said, "it is better to serve the Tsar and the fatherland than to walk from window to window with a bag and devour someone else's labor and someone else's bread for nothing. If the Lord had opened my sight to me, I would have gone into the same set." "Oh, if the Lord would have mercy on your promise and I would gladly bless you," said the father. "And I would," the mother added. That was the end of the evening. "In the morning I got up wounded, washed my face according to custom, and, not thinking in the least about yesterday's conversation, began to pray. Oh, joy! Oh, horror! The light from the splinter was reflected in my eyes; I could even notice the place of it that was engulfed in flames, and distinguish the burning end from the unbearing. "Father! Mother! "Pray with me." On your knees before the Lord! The merciful one seems to have taken pity on me..." Father and mother threw themselves on their knees, fell on their faces to the ground, and we all wept. In the hut, at these moments, only the prayerful cries of the soul were heard: "Lord, have mercy! A week later I was completely healthy, and at the beginning of November I was already a recruit. 25 years of my service have passed, and my eyes have never hurt. And yet under what winds I have been, in what damp and rotten places I have lived, and what heat, from time to time, I have endured! At present I am married, and now I am in pure retirement; and by honest work I can earn my livelihood without burdening anyone and without bothering anyone. After that, how can I look at military service, if not at God's mercy to me? Evidently, the service to the Orthodox Tsar, whoever enters it, is pleasing to God, and those who sin gravely before the Lord who evade military service" (Strannik, 1864). Thus ends this instructive story of this venerable warrior. "Happy are you, our Christ-loving Orthodox soldiers, if you look upon your service as the work of God, if you consider it a great honor, for God's special mercy to you! Do not forget that a good warrior of the most pious king must also be a good warrior of the King of Heaven Jesus Christ. Love our holy Mother, the Orthodox Church, sacredly fulfill Her holy commandments, and if it pleases God that you lay down your lives for the Orthodox Faith, for the Tsar-Father, for your native Russian land, then calmly go to your death: the Holy Church will ask you of the King of Heaven for the crown of martyrdom...

(From the sermon of St. Demetrius, Metropolitan of Rostov)

408. What Should We Sinners Do?

This sermon (before confession), translated from the Little Russian dialect, belongs to St. Meletius, Archbishop of Kharkov and Akhtyrsk. He left behind him an eternal memory for his ascetic life, his meekness and mercy, his non-acquisitiveness and fasting. Even during his lifetime special gifts of God's grace were manifested in him, and after his death many resorted to the help of his holy prayers and received what they asked for. He died in 1840. His body rests incorruptly in the cave church of the Kharkov Bishop's House.