During the reign of His Majesty Emperor Nicholas Pavlovich, the Uniates began to live even more peacefully. In 1828 he protected the Uniates from any interference of the Latins, granted them a separate ecclesiastical administration under the chairmanship of their metropolitan, gave them great means for the education of their youth, for the renewal of their churches. These favors disposed the Uniates to look with gratitude at the Orthodox government — the idea of reunification with the Orthodox Church had already begun to awaken in them. The Latin bishop Joseph, by the name of Semashko, labored most of all in this holy work. He was from the Kiev province, his parents were pious people, his father was a Uniate priest and later joined the Orthodox Church. From childhood, Joseph cultivated in himself a disposition towards the Orthodox Church. After receiving his education at the main Uniate seminary in Vilna, he entered the service in St. Petersburg and soon took an honorable place in the Main Directorate (Collegium) for Roman Catholic Affairs. Being very inquisitive, he began to study the history of the Russian Church with special zeal, became completely convinced of the purity of the Orthodox faith, and already wanted to accept Orthodoxy. But it pleased God that he should not return alone to the bosom of the Mother Church, but bring with him more than one and a half million of his fellow Uniates. Having been consecrated a Uniate bishop, he, together with two other bishops, began to gradually restore the primitive structure of churches on the model of the Orthodox, and in them the ancient divine services, former clothes, rites, to introduce liturgical books published by our Holy Synod, to preach the Word of God in his native language, and to ordain as priests only those who had firmly studied the rites and decrees of the Orthodox Church. In this spirit, they began to educate spiritual youth – the future pastors of the Church. Thus, gradually, over the course of ten whole years, the great work of the reunification of our brothers with the Orthodox Church was prepared. Finally, after repeated consultations, all three Uniate bishops – Joseph himself and his co-workers: Vasily of Orsha and Anthony of Brest, together with the senior clergy, gathered in Polotsk on February 12, 1839, on the Sunday of Orthodoxy. They performed a solemn service here, during which the Symbol of Faith was pronounced for the first time – without the Latin addition and from the Son – and for the first time instead of the Pope the Eastern Patriarchs and the Holy All-Russian Synod were commemorated.

This act was signed by 24 clergymen present and, in addition, it was accompanied by handwritten declarations of consent to reunification from 1305 priests and monks. The senior bishop, Joseph of Lithuania, was instructed to take to St. Petersburg both this conciliar act and the most submissive petition of the Uniate bishops.

It was this report of the Holy Synod that was approved by the Tsar on March 25, 1839, and on Thursday of Bright Week, March 30, Bishop Joseph, as the representative of all the Uniates, was solemnly introduced into the meeting of the Holy Synod.

Thus, during the Bright Week of 1839, more than one and a half million former Uniates, our blood brothers, the original Russian people, were resurrected to a new life. In memory of this event, the Tsar ordered to knock out a medal. Soon followed a series of solemn services in Vitebsk, Polotsk, Velizh, Surozh, Orsha, Minsk, Vilna, and Zhirovitsy. Common joy, mutual brotherly love was reminiscent of the first centuries of Christianity. And now, 50 years have passed since then. We think that even now many people have light and joy in their souls when they remember the past. Let us give thanks, brethren, to the Lord, Who has returned to us our own brethren to the house of the Father, our native Holy Orthodox Church! "Behold, now what is good or what is beautiful, in the life of the brethren together!" In this holy union, may our Holy Russia blossom now and ever, and may the Lord command her blessing and life unto the ages of ages. Amen!

479. Spiritual Treasures of Folk Wisdom

Leaf one.

Our ancestors extracted a wise, kind word from their entire lives. They spoke it from centuries of experience, often repeated it, liked to compose it smoothly so that it would be easier to remember. And this word of theirs has not been lost, it is preserved to this day in our living speech, in proverbs and sayings; It has been collected in books by learned people with full respect for the common sense of the Russian people. It is sometimes referred to in the sermons of our saints (Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow himself); it was carefully collected by another saint, Philaret, Archbishop of Chernigov. Let us also cite a few bright thoughts and thoughts of the people about God, about the soul, about prayer, about the good life. Offering them to the Orthodox Russian people, we say: "By your good—by your forehead." And may God grant that this folk word is firmly held in the young memory, that new generations justify it by life itself. And those unknown, unknown, intelligent and kind people who commanded us these lessons, let us remember with a prayer: Send them, O Lord, eternal memory and the Kingdom of Heaven!

1. God's omnipotence and wisdom. Without God, light is not worth it. "The God of Light has had everything ripe since the beginning of the world. — Divine things are not from man, but man from God. "God's water runs across God's land. "God's dew sprinkles God's earth. Everything in the world is created not by our minds, but by God's Judgment. God blows — everything will be. "God does what He wants, and man does what He can. "None like God!" "God builds everything, and what God does not build, everything is for the best. "In the morning God and in the evening God, and at noon and midnight there is no one but Him. "The Lord will not preserve the city, nor will he preserve the guard, nor the fence. "God will give you the day, God will give you food, you will give you life, and you will give you health. "God knows best what to give and what not to give. Someone else's secret is revealed to God. Clever head, sort out God's works!

2. God's providence for people. We all walk under God. "And what is our lot if not God's will! "Man walks, God leads. "It's not the horse that carries it, God does. (That is why they ask on the road: where is God carrying?) Go with God. "You will follow Christ, you will find a good path. "God will carry the menacing cloud. "No one can, God will help you. "If it weren't for God, who would help us?" "Whoever goes to God, God goes to him." "With God, even across the sea, but without God, not to the threshold. "No one has seen how God nourished me. "God gives enough bread from heaven. "God gives both the Jew and the Gypsy, the Lord fed the Jews with manna. "We are floating along the river, and our lives are in God's hand. "A ship is set in the water, and it is handed over to God. "It would be bad, but God did not command it. "The enemy is strong, but God be merciful. "Man sinned, but God interceded.

3. The mercy of God. God is rich in mercy. "God is not wretched, God has much mercy. God's love is boundless. God's love is not human. Everyone is about himself, and the Lord is about everyone. Human love loves itself, and Divine love loves a friend. "People are brave, but God is merciful. For every portion God provides. "For the widow and God with the purse (in other places, on Sundays, after mass, the villagers go to the widows' fields to work). Behind the orphan is God with a kalita. "Neither a father nor a father to his children, as God to men. (The prophet Isaiah has an even stronger expression: "Shall a woman forget her suckling child? But if she forgot, I would not forget.") Where does the goal get? God gives it to her. "Naked—oh! And God is behind the naked one! "The child falls, and God lays a feather bed. It does not know God, but God loves it. "God is the guardian of simpletons. "God will find it and bring it to people. "Whomever the Lord seeks, He will exalt. "God will love, so He will not destroy."

4. The soul of man. The soul is God's. "The soul is the most precious thing. "If you break an arm or a leg, it will get along, but if you break your soul, it will not get along. "Don't lie to me: you'll go to the other world. "The soul knows the soul, the heart gives tidings to the heart. The soul is faith, conscience is a guarantee. "Though the stomach is empty, but the soul is pure. Even though the hut is spruce, but the soul is healthy! "God won't take a soul, she won't come out on her own. "Someone else's soul is in the dark.

5. Faith. With faith, you will not be lost anywhere. "Vera is good, but my grandfather has. "Apply faith to work, and deed to faith. "Without faith the Lord will not deliver, without truth He will not correct. "Without faith one lives in this world, and one cannot live in the next. "Whoever is without crosses (without a baptismal cross or without sorrows) is not Christ's. — To refuse God — to cling to Satan. "The demon of faith fell away, not knowing his measure. - Poor is the devil that he does not have God!

6. Prayer. By vespers to the bell – all the work on the corner! "Do not live by bread, but by prayer. — Prayer is halfway to God. "The Lord's Prayer is short, may it save. "Prayer is not for God, but for our misery. "Praying to God is always useful. "The light in the temple is from a candle, and in the soul from prayer. "Whatever comes, all pray. "One cane: Lord, forgive me! To follow God is God's and to create. "God is one, but the worshippers are not the same. Everyone is baptized, but not everyone prays. — Prayer without love is not heard. "Pray, and beware of evil deeds. - Save yourself at home, and go to church. Prayer does not look for a place (that is, do not crowd forward in church). The Church's acquisition is God's. "Will he go to the balalaika, to the tavern, but not to the candle?" "The day is holy, and things are asleep. Every soul rejoices in the holiday. "A fool does not understand God's days. Whoever is pleasing to God is also pleasing to people. "That is not salvation for those who are drunk on Sunday. "Ask Nicholas, and He will tell the Savior." Call upon God for help, and St. Nicholas on his way. "When the alarm comes, you will involuntarily grasp God. "Need will teach God to pray. "Whoever has not been to the sea has not prayed to God to his heart's content. "There is nothing more difficult: to pray to God, to feed your parents, and to pay your debts. — Obedience is more important than fasting and prayer.

7. Almsgiving. Alms are rusks for a long journey. "Cook food for the homemade, and then serve it to the beggar." "A wretched man asks, but you give it to God. "Alms will justify you before God." "Fasting leads to the gates of paradise, and alms open them. "When giving alms through the window, turn away and pray to the icons (do not look at whom you are giving). Give food, O Lord, to the poor brethren! "God forbid to give, God forbid to take it!" "The hand of the giver will not fail.