And I tease the old people, dance and say: "I am not afraid of you, Elijah the prophet, Elijah the prophet.." Suddenly lightning flashed, and it was as if someone had hit me with a log on the legs with all its might. I fell off my feet like a sheaf, and I don't remember how they took me and dragged me home. Pavlushka had both arms torn off up to the elbows; He died in the street, and from that time on I remained a cripple for the rest of my life. Oh, my God, as soon as I remember what happened to me then, my heart bleeds. In deed, the Lord punished me, the wicked. For six weeks I lay like a layer in bed: I could not move a leg or an arm; and he could not cross himself, but ate and drank only what good people put in their mouths."

Thus ended the story of the old man, the simpleton, punished and pardoned by God (read in the magazine "Strannik", August, 1869). Many such stories can be found in our spiritual magazines. For example, recently a village priest published a striking case of God's punishment for the blasphemy and blasphemy of a certain peasant, a drunkard. He asked for ham in the shop on a fast day, and when the saleswoman remarked to him: "What are you, my dear, how can you eat ham now, now is Wednesday, a fast day," he began to scold her: "You don't need to teach me; Give me five pounds, I'll eat it myself, and I'll take it to my comrades in the meadow." "I don't feel sorry for the pork," said the saleswoman, "I feel sorry for you: after all, God will punish you for it..." The madman answered her with a laugh. "He won't see me eat; This is not the first time for me..." And so, as soon as the blasphemer put the first piece of ham in his mouth, he immediately fell to the ground and his blasphemous tongue fell silent forever... A piece of ham stopped in his throat and strangled him at once... Truly, "it is fearful to fall into the hand of the living God.." (Hebrews 10:31). (This case is described in the "Ryazan Eparchial Gazette", 1887, No 5).

485. At the Tomb of the Mother of God

"O wondrous miracle! The source of Life is placed in the grave, and the grave is a ladder to heaven!"

The wondrous Mother of God was wondrous in Her conception, wondrous in Her life, wondrous also in Her repose: verily She is all one wondrous miracle! Conceived by the gospel of an angel, She was born of barren, aged parents; remaining a pure Virgin, She became at the same time a Mother; being a Mother, She remained a Virgin; She died, but ascended to heaven like a ladder: a truly wondrous miracle! In the nativity of the Virgin is alive even after death, and the tomb, like the ladder of Jacob, remaining on earth, becomes for Her a ladder ascending to heaven: "... and a ladder to heaven is a grave..." Let us, beloved, stand at this wondrous sepulchre of the Mother of God, let us become our minds, and with our mind's eyes let us examine what steps these are in this wondrous ladder. What are the steps by which the Mother of God, at the hour of Her repose, ascended to heaven? Is it possible that a human grave, three arshins long, placed straight, can reach the sky? It is clear that the word "coffin" here means death itself. Death is called here the grave and the ladder, because just as the grave is measured by three yards, so the death of the saints of God raises their souls to heaven with three theological virtues: faith, hope and love. Faith leads them to the sight of God, hope to receive those blessings "which eye has not seen, nor ear heard" (1 Corinthians 2:9), and love unites them with God Himself, Who is love. But who can count all the virtues of the most radiant soul of the Mother of God? Who is able to tell how and by what good deeds the Most-Pure Virgin from Her youth to Her very death pleased God, Her Creator? You would rather count the flowers in the spring, the ears of corn in the summer, the fruits in the autumn, the snowflakes in the winter, the drops in the sea, the stars in the sky, rather than the good deeds and privileges of the Mother of God. Therefore, leaving aside all Her innumerable virtues, I will point out only three, the most beautiful. And so, I ask: "Who has now reposed?" I know that each of you, according to your zeal for the Departed, will answer me with a word of praise to Her; one will say: "The Mother of God has reposed to Her Son and God." Another will answer: "The animate Heaven has been taken to the heavenly dwellings." The third: "The Most Pure and Most Honorable House of God has been transferred to the heavenly temples not made with hands." Fourth: "The Sun rose from the earth into heaven, in Whom the Most High placed His dwelling." And I turned to this wondrous Dead Man Himself, who had been laid in the tomb for only three days, and asked: "Tell me, who art Thou?" and I heard in answer the humble word: "Behold, the handmaid of the Lord" (Luke 1:38). And so, this is Who has now reposed: she has reposed and is laid in the tomb — the handmaid of the Lord! Such is the humility of the Mother of God! And yet, this Handmaid of the Lord is the blessed Daughter of God the Father, to Whom He said: "Hear, O Daughter, and see..." (Psalm 44:11). She is also the Mother of God the Son, and the Bride of the Holy Spirit! Virgin purity, humility and love — these are the three virtues by which She approached God, One in the Trinity, throughout Her entire earthly life; these are the steps by which She ascended to heaven in Her repose.

First stage. From Her youth She was an animated temple of the Holy Spirit, for the Holy Spirit loves to dwell in no one so much as in perfect virgins; and the Most-Pure Mother of God was a perfect Virgin not only in body, but also in spirit. She was a Virgin in body, for She preserved the incorruptible color of Her purity; She was a Virgin in spirit, for she never even thought of marriage. When the chief priests proposed to Her to marry upon reaching the age of marriage, She answered them: "I have been given by my parents to the One God from the very cradle, and to Him I have promised to keep My virginity forever, therefore it is impossible for Me to be the wife of a mortal man." Thus She appeared as the first pure Virgin in the world for the sake of the Lord, and by this virginity, as if by a step of ladder, She ascended above the heavens.

Second stage. The same must be said of Her humility. In humility She surpassed all the saints of God; for Her humility She was vouchsafed to be the Mother of the Son of God. In Her the word of Her Son and God was fulfilled in all its fullness and power: "And he that humbles himself shall be exalted" (Matt. 23:12). He once said to His disciples: "Unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven." For only "Whoever humbles himself as this child, the same is pain in the Kingdom of Heaven." To humble oneself as a child means to be meek, humble, and not malicious, like a child. "Be not children of mind, but be infants in malice" (1 Corinthians 14:20). And in fact, for the disciples of Christ, this appeal to a gentle, humble childhood was necessary: the thought sometimes appeared in them – who of them is greater, who will sit at the right hand or at the right hand of Christ; and for the Most Holy Virgin, the Mother of God, there was no need for such conversion. From Her very infancy She remained invariably in Her humility; growing in body, She humbled Herself in spirit, and was always humble and not malicious, like a child. With age, She grew in mind, and in Divine contemplation She reached heaven; She already hears from the Archangel the evangelist: "Rejoice, O Thou of Grace! The Lord is with Thee; blessed art thou among women.. For I have found grace with God..." (Luke 1:28:30).

Entrance to the chapel of the Holy Sepulchre.

Your Son will be great, and "the Son of the Most High shall be called..." (Luke 1:32) What honor, what dignity! And yet, what is She thinking about? What does he say? With childlike humility She answers: "Behold, the handmaid of the Lord!" as if She were saying: "I am unworthy not only to be, but also to be called the Mother of the Lord My Creator; I am unworthy not only to reign with Him, but even to stand before Him; unworthy not only to bear Him in My womb or in My arms, but also to gaze upon His most holy face, at which even the Seraphim look with trembling — "Behold, the handmaid of the Lord!" And on whom shall I look, – says the Lord, – "but on the meek and humble" (Isaiah 66:2). And so, He looked upon the humility of His Servant (Luke 1:48), for His humility He chose Her as His Mother, and by humility He raised Her into His Heavenly Kingdom. And now, in the person of the Most-Pure Virgin, humility reigns where pride was cast down.

The third, highest step of Her to heaven is Her love for God. And how She loved God — no tongue can explain, no mind can comprehend. Love is one of the unknown mysteries of the heart, known only to the One God, Who searches the hearts and wombs. She loved God with all her heart, with all her soul, and with all her mind. She loved God with the warmest love more than all the saints of God who had ever lived on earth before and after Her. For this reason God also loved Her more than anyone else, as He Himself said: "I love Me who love Me." And he set Her closest to Himself; "The Queen stands at Thy right hand..."

This, beloved, are the three steps (not to mention the others) by which the Mother of God now ascends to the mountain abodes: to God the Holy Spirit through virginal purity, to God the Son through humility, to God the Father through love, or rather, through all three steps She ascended to the One God in the Trinity. For with what She pleased God the Holy Spirit, She pleased both God the Son and God the Father. As She pleased God the Son, so pleased both God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. And with what she pleased God the Father, she pleased both God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. We, marveling at Her ascent, cry out with trembling: "O wondrous miracle.. A ladder to heaven is a grave!"

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

486. Suffering Virtue

"And the king sent a speculator, and commanded his head to be brought. And he went and beheaded him in prison, and brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the virgin, and the maiden gave it to her mother" (Mark 6:27-28)