Наконец, Елисавете настало время родить, и она родила сына. И услышали соседи и родственники ее, и радовались с ней, что по природе и выше природы она зачала и родила: как жена — она зачала по природе, а как престарелая — она явилась выше природы. Рождение Иоанна совершилось не столько от плотских родителей, сколько от благодати Святаго Духа, ибо Иоанн нужен был не столько родителям, сколько Божию Слову. И родившийся младенец приял благодать Божию от самой матерней утробы: едва он родился — и голос отцу подает. Когда собравшиеся спрашивали знаками у Захарии, как бы он хотел назвать новорожденного, он потребовал дощечку и написал: Иоанн имя ему. И тот, кто не поверил словам Ангела, теперь принужден был писанием открыть бывшее ему видение и, дав младенцу имя, вдруг получил дар слова! И все удивились, ибо в ту же минуту разрешились уста его, освободился язык его, и он стал говорить, благословляя Бога... О, новое и удивительное чудо! Имя младенцу пишется, и доселе немые уста отца его являются вещающими и пророчествующими, нарекается имя — "Иоанн", — и нарекающего язык получает свободу; одно имя праведного разрешает немоту, и доселе неподвижный язык движется и благословляет Бога!

Так родился святой Предтеча Господень.

Так появился на свет Глас, которому предстояло вопиять в пустыне: приготовьте путь Господу, прямыми сделайте стези Ему. О, чудо! Слово приходит, и голос предвещает Его пришествие; Владыка грядет, и раб предпосылается; Царь приближается, и воин впереди идет.

Да возрадуемся все и возвеселимся, что Елисавета родила, и Захария заговорил, что Предтеча родился, и мир весь возрадовался. Воскликнем же и мы с Захарией: "Благословен Господь Бог Израилев, что посетил народ Своей и сотворил избавление ему". Богу единому подобает всякая слава, честь и держава, ныне и присно, и во веки веков. Аминь.

(Слово святаго отца нашего Иоанна Златоуста)

687. "Немощи немощных носити" (Рим. 15; 1,2)

«Должны есмы мы сильнии немощы немощных носящи, и не себе угождати. Кийждо же вас ближнему да угождает во благое к созиданию» (Рим. 15; 1,2)

With these words the holy Apostle Paul invites all those who are strong in faith, science, reason, health, prosperity and other blessings, so that they help their neighbors in everything in their weaknesses and shortcomings, correct them and in everything brotherly intercede for them. Someone thinks: "I do my job, I take care of it, but what do I care about my neighbor? I go to church every holiday, every Sunday, I send my children to school, I spare no money for them for various useful books, I teach them obedience, I teach them to work and everything that is useful for life; I do not drink, I do not quarrel, I do not waste my pennies of labor, I do not go into debt; And how my neighbor lives there - what does it matter to me? Perhaps he does not go to church at all, does not fast, lives badly with his wife, does not accustom his children to church or school, drinks, likes to take advantage of other people's things, swears and fights—what does it matter to me? Will I answer for him before the Lord God? Everyone will answer for himself." "It is not good, it is not Christian to reason in this way, my brethren. If the Lord has vouchsafed you, human, to confess the holy Orthodox faith, if you honor your law and live in a Christian way, and if at the same time you see that your neighbor is breaking the law, has strayed from the straight path, then you are obliged to correct him and teach him good. Imagine that your neighbor's house is on fire. Though you are not afraid that the fire will spread to your house, yet will you not go out to extinguish the fire and say, "Let it burn"? And if the soul of a neighbor dies, and the souls of his entire family perish with it, is this misfortune not worse than a fire? Are you not obliged to see to it that these poor souls do not fall into the power of the devil and perish forever? That is why the holy Apostle Paul writes: "We must bear the infirmities of the weak, and not please ourselves." It is not out of mercy that you alone should help the weak, instruct the ignorant, correct the sinner: no, this is your duty, your holy duty!

When you see that your neighbor does not like to go to church on holidays, then go to him and say to him: "Come, neighbor, let us pray to God together!" When you see that your neighbor does not send his children to science, say to him: "It will be a sin for you, neighbor, for your children, that they grow up with you without science, they will not know how to read and write. Send them away, let them go to church and school with mine!" If you see that there is a quarrel in your neighbor's hut, that one is not inferior to the other, or, God forbid, a fight has broken out, go there, tell them a reasonable Christian word, point out with brotherly love that they are taking a grave sin upon their souls, that they are attracting the wrath of God upon themselves. If you do this, you will do a good deed: you, who are stronger than they are in faith, will help your neighbor who is weaker in faith. And if he obeys you and corrects himself, then this will be your great merit before the Lord God, and God will forgive you any of your sins for having delivered your neighbor's soul from sin, for enlightening him, for leading him to the right path. And if the Lord God has given you strength in prosperity, then with your prosperity help the weak, the poor brethren and your neighbors. This does not mean that you are obliged to distribute all your possessions to the poor, and to be left with nothing; it only means that you do not refuse to help such a neighbor who has come to need through no fault of his own, not through drunkenness, laziness and debauchery, but from unkind people or some unfortunate circumstance. Help such a person in need, if you can, lend him without interest, and God will pay you for him with such interest that you do not expect. This is what it means: the infirmities of the weak. If your neighbor gets sick, don't say, "How can I help him?" — No, you go to him, comfort him, talk to him, serve him as best you can. Trouble has come to him, his field is not ploughed, not sown, it worries him. Oh, how happy he will be when you come to him and say: "Don't be too hard, neighbor, let's be alive and well, and we'll plow, and sow your field!" When he recovers, he will not forget your service, and perhaps he will repay you with such a favor, and if he dies, oh, how pleasant it will be to your heart to think that you have provided bread for his widow and orphan children! Great will be your reward in heaven with God!

If you take care of your neighbors in this way, teach them goodness, turn them away from sin, help them in need, then you will fulfill the will of the Lord God and will rightly be called a Christian. For Christ also did not please Himself, – says the holy Apostle Paul, – but as it is written, the reproaches of those who revile you have attacked me. Christ the Savior came to our earth not to please Himself, not to rule, although He could have ruled if He wanted to, but He endured mockery and torment for all of us. Therefore, should we not follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ and everywhere, in everything, show love for our neighbors? And if we were to lose something, if only to serve our neighbor in need, would we not be obliged to do so? Should we not care for the good of our neighbors with all the strength of our souls? But does it happen in our country? And first of all, do we help each other in a Christian way in the community? For the most part, it happens to us like this: I am a dark person, so be you dark. I live badly, and you live the same. And those who like to go to church are sometimes laughed at, they call him a praying mantis. But the Apostle Paul does not teach this: whosoever, he says, let him please his neighbor for edification. Everyone should try to serve your neighbor, teach him intelligence, show him a good example. And what happens here? You are walking through the field, you see: the cattle have entered the rye or wheat, trampled a whole strip, and its tired owner has fallen asleep on the boundary. His neighbor is plowing nearby, as if he does not see anything. You say to him: "Listen, my dear, why don't you drive the cattle out of the field? See what she's done!" and he answers, "It's not my cattle." "Though not yours, but all of it must be driven away." "And what should I," he said, "graze other people's cattle for hunting? Why is the master sleeping?" — This is how we know how to bear the infirmities of the infirm! Not only does he not want to do his neighbor a favor, but he also gloats that he is in trouble!

There is a sin when one rejoices in one's soul if one's neighbor has become poor, if he has fallen into debt, if he has begun to drink... Some people rejoice that when their neighbor has nothing to eat, he will take exorbitant prices from him, take away his bread on the vine for a whole year in advance, pick it around — this is love for your neighbor, this is how you help him in trouble, bear his infirmities, give him a good example! And all this, my friends, is because we know little about our Christian faith, that we only call ourselves Christians, and do not at all think of fulfilling the law of Christ! It is embarrassing to say: a Jew willingly helps a Jew; a non-Orthodox German rescues his German neighbor from trouble – and we have people worse than them, worse than any pagan who does not believe in God! It was not so in apostolic times. In the same Epistle from which we have quoted the words of the Apostle Paul, "Bear the infirmities of the infirm," he writes to the Romans that he would be glad to come to them, but does not yet have free time: "Behold," he says, "when I go to Spain, I will come to you on the way, and now I must go to Jerusalem, to serve the saints, that is, the Christians there: For it is good pleasure that Macedonia and Achaia make some kind of communion with the poor saints who dwell in Jerusalem. This means that in Macedonia and Achaia the Christians made a collection for the poor Christians living in Jerusalem, and the holy Apostle undertook to carry the collected donations to the holy city. Where are Macedonia and Achaia? These are countries that are remote from each other, the peoples are different; Greeks lived in Macedonia and Achaia, and Jews lived in Jerusalem, but all loved each other brotherly and helped each other as if they were their own. Thank God, this pure, holy Christian love has not yet completely become impoverished; and now, in days of sorrow and need, as, for example, during the famine in some places of Russia, considerable sums were collected and sent to the starving. Good people do not refuse to donate to the needs of the Orthodox faith in distant countries, as, for example, in Japan, in Siberia for the newly-baptized, and may God grant that this love never fails, for if it becomes impoverished, then faith itself will be extinguished in us! Brethren! Let us love one another in a Christian way, in love we will find our happiness here on earth, and eternal salvation in heaven! Amen.

(From Fr. John (Naumovich's) book "Science")

688. St. Sergius Day

"Remember your leaders, ... but looking at the end of their life, imitate their faith" (Heb. 13:7)