I weep, he said, that "no one was found worthy to open and read this book." At this time one of the most honorable twenty-four elders, sitting around the Throne of God, said to him: "Do not weep; behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered, and is able to open this book, and to open the seven seals thereof" (Rev. 5:4-5). And I, hearing these words: "Behold the lion," looked at what this lion was, and saw together with the holy Theologian "in the midst of the throne and the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood the Lamb as if slain.

And He came and took the book out of the right hand of Him that sat on the throne. And when He took the book, then the four beasts and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. And they sing a new song, saying, 'Thou art worthy to take the book and open the seals from it, for thou wast slain, and by thy blood thou hast redeemed us to God.'" 5, 6-9). What is surprising here is that it is said: Behold the lion, and we did not see a lion, but a lamb: the name of the lion, and the image of the lamb, and then, the image of the lamb, and the power of the lion.

It is not surprising that the lion defeats someone, for he is the king of beasts, strong, formidable, stealing and roaring, terrible not only for beasts, but also for people. But what power does the lamb have? What thunderstorm? What is he stealing and what are his weapons? Who is afraid of him, how and whom can he defeat? But in order to understand more clearly the strength, strength and courage of the Lamb, let us go together with St. John the Theologian to the sand of the sea and look at his struggle, let us see what adversaries and how he fights.

"And I stood on the sand of the sea," says the Apostle, "and I saw a beast coming up out of the sea with seven heads and ten horns." And in another place: "I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; he had two horns." And further: "They shall wage war" (Rev. 13:1, 11; 17:14). I looked: against whom do they want to raise a battle? And I heard the voice of the Angel saying to the Theologian: "They will wage war with the Lamb."

Again I am amazed: so many such terrible beasts are armed against one Lamb! Will not each of the lesser beasts prevail over him? The wolf alone drives a thousand sheep, and so many beasts gather against the apocalyptic Lamb! Can the Lamb overcome them? The Angel announces that he will prevail: "The Lamb," he says, "will overcome them; for He is the Lord of lords, and the King of kings" (Rev. 17:14). How did the Lamb defeat those beasts?

The theologian says that He "threw them alive into the lake of fire" (Rev. 19:20). I turn to meekness: meekness has the image of a lamb, and the strength of a lion. Who was worthy to receive the book of the mysteries of God with the seals of gifts? The Silent Lamb. Who was worthy of praise from the heavenly dwellers? The Lamb is not malicious. Who has the power to overcome those terrible and fierce beasts that come out of the sea, from the earth, and from the abyss? Meek Lamb: "The Lamb shall overcome them."

The Lamb whom John the Theologian saw was an image of the meekness and quietness of the Lamb of God Himself, "Who taketh away the sins of the world" (John 1:29), Christ our Savior. What good did not His meekness and quietness do? What merits did she not receive? What fierce beasts have you not defeated? Let everyone see this in the Divine Scriptures. It is time for us to turn our mental eyes and conversation to another lamb – the saint of God who is now being celebrated.

When I examine the holy life of our Father Peter, Metropolitan of All Russia, who was among the saints, I see that both before his consecration and after his consecration to the All-Russian pastorate, he had opponents. For a certain hegumen Gerontius wanted to steal that great dignity not by the grace of God and not by human election, but by his power-hungry arrogance.

He dared to take the bishop's vestments, utensils and pastoral staff. When Saint Peter, by the grace of God and by the concordant election of all the Russians, accepted the episcopacy and arrived from Constantinople to Russia, some, at the instigation of the enemy, did not want to recognize him and resisted him. Bishop Andrew of Tver, sharpening his tongue like a razor out of envy, spoke lawless, false and blasphemous words about the righteous, and sowed them not only with his lips, but also with his writings.

The saint of God, like a lamb without malice, meekly endured all this, and when his enemies were exposed at the conciliar trial and trial, he had mercy on them, granting them forgiveness. Considering all this, I will truly call him a lamb and a lion at the same time: a lamb for the sake of meekness, and a lion for the sake of patient generosity. Like a lion courageous in magnanimity, not taking revenge, but enduring it with meekness and not maliciously, he defeated his adversaries, and especially defeated and put to shame the common adversary of all, the all-evil devil, the teacher and chief of all evils, he conquered by abolishing his intrigues. "Behold, the lion has conquered."

As a lamb, for his meekness, he was vouchsafed, with the acceptance of many gifts from God, the Book of Life, in which he was recorded in the face of those to whom it was said: "Rejoice that your names are written in heaven" (Lk. 10:20), — St. Peter, Metropolitan of All Russia, is recorded as a meek and gentle lamb. "Behold the Lamb of God!" Speaking thus of the lamb of the meekness of the Holy Hierarch of Christ, I recall the Beatitudes pronounced in the Gospel through the mouth of Christ: "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth" (Matt. 5:5)

— and immediately I have pity for the meek. For it seems to me that they were not bestowed by Christ in the same way as the rest: the kingdom of heaven is given to the poor, eternal consolation to the weeping, endless satisfaction to the hungry and thirsty, mercy to the merciful, the contemplation of God to the pure, the adoption of the Lord God to the peacemakers, the kingdom of heaven also to the persecuted, and to all the rest who are worthy a great reward in heaven — but to the meek only the earth: "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."

That is, Christ seems to say: "You beggars, go to heaven; you who weep, go and be comforted in paradise; you, hungering and thirsty, go to paradise and be satiated with the sweets of paradise; to you, merciful ones, God's mercy has been prepared at the Last Judgment; you, who are pure in heart, go and behold God; ye peacemakers, be the sons of God; you, poor exiles, go also into the kingdom of heaven, but you, meek ones, stay here, inherit the earth, and be blessed in it: "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth." O Merciful Lord!

All Thy servants are happy with Thee, all are blessed in heaven. Only the meek are unhappy, they alone have been granted earthly bliss by Thee. But is earthly bliss comparable to heavenly bliss!? Perhaps, Lord, he will be meek! Have mercy on them and take them to heaven, to heavenly bliss! Say: Blessed are the meek, for theirs also is the kingdom of heaven!