On Saturday of Bright Week, a criminal hand uprooted the Holy Cross, which had stood on Golgotha for centuries. But God is not mocked. Blasphemers swear to themselves. The Lord beholds this struggle from the height of His glory, and the invincible victory – the Cross of Christ – is given to the faithful as a weapon against enemies, visible and invisible, until the last day of the world, until the day of the glorious and terrible Second Coming of the Lord.

And the appearance of the Lord of Glory on earth will be revealed only by the great sign in heaven of the Cross of the Lord, which will be seen by all the peoples of the earth, which everyone will see. They will see, and weep, and tremble. And this will be the third greatest appearance of the Cross on the eve of the appearance of the Savior at the Last Judgment. Let us, dear ones, strengthen our thoughts by the life-giving power of the Cross of Christ, let us direct our reverent attention to it, and above all, on this day of its feast, let us lift it up and glorify it in our souls and bodies; let us bow down before the Cross in the tenderness of our hearts and in contrition of spirit, for it is impossible to worthily glorify both the incomprehensible power and the majesty of the Cross of the Lord.

And in order to be at least a little ready for us to perceive this incomprehensible phenomenon, the Holy Church commands us by her Ustav: "On the day of the Exaltation of the Cross, we dare not touch cheese, eggs, or fish," since the veneration of the Cross consists in the mortification of the flesh. Merciful Lord, by the invincible and Divine power of Thy Cross, preserve, bless and save us! Amen.   14 (27)

September 1993 Great Lent and Preparation for It On the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee This sermon was not published during Fr. John's lifetime The Temple of God is the house of our Heavenly Father is a house of prayer. He summons His children into it, so that in prayerful communion they may feel His closeness and His love more acutely, so that the warmth of the Father's edification and His power may be carried away with them into the difficulties of human life.

He sees everyone, the light of His Gospel Truth sanctifies those gathered to the last depths. So it was during the earthly life of the Savior, when the Pharisee and the publican prayed in the huge Jerusalem temple, so now the Lord sees us standing before Him with prayer, so it will always be until the last days of the world. But the Gospel parable speaks today about the prayer of only two pilgrims. The Pharisee and the Publican.

  Why did they attract the attention of the All-Seeing Eye? How did you distinguish yourself?  It would seem that there is nothing in common between them. One stands in the first ranks of those praying, the first, as a righteous man, he is also in the opinion of people; another stopped at the door of the temple, as the last before God, and in the eyes of others he is a crying sinner.  The Pharisee lifts up his gaze to the mountain with a prayer: "God!

I give Thee praise, as I do, as other men"; the publican sees the footstool of his feet, and striking his chest whispers: "God, be merciful to me a sinner." Two prayers are directed to God: - two states of the soul, two ways of life. Both people are in church, both with a prayer on their lips, but have both been covered by God's mercy and His favor?  And we hear the voice of God: "I say unto you, that this (the publican)

  He went to his house justified more than he: for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled: but if he humbles himself, he will be lifted up." The Pharisee goes mad in prayer, standing before God in the temple: "to bear as other men" (Luke 18:11) – In these brief words his soul was poured out, exposed in all its fullness and in all its unsightliness: here is self-satisfaction and self-admiration, humiliation and reproach of others, superiority over all.

At these moments, standing before the sanctuary, he forgot God, Who loves the righteous and has mercy on sinners, Who knows our secrets, and therefore the only one who has the power to judge. I forgot that the judgment of man is different, the judgment of God. Would it not have been more worthy for him, looking into his heart, to whisper aloud to the Lord: "Cleanse me from my secrets, and spare Thy servant from strangers." The narcissistic, self-satisfied Pharisee does not utter these salutary words.

For he is not like other men, not like that publican, not a predator, not an adulterer. Yes, what's there; for righteousness - "I fast twice a week, I give a tenth of all that I acquire" - God still owes him merit and must repay. God owes him. And from the doors of the temple, from a man who does not dare to raise his eyes from the ground, God hears the silent words: "God, be merciful to me, a sinner."

So briefly, but with what contrition of heart. And "God will not despise a broken and humble heart." Prayer is accepted, the sinner is justified. On the eve of Great Lent, the Church reminds us of the path of Christ, of the path of salvation: of humility and repentance. "I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." And we are with you, my dear, in the temple of God. Thank God!

But let us look into the depths of our souls in the light of today's Gospel. Let's answer the question, who are we? What does the Lord say about each of us? Today's Gospel story is brief but succinct, and it is no accident that this word of God sounds to us today. The danger of falling into a Pharisaic state of self-satisfaction, self-exaltation and condemnation and reproach of others lies in wait for everyone.

Only the true righteous are strangers to such temptations, but they also strictly stand guard over their souls, so that the enemy of the human race does not find a loophole in it. In us, in the rumor of worldly cares, these feelings and views that lead away from the path of salvation can imperceptibly appear. We certainly have good, truly Christian qualities.

We love the church of God, we try to honor each feast with prayer during the service, but when we see those who have forgotten about the church, does not sometimes stir in the soul a self-satisfied thought: "Glory to God! Bear it, like other people." We are comforted by prayer, but we are touchy, irritable, idle, lovers of glory, but we are intemperate in food, careless in words, We are industrious, but stingy and indifferent to the needs of our neighbor, and even if we do good, we do not preserve the purity of our hearts.