And we must see our moral state, and be afraid of what we see, then our heart will certainly throw out the cry of the publicans: "God, be merciful to me, a sinner." We are more often satisfied with the manifestation of our outward piety. And the Pharisee: "Glory to God! Bear it, like other men," if it is not our prayer, it nevertheless latently takes root in the depths of the soul with self-satisfaction, delighting life.

But let us be afraid of even the shadow of a thought: "Glory to God! Bear it, like other people." Terrible for the soul is self-esteem, it is death for the soul to evaluate others by comparing them with oneself. Immediately everything good in us loses all value and dignity before God, and becomes the property of the enemy's pride. But how do these two prayers coexist in our hearts at the same time? The publican and the Pharisee are fighting in our souls, they are fighting with varying success.

And how attentive we must be, so that prayer does not prevail in us, which has not received justification from the Lord. And the words of the Lord: "... everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted" – will not let us forget that the true Christian work is all sealed and imbued with humility and love. In order to protect oneself from Pharisaic arrogance before others, one must impartially peer into one's soul.

By the self-love inherent in man, we see good qualities in ourselves, but we are blind and indulgent to our shortcomings. Not knowing ourselves truly, we imagine that we are better than others. But as soon as we begin to peer into our conscience, into our hearts in the light of the truths of the Gospel, we will make an important discovery for ourselves that we are not only no better, but in many respects worse than many.

The righteous men of God, having fulfilled all that was commanded to them, called themselves inseparable slaves, afraid even to think about their own merits. The Apostle Paul said of himself: "I am the first of sinners." The Apostle Peter mourned his fall to the end of his days. The saints watched every movement of the heart, every thought, judged themselves even for thoughts, imputing them to sin, as for a done deed.

Should we not be strict with ourselves, when our thoughts are occupied only with earthly things, our hearts are burdened with worldly attachments? In order to free oneself from sin, self-esteem and self-conceit, one should compare one's life not with one's own kind, but with those who have attained perfection. Many people who are obsequious to us have conquered sin in themselves, eradicated all sinful passions, and prepared themselves as a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit.

But they also carried the prayer in their mouths and in their hearts until the end of their lives: "God, be merciful to me, a sinner."  And we, sinners, rightly bow down before them. So let us try to compare their pure virtuous life with our own. For example, someone in his soul is pleased with his peaceful, compliant character, but what is our compliance with the humility of St. Sergius? Being the abbot of the monastery, he did not disdain to earn his daily bread, hiring himself to cut down the cell of one of the brethren.

And he thanked God when he settled accounts with his spirit. father, giving him a basket of moldy crackers for his work. We value our prayer rules, and if we sometimes pray beyond what is due, then this is already considered a podvig. But how small and insignificant it will be even in our eyes, if we remember the monks who stand in their conversation with God at night and do not notice the time. Let us remember St.

Seraphim of Sarov and his thousand-day standing on a stone in prayer. We have mastered one passion that annoys us, we have abandoned this or that sinful habit, and self-satisfaction is ready to swarm in our souls, but let us remember the saints – fighters who have conquered all passions. Having survived all the temptations and maintained in virtue, they retained the main thing - humility, the purity of love.

And with us, if we look at ourselves more attentively, virtue is imagined before the first temptation, before the first temptation. How can we not cry out to the Lord with the voice of the publican: "God, be merciful to me, a sinner." And if we look above the assembly of saints, if the Cross with the Divine Sufferer on it and the Mother standing next to Him with compassion for Him are revealed to our eyes, then our heart and mind will know the path in the footsteps of Christ and His Most-Pure Mother, and the unceasing prayer "God, be merciful to me a sinner" will remain in our hearts forever.

The publican, a sinner, and the Pharisee, an imaginary righteous man, both of them edify us: "Do not rely on your own righteousness, but put all the hope of your salvation on the boundless mercy of God, crying out: "God, be merciful to me, a sinner!" And at the end of the earthly vale on the threshold of eternity, only one prayer will be important and necessary for a person: "God, be merciful to me, a sinner!" Amen.   Sunday of the Prodigal Son.

This sermon was not published during Fr. John's lifetime. The Church offers us in the Gospel reading the parable of the Savior about the prodigal son. And it concerns all of us directly, since it sets forth the history of God's economy of salvation; the fall of man from God into the slavery of the passions, who by his own bitter experience comes to know the pernicious power of sin.

It also shows us the way to return to the embrace of the Father. "Open unto me the doors of repentance, O Giver of life!" - we beg. The Father's younger son, the beloved son, is torn from parental care. It would seem that good desires guided him, he wanted to know life, he wanted freedom for his strength, his mind. He was burning with the intention to build his own life. But in his heart he rejected his father's advice and love.

And this was the first sin which, having entered into a pure heart, darkened it, opening the way for many passions that guard the human soul. At that moment, thoughts about sin, about the dangers lurking on the roads of life in self-will, were not in the young heart. The Father's love, grieved itself, does not grieve the son with refusal, does not limit the freedom he desires.  The inheritance promised a comfortable, prosperous life.