We cordially congratulate all of you, dear brothers and sisters, on the great church holiday - the memory of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker!
This saint lived a long time ago, in the fourth century, but even now, with his constant prayerful presence, he is near us, very close to each of us. And for every Russian Orthodox believer, St. Nicholas is a Russian saint. Yes, by his origin he is, of course, not a Russian person, but those virtues that he performed in his life, the attitude that he had, aimed entirely at love for God and neighbor, are so close to the consciousness of Russian Orthodoxy that for us the saint Nikolai is a dear person to us.
And, probably, there are few such saints in the Orthodox Church for whom a believer will stand up like a mountain and say: this is my saint. Which of us who are in the church can say that St. Nicholas is not its saint? Of course, no one. For some of us, for a long time, and for others, he recently entered life and became an intercessor before the Lord, and through this the Gospel triumphs.
The Lord says: “When you give alms, when you fast, when you pray, do everything in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you openly” (see: Matt. 6:6). From the life of St. Nicholas we know that, according to the word of God, he performed all his exploits in secret, but people still knew about them - and the Gospel triumphs.
Of course, we can ask the question, what does it mean: “The Father will reward you openly”? But it is precisely the gift of grace that comes from St. Nicholas that is so tangible for each of us that the believer who doubts would seem crazy: was there such a saint at all, is he now present at the divine service in the temple?
On the other hand, Saint Nicholas did not leave us words, sermons, or scientific theological treatises. No evidence has been preserved even in the chronicle of that Ecumenical Council, at which Saint Nicholas acted as an ardent and bold defender of the Orthodox dogma of the Divinity of Jesus Christ. And in this we see the wise providence of God: how strong virtue performed in secret is before God. Even though there are no words left of the saint, his work, his virtue pass like a bright ray through centuries, through centuries, millennia.
What is a saint for us? Any saint is an ideal to emulate for a believer. This is the high bar we should strive for. No one can say: I don’t want to be a saint, because each of us knows that salvation itself is identical to the concept of holiness. If you want to be saved, please try to become a saint.
What is human holiness? In relation to Divine Holiness, of course, this is something different: only the Lord is holy. But all people are sinners. Scripture says that there is no man who lives and does not sin (see: 2 Chron. 6, 36). And those people whom we call saints have so revealed sin in their nature and cleansed themselves of it that they are the least sinful, so to speak, compared to us. But, unlike us, they see their sins as the sand of the sea. This movement of constant repentance that saints commit, hope not in themselves, but exclusively in God, and the love for God and neighbor born from this inner purity is the strength of any saint.
We see this especially clearly in the example of St. Nicholas - for us he is “the rule of faith and the image of meekness.” It is no coincidence that the Holy Church puts these two concepts together: it turns out that it is impossible for a person to truly believe without meekness. What is meekness, what is the definition of this word? In general, the word “meek” from the Slavic language into Russian should be translated as “short”. And this means that every person living in this world experiences the action of God’s wise and good providence, which leads to salvation. And under the influence of this providence, a person cannot help but humble himself: it is the virtues of self-abasement and humility, a person’s attempts to make himself “shorter” than he really is, that are called meekness.
This greatest gift is humility—humility—perhaps the most important thing that a modern believer lacks. A person fixated on the blessings of the world, immersed in vanity and - the worst thing - who has developed in himself exorbitant pride in relation to his neighbor, in relation to the distant and even in relation to himself. Saint Nicholas, like no one else, shows us an example of true humility, because if this humility did not exist, no person would ever undertake those exploits and risks, that boldness that the saint showed us.
In churches dedicated to St. Nicholas, we can see frescoes depicting a scene where the saint grabs the hand of the executioner, who is about to cut off the heads of the governors who were innocently condemned. And it seems to us: well, yes, how could it be otherwise, he is a saint and therefore has boldness. But we must understand that when the saint performed this act, no one knew him as a saint. And when he stopped this executioner’s hand with a sword, there was no halo above him. It was a man who came up and suddenly stopped the execution. If he had been looking for his own, had been proud, would he have undertaken such a feat, such daring? One moment - and his head would fly off. But the saint believed that the Lord was with him, that his love for God and for those for whom Christ came was stronger than anything in the world. But we constantly forget about this and think that there is something stronger, higher, more glorious, more beautiful than love. And that’s why we constantly make mistakes and get burned in life.
Today, dear brothers and sisters, glorifying St. Nicholas with our hearts and minds, let us promise with a good conscience to also try to glorify him with our lives. So that it truly becomes for us “the rule of faith and the image of meekness,” so that we do not pronounce these words in vain, but precisely as the most necessary need of our Orthodoxy.
Sermon by Archpriest Georgy Klimov,
spoken in the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God
“Unexpected Joy” in Maryina Roshcha,
on the Feast of St. Nicholas, Archbishop
World of Lycian, wonderworker,
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit! Today, dear brothers and sisters, the Holy Orthodox Church remembers the great saint - St. Nicholas, Bishop, Wonderworker of Myra. This holy saint of God is especially revered in the Orthodox world. And not only in the Orthodox world. He is revered by many people, even people of other faiths, even those people who are not churchgoers, they know about him almost everywhere. All over the globe they know about this great saint.
How, dear brothers and sisters, did St. Nicholas earn such popularity, why do they know and remember him? After all, there are a lot of famous people, there are many kings, conquerors, scientists who conquered entire kingdoms, who made great discoveries. But only textbooks remember about them. Only books remember about them, and ordinary people do not know about these people, they forget about them.
Dear brothers and sisters, if you and I read the life of St. Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, we see that his life is saturated with love. His life is imbued with good deeds. Saint Nicholas, he truly lived for God and for his neighbors. He lived for all the people who surrounded him. Saint Nicholas practically did not care about himself, but cared about others. You and I know that the parents of St. Nicholas, Theophan and Nonna, they were very religious people. And so the Lord sent them a child. The baby that was born to them surprised them from childhood, because it was an unusual child. Because this child, from his very childhood, loved to pray, loved to be in church. And when the child had already grown up and became a young man, St. Nicholas’s uncle, the Bishop of Atar, told the parents that they should dedicate their child to God. Because this young man has already become so successful in virtues, so successful in church life, that parents must send their child to the Church of God to serve the Church. And so, Saint Nicholas, he goes to obey his uncle, Bishop Nicholas, who then ordains him as a priest of God. Already a priest, Saint Nicholas was distinguished by great kindness and was distinguished by his wise words. Saint Nicholas became a zealous servant of the Lord God. We know about his good deeds and deeds, but it is impossible to list them all. One amazing thing that St. Nicholas did, it touches us as special.
One man, a rich man, who lived in the city of Patara, he became poor. He became a very poor man. He became not just poor, he became a beggar. His family needed help, but there was no one to expect help from. And now, already exhausted by hunger, tormented by poverty, the father began to have such thoughts that he would give his daughters to sin. In order to earn at least some food through this. His daughters were extraordinarily beautiful. And so Saint Nicholas, having learned about this, felt it, it was revealed to him by God himself, he decides to save this family, from this misfortune, from this sin. And then one night he throws a bag of gold through the man’s window. “At St. Nicholas,” we might think, “where did the gold coins come from? Where did he get the gold from? The whole point is that his parents introduced themselves to the Lord God and Saint Nicholas sold all his estate. And so, everything that he had as an inheritance from his parents, he decided to give it all away to those who needed help. And so he throws this bag of gold. And the father in the morning, when he saw this gold, he was really happy. But tears flowed like a river, because he understood that the Lord himself was saving him from this difficult situation. And so the father decides that he must act wisely with this gold. He buys his eldest daughter a dowry and now, with God’s help, he marries his eldest daughter. And when Saint Nicholas learned that this father had managed the money correctly, he again threw another bag of gold at night. And so the father thinks, who is his virtue, who can help him...? He remembers all his friends, but does not find a single person among his friends who could do such an act that could help him so much, that could help him out of such a difficult trouble. The point is that you need to understand, as I already said, that this man was very rich. And since he was once very rich, it means he had a lot of friends. But none of his friends helped him. And this father understands that if he acts wisely with this money, then there will be a third bag of gold, because he also has a third daughter.
He is marrying off his second daughter. And so he doesn’t sleep at night, he’s on duty, waiting for the third bag to be thrown to him. But he waits not because he wants to get gold, but because he wants to see the person who saved him from grave sin. He wants to see that person and bow at his feet and thank him for his kind heart. And this father does not sleep at night, waiting for the third bag of gold to be thrown. And the third bag of gold flies through the window again. And this father runs out of the house as fast as he can in order to see his virtue. To see the one who cares about him, the one who saved him from sin, the one who saved him from a difficult situation. And he, of course, is surprised. This is the young presbyter Nikolai, a young priest, still very young, who serves in this city. He did not expect and did not think that it was he, this particular priest, this particular presbyter who came to his house to save him from misfortune. And he bows at his feet and tears flow from his eyes. And he thanks his virtue and savior.
Saint Nicholas did many good deeds. It is impossible to list them all. But we really see that Saint Nicholas completely submitted to the holy will of God. You and I know when he made a pilgrimage to the city of Jerusalem, and when he returned back, he firmly decided that he would go to a monastery, that he would remain in silence and silence. He will pray to God and serve God and devote his entire life to God. And when he did this - he went to the monastery, he heard a voice during the service: “Nicholas, I need you in the world.” And he realized that God himself was telling him this. And this was repeated several times. Then Saint Nicholas decides that he will not go to that city of Patara, where everyone knows him, where he is revered, but will go to another city, to Myra, the metropolis of the Lycian land. Where no one knows him. And he came there in the guise of a beggar wanderer. And there he began to live and pray. Bishop John died in this city, and the men of the church argued for a long time about who should be the bishop, who should lead the church. There were a lot of worthy candidates, but out of all the worthy ones, it was necessary to choose the most worthy one. And they could not determine who should be the bishop. And so the eldest bishop in a dream appears to an angel of God, who says that go to the church and stand near the door, and the one who enters first should be the bishop of the Church of Myra. And his name is Nikolai. This is what this elder bishop does. Who comes, stands near the door, immediately waking up from sleep. And he waits and waits to see who will come first. So he sees a wanderer walking, a man walking who appears to be a beggar. Because Saint Nicholas came to Myra in Lycia in the guise of a beggar. And he is the first to enter the temple of God. And this old man asks him: “What is your name?” He says: “Nikolai, my name.” This elder takes him by the hand and says that “you are chosen by God! We have long wanted to elect a bishop for ourselves, we argued a lot and could not choose one, but God chose you.” And so this elder introduced him in front of everyone, in front of the whole church. And they ordained him bishop of Myra.
Here, dear brothers and sisters, God’s providence guided St. Nicholas through life. He obeyed God's providence. Saint Nicholas was not afraid of anything. He was not afraid of prisons, Saint Nicholas was not afraid of denouncing rulers, interceding for the oppressed.
Saint Nicholas truly was a natural father to his flock. He was truly very much loved. And the fame of him spread to other churches, cities and villages about his virtues, about his love. This is what St. Nicholas became famous for. He became famous for his love. He became famous for his faith in God.
And today, dear brothers and sisters, remembering his memory, we must learn from him. We must learn virtue. The Apostle Paul writes: “As long as we have time, let us do good, brothers.” But, unfortunately, we do not always hear the word of the Apostle Paul. Saint Nicholas lived by faith in God. And he proved his faith every day in his deeds. And to this day they remember him, to this day they honor him. To this day they remember him, and, most importantly, they pray for him. They ask him for help, ask him for intercession. I even found a forum on the Internet where people write about the miracles that St. Nicholas performed in their lives. There are thousands and thousands of stories where people, having prayed, received help from St. Nicholas. What can we say about someone? I think that each of us in our lives has repeatedly been convinced of his help, that St. Nicholas really hears us, that St. Nicholas really answers our requests. He has grace from God, he has earned the kingdom of God with his earthly life, with his virtue.
And we, dear brothers and sisters, especially pray to him today, because we especially need love. You especially need to learn to do good deeds, because, unfortunately, many hearts today become hardened, unfortunately, many become truly evil. Irritability and anger enter our hearts. And such a person is not capable of love. All our troubles are to blame for this, because, indeed, there is anger in our hearts. The Lord is punishing us for this. And I would really like that today, remembering St. Nicholas, our hearts would soften, that we would hear each other, do good, that we would learn to love each other, help each other, hear each other, be responsive, and sincere. And this will be a testimony of our faith. And that if a person says that it is impossible to live by fulfilling the commandments, we have thousands of examples of saints who were able to live by fulfilling the commandments of God. And I would really like for our lives to be saturated with the fulfillment of God’s commandments. Therefore, today, once again, let us turn to St. Nicholas for help.
Holy Hierarch Nicholas, pray to God for us!
Christ is Risen! Truly risen! In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Dear brothers and sisters, today we brightly celebrate the greatest day of remembrance in the Russian Orthodox Church, the memory of the transfer of the holy relics of St. Nicholas, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia, wonderworker. Today we celebrate doubly solemn Easter joy, because the memory of this great saint always tunes our mind, heart and soul to do truth and goodness.
No one pleased God as much as this great saint. What, dear brothers and sisters, is his pleasure to God? Because he served God and people with all his being—mind, heart, soul and body. An unbreakable chain. It is impossible to serve God and it is impossible not to serve man. Service and salvation are our task. We don't just live for ourselves. What is the power of Christianity? What is the power of the salt that the Lord says that you are the salt of the earth? If salt overpowers, how will it be salted? The salt of the earth is that each of us individually, and we all form the body of Christ, the Church of Christ. But each of us must, with a clear conscience and heart, try to live according to the holy commandments of the Gospel. It is impossible to rely on someone without correcting yourself. And it is impossible, correcting oneself, to live outside the body of Christ, outside the holy Orthodox Apostolic Church. The task faces each of us. In this case, only then will we receive a positive result if we improve ourselves through repentance and faith and improve ourselves through the sacraments of the holy Orthodox Church.
What does co-resurrection with Christ consist of? There is such a deep, dogmatic, religious and saving concept, what is co-resurrection with Christ, what is the meaning, dear brothers and sisters, why do we celebrate Easter? Well, should we really eat Easter cakes? We celebrate our hope for possible personal correction through the action of God's all-holy grace, which is given in the sacraments of the Church. This hope is indestructible if we try to correct ourselves, at least to some extent, according to Christ’s holy commandments. What does the holy Apostle Paul say? " Those who are Christ's are the flesh crucified with passions and lusts" That is, in Russian: only those are Christ’s, true Christians, who have crucified the passions in their soul and in their body. Co-crucifixion with Christ, victory over all evil within oneself. What are passions? These are all the immoral and sinful inclinations that initially plague our human nature. This is the inheritance we received from Adam and Eve. And now, unfortunately, each of us has to, having been born an innocent baby, but already carrying within us the terrifying negative potential of evil.
You look at a nursing baby - it’s an angel. But what grief - death is already embedded in it. It contains all the evil that we see around us. And therefore, the calling of the honor of the Christian title, dear brothers and sisters, lies in this, to defeat evil with God’s help. To win, to crush evil, and not to see how someone lives there, fares, and improves. Otherwise everyone judges the Orthodox, but they themselves don’t want to lift a finger.
What is the strength of our ancestors? For the last thousand years, the Orthodox Church has been declared the state religion. And so in Rus', the holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called, according to the testimony of all European and Byzantine sources, formed our Church back in the first century. The holy martyrs Inna, Pinna and Rimma are disciples of the holy Apostle Andrew from among the Rus. Moreover, it is known for sure, St. Demetrius of Rostov reports: their place of residence was Lake Ilmen. Greek disciples established a diocese in other places. That is, our Church is two thousand years old. Do not be surprised. Unfortunately, the topic is very large. It would be possible to develop it, but this is impossible within the framework of church preaching. 10-15 minutes is very little.
But the most important thing I want to say is that our ancestors did not just hear Christ. Why do we still have an indestructible foundation? They beat us from all sides, they corrupt us, they drink us to death, they trample on us, they lie to us, they don’t know how to drive us, our great Russian people, out of the world. Why are we being driven from the world? This is because we do not want to live by evil. And you are all witnesses to this. Russian man, better out of grief... . We see lives disappearing from the stage. This I say, unfortunately to the greatest. For some, the heart cannot stand it, because this is our nature, which was laid down for us by our greatest, the Kingdom of Heaven, our dear ancestors, dear brothers and sisters. This is the power of righteousness.
Even we are no longer good for anything with our sins and passions, but this desire to live the truth and unwillingness to agree with the lawlessness, Satanism that has swept the world, America, Europe. We see that these are no longer sins, dear brothers and sisters, what do we hear in the media? These are no longer sins, but this is Satanism, when self-devouring, perversion, and madness are promoted. That is, they are trying to fundamentally destroy Christian civilization from the very beginning. This is not a joke! What can we say, it has been going on for a long time. Now we see all this abomination and trash, which has opened its vile jaws of uncleanness, lawlessness, Satanism, which it has hidden all these years and is trying to shove it all into us here through television. Especially the Internet. Poor youth. In our years, what temptations we had, and what we did. What about these poor children? It’s good if parents have at least some control. And now you can go to such sites that: May God rise again and His enemies be scattered,- that, God forgive me, not everything can be talked about in church!
Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, for the glory of God and in the bright memory of our ancestors, we, not a good word “obliged,” but out of a duty of honor, the honor of the highest rank, as the Apostle Paul says, we must force ourselves. You don’t have enough strength, ask with all your strength. That’s how children say: Lord Jesus Christ, I can’t do anything, I don’t understand anything, I can’t do anything, there’s only one sin in me; but You have absolute love and power, sacrificial love, for which, even without knowing me a thousand years in advance, You have already died for us in order to give Yourself life to us. That's what Easter is. Believe me, He always hears, don’t think that…. And then very often one hears the excuse: I’m already a completely sinful person, which is useless to me. This is deceit or stupidity. There is no sin that God’s mercy cannot overcome. You are parents yourself, you know if your child is sick, and you even have other children, but you direct all your attention to the sick child. This is the property of love. It's the same with the Lord. The lower and worse we live, the Lord not only does not abandon us, but look, He gave us a guarantee of perfect hope, that He loved us so much that He gave His life for us.
And the Apostle Paul argues: it is hardly heard that someone would give their life for a righteous person. And for us, struck not just by sin, but by the conscious choice of our ancestors Adam and Eve, the conscious choice of evil. Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, perhaps we are called to this, for this God came to earth, to make man a god. These are the words of St. Basil the Great. The greatest divine winged words. These are not just words of hope, they are law. So God loved man, that is, imagine if He gave us a mind and a living heart that can love, and a mind that can weigh the power of love, so that they understand to what extent He..., if people can love each other to death and people can they die for their fatherland, for their family, for their relatives, they give their lives for the truth of God. What power is given to man, about which the Apostle Paul says that this is not even given to angels, it is given only to man. Just as He loves for us, so we can die for Him. It is not necessary to die with blood and life. And the one who, by the power of God, has overcome within himself the power of sin and the inclination to sin, this, dear brothers and sisters, is co-resurrection with Him. We don’t just believe, dear brothers and sisters. It’s just that many things in spiritual life are not customary to say out loud. But let me emphasize again a little. The fact that many of you, at varying degrees of churching, have all read the Gospel, and should read the Gospel every day. Every day a chapter, or even more, because all the secrets of salvation are revealed in the Gospel. It seems amazing, on the same narrative, which describes the three-year stay on earth of the God-Man of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Just imagine, this narrative outline contains all the revelations, all the secrets of the salvation of each of us. Therefore, in addition to the prayer rule, you must read at least one chapter of the Gospel every day.
So, this is the primary, first step to salvation and knowledge of God. The next step, dear brothers and sisters, is through the sacraments of the Church, through prayer, repentance, mercy. Today you probably heard, if anyone listened carefully to the reading of the Apostle. Today, amazing words were spoken during the reading of the Holy Apostle, that the Apostle Paul says that God is pleased with mercy and mercy. Easy to remember - mercy and mercy. This is the root of Christianity, this is what God brought to earth - meekness and humility, peace and sacrificial love. Everything that we see around Christ and around Orthodoxy, everywhere where Satan reigns, everywhere there is trampling of freedom and honor; everywhere there is a call to submit like slaves. And what does the Lord, addressing all believers, say? “I don’t call you slaves,” did you hear? Now there are a lot of provocateurs on social networks, either stupid people or conscious enemy provocateurs who say: what about Orthodoxy, it calls everyone slaves. This means that these people have never read the Gospel, or are conscious provocateurs. The Lord says in the Gospel: I no longer call you slaves; I call them friends, because the slave does not know the will of his master. But I told you everything for salvation. And even more terrible words, be careful. The Lord said this, but no mind can comprehend it. What did He say, Lord? Whoever fulfills the will of My Heavenly Father, which means the will of Christ, His holy commandments, is My brother, sister and mother.
Well, where are these people who say that Christianity has made slaves out of people? God is their judge. How sneaky their tongues are. You can’t say that you haven’t read the Gospels, or that you haven’t read them well. That's why I say, every day it is necessary, every day relentlessly on the road, on the road, in the house, anywhere. Read while lying down or sitting, because this is not an obligation, but a requirement of life. Because you will only throw up your hands, you will be surprised: how simply all the secrets are revealed in one small book. It is a small book - the Gospel. This liturgical Gospel is brought out in large quantities for the celebration. And so it is small, it will fit in the palm of your hand. It's not much to read there, but how easy it will be to live. “Whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother, and sister, and mother.” To what honor are we all raised, all of you. This is said for everyone. There are no chosen ones before God. And if someone suddenly wants to, remind such a person that the Lord says: whoever wants to be first among us, let him be last; whoever wants to be first, let him be a servant of all.
And look how immeasurable the truth of God is. This is how you should always think, when reading the Gospel, how immeasurably good the Lord is. He said this, and he says about Himself: I did not come to be served, I came to serve people and save many. And what did He do before suffering on the cross? He knelt before His disciples and washed not only their feet, but also all of you. It's not just the apostles. What else does? People are raging, what else do you need - slaves, not slaves. I washed your feet for all of you! He washes everyone, washes away everyone’s sins. But let's not talk about these people. Unfortunately, everyone wants, brotherly, for people to know the truth, come and have perfect eternal joy in God. Because God is our Father, Parent and Creator. This is absolute beauty. Well, look at the world. This is a prison, brothers and sisters. The whole world in which we cannot enjoy this beauty is a zone to which everyone was sent from heaven. What do you think, beauty. The Apostle Paul says that this is a shadow of the good things to come. The Universe, who measured it? I won't repeat myself. There is a technical listing of species of animals, reptiles, birds, and so on. But who created this beauty? And all this is called the shadow of the future life. This is what Satan steals from people. He says: either there is no God, or there is no Satan himself. And people walk around like fools, like blessed turkeys. This is their whole life in front of them. As St. Ambrose says, a proud man is like a beetle that flies and says: my forests, my fields, everything is mine. And suddenly thunder struck, a hurricane came, and our poor smug beetle pressed under the leaf and said: God, don’t push me off. Before death.
This is brief, dear brothers and sisters, touching on what it means, otherwise you see Easter, it never ends. Christ is risen. As the Apostle Paul says, “the firstfruits became to those who died.” He is the first of mortals. And most importantly, you see, in the Old Testament there are many resurrections by the power of God, by the action of the Holy Spirit. But no one resurrected themselves. And the prophets were resurrected by the power of God. Not them, but God through them. Who could resurrect himself? Only God. The most important evidence of the truth of the God-man, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, is His resurrection. Self-resurrection. He is like God Himself…. . He speaks about this in the Gospel long before the crucifixion: “ area imam put yu(soul) and the region imam paki acceptance yu" That is, in Russian: I have the power to lay down my life for you all, and like God, I have the power to resurrect Himself, so that no one doubts Him. What gods give such power and glory? Here He is, Christ.
But He did this on His part. Now our task is to see His immeasurable sacrificial love for us, care, care and the fact that He gives everything we need in the Church, as in a hospital or clinic. All priests are doctors. The sacraments of the Church are tools, everything necessary for the healing of the human soul. Now the step is ours. That is, on His part, God did everything not only possible, but also impossible. God became man in order to make man god. It was in essence that he humiliated himself, but thereby showed to what extent he loves us. Why did He do this? To show that He wants all of us, without exception, to be like Him. And our body is also like Him. Because the body, the second hypostasis, will never remove itself. That is why the apostle writes that in that age, whoever is worthy to enter that world, we will then see Him face to face in the literal sense of the word.
Why? Because in ancient times there were no cameras, and they still write with paints. If there had been a camera then, we would have had a picture. So this is His real body, as it is, if we are worthy, we will always see the real, and not imaginary, One who took flesh upon Himself in order to show to what greatness and glory the Lord raises all of humanity, forgiving the sin of Adam, forgiving personal sins and crimes, if only we repented, if only we reformed, if only we cleansed ourselves. That image is a mirror of the soul, so that we can not only reflect, but have within us the Sun-God, the Word, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Concluding my words, dear brothers and sisters, I would like to turn to you for prayerful help, for some kind of possible help. Turn to all your near and distant ones, to your acquaintances, to everyone who is close to you, so that through common prayer the Lord will bless you, starting with this holiday in memory of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker of Christ, to recreate the great shrine of the Russian people. Where is this shrine located? 35 kilometers from us, you may have heard. There was the most famous, most miraculous, greatest image of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, which was called Nikola Gostunsky. Unfortunately, we haven't heard. But here from Optina Pustyn in a straight line, then it’s 35 kilometers, and if you go through Belev, then it’s 45 kilometers. Maximum fifty. At the end of the 15th century, an amazing phenomenon occurred in the village of Gostun. The villagers saw a pillar of fire descend from the sky, and this glow continued throughout the day. And when the glow ended, the villagers approached this place, and this is a bend, the edge of the village, the eastern part, then they saw the image of St. Nicholas. As a token of gratitude, they built a temple on this site.
And St. Nicholas the Wonderworker of Christ poured out immeasurable grace through this icon to such an extent that, as stated in the chronicle, the chroniclers did not have time to record the miracles that were performed from this icon. There was such glory from this icon that the great prince was worried: how is it possible that somewhere in a distant village there is such a shrine. A few years later, in 1506, Vasily Ivanovich the Third, the father of Ivan the Terrible, moved this icon in a religious procession to the Kremlin in Moscow and built a temple. If you enter the Kremlin through the Spassky Gate, then on the left side opposite the Ascension Monastery was this temple. He was small. And having previously built the temple, in 1506 they moved this icon in a religious procession. And she was in the Kremlin until the revolution. After the revolution she disappeared.
What a request, that on the site of the appearance of this icon there is a temple that was built in the 16th century, unfortunately it was destroyed. In 2002, the roof collapsed. And now only four walls and the altar part have been preserved, and the tented bell tower has been preserved in perfect condition. Temple from the early 16th century. Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, on the day of remembrance of the great saint of God, otherwise, you know, my heart hurts. Of course, the greatest happiness is that thousands of churches are open, a thousand monasteries have already been opened. This is God's immeasurable mercy, these are miracles. But how painful it is when such a holy place is not just desecrated, but, you see, you haven’t even heard about it. They forgot about him. But every day and hour: Saint Nicholas, help. And in Russia this is the number one place. There is no more sacred place in Russia than this place - Nikola Gostun. By the way, this is the order of Vasily Ivanovich III not just to call the village Gostun, but Nikola Gostun.
We ask for your holy prayers, dear brothers and sisters. And let us pray and hope that in the future church the divine grace of salvation will also shine, so that there too they will sing “forever and ever” in that church and here in Optina and in all Orthodox churches of the world the Easter hymn: Christ is Risen! Truly risen!
Archimandrite Vladimir (Milovanov)
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit!
Beloved brothers and sisters, O Lord, we cordially congratulate you all on this great holiday - the day of remembrance of St. Nicholas, Archbishop of Myra, the Wonderworker, on a holiday that is always very joyful and warm. Whatever our trials in life, this holiday always smooths everything out, because we know and believe and feel that he is another man of prayer, another real intercessor in the lives of those who turn to him with faith, hope and love, and There are probably millions of them. There is no such temple, there is no such house where there would not be an icon of St. Nicholas.
We all know about his wondrous life, about his exploits. And I wanted to say just a few words on one topic, which is presented to us by our holy mother the Church in the troparion dedicated to St. Nicholas. In this troparion the Church calls it the “rule of faith.” And each of us needs to think about our faith and ask St. Nicholas to strengthen this faith.
The Apostle Paul says that “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1). And the reward for this faith is the opportunity to someday see this invisible for those who carry it to the end, this faith in their hearts, and, moreover, will pray for the strengthening of this faith and try to increase it. As the apostles prayed: “Lord, increase our faith,” as the father of one sick child prayed: “I believe, Lord! Help my unbelief” (Mark 9:24) . Because, on the one hand, faith is a gift of God, on the other hand, it is also the work of man to strengthen his faith. Moving towards God is a twofold process, because nothing happens without soil; first, we ourselves must lay a tiny foundation.
One of the famous archpriests said: “All the followers of Christ were called nothing more than disciples, and if you do not want to learn the faith, then you are not a follower of Christ. You are not His disciple. I don’t even know what or who you are called.” The Apostle Paul, addressing his disciple Timothy, says: “Dig into yourself and into the teaching, do this constantly; For by doing this you will save both yourself and those who listen to you” (1 Tim. 4:16).
One day I came to visit the great elder of Ukraine, the now deceased Schema-Archimandrite Zosima, who was then 56 years old. He told me: “You know, Melchizedek, I’m still learning, and I’ve been learning all my life. I’m going to some monastery, I notice something good there, I’m going to some temple, I ask: “Do you have any pious customs?” O. Zosima served in a remote village, in the village. Nikolskoe near Donetsk, in Moscow he had an assistant who bought all the newly published books and sent them to him, so his cell was always littered with books. He looked at them and said: “I dream that when I retire, I will read them, but now I’m just skimming through them.” He, of course, did not live to see retirement; at the age of 59 he “burnt out in the Church,” in the sense that his entire life was devoted to the Church, and he, without sparing himself, served day and night, being a very sick man. And at the age of 59, this support of the Church, the support of Ukraine, was gone. He was 56 years old, and he said: “I studied all my life.” Here one person reads some book and thinks that he already knows everything and can teach others. Only the ignorant knows everything.
One children's group came to our church - first graders. They came with the teacher. And the teacher was simple in heart, but very God-wise, because only “the pure in heart will see God.” It is not just book reading that makes a person strong in faith, but a moral life. An eccentric, even after reading a hundred books, will remain an eccentric if he does not fulfill or do anything from these books in life. The Holy Fathers gave us the motto: “Do what you know and what you do not know will be revealed.” But it went in one ear and out the other, because we don’t know or do anything that the holy fathers teach us. Moreover, now ask someone standing in the church a simple, elementary thing: knowledge of our faith. And you don’t have to go far: the Creed - do you know it by heart? I won’t ask you to raise your hands, who knows, so as not to fall from the pulpit. Most people only read it, but we need to know it by heart for it to become a kind of core of our lives.
There is a catechism by Metropolitan Philaret (Drozdov), which sets out a stunning synthesis of the faith of the holy fathers. And most importantly: we need to delve into the moral and practical things that exist in our Church. What does the Church mean, worship and its symbolism, the meaning of icons, the meaning of vestments, the order and execution of worship, the meaning of the Creed, the meaning of the beatitudes, the commandments of Moses, the meaning and interpretation of the prayer “Our Father” - all this is explained by the holy fathers, and now this literature is available . But only the constant “lack of time”, the constant “busyness” prevents us from reading this. Everyone has enough time for TV or some series, and that’s one hour every day. And if this hour were devoted to the Gospel, were devoted to books, then we ourselves would already be professors of theology.
So, first-graders come to church with their teacher, stand, look at the walls and say: “What is this?” And near the Krestilka we have a fresco “The Last Supper” by the famous Greek artist and icon painter of the 14th century Panselin. The children look and say: “Tatyana Ivanovna! And who is it?". And she says: “This is Jesus Christ with his disciples.” They answer: “Tatyana Ivanovna! What kind of students are these when they have beards?” And she said: “God is infinite, and therefore Christians study eternity, i.e. all life". “Understood. And these are the students?” “Disciples.” - “Why are there so few of them then?” And the teacher says: “Are there many obedient children among you?” “No.” “Well, only the obedient followed Him, and in life there are fewer obedients, so there are so few of them. But everyone is obedient.”
This heartfelt sincerity, this depth of spiritual wisdom, of course, is given to a person who delves into the meaning of faith and tries to live by it. We must also know what helps increase faith. I'll tell you from personal experience.
In everyday life, if there are no special trials, difficulties, difficulties, everything flows as usual, and for this thank God. But somehow we don’t really notice the power and effectiveness of prayer, because it is prayer, a sincere appeal to God and an answer to this prayer, that can multiply and strengthen this faith. But I noticed: pilgrimage to holy places strengthens faith. Why? Because it’s difficult to combine everything, both transport and some inconveniences. But (and this happens on almost every trip) you feel the special power of God: bus to bus, train to train, you are 20 minutes late, and the driver, although he should have left, changes the tire at this time. And he is delayed exactly for those 20 minutes for which we were late. And at this time all the pilgrims read the Akathist to St. Nicholas. And so each of us can remember a large number of situations when everything seemed to be difficult, but suddenly, in an imperceptible, miraculous way, the same thing happened. And we already see here that this is not a mere coincidence, these are not simple accidents, but this is a response to our prayerful appeal, to our prayerful sighing to God.
Saint Nicholas was not only a deeply religious man, he breathed Heaven, he breathed the Church, he breathed God, but he also remembered the words of the Apostle James, who said that “Is faith without works dead?” (James 2:20). And he expressed, proved his faith in God, he lived by it, he lived by the interests of other people. He served them, remembering the commandment of Christ the Savior: “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36).
St. Nicholas imitated the Savior in this virtue - the virtue of mercy and sacrificial love.
This is how you need to imitate him in your life. Not only in strong faith, but also in sacrificial, selfless love. And among us, the parishioners of this holy temple, there are people who live by this strong faith, who live by this selfless love for their neighbors. Last year, in our church, the teacher of the Radonezh gymnasium, Elena Borisovna Rogozhina, was awarded the Order of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga, III degree, for her work in organizing and maintaining a prayer and labor camp for the Orthodox gymnasium “Radonezh” at St. Vvedenskaya Optina Hermitage. And many would like to ask: “Why was she awarded, but what about me? She is not the only one who strives and works like this. I, too, quietly, and sometimes noticeably, do something for the Church, and no one has noticed me yet. Why should I do something like that to get noticed?”
Now I’ll tell you what you need to do to get noticed. In 1946, the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius opened. The monks had previously been dispersed, but in 1946 they began to gather everyone into the Lavra: the poor, the sick, the blind, the infirm old people from prisons, from camps, after the war. And mostly these were elderly hieromonks with little white crosses, i.e. with crosses, which are given to a priest upon ordination at the beginning of his priestly path. Then some awards are given: a golden cross, after a silver cross, then the priest is awarded a cross with decorations, then a miter, abbess, archimandrite, etc. Usually, all this is very extended in time: when the miter is put on the head, the priest is already very old. But in the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, in order to raise its authority, they quickly began to reward these old hieromonks: abbess, a cross with decorations, an archimandrite, a miter. Five years passed and ten archimandrites and twenty abbots appeared in the Lavra. In general, a certain church “general” gathered. And then the old hieromonk dies. They come to the abbot and say: “Father, so and so died here.” “What a pity, but why was he sick?” “Yes, he was very sick.” “Well, how are we going to bury him, he has a miter, something to bury him in?” And they say to him: “Father Viceroy, what kind of miter? He still had a silver cross, but they didn’t give him any other awards.” “How is it that they didn’t?” That is, if we translate it into our modern language, he died as a lieutenant. “How can it be that he doesn’t have any awards?” asks the abbot of the monastery to the dean. And he answers: “You know, he was so inconspicuous, he was so inconspicuous that we forgot.” Because the noticeable ones remind of themselves. They buried this hieromonk, the governor regretted that he did not have time to do anything for him, to honor him with attention, and after 9 days he had a dream. A solemn, splendid temple, the open Royal Doors, an old, deceased hieromonk in splendid priestly vestments, with a cross with decorations, and a miter. The father governor looks at him and says: “Father Sergius, who gave you all this?” And he, out of embarrassment, pulled his miter over his eyes, lowered his head and said: “Father governor, father governor, forgive me, this... this... this is what they gave me here.” Where did they give it? In the Kingdom of Heaven!
Therefore, let’s not worry, let’s not worry: we do everything for God! And God will not remain in debt to anyone. “Live simpler,” said Elder Lev Optina, “God will not leave you.” It is very valuable that above us there is a merciful, just, loving, kindest Lord. I wish each of you to work a good feat of faith, quiet and inconspicuous, so that you and I may receive a heavenly reward and be honored to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, into this jubilant, never-ending joy. And we congratulate you all once again on this great holiday - the day of remembrance of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker of Myra. Amen.
Hegumen Melchizedek
Saint Luke Voino-Yasenetsky
For seven hundred years the holy body of the great saint and wonderworker Nicholas rested in that great place where he lived, where all his great and holy activities took place - in the Lycian Worlds.
But seven centuries later, the Lord allowed disaster to befall the Greek country: nomadic peoples rushed at it from different directions, and the Muslim peoples were defeated, destroyed almost all the cities of Asia Minor, slaughtered the entire male population, and took captive women and children. The Lycian Myra, where the relics of St. Nicholas rested, were also destroyed and desecrated.
The Lord did not want the relics of the great saint to remain in a desecrated place, under the rule of infidels.
And so Saint Nicholas appeared in a dream to one holy presbyter who lived in the city of Bari, in Southern Italy, on the shores of the Adriatic Sea, and commanded him, in the name of God, to transfer his relics to this city from Myra Lycia; ordered to announce this to all citizens of the city and all priests.
The presbyter announced to the priests, announced to the people of the city of Bari, and they chose from their midst the most worthy, the most pure people in life and sent them to Myra in Lycia to bring from there the relics of St. Nicholas. They loaded their ship with wheat and sailed under the guise of merchants; arrived in Antioch, sold the wheat and hurried to Myra in Lycia. And they came to the church in which the body of St. Nicholas rested and found four monks there, asked them where the relics were, and, having received instructions, they broke open the floor above the saint’s tomb, carried out this coffin and transferred it to one of their ships. Two monks followed the relics, around which they were constantly on duty, and two remained in Myra.
They sailed along the Mediterranean Sea for almost a month and arrived in the city of Bari on May 9, Sunday evening.
And the entire population of the city, as one person, greeted the holy relics with lighted candles and the singing of sacred chants; and the relics of the saints were placed in the Church of John the Baptist and rested there for three years, until a new church was built in the name of St. Nicholas.
Then the citizens of Bari invited Pope Urban to come and transfer the relics of the saints from the Church of John the Baptist to this temple.
It was also May 9, today's blessed day.
Even then, when the relics of the saint had just arrived in Bari, wondrous miracles immediately began from his tomb.
Over the course of three days, 111 people suffering from a variety of diseases were healed.
Then Saint Nicholas appeared in a dream to a monk of holy and pure life and said: “Here I came to you, by God’s command I came, and now I have already healed 111 sick people. I will not stop healing in the future.”
This event has been celebrated by the Holy Church ever since on this holy day. She celebrates it with great joy, with great glory, and this glory, this joy and rejoicing, are brightly reflected in the troparion of the holiday that you heard today: “The day of bright celebration has arrived: the city of Barsky rejoices, and with it the whole universe rejoices with songs and stumps spiritual; Today is a sacred celebration, in the presentation of the honest and multi-healing relics of the saint and wonderworker Nicholas, like the unsetting sun, rising with radiant rays, and dispelling the darkness of temptations and troubles from those crying out truly: save us, as our intercessor, the great Nicholas.”
A great, very great event, which all Christians of the world celebrate, is depicted in this troparion as the transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas.
The whole world still sacredly honors these relics, the whole Christian world. He honors them because, by the command of God, these relics were transferred from Myra in Lycia, because the saint himself, according to his word, came to the city of Bari in his relics, in his body.
The Orthodox world and the Roman Catholic world venerate the holy relics of not only St. Nicholas, but also very many great saints, and the relics of all the holy martyrs.
This is a feature of the true Church.
This veneration is not present in those Christian communities that have departed from unity with the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches, this veneration is not present in all Protestant churches, in the Lutheran Church, it is not among all sectarians, this veneration is a feature of the Orthodox and Roman Catholic confession.
Protestants and sectarians attack us for our veneration of holy relics; they consider it not only unacceptable, but also sinful to honor the dead remains of saints. What shall we say in defense of our Orthodox and Roman Catholic veneration of the relics of saints? Let's say what the sectarians do not understand and the Protestants do not want to understand.
I told you only last Sunday about immortality, about the resurrection of the human body.
I told you, explained to you that human nature is threefold. This nature consists of body, soul and spirit. I explained to you what the soul is and what the spirit is, I explained to you in what relationship the soul and spirit are to the body, and if you accepted what I told you, if you understood it properly, then you will understand today why we honor relics of saints.
If the human being is tripartite; if there is a very close connection between body, soul and spirit, due to their interaction, the interaction between body, soul and spirit; if the life of spirit, soul and body is one and inseparable; if the holy spirit and the righteous soul animate the body, then due to this inextricable connection between the spirit, soul and body, the body itself is holy. It becomes a partaker of the holiness of the spirit.
If even a glass vessel that has contained an fragrant substance for a long time retains the fragrance of this substance for a long time, for a long time, even after it is emptied, is it really not clear that the bodies of the holy martyrs, who lived in close unity with the spirit - with their spirit, with the holy soul; the body, which, according to the words of the holy Apostle Paul, became the temple of the Holy Spirit, is it really not clear that this body is also holy, for the temple of the Holy Spirit is holy.
So, every body of a holy person, not only during his life, but also after death, even all the remains of the bodies of holy people, even their bones, are bearers of the holiness of dead saints: they are holy bodies, they are sanctified by their holy spirit.
And if so, shouldn’t we treat all the remains of saints with great respect, reverence, even awe?
Do we dare to forget how many miracles and healings flow from the tomb and relics of the holy martyrs, saints, prophets, apostles and saints?
Do we dare to forget how many miracles we know from the relics of St. Nicholas?
Do we dare forget about what happened very recently: how the relics of our great Venerable Seraphim of Sarov became famous?
Do we dare to forget about the many wondrous miracles that accompanied the transfer of the holy relics of St. Seraphim?
We know that the tomb of St. Nicholas, which contained his holy relics, when it was opened by those sent from Bari who came for them, turned out to be full of fragrant myrrh.
We know that the relics of many other saints, for example, the Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessaloniki, always exude myrrh, which is why they are called myrrh-streaming.
Is it possible to ignore this, is it possible to ignore those great miracles that are performed from the relics of saints?
Do you know about the great miracle that happened during the IV Ecumenical Council, at which the heresy of the Monophysites was discussed? The Council was divided into two parts: some recognized the teaching of Eutyches as heretical, others were inclined to accept it as correct. The Council took place in Chalcedon, in the temple where the relics of St. Great Martyr Euphemia. And they decided to leave the dispute to God’s decision through St. great martyr. Two scrolls were written: on one the Orthodox teachings, on the other the teachings of the Monophysites. They opened the coffin of the great martyr, placed both scrolls on her chest and closed the coffin with seals. For three days all the Fathers of the Council fervently prayed that through the holy great martyr God would reveal where the truth was. On the third day, they removed the seals, lifted the lid and saw a wondrous miracle: the scroll on which the teachings of the Monophysites were written lay on the feet of the great martyr, and she held the second scroll in her hand and, as if alive, raised her hand and gave the scroll to the Patriarch of Constantinople.
If such wondrous miracles are performed from the relics of saints, then how can we not honor the relics, just as in the remains of saints we cannot honor them themselves, who lived in this body until their death?
How not to honor, how not to give veneration to these relics, even these very remains, if they are holy, if they are sanctified by the Spirit of God who dwelt in this deceased body?
How can one not give honor to them, how can one not rejoice with all one’s heart in the glorification of the relics?
You know that even worldly people, completely alien to the Church, show great respect not only to the memory and remains of people who accomplished great earthly deeds, human deeds, you know that they preserve everything that belonged to them, set up museums in which they collect everything related with the memory of the greats of the world - all things that belonged to them, all documents related to their activities.
Shouldn't we preserve the remains of the clothes of Seraphim of Sarov, shouldn't we keep them with honor, as we keep them here, in this ark, shouldn't we keep all the things that belonged to him, shouldn't we keep the remains of the things of other saints of God? Should we not give honor and praise to their holy relics? Should we not give honor and praise to the saints?
Of course, our veneration is very different from the honor that is given in museums to the revered great people of the world.
Yes, we incense before the relics, we kneel, we kiss these coffins; We pray at the relics of saints to those who once lived in these bodies, and we receive, often receive, what we ask for.
Should we not venerate the relics of saints, especially such saints as the great Nicholas, the wonderworker of Myra?
Let us be humble, let us not be embarrassed by rude attacks from non-believers, from Protestants and sectarians who mock our veneration of holy relics.
Let us take care that our bodies in due time become relics, holy relics. You need to know that in funeral hymns the mortal remains of all Christians are called relics, the same word that denotes the bodies of departed saints, because all Christians are sanctified by the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit dwells in them, because they should be temples of the Holy Spirit.
Remember this and walk your life’s path with fear: be afraid of desecrating your physical temple, which should be the temple of the Holy Spirit...
Live in such a way that after your death your mortal remains are called relics, even holy relics.
Amen.
May 22, 1949