In our time, many people, especially young people, after long and painful spiritual wanderings and searches, are discovering the Orthodox faith, its divinely inspired truth, its inestimable significance for the life and salvation of every person. Meanwhile, in order to begin to live in this truth, it is necessary to learn about it from genuine, reliable sources, from true witnesses of the faith, but, if possible, contemporary to the reader and close to him in his spiritual aspirations. So, faith comes from hearing, and hearing from the word of God (Rom. 10:17).
Based on the word of God recorded in Holy Scripture, the preaching of faith, preserved and transmitted in the Church from generation to generation by the experience of church life and salvation, primarily in the holy liturgy, is one of the main tasks for the current generation of pastors and theologians; this is especially important today, when false prophets and self-proclaimed teachers of the faith are multiplying, people of a perverted mind and far from the truth, proud ignoramuses who do not follow the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the doctrine of godliness, infected with a passion for competitions and verbal disputes.(cf.: 1 Tim. 6:3-4). The genuine Church doctrine of faith, that is, the truly Orthodox, apostolic and patristic catechism, is now an urgent need both for those who are just embarking on the path of faith, and for those who grew up and were brought up in Orthodoxy from childhood, but did not have the opportunity to receive deeper knowledge of faith. Such a catechism should be inseparable from church preaching, inspired by the word of God, but at the same time simple, accessible and convincing, not in the convincing words of human wisdom, but in the manifestation of the spirit and power.(1 Cor. 2, 4). Such was the catechism of the early Christian centuries, the most famous of which was written by Saint Cyril of Jerusalem. The patristic catechism, as a rule, was addressed to catechumens (catechumens, that is, those who study the faith for receiving holy baptism) or newly baptized and interpreted the Creed, a short confession of the basic truths of the Christian faith, which is pronounced before the sacrament of baptism.
The most complete, ecumenical and obligatory for all creed is the Nicene-Tsaregrad Creed , so named because it was formulated and accepted as an infallible expression of church faith by the holy fathers of the First Ecumenical Council, held in Nicea in 325, and the Second Ecumenical Council, held in Tsaregrad in 381. Since then, at every liturgy, we Orthodox Christians confess the essence of our faith in his words. We will not find a single Orthodox prayer book, not a single church publication of an instructive nature, which would not contain the Creed .
This small book, which you, dear reader, hold in your hands, is just such a churchly authentic and patristic inspired, but also a living modern catechism, that is, a presentation and explanation of the content of the Creed, an inspired text that testifies to us the faith once delivered to the saints ( Jude 1, 3), faith in one God, glorified in the Holy Trinity, and in one Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church . The author of this book, Saint Nicholas (Velimirovich) (1881-1956), one of the greatest contemporary preachers of the word of God, Bishop of Ohrid and Zhich, is better known as Vladyka Nicholas.
We would like to draw the reader's attention to the very title of the book, which Vladyka Nicholas gave to his unsurpassed commentary, the catechism of the Orthodox Christian faith – "The Faith of Educated People". Someone may ask: "Is Orthodoxy a faith only for the educated, is it not for everyone? And is there one faith for the educated and another for the uneducated? The answer is simple: with this title, the author wanted, without direct polemics, to unobtrusively point out one fatal and very common, especially among the non-church intelligentsia, delusion that Orthodoxy is attractive only to the "primitive" and "uneducated", while the so-called "educated" can and should deal with "modern systems" of the occult-magical or syncretic-sectarian direction. Very important is the play on words and the subtle irony of Vladyka, who called his book just that – for the uninitiated, it may go unnoticed: Vladyka Nikolai wanted to say that a spiritually and essentially educated person is not the one whoconformed to the image of God , the one who is Christ-like, transfigured, renewed, deified. The grace-filled man, the heavenly man, is already here on earth. In this interpretation, our faith, the faith of the Church, the faith of the holy apostles and holy fathers, the faith of Orthodox Christians, is truly the faith of educated people .
We are confident that this book will help every reader to believe Orthodoxally, truly and savingly.
Bishop of Bach Iriney (Bulovich), Dean of the Theological Faculty of the University of Belgrade.
I believe in one God, the Almighty Father, the Creator of heaven and earth, visible to all and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only Begotten, Who was born from the Father before all ages: Light from Light, God is true from God is true, begotten, uncreated, consubstantial with the Father, Whom all was. For us for the sake of man and for our sake of salvation, he descended from Heaven and became incarnate from the Holy Spirit and Mary the Virgin, and became human. Crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered, and was buried. And resurrected on the third day according to the Scriptures. And ascended into Heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father. And the packs of the future with glory to judge the living and the dead, His Kingdom will have no end. And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Life-Giving One, Who proceeds from the Father, Who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who spoke the prophets. Into one Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. I confess one baptism for the remission of sins. I look forward to the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the age to come. Amen.
Who will sow good seed in an unplowed field? The wise will not sow. A wise man will do according to the word of God: he will first clear the field of weeds and sow good seed on the plowed field. Niva – the human soul, weeds – polytheism, good seed – faith in one God .
Now faith in one God seems to us simple and natural, and polytheism is ridiculous and insane, but this was not always the case. There were times when only a few people believed in Him in the whole world, and then a time came when only one people on earth believed in one God . Idolaters, who have gods for every need, looked at those who believe in one God with contempt for a rich man looking at the poor: they believed that such a faith was defective and poor. Those who believed in one God looked at the pagans with astonishment and pity, as they look at those who, having much, have nothing.
Faith in one God had to be drawn from a true source, received from a reliable witness, and then sown in human souls, as if in a field. The most reliable Witness of monotheism is God Himself, living and true. He Himself testifies of Himself through His chosen ones, saying: I am the Lord thy God, that thou shalt have no other gods besides Me (cf. Exodus 20:2-3).
The One, living and true revealed Himself gradually. Among the weeds of polytheism He found small fields and sowed on them the good seed of faith. These were the souls of the righteous, souls like high candles, which He lit with the flame of faith so that they would shine in the darkness of polytheism. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it (John 1:5). Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Job, Joseph, Moses, Isaiah, Daniel – these are the candles of God, lit by faith!
The One living and true revealed Himself to the people of Jacob, or Israel. By His grace, He revealed Himself first in Egypt, in a foreign land (Ps. 136:4), then in the wilderness, and finally in Canaan, in the Promised Land. And once all the people of Israel professed faith in one God.
But the people of God began to waver in the true faith, and the darkness of idolatry again began to threaten the light in the darkness (cf. John 1:5).
The One Living, True, merciful and many-merciful, seeing this danger, sent His Only Begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to the people so that He would dispel the darkness of polytheism, strengthen human hearts for ascent to the heavenly and sow the good seed of faith in the only living and true God.
The holy apostles, the industrious bees of Christ, spread this faith, this seed of God, all over the world. Truly, like honey bees of God, the apostles from Jerusalem scattered to all four corners of the world, to peoples and tribes, in order, like honey, to water human souls with the gospel of the one Living and True. They cleansed the fields of souls from the weed of idolatry, from faith in spirits and gods. On the cultivated fields they sowed the holy faith in the one Living and True. Their work was difficult and dangerous! Believe me, missionaries of one God: this battle, unprecedented before, was worth sweat and tears, wounds and blood.
With great difficulty people parted with faith in their fictitious idols and accepted faith in one God . In confusion from the multitude of natural phenomena and their opposition in the universe, it was easier for them to believe in the existence of different gods than in one God . Inexperienced children captivated by deceit, they believed that many different gods are stronger than one One, that help from many is stronger than from one One.
Two groups of people rebelled against the apostles, and at that time there were two of them: those who fed their souls with the poison of idolatry, and those who fed their bodies by making statues of idols. And the latter resisted no less than the former.
For example, a certain silversmith named Demetrius, who made the silver temples of Artemis and brought a considerable profit to the artists, having collected them and other similar artisans, said: friends! you know that our well-being depends on this craft; meanwhile, you see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but almost in all Asia, this Paul, by his convictions, seduced a considerable number of people, saying that those made by human hands are not gods. And this threatens us with the fact that our craft will come into contempt (cf.: Acts 19, 24-27).
Some feared for their souls, others for their wallets, but one way or another, all the peoples of the earth, with rare exceptions, were in captivity of idolatry. Those who were the exception were subjected to cruel execution, as was the case with the Greek philosopher Socrates.
The higher the culture of the peoples, the more perfect and expensive were the images of idols, and the enslavement by them was deeper. When the holy Apostle Paul was in Athens, he was troubled in spirit at the sight of this city full of idols (Acts 17:16). The same indignation of the spirit was experienced by the apostles Andrew in Samaria, and Matthew in Ethiopia, and Bartholomew in India. Idols in the squares, idols at the entrance to the house, idols in houses – idols everywhere. An innumerable number of idols that people worshiped. The idol's thorns wounded and wounded the holy apostles into blood. But they courageously weeded and cultivated the fields of souls, and in a place cleared of weeds and thorns, they sowed the good seed of faith in one God., one, living, true. The apostles performed this titanic work and feat with words, miracles, love and sacrifice. Where one did not help, they resorted to another, when neither one nor the other helped, they went to their death, with their martyr's blood, as if by fire, burning idols.
The only Living, True one blessed the word, deed, tears and sacrifices of His apostles. The seed they sowed bore good fruit. This fruit is that now faith in one God seems to us simple and natural, and polytheism is ridiculous and insane.
I am the Lord your God; you shall have no other gods besides Me . Here is the first testimony of God about Himself, the first revelation to people about God from God, and the first commandment of God. May you have no other gods besides Me , the Lord commanded, for if you bow to other gods, double destruction will befall you. The first is the belief in false, non-existent gods. The other is that reverence and love, which should belong entirely to the One, you will give to idols. And then your faith in the One will be darkened and your love for Him will grow cold; He, insulted and humiliated, will move away from you. And you will become an atheist, even if, having many gods, you consider yourself pious. For the atheist and the idolater are one and the same: both the one and the other are without the only, living, true God.
Faith in the one God , the one, living, true Creator, is the faith of the humble and reasonable, for the proud deify either the creature or themselves; pride breeds fools. The more humble a person is, the more reasonable he is; the more vain, the more insane. The Lord opposes the proud, but gives grace and understanding to the humble. The more a humble person humbles himself before the Lord, the more the Lord endows him with reason. Reason is the light that leads to the only, living, true God. Blessed are those who have the understanding to see the perishability of the world and man. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the Lord will exalt them to the highest knowledge—the knowledge of the existence and majesty of the Most High God.
This is your faith, Christ-bearers, the faith of your fathers, humble and prudent. May it become the faith of your children, from generation to generation, until the end of time. Faith is shameless, Orthodox, saving. By her your fathers were saved; they were not ashamed of her, and she was not ashamed of them. Truly, faith in the one God , the one, living, true, is the faith of the educated, those who bear in themselves the image of God. He will not be ashamed either at the Last Judgment, he will not be ashamed either before the righteous or before the angel, but he will receive glory and be called blessed.
With fear and trembling, let us look behind the partly opened veil of eternity… It is partly opened not by a weak human hand, but by God Himself, the only, living, true God. If, by His mercy to people, He had not done this, who else would have dared? All the minds of men, all the powers under heaven would not have moved her a hair's breadth. Three beams of light stretched out to people who bear the image of God in themselves. And the educated trembled with heavenly joy, for He revealed Himself as incomparable, that is, equal only to Himself. The One, the living, the true revealed Himself as the Almighty Father and the Creator.
Your restless thought hastens with the question: Whose Father? Since when Father? Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Father. Before the creation of the world, He was the Father. Before time and temporal creatures, before the angels and powers of Heaven, before the sun and moon, before the dawn and the moon, the Father begat His Only Begotten Son. And speaking of the Eternal, do we dare to pronounce the word "when"? He is the eternal God, the eternal Father, there is no "when" in Him, He is outside the wheel of time.
The Almighty reveals Himself first as the Father, and then as the Almighty and Creator. To you, the educated, this is obvious. His parenthood refers to His co-eternal Son, and omnipotence and creativity to the created world, visible and invisible. First the Father, and only then the Almighty and the Creator. In eternity, no one could call God the Father, except for His Only Begotten Son.
And in time? And in time no one can. Listen to the ancient history of the human race and accept it in your heart. It will give joy to the soul and light to the mind.
From the time of the creation of the world, from the moment Adam was expelled from paradise for the grave sin of disobedience to the Creator, none of the mortals dared to call God their Father. The wondrous chosen ones called Him the greatest names: the Almighty, the Judge, the Most High, the King and the Lord, but not the Father, a sweet name.
The best in the human race felt themselves to be the creation of a single almighty Creator, a vessel of the Divine Potter, but they never imagined themselves to be children of the Heavenly Father. This right was given to people only with the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and was given not to everyone, but to those who received Him. And to those who received Him, to those who believe in His name, He gave the power to become children of God (John 1:12). That is, the adopted received the right to turn to the Lord: Abba, Father! (Gal. 4:6; Rom. 8:14-16).
Adoption, a gift of God's grace, was discovered and brought to people by Jesus Christ at the very beginning of His earthly ministry. He revealed to people that from now on they can call God their Father, saying: Our Father who art in heaven! (Matthew 6:9). And since then, millions of youths and elders all over the world have been crying out day after day: Our Father!
Demons do not dare to call God the Father, it is difficult for unrepentant sinners to pronounce the sweet word: Father! Only the righteous and penitent have been given the right and boldness in their prayers to exclaim with all their hearts: Our Father! But those who rise up against the Lord and His law, whether by thought, word or deed, cannot utter a comforting and sweet word: Father!
Three hundred and eighteen holy fathers, who compiled the Creed for all of you, educated, bearing in themselves the image of God, called God first the Father, and then the Almighty and the Creator. They did this, filled with the Holy Spirit, they did it, for it was revealed to them that the Father Most High is the Father before the beginning of time and the creation of the world. They did it, because the Son of God, having incarnated, brought as a gift to people, His followers, adoption, that is, the right to call His Father their Father: Our Father! Is there any great joy for your heart, O educated ones who bear in themselves the image of God? And our Lord, the Son of God, not only allowed you to call the Most High, the only, living, true, your Father, but also left the commandment: and call no one on earth your father, for you have one Father who is in heaven(Matthew 23:9). O unspeakable joy! True parenthood is in heaven, above the sun and stars, and earthly parenthood is only a shadow and a symbol.
Your joy is that your Father is the Lord Almighty and Creator! The Holy Fathers of Nicaea, filled with the Holy Spirit, called the Almighty first the Almighty, and only then the Creator! You will say: "Is it not more logical to call Him first the Creator, and then the Almighty?". No, it only seems so from the outside, but do not judge superficially when you talk about the True. The Lord is the Almighty. Before the creation of heaven and earth, God the Almighty carried in Himself the plan of creation, from a speck of dust to the universe, all forces, all laws, all order. Would creation have been possible without this purpose?
When the majestic Creator created two worlds, visible and invisible, He revealed Himself as the Almighty, holding in His all-encompassing will all the forces and laws of the two worlds: Are not two small birds sold for an assarium? And not one of them will fall to the ground without the will of your Father (Matt. 10:29); and a hair from your head will not be lost (Luke 21:18), again without the will of the Almighty. With His strong right hand, the Lord holds all the forces, even those who deny Him and rise up against Him. All their actions against His laws and against His faithful He turns to good, according to His wisdom and power, and brings them into harmony with His plan.
Not a single righteous tear dropped into the sea will be forgotten. Not a single word, good or evil, will go unanswered by God, secret or open. Father, Almighty, Creator – this is your God, the only, living and true. The Creator who created heaven and earth, all things visible and invisible. Holy interpreters have always understood by "heaven" the world of angels and all heavenly powers, incorporeal, visible to God and invisible to us. Under the "earth" were understood earthly creations and those that are under the earth, around the earth, accessible to our sensual vision.
Everything visible and invisible is created by God. There is no other Creator, except the Almighty, either in heaven or on earth. Just as there is nothing created, from the atom to the universe, that would have been created by someone else, and not by the Almighty. He is the only Creator in the full and true sense of the word. In the full and true sense, the Creator is the one who created objects and their forms, mobile and immobile, who filled everything with the mysterious power of existence, interconnectedness, attraction and rejection, breath and life.
Therefore, when you hear that the Creator created everything created, you should understand that He not only created the creation from some existing matter, but also the matter itself. All the fullness of the Divine creative power is manifested precisely in the fact that He created both. Did this matter consist of four great elements – earth, water, fire and air, as the ancients thought, or were they a single pra-matter of electrical properties, according to modern scientists? Are we going to talk about this? One thing is clear: the source and foundation of every universal fabric is the fruit of the thought and creativity of the great God the Creator.
Can human thought comprehend the miracle and greatness of that fabric? Can the eyes cover? Can ears hear? Can language speak? Forms, colors, numbers and sizes, music and song, joy and pain, glare on the water, rays of the sun penetrating the dust, reflections of light in the air, fiery star dance do not call you, educated ones, to prayerful silence more than to words?
But know that all the visible splendor and grandeur of the universe resembles only a solemn guard at the gates of the royal palace, before the gates of the invisible world, the spiritual, angelic kingdom. And already there, behind those gates, there is a real miracle, a miracle of miracles, the greatest of the great. Where instead of the sun shines the Most High Himself, the King of kings! (see: Rev. 22:5). Thought, hearing, sight and language are powerless there. The great apostle was lifted up in spirit to the third heaven and caught up into paradise, and heard inexpressible words that a man cannot retell (cf.: 2 Cor. 12; 2, 4).
This visible world in comparison with the invisible is like a dream and a reality, like a symbol and spirit, like words and meaning, like a letter to an exile from a distant homeland. But both worlds were created by the same Creator. He alone holds both worlds by His tireless right hand of the Almighty – the only Almighty. He alone leads them along mysterious paths to mysterious goals that are known only to Him, the good Father of the Lord Jesus Christ and all His chosen children.
Orthodoxy is the faith of the tearful, weeping for truth and life. It will never be the faith of the servants of lies, untruth and death, friends of fun, the end of which is despair. This is the faith of those who cry about their weakness and the weakness of the human race, who are looking for the Source of truth, truth and life. And this Source is revealed to them. And then the tears of sorrow turn into tears of joy, for they have found the most precious of treasures – the Father, the Almighty, the Creator. What else is left for them to seek if, having found Him, they gain everything? The only thing left for them is tears of repentance, with which they are washed from all unrighteousness, lies and are protected from eternal death. Washed with tears of repentance, they acquire goodness and mercy for their brothers, companions to the eternal Fatherland. And help them to know the true God – the source of truth, truth and life.
This is your faith, Christ-bearers, the faith of your fathers, who spared neither labor nor tears until they drew near to the Lord and received consolation from Him. May it become the faith of your children, from generation to generation, until the end of time, a shameless, Orthodox, saving faith. Truly, it is the faith of truly educated people who bear the image of God in themselves, and at the Judgment of God it will be easy for them, for they will be called blessed.
Father. Almighty. Creator.
A new light has illuminated you, educated, bearing the image of God. Through the veil, parted by the right hand of the Most High, a new ray of light fell on you, and you shine like children of God. This light reveals to you the eternal mystery, the joyful mystery of eternal parenthood and eternal sonship. This light brings down a blessing upon you, and the oil of consolation is poured into your weeping eyes.
One and only Lord Jesus as Christ and as the Son of God. As Christ, in the sense of the Messiah, He is the one and only from the beginning to the end of time. Humanity can neither seek nor expect another Messiah. Many will come under my name and say, "I am the Christ," and many will be deceived (Matt. 24:5). Thus prophesied the One, the Unfalse and the Perspicacious. There were many false messiahs, they still exist, and the closer the end of the human race, there will be more and more of them. But the true Messiah is the one and only, non-false Christ, the incomprehensible Lover of mankind. This True, Unfalse and Incomprehensible is the Messiah for all peoples and tribes throughout the world for all time. One and only Messiah for both the living and the dead, for those who were and for those who will be.
And you, the educated ones, are called to proclaim to the tribes and peoples: "O tribes and peoples, among you there may be great people, the greatest of the great, among you there may be distinguished sons and daughters, the best of the best, but the Messiah is one for you. And do not wait and do not look for another. Verily, if another comes under His name, another besides Him, the only one, will be a lie and a son of lies. Then, says the only true Messiah, if anyone says to you, Behold, Christ is here, or there, believe it not (Matthew 24:23). Don't be like the Jews who are waiting for their Jewish messiah. No other messiah will come: neither Jewish, nor American, nor Indian, nor Russian. For the main quality of the true Messiah is His all-humanity. He will come to all, He is above all and for all.
Such is your Messiah, O peoples and tribes, such as the dazzling sun in the firmament of heaven. And just as the sun illuminates all of you, white, black, yellow and red, so the one Messiah shines on all of you, shines on all, serves all, rules over all. Will any of you seek another sun? No. Why then look for another messiah if the light of the Messiah Jesus Christ is brighter than sunlight, brighter, more generous, more life-giving, more joyful, more saving?
Beware of other messiahs, O peoples and nations, beware of many messiahs, for they are murderers and servants of the wicked. The devil tries to belittle the significance and greatness of the Lord Jesus, and therefore strives to turn the title of Messiah, Christ, the title of the only and unearthly, into an order in order to appropriate many and many. But you know that wearing military orders and being a true commander are not the same thing.
Beware of the messiahs who will appear without a cross. Your Messiah bears one sign, one difference – the Cross. Cross as a banner of victory. By him you will recognize your Messiah, the only true Messiah, who once stepped into the field bent down to sow it, but who once again steps up into it raised up to reap the harvest with the angels.
The only Messiah, the Savior of the world is the Son of God, the Only Begotten, Who was born from the Father before all the ages. This is His heavenly seal and the guarantee of the truth of His Messiahship. Whoever denies the Messiah of the Lord will be caught in a lie.
About the same, but even stricter, the apostle tells you, who reclined at the chest of Jesus. Here are his words: Who is a liar, if not one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? – that is, the Messiah (1 John 2:22). Can anyone less than the Son of God be the Messiah? Could people take for the Messiah less than the Son of God?
It was necessary to wash the decrepit and decayed tree of mankind with His Blood. The blood of none of the mortals was neither pure enough, nor strong enough and life-giving enough to ennoble and strengthen the old tree. No blood could do this, except the Blood of the Son of God, in which He, like purple, clothed His eternal Divinity.
Lift up now your mind, educated ones, bearing in themselves the image of God, to the Son of God, the Only Begotten. You will immediately recognize Him through the image of God that is in you, and when you recognize it, you will rejoice. Christ is called the Only Begotten Son of God because He is the only Son, born of God the Father. When you call the Most High Father, then you confirm the existence of the Son. Do not call the father or parent of the childless. The one who does not give birth.
Thus says the Almighty through the mouth of His prophet: Shall I bring to childbirth, and will I not give birth? says the Lord. Or, giving power to give birth, shall I close the womb? (Isaiah 66:9). Let no one doubt that the Lord is the Parent; let no one doubt the Son of God, the Only Begotten. Can there be anything good in the world that is not in the Lord and not from the Lord? And birth is always good. Therefore, birth with God is not as an idea, but as a reality, an eternal reality, for God is eternal.
This is the faith of loving souls, hard to accept for souls without love. Parents who love their children unconditionally and children who love their parents unconditionally accept it with joy. The inexplicable and deepest mystery about the attachment of parents to children and children to parents is illuminated by the light of God's parenthood and God's sonship. Only in such a light can children and parents comprehend the secret of their mutual love, only in such a light can they comprehend that their love is of heavenly origin. It caught fire from the eternal flame of the love of the Father and the Son, and therefore parents who love their children selflessly, and children who love their parents selflessly, joyfully accept faith in the eternal Father and His co-eternal Son in heaven.
This is your faith, Christ-bearers, and the faith of your fathers who loved you. May it become the faith of your children, whom you love wholeheartedly, the shameless, Orthodox, saving faith. Truly, this is the faith of educated people who bear the image of God in themselves. On the Judgment Day of Christ, they will have mercy and be called blessed.
Jesus Christ. Messiah. God's Son.
Both the prophet and the seer, seeing eternity, saw Him: it was not the radiance of the sun, and not the glow of the moon or stars, but still some inexpressible Light penetrated everywhere and illuminated everything (see: Is. 60, 19; Rev. 21 , 23). Do you educated ones know what that Light is? Yes, you guessed it, this is the eternal Light of the face of the Most High. This is the Light of the eternal Parent, and the Light of the eternal Son, and the Light of the eternal Holy Spirit – one Light, one Divinity, one Beauty.
The holy Nicene Fathers, enlightened by this eternal heavenly Light, defined the relationship of the Lord Jesus Christ to the Heavenly Father and His relationship to creation in six words. Four words define the first, and the next two define the second.
The first word is Light from Light. The great seer said: God is light, and there is no darkness in Him (1 John 1:5). If the Parent is Light, what can His Son be if not Light? If the eternal Father is Light, then His Son is also Light. The Son's testimony of Himself reads: I am the light of the world (John 8:12). Blessed are you if you can call yourself enlightened by this Light!
The second word is God is true from God is true. Once the apostle Philip dared to ask the Lord: Lord! show us the Father, and it is enough for us, to which the Lord answered him: Whoever has seen me has seen the Father, and added: Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me (John 14:8-11). And again he said: All that the Father has is Mine (John 16:15), and again: I and the Father are one (John 10:30).
The third word is born. That is, the Son of God is born of God. Light is born from Light, Truth is born from Truth, Life from Life, Glory from Glory, God is true from God is true. The human mind is to some extent capable of understanding the bodily birth of flesh from flesh, but it is difficult for it to understand the birth of the spirit from the spirit. Know, educated ones, that the bodily birth is only a shadow or symbol of the spiritual birth.
The fourth word is consubstantial with the Father, that is, of one nature with the Father. Is this not self-evident after all that has been said about Him? For if it is said that He is the Son of the Father, these words already imply that He is of one being, of one nature with the Father.
The first word is uncreated. Heaven, and earth, and everything visible and invisible on it, everything that is outside the essence of God, the one, the living — all this is created. Only the Creator is uncreated. And just as the Father is uncreated, so is the Son uncreated. Born, not created. From the beginning He is the doer, and not the deed, the originator of creation, and not the creature.
The second word is Imzhe the whole bysha. Through Him all creation came into being. According to the word of God: Everything came into being through Him, and without Him nothing came into being that came into being (John 1:3). The Son of God, the Only Begotten, therefore, is not simply uncreated, but He is the Creator. Through Him all things came into being, and without Him nothing would come into being that came into being.
Light. True. Word.
Just as a mother bows to a child crying in a cradle, so the Creator bowed and descended to people, to the valley of tears. The miraculous existence of the Son of God in eternity also corresponds to the miraculous image of His descent into this visible, temporary world. The purpose of His descent is we, people, and our salvation, and the image of the descent is the birth from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary. Who said that? If we, the people, had said, one could doubt it. But this was said by Himself, in Whom none of those who bear the image of God in themselves can doubt.
He Himself, the true one, said of Himself that He came to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many (Matthew 20:28). To serve people, of course, and to give Himself as a ransom for people. That is the purpose of His coming. And the image of His coming was not discovered by man. Who would believe him? The Archangel of God Gabriel revealed to Mary the Virgin in Nazareth: behold, you will conceive in the womb, and you will give birth to a Son, and you will call His name: Jesus.
Son of God and Son of the Virgin – Born in heaven and on earth. Dwelling in eternity and in time. This is your Messiah, educated, and your Savior. Born in eternity from the Father without a mother. Born in time from a Mother without a father.
Blagovestnik. Mother of God. Humanitarian.
The flame of eternal Divine love burns in the hearth of God's parenthood with the same power as in the hearth of God's sonship. The wind of time does not reach him. Bizarre changes do not touch this flame, do not spread it, do not fan it, and do not reduce it. Divine love bestows fullness of life, purity of joy and boundless power.
The Son of God, the Only Begotten, the Beloved, bowed the heavens and descended to earth for us for the sake of man and for our salvation. He did not move from throne to throne, but descended from throne to cold stone. He suffered a lot for us. When we just say these words: "I suffered a lot", it is already enough to experience shame for ourselves and joy from His love. But for the truth to be complete, more must be said. The Messiah of the human race endured slander, malice, conspiracy, spitting, beatings, mockery, scourging. And this does not say everything: condemnation with robbers, crucifixion, torments on the cross, painful death, burial.
And do you, educated ones, know why the holy fathers inscribed in our Faith the name of Pontius Pilate, the God-killer? Yes, do not doubt, this is how the Holy Spirit of God pleased, inspiring and wiser the holy fathers. And the Holy Spirit of God deigned so that the faithful would know exactly and forever in which Christ they believe.
Love. Cross. Death.
Christ is risen, educated! Neither the earth will harm Him, nor the grave will hold him. May your souls rise again, beloved of Christ! May the image of God shine in you, cleansed from the dust of the earth and saved from the corruption of death! Rejoice and be glad, for your Messiah, the one and only, has conquered death, which frightened all earthly people!
The miraculous resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead is in full agreement with His miraculous appearance in the world. It is in agreement with His miraculous birth from the Most Pure Virgin, and with His miracles performed on earth, and with His heavenly wisdom and mercy, His superhuman patience and dignity in enduring injustice and suffering, with His Divine forgiveness from the cross of His killers.
His Resurrection is like a priceless treasure in a necklace of unearthly jewels that make up the Lord's earthly life. This treasure is as beautiful, as priceless, as comforting as all the treasures on the divine necklace of the works of Christ. His resurrection is perfectly natural in terms of the eternal reality that He has revealed by His deeds and His whole person. On the third day at dawn, the almighty Lord rose from the dead and appeared alive to His Holy Mother, the myrrh-bearing women and the apostles.
Victory. Resurrection. Joy.
The most amazing of the guests once visited the earth and returned to His limits. But the wonder of His coming remained and spread throughout the world. And hundreds of generations over nineteen centuries have spoken more about this Visitor than about anyone else in the world. But the greatest miracle is that all these generations spoke of Him not only as having once visited the earth, but as about their contemporary.
This is the King of the Kingdom of Heaven, clothed in a man, in an ordinary man, that's who this unusual Visitor of the world is. And just as the resurrection from the tomb was according to His power, so the ascension into heaven was according to His majesty.
I came from the Father and came into the world; and again I leave the world and go to the Father (John 16:28). What could be clearer than these words? What could be more understandable than the fact that the son, having fulfilled the will of his father, hurries back to his father?
Your Messiah and Savior, the one and only, ascended into heaven, from whence he first descended as a Visitor. He ascended into His Kingdom, eternal and immortal, in which He prepared a place for His heirs from His other kingdom, from His earthly Church.
Ascension. Blessing. World.
You are commanded to be vigilant. And vigilance is wakefulness. Wakefulness and sensitive expectation. Watchfulness over yourself: over your thoughts, desires and deeds is a strict rule of your faith. Vigilance sharpens your spiritual vision so that you can distinguish good from evil, so that you know who enters your heart and from whom thoughts come.
Waiting strengthens love and purifies the conscience. Therefore, watch, because you do not know the day or the hour in which the Son of Man will come (Matt. 25:13). These are His words, warning words. May you not be like the five foolish virgins who, in their carelessness, were caught and rejected by the Bridegroom. Behold, the Bridegroom is coming, be sober and watch!
He came once and will come again. The first time He came in humiliation, and the second time He will come in glory. The first time he came as the Redeemer of the world, and the second time he will come as its Judge.
Judge. Court. Is it true.
When a traveler in the night sees a distant ray of light, he rejoices and directs his steps to where he saw the light, not experiencing from what source that distant light comes in the darkness. When he approaches him, then he begins to test.
The Christian faith has brought people closer to the eternal light of the Divine, and Christians are attentively experiencing this mysterious and tender light, because it has become closer to them. And those who are far from it do not care to know it.
The Semites are amazed at the Japhetites: how can they believe in three gods? Who would believe in the existence of three gods? Really Christians who freed so many peoples and countries from polytheism?
Tell them that you do not believe in three gods, but in one, the One, the Living, the True. But your Messiah has placed you so close to the light of eternity that you see and distinguish three candles. Three eternal candles – one Fire. Three majesties – one King. Three miracles – one Mystery. Three Persons – one Being. Three hypostases – one God. The great name is the Holy Trinity. Holy Trinity in One. Father, Son and Holy Spirit – always and forever – one God.
Spirit. Comforter. Worship.
Travelers, here is the ship! When there was a flood, Noah escaped on a reliable ship. The deluge of madness and sin continues endlessly. That is why the Lover of Humanity created the ship of salvation. Ask where that ship is, and quickly climb on it!
May you not be deceived by the many colorful ships, decorated and painted on the outside. Ask about the power of the motor and the skill of the captain. There is no more powerful engine and more skilful helmsman than on the ship of Christ. This helmsman is the Holy Spirit Himself, all-seeing and all-powerful.
The Church is called the Body of Christ: We who are many are one body in Christ (Rom. 12:5). Therefore, the Church is one and only, for there cannot be two bodies with one head. And Christ is called the head of the Church: And He is the head of the body of the Church (Col. 1:18). So, one Christ, one head, one body – one Church.
The church is called St. You understand why she is holy. First, because it was founded by the Holy One of the saints. Secondly, because the Lord redeemed her, cleansed and strengthened her with His blood, holy and pure.
The Church is also called the Cathedral Church. Why is that? Firstly, because it gathers all the children of God in all ends of the earth, from all tribes, from all peoples.
The Holy Church is called Apostolic. So the Church is called because, firstly, the apostles of Christ were its first members. The first personal witnesses of the miraculous life and deeds of the Son of God on earth and His first followers.
Flood. Ship. The rescue.
Water cleanses. What does it cleanse? Cleanses the skin from sweat and dirt. From that small part of the impurity that comes out of the body with sweat, water cleanses it. From that small part of the dust and dirt of this world, which flies on the skin, water can cleanse.
But water is not able to cleanse all that impurity, that pus and decay that accumulate in the human womb. Water is powerless against the internal impurity that collects and lingers in human organs. This impurity comes from the unhealthy or excess dust of this world, which people call food.
And if water is powerless before the created impurity, how much is it powerless before another, the deepest impurity – the impurity of the soul?
Obviously, water will not cleanse the soul. It washes the air and the earth. She is able to wash all the garments of the earth, just as she washes the skin of man. Her action is great, her service is precious. But it cannot wash away the sticky impurity of the human soul.
Water is just a symbol. Body washing is a symbol of spiritual washing. A symbol can wash a symbol, but it cannot cleanse reality. Water can wash the outer image of a person, but not the inner one.
Christian baptism means complete cleansing; it represents the doors through which people enter the Church of Christ. Not twice or thrice, but only once. Therefore, one baptism.
Water. Blood. Rebirth.
A flock of birds. What a beautiful sight! One bird will never leave such a strong impression of intoxicating beauty as a flock of birds. And a flock of birds looks much more beautiful in flight than when it falls to the ground.
O my brothers, this is not just a fantasy and an image. Reality will surpass any human fantasies and images.
On a starry night, the Lord brought the righteous Abraham out and said to him: look at the sky and count the stars, if you can count them. And he said to him: so many offspring will you have (Genesis 15:5). But Abraham was old and had no children. Will the Lord keep His promise?
I tea the resurrection of the dead… We tea every day and every minute of the spiritual resurrection of sinners. Tea that those who are full of sin, as if with scabs, or souls blackened from sin, will be whitened and resurrected with repentance. And we rejoice together with the angels in heaven when the sinner repents and turns to Christ (see Luke 15:10).
But we also have tea for the general resurrection. Tea of the one and only, inimitable resurrection of all the dead, who from the creation of the world lived on earth and fell under the power of death.
Expectation. Insurrection. Transformation.
Homecoming. Oh, how blessed is the return home! All the more sweet is the return to the house where parents, and brothers, and sisters, and children, and friends are waiting! Especially when the house is not a beggarly, miserable dugout, but the royal chambers, in which the king anxiously awaits his children from distant lands!
Travelers, do you know that the Parent King is none other than the Most High Himself? Are you the ones He anxiously awaits? From a foreign land you return to Him. Yes, and this world is His field, but distant and thorny. He sent you to distant lands so that you would miss Him, so that you would understand that you cannot live without Him.
The life of the future age is a life in glory and joy, in the Kingdom of the Creator, in the arms of the Parent, in Paradise; life, not shaken by fear, without the burden of worries, without debilitating diseases, inaccessible to decay and death.
All earthly suffering in comparison with the glory of paradise is like a drop of salty water in a river of sweetness: as it is written: eye has not seen, ear has not heard, and that has not entered the heart of man, which God has prepared for those who love Him (1 Cor. 2, 9).
This is the desired paradise. Paradise: this name is one of the sweetest names of the Kingdom of Heaven. Paradise is your native side, to which you, tired travelers, return from distant lands, from thorny fields.
Return. Paradise. Glory.
