St. Basil's Monastery and St. Nicholas Convent. Monastery of Father Zosima - Holy Dormition Nicholas and Vasilyevsky Monastery Volnovakha Monastery

15 years have passed since that memorable, mournful, according to human judgment, day, when our dear Father, the founder of two monasteries, the Holy Dormition Nicholas Monastery and the Holy Dormition Vasilyevsky Monastery, passed into eternity. Even long before the start of the funeral service, despite the difficult situation in our region, material difficulties, overcoming a difficult path with many obstacles, people flocked to the monastery, driven by a burning love in their hearts for the ever-remembered Father Zosima, in order to prayerfully honor the day of his repose. We rode with gratitude in our hearts, keeping in the memory of Batyushkin fatherly love, his support, help and soul-saving instructions. They went to bring prayerful sighs to the Lord for the repose of the soul of the Father in the village of the righteous, as well as for consolation in the current sorrows and difficulties.

The memorial service began the evening before with a requiem all-night vigil. During the evening service, His Eminence Elisha, Metropolitan of Izyum and Kupyansky, and His Eminence Varnava, Archbishop of Makeevsky, arrived at the monastery to offer prayers for the repose of the ever-remembered elder together with the inhabitants and pilgrims of the monastery. Parastas, who served as a bishopric, was headed by Archbishop Barnabas. At the end of the parastas, in his sermon, Vladyka spoke about the feat of life of Father Zosima, about the fruit of his earthly life - the dispensation of the women's and men's cloisters with the House of Mercy: “The leaven, which was laid by Father Zosima, is still valid today. Despite temptations, turmoil, this ship sails - souls are saved. This abode is like an image of a spiritual ship to the deserts of the world, and here, to this day, works of mercy are performed and prayers are raised.”

To the 15th Anniversary of the Blessed Death of Schema-Archimandrite Zosima

The main theme of this year, which stirred up public consciousness and aroused great interest, is the century of tragic events that, without exaggeration, became a turning point both in the recent history of our country and in the entire European history of the past 20th century.

As part of the Christmas Readings, the Russian Orthodox Church proposed the dialogue “1917 – 2017: Lessons of the Century”. One of the main consequences as a result of the events of a century ago was open persecution against the Church: a large-scale seizure of church property, the closure of monasteries, executions and repressions. As a result, over the next 70 years, only a few monasteries functioned on the territory of the Soviet Union, before the revolution there were 800 of them.

In this regard, today we often hear about the "interrupted monastic tradition." At one of the monastic conferences in Moscow, Schema-Archimandrite Gabriel (Bunge), the theologian and hermit monk, who for many years has been leading the life of a strict recluse in a mountain monastery on the border of Switzerland and Italy, made an interesting report on this topic. It was called “Our predecessors are in good. Modern Russian monasticism between the break and the inseparability of tradition. As a result of his deep and thorough analysis, he concluded that despite the fact that outwardly the institution of monasticism was practically destroyed, there always remained such “icons” - the elders who in their lives embodied the ideal of a true monk. The experience of their life deserves the same attention as the experience of the saints of the first centuries, because the “bearers of the Spirit”, they kept burning the “torch of monastic life” and, guided by grace, prepared in the hearts of believers an amazing revival of the Orthodox Church and monasticism after the fall of the communist regime.

Notes about the Orthodox camp

For ten years in a row, every summer in the Holy Assumption Nikolo-Vasilevsky monastery in the village of Nikolskoye, a day camp for children has been organized. And, with God's help, another “shift” took place again this year within the walls of the holy monastery! From June 5 to June 24, 35 children lived a special, amazing life, studying in a day camp at the Sunday school of the monastery!

Through the efforts of Mother Superior, brothers and sisters of the monastery, the days in the camp this year were especially interesting, eventful and exciting! In addition to the lessons of the Law of God, hiking, games, entertaining quests, sports relay races, classes were held with children in acting, music, stage speech, chess, as well as various master classes (on decoupage, making decorative candles, soft toys, winding dolls , artificial flowers, quilling, ribbon embroidery). Everyone was busy with one common cause - the business of building the temple of their soul! And we built it like this: for each good deed, the child received a small brick (of course, symbolic). For example, one could receive a brick for diligence and patience in work, for activity in a conversation or game, for helping elders or classmates, for showing mercy, for a responsible attitude to a task, for sacrifice and dedication. Earned bricks went to the construction of the temple. And we illustrated the construction of this temple with the help of the joint daily picking up of a puzzle with the image of St. Basil's Cathedral.

Sermon on Easter Eve

So the first day of Holy Pascha flew by, by the grace of God, we ended the Paschal service with the celebration of Vespers. According to the liturgical charter, the second day of Easter is coming - Bright Monday.

In the Gospel at Vespers we read how the Lord appeared to His disciples, "through a closed door." For two thousand years, year after year, these events are remembered, as in the Zion Upper Room, the doors and windows of which were closed "for the sake of the Jews," Christ appeared, stood in the midst of the disciples and said: "Peace be with you." The first word after the Resurrection was “Rejoice,” we read on Great Saturday. The Lord gives joy to everyone. And the second word of the Resurrected - "Peace be with you" - the teaching of the world.

This is what I wish you all on the days of Holy Pascha, so that we live in peace, do not quarrel, so that we leave the temple with peace. “We will leave in peace,” the priest says at the end of the liturgy. So that we go into the world with peace, we live in peace for the glory of God, we carry the burdens of our family cross with the world, we carry our life cross with the world, and with the world, thank God for everything, so that we leave this life for eternity, to the Kingdom of Heaven. May the peace of God, the peace of Christ, always accompany us all in our daily lives. Here are my good bright Paschal wishes for today's holy Easter evening. Calm down, calm down. The elders of Optina said: "You must acquire peace in your heart." But I always emphasize - not indifference to everything, detachment, as some have false humility. Detachment from everything is a sinful feeling. And to acquire peace in the heart, and to be a joyful, bright person - this is already a feat, we should pray for this, for the peaceful state of our hearts. So that the peace of God, the peace of the Risen Lord, will always accompany us in later life.

Sermon on Great Wednesday Evening

My beloved flock, by the grace of God, the first half of Passion Week has ended, and we have directly entered the days of the Divine Passion of Christ. Mournful hymns are heard mourning the moment when Judas the traitor has matured and goes to betray his Divine Teacher. He confers with the Jewish assembly: “What do you want to give me, and I will betray Him to you?” Everyone consulted and appreciated: "Thirty pieces of silver." As once the brothers betrayed the righteous Joseph for thirty pieces of silver, so Judas betrayed the Savior for thirty of these pieces of silver, for he was a thief, that is, a thief. He loved money very much, he constantly went everywhere with a cash box. But the Jewish Sanhedrin was afraid of the people. At night, secretly it was necessary to commit a vile deed - to take the Savior into custody and condemn Him to death.

In the morning of this day, we joyfully testified about a sinful woman, a harlot who repented and forgiven by God, in the evening we mourn for the death of Judas. The Holy Fathers reasoned that it was not betrayal that finally destroyed Judas. If after the Resurrection he fell on his knees before Christ and asked for forgiveness, the Lord would have forgiven him, seeing his sincere repentance, for God's mercy is boundless. Desperation killed him. Judas realized what he had done when he saw the Savior bound hand and foot (as He is depicted in an ancient image), condemned, beaten and spat upon. Desperate: "What have I done!" He did not have the spiritual strength to repent, to fall at the feet of Christ with the words: “Lord, forgive me!” He went and strangled himself.

Sermon on Maundy Monday

By the grace of God, by the conclusion of today's divine service, we have entered the great holy days of the saving Divine Passion Week. The solemn Palm Sunday has ended, and we hear wonderful words: "The Lord is coming on our free passion for the sake of salvation."

On Maundy Monday, the Church commemorates Righteous Joseph the Handsome from the Old Testament, one of the twelve sons of Patriarch Jacob. He defeated the enemy with his innocent suffering, his patience. He was a prototype of Christ the Savior who suffers innocently for all of us, which is why the Church remembers him first at Holy Week.

The righteous Old Testament patriarch Jacob had twelve sons. The sons were engaged in cattle breeding, grazed the father's herds. And under Jacob was the youngest son, the young man Joseph, the most beloved. He never left his father's house, being a great consolation to him in his extreme old age. Patriarch Jacob loved his youngest son very much and was afraid to let him go. At the same time, Joseph had a special destiny of God. He had special dreams that alarmed everyone living in the house: sometimes eleven stars in the sky worshiped him, then the moon and the sun, then the ears of corn worshiped him. Secret envy in the brothers matured towards Joseph. They said, “So what? We will bow to you - father and mother and your brothers?

Sermon on the Memorial Day of the Cathedral of the Kiev-Pechersk Saints

I greet all of you, my beloved flock, with the holy festive Great Lenten Sunday! How many posts have passed? Week? Two weeks already? And I thought it was only a week. So it's been two weeks since the post. Tired? Shall we fast or break the fast? Fast? Or maybe break the fast? "White manure" to eat, milk, sour cream? We will not? Let's fast! Children say: “Let's fast. But we won’t refuse chocolate candy. ”

By the grace of God, two weeks have already passed the holy Great Lent, flew by unnoticed. And for this Lenten time of grace, we thank the Lord for the fact that the Lord, despite our weaknesses, various temptations, helps us, strengthens us. We pray, carry out the feat of daily service, we fight our infirmities, we overcome difficulties, we fast, and we hope that the Lord will accept our feat in the Kingdom of Heaven. With this spiritual gracious hope we spend the fasting time. And, Lord, may we all continue to fast.

This week, the third already, the Church will prepare us for the meeting with the Cross of the Lord. Next Sunday is Holy Cross. We will solemnly carry out the holy Cypress Cross, worship it and sing: “We worship Your Cross, Master, and glorify Your holy Resurrection.” The support of the spiritual Church will be given to us by the Holy Cross, so that we can meet the middle - the middle of the fast, under the shadow of the Cross, peacefully end the holy fast and wait for Easter, the Bright Resurrection of Christ!

From the sermon of Schema-Archimandrite Zosima on the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee.

Preparatory weeks from today began for the holy Great Lent. By the grace of God, since yesterday evening we began to sing a particularly sophisticated book, in which many hymns were composed by the Monk Andrew of Crete - the Lenten Triodion, which contains all the services of God of Holy Forty Days, Great Lent and the weeks of preparation for Holy Lent, and the services of Holy Passion Week, Divine Passion of Christ. And, God forbid, that we, having begun this book today, turning over the first leaf of it, could, with the help of God, calmly serve it all together, read it, receive spiritual compunction, fulfill all the services of God, joyfully meet the holy coming Great Lent, with joyfully go through the field of the Holy Fast, overcome your infirmities, overcome your passions and all your shortcomings, wait for the Divine Passion of Christ, and bow to the Bright Resurrection of Christ!

Memorial service for those killed in the plane crash in Adler

Donetsk Eparchy26.12.2016

December 26 in the churches of the city of Donetsk with the blessing His Eminence Hilarion, Metropolitan of Donetsk and Mariupol, a memorial service was performed for those who tragically died on December 25 in a plane crash near Adler. Funeral services were performed in the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Savior, the Cathedral of St. Nicholas Bishops, the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity and the Church of the Holy Great Martyr George. The conciliar prayer was led by the dean fathers of the four districts of the city of Donetsk.

The clergy and laity of the Donetsk diocese express their condolences to the families and friends of the untimely deceased.

Assumption 2002

My beloved flock, I greet you on a holy holiday! A highly solemn holiday is the day of the Dormition, the day of the end of the earthly journey of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the day of Her relocation from earth to heaven, as we sing in sacred hymns.

The Lord vouchsafed this year also by the grace of God to end this holy year, for the feast of the Assumption ends the church year, and from the first of September begins a new church year of God's mercy, a new circle of church holidays, the first of which is the feast of the Nativity of the Mother of God, and then all the holidays go on. Lord's and Mother of God even before the feast of the Assumption. It is not death, but the Assumption - the sleeping Virgin Mary. In front of us is the wonderful Shroud of the Mother of God, where on her deathbed the Most Holy Virgin Mary is symbolically depicted, surrounded by the holy apostles, and Her Son, the Savior, Jesus Christ, who descended from heaven, took His Mother’s soul in His hand, as we are told in the akathist to the Assumption of God Mothers. Almost 2000 years ago it happened in Jerusalem, a lot of time has passed since then, but the memory of this event is sacred. Holy Gethsemane in Jerusalem keeps the place, the cave, where the Queen of Heaven was buried. The holy city of Jerusalem sacredly preserves all those places that were associated with the life of the Savior and the Blessed Virgin Mary. And on the tomb of the Mother of God stands our Russian icon of the Assumption, all in gold, the miraculous icon of the holy Kiev-Pechersk Lavra.

Sermon by Schema-Archimandrite Zosima on the Sunday of All Saints

I greet all of you, my beloved flock, on this Sunday holiday!

By the grace of God, we celebrated Great Lent, we celebrated Easter, we celebrated the bright feast of Pentecost - the feast of the Holy Trinity, yesterday we made a tribute, seeing off this holiday. And today, as it were, the result of the entire history of the Orthodox Church, overshadowed by the Holy Spirit, is the Cathedral of All Saints, who have pleased God from the ages, a worldwide holiday of triumph. The whole world today celebrates the patronal day of All the saints of God, starting from the Angels, Archangels, Cherubim, Seraphim, Dominions, Thrones, Beginnings, Authorities - from the Heavenly host, starting and ending with the earthly angels in the flesh, who pleased God and became equal to the Angels. Here are our great forefathers Adam and Eve, our forefathers, the great righteous Noah, Enoch and others. The great prophets, the Old Testament patriarchs, who lived by faith in the coming Savior, were saved, and at the Coming of Christ became heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven, became equal to the Angels. Righteous Job the Long-suffering, righteous Joseph the Beautiful and other Old Testament righteous, Simeon the God-bearer, John the Baptist, who have already stood on the border of the Old and New Testaments.

December 29 / January 11 - the memory of the holy martyrs 14,000 babies, beaten by Herod in Bethlehem

"Angelic army of the Lord." Icon from the Cave of the Bethlehem Infants. Church of the Nativity. Bethlehem

Kontakion, tone 6

I am born in Bethlehem as a King, the wolves from Persia come with gifts, / instructed by a star from above, / but Herod is embarrassed and reaps babies like wheat, / and weeps to himself, / as if his power will soon be ruined.

Ying kontakion, tone 4

The star of the sorcerers sent to the One who was born, / and Herod the unrighteous army sent fiercely, / kill me in the manger like a lying baby.

Troparion, tone 1

Through the illnesses of the saints, having suffered in Your image, / beg, O Lord, / and heal all our illnesses, / Lover of mankind, we pray.

Holy Martyrs 14,000 infants were killed by King Herod in Bethlehem. When the time came for the greatest event to take place - the Incarnation of the Son of God and His Birth from the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Eastern Magi saw a new star in the sky, foreshadowing the birth of the King of the Jews. Immediately they went to Jerusalem to worship the Born, and the star showed them the way. Having bowed to the Divine Infant, they did not return to Jerusalem to Herod, as he ordered them, but, having received a revelation from above, they left for their country in a different way. Then Herod realized that his plan to find the Baby was not realized, and ordered to kill in Bethlehem and the surrounding area all male children from two years of age and younger. He expected that among the killed children there would be the Divine Infant, in whom he saw a rival. The lost babies became the first martyrs for Christ. The wrath of Herod fell upon Simeon the God-bearer, who publicly testified in the temple about the Born Messiah. When the holy elder died, Herod did not allow him to be buried with dignity. By order of the king, the holy prophet, priest Zechariah, was killed: he was killed in the Jerusalem temple between the altar and the altar because he did not indicate where his son, John, the future Baptist of the Lord Jesus Christ. The wrath of God soon punished Herod himself: a severe illness overtook him, and he died, eaten alive by worms. Before his death, the impious king completed the measure of his atrocities: he killed the chief priests and scribes of the Jews, his brother, sister and her husband, his wife Mariamne and three sons, as well as 70 wisest men, members of the Sanhedrin.

Synod of murdered children of Donbass

Martyred as a result of hostilities in the period from April 2014 to the present

2. Alexandra MAMEDKHANOVA 12 years old July 7, 2014, the car came under fire between Dobropolye and Svetlogorovka

Sermon on the week of Christmas

I greet all of you, my beloved flock, on holy Sunday and the feast of the Nativity of Christ! By the grace of God, today is Christmas Day. A special day on which we remember the relatives in the flesh of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Elder Joseph, who was betrothed to the Virgin Mary, was entrusted with keeping Her virginity, and who witnessed the Nativity of Christ the Savior. He cared, as they read today in the akathist, about the carnal needs of Christ the Savior, in childhood and adolescence he supported Him. The holy righteous Joseph was a witness of great mysteries - Divine revelations about Christ the Savior, and he composed everything in his heart, marveling at the past.

King David, for “out of the line of David shall salvation shine,” the Scripture said. "From the root of David" came Christ the Savior. Last Sunday we read in the Gospel the genealogy of the Savior from David to the righteous Joseph the Betrothed.

And we honor the holy Apostle James, the brother of the Lord, the first bishop of the Church of Jerusalem. He was the son of Joseph from his first marriage, brought up, communicated with the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ.

Sermon of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill on the Sunday of the Holy Fathers

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

The Nativity Fast, which is now coming to an end, draws our attention to the spiritual feat of people who lived before Christ the Savior. Most of the feasts dedicated to the Old Testament prophets fall on the time of the Nativity Fast. And worship services in honor of the Old Testament prophets help us understand the meaning and significance of the ministry they performed.

The last two Sundays before the Nativity of Christ, called in the language of the Church Charter the Week of the Forefathers and the Week of the Father, are dedicated to all the Old Testament saints of God who kept the promise of the coming of the Savior into the world. They were faithful to this promise, despite the most difficult circumstances of their life from a spiritual point of view.

Sermon by Metropolitan Anthony of Surozh on December 31, 1967

The Lord gave us one more year of our life to live to the end, and we entered this New Year proclaiming our faith not only in God in general, but also in the fact that we believe in the Kingdom of God that should come - first in an inconspicuous way in our souls, and then, through us, and in a noticeable, glorious, victorious way - for the whole world.

The first words of the prayer we just sang are "Blessed be the Kingdom of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit." We enter this year with the faith that it can belong to the Kingdom of the Lord. What does it mean? As we look back on the past, the prayers we have just read, sung, listened to speak to us of repentance and thanksgiving. About repentance, because during the past years and the past year we all, each of us turned out to be unworthy of the name of a person, the name of a Christian, God's love and the love of people. We have something to repent of, because our life during this year hardly always, hardly often contributed to the establishment of the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of exultant, inseparable, purest love. We need to repent, because of all people we, Christians, are called to be God's co-workers so that His ways become the ways of men.

CHRISTMAS MIRACLE IN ADVANCE, OR ORTHODOX NEW YEAR (Natalia Klimova)

Varya dreamed. She had such a small weakness. But, we must give her her due, - everything that she mentally imagined was quite feasible. She did not at all want a luxurious life, expensive outfits, travel to exotic countries. No no! She would have simple female happiness: for her husband to share her faith ... The Potapov family lived well. By worldly standards, one might even say, she lived beautifully. Husband, Andrey, earns well, has no bad habits, does not have a soul in his wife. Six-year-old daughter Dasha is growing up healthy, smart and obedient. So what else does Varvara lack for complete happiness?!

It just so happened that literally a year ago Varya agreed to go on an excursion with her friend to a monastery located not far from the city. And then something happened to her. Unusual silence and peace entered the woman's heart and did not want to leave it. Now Barbara could not live without a temple. At first, she simply came once a week, when there were no services, and quietly sat in a corner - she came to her senses from the now hated city bustle. Then I bought several pamphlets and began to slowly become churched ...

Sermon on the Entry into the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos

I greet all of you, my beloved flock, with the great annual holiday of joy and triumph - the Entry into the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary! A holiday when the aged parents, the righteous Fathers of God Joachim and Anna fulfilled their promise. For they, being barren and aged, did not expect to give birth to a child, but promised that if God would give them a conception, a birth, they would consecrate this child to God. And they faithfully fulfilled their vow when they brought the three-year-old maiden, the girl Mary, to the temple of Jerusalem. Dedication Celebration! All the girlfriends of the Virgin Mary gathered, the girls around gathered, all with lit candles. With the singing of psalms, the solemn procession came to the temple of Jerusalem. And at that time, an elderly elder, the high priest Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, served, performed the sacred service in the temple. And he, moved by the Spirit of God, led the girl Mary into the Most Holy of Holies, where the priest entered only once a year, according to church custom. And everyone was amazed and surprised at this extraordinary event.

The Virgin Mary remained at the temple of Jerusalem to be brought up. For at the temple there were separate rooms where boys dedicated to God were brought up, future servants of the temple were prepared. And the girls in the other half were brought up, also future servants of the house of God, the temple of God. They were taught to read and write, brought up the fear of God, they studied the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament, prophetic books. The girls learned needlework, singing and everything that was necessary for the spiritual life.

Sermon on the Day of Commemoration of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist Matthew Beginning of the Nativity Fast

I greet all of you, my beloved flock, on this holy festive Sunday afternoon and with the beginning of the holy Christmas fast!

How long before Christmas? Thirty-eight days, smart women say. So there is very little left before the holy Christmas night.

By the grace of God, and on this Sunday, the Lord has gathered us under the vaults of this sacred temple for common prayer, for our spiritual communion and spiritual renewal. And the Lord vouchsafed the priests at the throne of God to celebrate the Holy Divine Liturgy in a conciliar way, and we - to pray quietly, peacefully in the temple on this holy Sunday.

The Gospel of the Merciful Samaritan was read to us by Father Deacon at the Divine Liturgy: "Go and do the same." The Lord calls us all to mercy, not to empty words, but to deeds. The Samaritan did not hesitate whether to help the Jew or not. He rendered it without hesitation, despite the fact that the enmity was hateful between the Samaritans and the Jews. He bandaged all his wounds, put him on his cattle, walked along with the donkey himself, brought him to the hotel, served him all night, fed him, bandaged his wounds. In the morning, going further, he gives his last money to the owner of the hotel: “Take it, feed him, treat him until he gets up. If you spend something superfluous, I, returning, will repay you my debt. This is today's gospel edification: do not do good for the sake of profit, not for the sake of human glory, but for the glory of God.

It is now very fashionable for us to do good deeds, but alas, not for the sake of God, not for the sake of God's meekness and mercy, but for the sake of human glory: I am a benefactor, I help! Therefore, from this help there is only emptiness.

SERMON SCHIARCHIM. ZOSIMUS ON THE FESTIVAL OF THE OZERYANSKIAN ICON OF THE MOTHER OF GOD

I greet all of you, my beloved flock, on this holy holiday Sunday! By the grace of God, the Lord again vouchsafed us to gather together under the vaults of this sacred temple to celebrate the holy Divine Liturgy. Today the Lord has made it worthy to pray at the foot of the Icon of the Mother of God of Ozeryanskaya, the patroness of the Kharkiv region, the patroness of our southern region, the Donbass, the land of our Russian patroness. Pray, ask Her for help for all of us, intercession, support, prayer and protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Lord has strengthened us to celebrate the Divine Liturgy today at the Throne of God, and He has strengthened you all to pray on today's holy, grace-filled day of the Resurrection, Little Pascha. Any Sunday is always the day of the Lord, the day of little Easter, we sing the Resurrection of Christ, we glorify the Savior who has risen from the dead.

And on this holy day, the Lord has vouchsafed you all in this temple to pray for the peace of the whole world, for the well-being of God's holy churches, for the salvation of all of us, for our families, at the Divine Liturgy. We prayed for all the lost in the world - “let us pray for the faithful for the catechumens”, that is, for those who have not yet been baptized, but they will come to God through our prayers in time. They prayed for them, that the Lord would have mercy on them, pronounce them with the word of truth, open the Gospel of truth to them. Thus we prayed for an unenlightened world. What a deep and wondrous litany this is on the eve of the Cherubic Hymn, and how we must pray with concentration at this moment, especially for the unenlightened. Whoever has unbaptized relatives, who has those who have not yet come to God, it is at this moment that you need to pray for their conversion, who have gone astray, to the Holy Orthodox Church.

September 14-27 World Exaltation of the Holy Life-Giving Cross of the Lord

From the sermon of Schema-Archimandrite Zosima on the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on September 27, 1999

My beloved flock, I greet you all on the highly solemn feast of the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord!

Thank God that the Lord has gathered us all at the foot of His Cross. The Lord gave us all a weapon against the devil - the holy cross. The holy cross accompanies us all from the day of our holy baptism, when the priest, having baptized us as babies, put it on us with his hand, saying the words: “The Lord said: if anyone wants to follow me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow It is coming for me” (Matt. 16:24; 10:38; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23; 14:27).

And this holy cross accompanies us all throughout our lives: both at night and during the day, on land and on the waters, and on a journey, and in sorrow, and in joy - our weapon, the holy cross, is always with us. The cross depicts the Savior who died for us all; on the reverse side of the cross are engraved the holy sacramental words: save and save - from all troubles, from all misfortunes, from all misfortunes, from all envious and haters, from all enemies, visible and invisible, save and save us, Lord. And, having a cross on ourselves, let us not be afraid of any evil spirits, we are not afraid of anything evil - the Lord conquers everything. And I often say the words to you: nothing is scary with God. And give us, Lord, such a deep, pure faith, so that nothing is terrible for us. The holy cross is on me - well, what kind of evil spirits can cling to me: even sprinkle me from head to toe with salt or earth, or pour over me, and even “if a mortal man drinks, he will not harm him” (Mark 16:18; Lk. 10 :19). That's what pure, deep faith should be. And grant, Lord, that we all have this faith pure, deep, and may the holy cross accompany us all our lives. And our ashes, when they betray the earth, may the holy cross overshadow, may it sanctify us, who are awaiting the general resurrection from the dead. When the whole world sees the cross for the last time - the sign of the Son of Man - the fiery cross will appear in heaven, announcing the end of the world, announcing the coming Savior-Judge, announcing the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven, but it will never end, as we sing in the holy Creed for the glory of God...

Unfortunately, the further text of this sermon by Father Zosima has not been preserved. In an attempt to at least partially fill this gap, we bring to the reader's attention excerpts from other sermons containing the elder's thoughts about the holy cross.

September 8/21 - Nativity of Our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary

Troparion, tone 4

Thy Nativity, O Virgin Mother of God, / to proclaim joy to the whole universe: / from Thee has risen the Sun of Truth, Christ our God, / and, breaking the oath, gave a blessing, / and, having abolished death, granted us eternal life.

Kontakion, tone 4

Joachim and Anna of the reproach of childlessness / and Adam and Eve are freed from mortal aphids, Most Pure, / in Your holy birth. / That is what Your people celebrate, / the guilt of transgressions has been delivered, / sometimes call Thee: / barren fruits gives birth to the Mother of God and the Nourisher of our Life.

We solemnly celebrate, dear brothers and sisters, the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary from barren parents, pious Joachim and Anna. From the first centuries of the Christian faith, the Holy Church established this holiday. The celebrated event - the birth of the God-chosen Maiden - brought joy to the whole world, for the God-man Christ Jesus, who shone from Her, broke the curse of God that weighed on the criminal and accursed human race and brought down on him the blessing of God, and, having corrected universal death, gave people eternal life. This is how the Holy Church explains the cause of true joy.

The righteous parents of the Ever-Virgin mourned for a long time about their infertility, long and fervently prayed to the Lord for the resolution of infertility, which was considered a punishment from God for sins; they did a lot of alms to bend to the mercy of the All-Merciful, and endured insults from fellow tribesmen. And in this sorrow and unceasing prayer and doing good, they were gradually cleansed in spirit and inflamed more and more with love and devotion to God, and thus were prepared by the Providence of God for the blessed birth of the Most Blessed Daughter, chosen from all generations to be the Mother of the incarnate Word.

September 1 (14) is the first day of the Indict. Church New Year

To the Creator of all creatures, / setting times and years in Your power, / bless the crown of the year of Your goodness, O Lord, / preserving people and Your city in the world, / with the prayers of the Mother of God and save us. (troparion indicta)

Friday, September 14, in all Orthodox church calendars is marked as the beginning of the indiction - the Church New Year.

Again and again the Holy Church calls us to enter into the yearly circle of sacred remembrances, where the Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition are preserved in all their depth and fullness.

A new liturgical circle of the main, twelve church holidays begins with the feast of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos, which is celebrated on the seventh day after the Church New Year, September 21. The liturgical year begins. It was the Most Holy Theotokos who was the Door through which God entered our lives. The Feast of the Assumption of the Most Holy Theotokos, on August 28, ended the yearly circle of services.

The New Year is the most inconspicuous Orthodox holiday, which in the church calendar is called the beginning of the indiction. Unfortunately, we do not know very well when our Orthodox church year begins and why is it so named?

August 28 (15) - THE DORMITION OF OUR Blessed Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary. PATRONAL DAY OF THE CONVENIENCE

The last sermon of Schema-Archimandrite Zosima.

My beloved flock, I greet you on a holy holiday! A highly solemn holiday - the day of the Dormition, the day of the end of the earthly journey of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the day of Her relocation from earth to Heaven, as we sing in sacred hymns.

The Lord deigned to end this holy year with His mercy, for the feast of the Dormition ends the church year, and from the first of September begins a new church year of God's mercy, a new circle of church holidays, the first of which is the feast of the Nativity of the Mother of God, and then all the Lord's and Mother of God feasts go even until Feast of the Assumption. It is not death, but the Assumption - the sleeping Virgin Mary. Before us is a wonderful Shroud of the Mother of God, where on her deathbed the Most Holy Virgin Mary is symbolically depicted, surrounded by the holy Apostles, and Her Son the Savior Jesus Christ, descended from heaven, took in His hand the soul of His Mother, as it is said in the akathist to the Dormition. Almost two thousand years ago it happened in Jerusalem, a lot of time has passed since then, but the memory of this event is sacred. Holy Gethsemane in Jerusalem keeps the place, the cave, where the Queen of Heaven was buried. The holy city of Jerusalem sacredly preserves all those places that were associated with the life of the Savior and the Blessed Virgin Mary. And on the tomb of the Mother of God stands our Russian icon of the Assumption, all in gold, the miraculous icon of the holy Kiev-Pechersk Lavra.

August 23 (10) - Memorial Day of St. Lawrence of Chernigov

From the sermon of the schiarchim. Zosima on Sunday 08/23/98

... Life is interesting. I already want to go out for a sermon, I'm still standing in the Altar, listening. These are the wonderful old men of our twentieth century, pure, bright, kind. And now the brethren were talking in the altar, the people understood that, not to these fat-bellies, but in silk cassocks, and diamonds, they went, but to this lame old man, who could not really serve because of his weakness, he only sang wonderfully and praised the Lord. And this lame, miserable old man instructed thousands of people with his simplicity, his unselfish love. And the people always feel, the people will never be deceived, where is love, and where is falsehood, hypocrisy, duplicity. And Holy Rus' loved the Monk Lawrence. Not only during his lifetime, hundreds of people strove to get to him, but especially after his death he became dear to everyone, for his relics were healing, and people just came to the grave to cry, people came to receive grace-filled consolation, and they received it. And in our time, the Lord showed a miracle - the Reverend Elder Lavrenty glorified in the face of the holy saints of God. Found in Chernigov, in the basement of the Cathedral, its imperishable holy relics, fragrant. How much blessed joy, how many miracles were from his holy relics. The relics were solemnly washed, dressed in a new great holy schema and laid in the Cathedral. And not only the land of Chernigov, and the city of Chernigov, but the whole Russian land glorifies the wondrous old man.

In our troubled times, his consolation, with which he consoles us, is especially significant. Instead of the schismatics now sowing confusion in our hearts: “The end will come to you, Muscovites, we will win, and everything else.” And Elder Lavrenty consoles us: “It’s not true! God will always win, in any place, and not some evil spirits retreated. And about the current state, about this false patriarch of all Ukraine, the former Filaret, the elder spoke clearly: “So he will rise against the Church, depart from God, that the whole world will be amazed at his audacity.” Indeed, the whole world is amazed at Filaret's audacity. All the Patriarchs of the East are surprised, but where did such an impudent stinking dog come from that barks at the whole Church? And you have to be patient. And the old man said, consoling: “Do not be afraid! Let us stand for unity and for faith, and evil will recede - the Church will be preserved as a single Russian Orthodox Church. This is the consolation that Elder Lavrenty gives us in our mournful days of schism and division. For this senile consolation of his, we are grateful to him. And when it is so sad in our souls, let us remember that Elder Lavrenty comforted us, said that we would remain in unity, we would stand, despite this evil and artificial division, the Church would be preserved - the one holy Orthodox Church. For this mercy and for this love of the Elder Rev. Lawrence, we thank the Lord!

And today the Liturgy was celebrated, on the throne lay the holy relics of the Monk Elder Lawrence. And on his incorruptible relics, a part of his incorruptible body, we performed the holy Divine Liturgy in our church. He is dear not only to the city of Chernigov, but also to the whole land of our holy Russian. A wonderful service was composed for him, an akathist was composed, and we pray and magnify. Until recently, we sang eternal memory to him: “God rest with the Saints ...”, and today we already sing solemnly: “We bless you, Reverend Father Lawrence, and we honor your holy memory, mentor of monks and companion of angels.”

There are great celebrations today in Chernigov, an aged elder, Metropolitan Anthony, is performing the service of God, although he has already become weak, but his spirit is strong. The Lord also sent him a vicar bishop, Ambrose - from the Kharkov priests they appointed him an assistant in his senile archpastoral labors. The land of Chernihiv is famous. The Chernigov school is famous, where young men and women receive spiritual education, learn to serve in the church, to lead the choir, and under the guidance of Elder Lawrence, the great choir director, a wonderful connoisseur of spiritual singing, the science of music is easily given to those who study it, and excellent choir directors come out. And our regent, too, studied under the protection of the Reverend Elder Lawrence in Chernigov, and now the monastery church is resounding with singing. So, thank God that the Lord in our difficult times shows mercy, shows wonderful elders, shows new saints of God, illuminated by the light of Tabor glory. They shine even after death and give us all consolation. And all of us, as soon as we hear the name of the Monk Lawrence, we baptize our foreheads at once. Lord, this is a great old man! Comfort us unfortunate in our earthly life! And we pray before his holy image that he would give us consolation, support for our weak human nature. And so that we, with meekness and love, carry our life's cross, thanking God for everything, as the Monk Elder Lavrenty thanked God.

On today's holy Sunday, we have gathered in our holy temple of God for our common Christian prayer. Resurrection is a small Easter, a luminous day when we remember the Resurrection of Christ from the dead. And we sing a solemn song: “Having seen the Resurrection of Christ, let us worship the holy Lord Jesus!” This joy of the Resurrection accompanies us every week, and every week every Sunday we strive to sing to the temple of God the bright Resurrection of Christ, to celebrate little Pascha, to celebrate the Lord's day, to pray with all our soul in the temple of God. And it becomes easy, and problems go away, they are resolved peacefully, and families are pacified, and we easily endure the temptations that befall us, because with God everything is easy in life. And without God there is darkness, heaviness, despair, despondency, and so on. So, enlighten us, Lord, that we should live with God, always honor the Lord's Resurrection day. Leave all the fuss! Anyway, the devil tells us endlessly: bazaars, shops, vanity, laundry. Let's hustle, hustle! But what about us? Six days must bustle: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday. Who should give the seventh holy day? (voices in the temple - to God) Lord God! And we will succeed if we give to God, and the peaceful week will pass with God's blessing, and all our fuss will be resolved, and shops and bazaars will not go anywhere from us. We will be with God. How our grandfathers-great-grandfathers honored the Lord's Day of Resurrection. In the evening the bell struck in the Church for the All-Night Vigil, unharnessed his oxen, washed himself and crouched rather where? - Pray to God in church. And they reaped by hand, and plowed, and sowed, and cleaned, and managed, and produced children by ten by three. And everything was fine and all right, and there were pious families, and there were normal wives, and there were normal husbands, because they lived with God. The Lord's Day has always been celebrated sacredly. And enlighten us, Lord, so that this mammon does not endlessly swallow us up, this endless vanity, this swamp that sucks us in. The day of the Lord has come - on Monday we will do everything. Everything! Honored, prayed, managed, everything will be fine. Vanity will run away from us? Wait until Monday, you will already work with new spiritual and physical strength on Monday. And what you are going to do on Sunday, and it will not work, there will be no success. And God willing, the week will begin, and everything will be fine, it will be peaceful. Like this. We always honor the Lord's Day!

August 6 (19) TRANSFORMATION OF THE LORD GOD AND Savior OUR JESUS ​​CHRIST

40 days before He was put to a shameful death for our sins, the Lord revealed to His three disciples the glory of His Divinity. “And after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and brought them up to a high mountain alone, and was transfigured before them: and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became white as light” (Matt. 17, 1-2). This is the event the Lord had in mind when He said: “There are some of those standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of man coming in His kingdom” (Matt. 16:28). Thus, the faith of the disciples was strengthened and prepared for the trial of the coming suffering and death of the Savior; and they could see in them not only human suffering, but the completely free passion of the Son of God. The disciples also saw Moses and Elijah talking with the Lord, and then they realized that He Himself was not Elijah or one of the prophets, but someone much higher: Who could call the law and the prophets to be His witnesses, because. He was the fulfillment of both.

Sermon by the schiarch. Zosimas for the Transfiguration of the Lord (08/23/98)

I greet all of you, my beloved flock, with the great annual feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, the glory of the Lord, the Tabor Light, which shone the Lord in the night prayer on Mount Tabor! And the Lord calls us: strive for the Light. So that we all go away from the darkness of sin, from our passions, from vices, go away, and strive for the Light of the non-evening, the Light of the uncreated, the Light of Tabor! In the middle of the night, the Light shone on the Savior, by this He showed that this Light should shine on us too - the Light of Christ enlightens everyone! Mount Tabor is the great mountain of Palestine, on which the Lord prayed in night prayer and on which He was transfigured in Glory. Last night I told you that on the eve of His suffering, the Lord revealed His glory to strengthen the faith of the apostles. Two great prophets appeared to him during prayer - Moses the legislator and Elijah the zealot of the true faith, and the glorious Forerunner of the second coming of Christ. They appeared together, talking with the Savior about His last days, about what should happen in Jerusalem, about suffering, about death and about His glorious Resurrection. Triumph, joy - Christ shining in the darkness of the night, prophets talking with Him, a cloud , enveloping them - the apostles in delight and horror look at this wonderful, inexplicable vision, only one delight: “It is good for us to be here! Let us create three tents (tents) to live in them always, in this Glory of God.” And suddenly a thunderous voice from Heaven: “This is my beloved Son, I favor him, listen to Him.” And last night I spoke to you briefly about this holy obedience to God and the Church. That we are not some kind of workers in life, but holy novices. Especially in the Church of God we carry holy obedience, beginning with the Apostles. Patriarch, Bishops, priests, deacons, laity, cleaners, prosphora makers, janitors - we all bear holy obedience to God and the Mother Church. We work for the Lord, for the salvation of our souls. “Listen to him” - we listen to God, we listen to the hierarchy, and we fulfill their will, as the Will of God. Mount Tabor is a particularly fertile place. It is always covered with some special grace of the inexplicable Light. And today, the Greek clergy, and our Russian pilgrims, and other faiths ascend Mount Tabor - everyone goes to sing the glory of the Transfiguration, the glory of the Light of Tabor - “Thou hast been transfigured on the mountain, Christ our God!”! As I already told you, what an exciting troparion, we are all familiar with it from childhood, when everyone is walking in the procession, and the singers solemnly sing: “Thou hast been transfigured on the mountain, Christ God.” A priest in a white vestment consecrates apples, grapes, and water. Joy, celebration! The Savior, by the grace of God, has come. And this joy of triumph both in the city of Jerusalem and on Athos, there is a special great celebration there today. The top of Mount Athos is crowned with a stone church of the Transfiguration of the Lord. How the monks brought bricks and stones there, this already remains a mystery, incomprehensible to the mind. The sheer cliffs of the top of Mount Athos are crowned by a stone temple. Once a year, only there is the service of God performed on the feast of the Transfiguration. From all corners, from all monasteries, sketes, monks hurry with the blessing of the elders, so that there, in the clouds, sing the glory of God. The top of Mount Athos is always covered by a cloud, there has never been such a moment that it was visible, it is always hidden, as in a halo. Young novices and gray-haired elders climb there along ladder ropes, along sheer cliffs, to pray there on this day. And what a spiritual delight, when among the clouds on the top of Mount Athos they sing the courageous tune “Thou hast been transfigured on the mountain, Christ our God.” One eyewitness described to me his inexplicable delight, indeed some kind of glory, all the faces of the singing and praying monks brighten, the transformation is taking place. Such love, such kindness appears in everyone, while still on earth, from the glory of the heavenly holy Mount Athos. This great celebration is still taking place today. And today, from all corners of Mount Athos, monks have gathered there to sing among the clouds, in the likeness of Mount Tabor, the glory of the Transfiguration of the Lord. And they pray that the glory of the Light of Tabor would shine upon them and the whole earth. In Rus' they also loved the feast of the Transfiguration very much, and in honor of this event they built churches of God. The famous Valaam monastery, the wonderful island of Valaam, and the main cathedral of the monastery were consecrated on the mountain in honor of the glory of the Lord, in honor of the feast of the Transfiguration. The famous Solovetsky Monastery of Zosima and Savvaty - the main cathedral is also consecrated in honor of the Transfiguration of the Lord. And among the wild nature, among these bad weather, among the constant cold, the monks warm themselves, singing the glory of the Transfiguration of the Lord. And today, both Valaam, and Solovki, and our other monasteries, cities and villages celebrate their patronal day, singing the glory of the Transfiguration of the Lord. In our Donbas, the Holy Mountains are also crowned with the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord, Tabor Glory. And when the Satanists-Bolsheviks closed the monastery, their first duty was to destroy this temple. The head was cut off from the Holy Mountains. So the Holy Mountains stand to this day, headless for the time being, but the brothers pray and sing the glory of the Light of Tabor, and the Transfiguration of the Lord is celebrated as the Holy Day.

From the sermon of Schema-Archimandrite Zosima on Sunday, August 16, 1998

I greet all of you, my beloved flock, on this holy festive Sunday! Did you pray well? ( voices in the temple - Yes!) What was the gospel about today? Well, tell me. (voices unintelligible) Wait ladies. First, the righteous men. The priests all fell silent in the altar, slept, forgot. So what was the gospel about today? This is how we listen. So what was the gospel about today? (- about demoniac ... healing) Yes, yes, yes, yes, healing who? Bes-but-va-that-go. This is what we found out. This is how we pray, we stand in the church - we visited the bazaar, baked pies and boiled borscht, and they say, they prayed to God in the church. Yes?! This is our kind of prayer that they read, who knows, and did not hear and do not understand. So, doctor, who did you read the Gospel about today? ( doctor - On the healing of the demoniac). Right-a-quite! What was there, tell me, otherwise Seryoga the blacksmith forgot. ( doctor - He was demon-possessed). Well! And what did he do there? ( doctor - The Lord healed him, father).

By the grace of God, and on today's holy Sunday, the Lord vouchsafed us to pray together, as a single spiritual family! We, the priests, the Lord strengthened conciliarly, as a single family, to stand at the throne of God and pray for all of you. And the Lord has strengthened you to lay aside all worldly cares (as we sing in the Cherubic Hymn), and also made you worthy to pray on this Sunday in our rural church of God. For this mercy of God, our common prayer in our holy temple, we thank the Lord. And grant, Lord, that we who come to the temple feel here neither as guests nor strangers, but as a single spiritual family, striving for God, striving for salvation, striving for the inheritance of eternal life. That's exactly what we lack now - unity. We are all divided both in life and in the temple, some kind of strangers, incomprehensible to each other. And we have a very hard time in life. And the houses are divided, even the neighbors, and they do not know about each other, who is like, what is like. A person gets sick, we don’t even have a clue what is happening to the person. For a week already, the deceased has been lying, decomposed, and no one in the neighbors even knows about the person. This is a terrible terrible alienation, disunity has been depressing us all lately. That is why we are striving for the common, for the Temple of God, monasteries, cloisters, in order to feel together as a single family. Not this terrible loneliness, selfhood unnecessary to anyone, namely, spiritual unity, so that by the union of love, as we sing on Great Wednesday on Passion, we would be bound, as the Saints Apostles were once bound. And God grant that we all feel like a single spiritual family, a monolith, support for each other! How much we need it, especially in our time, during our loneliness, such despondency, our oppression. Enlighten us, Lord, to be one flock, so that the Lord will be the One Shepherd for us all, to the Glory of God!

Patriarch Kirill: I ask everyone to maintain spiritual unity

“I appeal from here to all of Rus' - to Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, to all other countries where Holy Rus' lives its spiritual, cultural tradition,” His Holiness Patriarch Kirill addressed in his word in the Assumption Cathedral Moscow Kremlin on the day of memory of St. Peter of Moscow, wonderworker of all Russia.

“I ask everyone to preserve that spiritual unity, the founder of which was the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duke Vladimir, that unity that was guarded by the hierarchs of the Russian Church, including St. Peter. It is no coincidence that the saint gave his whole life in order to preserve this unity. He traveled through the dioceses of devastated Rus', he reconciled the distraught feudal princes, he awakened a feeling of love for the united Fatherland, he tried to reconcile everyone so that Rus' would accumulate strength and overthrow the foreign yoke.

“His great feat is an answer to all those who say that there is nothing in common between Russia and Ukraine, that the history of Russia begins almost from the 17th century,” the Patriarch emphasized, “This is an answer to all those who believe that the Church in Ukraine and in Russia they are two different Churches. This is one single Church of Holy Rus', held together by the deeds of St. Peter, St. Alexis, the great saints of the Kiev Caves, St. Sergius of Radonezh. And we believe that this spiritual unity will save all historical Rus' from spiritual destruction, from temptations, from new idolatry, from the transgression of God's commandments. It will not allow us to sell our spiritual birthright for lentil soup. We pray to St. Peter that, standing before God, he will incline His mercy to historical Rus' - to Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.