Sermon in memory of St. Nicholas. Memory of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker (2012)

December 19, the feast of St. Nicholas, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia, wonderworker, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' in the Iveron Cathedral of the former Nikolo-Perervinsky Monastery. After reading the Gospel, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church addressed the audience with a sermon dedicated to the feat of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.

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

Today our Church solemnly glorifies the memory of St. Nicholas, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia, wonderworker. Saint Nicholas lived at the end of the 3rd ─ beginning of the 4th century. We are separated from him by almost 1,700 years, and during all these centuries his memory has been carefully preserved in the Church, because he lived amazing life, having acquired enormous strength of spirit, and with his ardent faith he approached God so much that God gave him a special power - the power to perform miracles.

The memory of the Church is its tradition. We, studying history, know about some historical events, but we rarely remember them, and very often we forget what we learned at school or at university. This is a dead memory - it does not live, it does not activate spiritual forces, it does not constantly influence the human mind. But the memory preserved in the Church, the tradition of the Church, is a living memory; it is supported and fertilized by sincere prayer, which a person offers to those whom he remembers - God's saints.

Our memory of St. Nicholas is so vivid that we sometimes turn to him every day, asking him to help in our lives. And we receive an answer from him - our prayers come true. He shows us his presence in our lives, including through his miraculous and myrrh-streaming relics, preserved in the city of Bari, which are abundantly covered with fragrant myrrh. This ointment is collected every year, and pilgrims visiting Bari have the opportunity to anoint themselves with this ointment.

Why did St. Nicholas become so famous? What was the basis of his wonderful life? We all know the troparion to the saint well: in this troparion we call it “the rule of faith and the image of meekness.” It is impossible to say better - the whole meaning of the saint’s life was that he showed himself to be the rule of faith and was an image of meekness.

Meekness is a Christian virtue that is difficult to understand modern man. After all, a person’s worldview is largely shaped by the environment - those standards of thought, those ideals, those stereotypes that are present in the public consciousness. But in modern social consciousness, the concept of meekness is least present, and the practical worldview formed by everyday life seems to exclude this concept in our country. Today, many people believe that the basis of success - and success is the goal of many people's lives - is necessarily struggle. The world is organized according to the laws of competitiveness and competition. If in this competition everyone would strive to prove themselves with the best side without offending the other, then it would be justified, understandable and, perhaps, even useful. But more often than not, the competition we enter into is accompanied by conflicts, the desire to weaken another person, defeat him and, against the backdrop of his defeat, ensure our own victory. What kind of meekness is there, because meekness is nothing more than a manifestation of a person’s inner humility. Outwardly, this is expressed in the fact that the person is not irritable, not angry, not malicious.

You can restrain yourself from irritation, you can restrain the feeling of anger, controlling your actions and emotions with strong-willed attitudes, but this will not be meekness. Meekness stems from the inner state of the spirit, because meekness is an external manifestation of human humility. This, if you like, is a special philosophy of life - the correct philosophy, the correct picture of existence, when a person fits himself into this picture in the best possible way. This is a special attitude towards God, towards the people around you and towards yourself. In humility, a person seems to give up his central place - to God; in humility a person discovers his best qualities; in humility a person establishes special relationship with other people, so that these relationships in no way destroy or damage the other person.

In the end, human humility is a huge strength when a person achieves the goals he sets for himself without offending other people, without causing harm or damage to them. Building such relationships gives the heart joy and peace, peace and quiet. My conscience is clear: I didn’t offend anyone, I didn’t step on anyone, I didn’t deceive anyone. And how sweet is such a victory for a person, how wonderful the achievements seem when they are achieved without any damage to others. Indeed, you need to have enormous strength to live your life like this. But if our actions are based on a worldview, then meekness is also based on a certain worldview - a Christian view of life, and it is formed by the Christian faith. This is why we say that St. Nicholas is the “image of meekness,” because he was the “rule of faith.” If you base your life on faith, then inner humility and meekness will become a natural manifestation of this faith.

We have just listened to the Gospel of Luke, which contains the narrative Sermon on the Mount. What clear commandments the Lord gives us! If you live according to these commandments, if you maintain the correct faith, do not subject it to distortion, do not introduce comments and amendments into it that stem from human wisdom; if we do not introduce into it errors stemming from human sinfulness, but keep it pure, then we will have a solid ideological foundation for building a happy, peaceful, calm life, in which human success does not necessarily mean conflict with others.

Saint Nicholas lived by this faith. But it turned out that this pure and holy faith, which has its source in Divine revelation, that is, God Himself, has been subject to attempts since ancient times to change it, destroy it, or introduce a sinful human dimension into it. The entire history of the Church is the history of the struggle for the purity of faith, and St. Nicholas was an active fighter for the preservation of the Orthodox faith. He was a participant in the First Ecumenical Council and fought with Presbyter Arius, a heretic who tried to introduce human philosophical wisdom into the Christian Orthodox faith, destroying the very foundation of this faith. Arius taught that Christ is not the Son of God, that He is not consubstantial with the Father, that He is not God, but only a certain supreme creation. But if Christ is a creation, then how could salvation be achieved through His death and His Resurrection?

The heresy of Arius was aimed at destroying the very foundation of the Christian faith. And the saint and wonderworker Nicholas, being the rule of this faith, together with his brothers in the episcopate in 325 in Nicaea ─ in the Asia Minor city, where bishops from all over the world gathered for the First Ecumenical Council, defended the Orthodox faith and thereby set an example of how to to protect the treasure of faith so that it can be laid as the basis of our life, so that faith becomes the norm of our life.

But for life to be formed on the basis of faith, this faith must be pure, unclouded, unclouded by human wisdom. And the difficulty lies in the fact that a person perceives faith with his mind, and our mind is formed, again, under the influence environment. And each subsequent generation of people, perceiving faith - the one and only, holy, pure - simultaneously perceives this faith through the prism of their views and beliefs. And there is nothing wrong with this, this is how man works: people of the 21st century cannot think the way they thought people III or 4th century. But, perceived by the modern mind, through the prism modern knowledge our faith, we should not destroy this faith by introducing our sinful human wisdom into it.

Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker teaches us all this, as does a host of other holy saints. For us, all this sounds very relevant today, because in our time, a vain time, many people are unable to pure faith- in this wondrous source of Divine wisdom - to see the basis for your life, the norm of your being. And therefore such a huge responsibility lies on the Church, including its ministers, to help each subsequent generation of people perceive the norm of faith, the image of faith and place this faith as the basis of their lives.

In the monastery where we perform divine services today and pray with you, there is a theological seminary. And therefore I have special words for the seminarians - for those who tomorrow will take the path of serving the Church. I encourage you to always remain faithful to the source of Divine wisdom that is revealed to us in our Orthodox faith. And at the same time I encourage you to be able to convey to consciousness modern people the meaning of this faith in clear, understandable and convincing words - so that faith is not perceived only as some kind of legacy of the past, as part of national tradition and folklore, because faith is, first of all, the ideological basis of our existence. And if our contemporaries are able to be imbued with everything that the Divine Word carries within themselves, and put this into the foundation of their lives, then this life will truly become beautiful. And human success, and development, and everything that modern civilization brings us, in the light of this faith can be transformed, can truly serve to completeness human life. Today we pray to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker that he will enlighten us and help us build a life full of meekness, spiritual strength, and humility on the unshakable rock of the rule of faith. Amen.

Press service of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'

We Orthodox Christians are accustomed to the fact that our lives, unlike people’s, are not those who know God, is a festive life. There, in the world, there are no holidays - always just gray everyday life or what is called a holiday, but officially, formally, and people do not experience it as a holiday. There are days in the world that are outwardly experienced as holidays. But this is something that flatters personal gain: a birthday, for example, an anniversary. And no matter how bad this is, in principle, each of these “holidays” resembles the previous one, the former repeats: the same faces, the same dishes, the same condemnation, the same “twitching” to the music. But we, the Orthodox, although we are no better than anyone else, have the opportunity to experience holidays often. And every holiday is not repeatable and is not similar to one another.

For example, now we are experiencing the time of the Nativity Fast, when spiritual tension increases - we are waiting to meet the Savior who is born into our world! And how important it is at this time to feel the spirit of heaven, to realize that you are part of a large heavenly family, part of the great, great work of God.

And today (the memory of St. Nicholas) brings to us this experience and this experience. Moreover, the experience is also completely special and unique in the circle of church annual holidays.

For example, we commemorate many saints of God, not only St. Nicholas. Let us remember how relatively recently we commemorated the Archangel Michael of God. Well, this is a very special experience! He is not a man - he is the leader of the angelic forces. This is a very special spiritual, prayerful experience of its kind. We experienced the memory of the prophet of God Elijah. But you and I know that for us, modern Orthodox Christians, his memory is associated with the experience of the proximity of the second coming of the Lord, of which Elijah is the forerunner. And this is a completely special experience, unlike others. We recently experienced days that can be called revered (not holidays) of two great saints of God - the holy great martyrs Barbara and Catherine. And this memory of female martyrs, who in the prime of their youth went to death for the sake of Christ, of course, imposes special, unique experiences, incomparable with the memory of other saints. And everyone is like that church holiday brings us special, spiritual experiences that are only inherent to him.

What are you and I experiencing today? Memory of Saint Nicholas. Probably, there is also some peculiarity and difference from other days. What does this mean?

For us Orthodox, going to church and standing in prayer with the people of God before the Lord is always a kind of triumph. The experience of the greatness of the Creator, and with all the festive joy, this is a triumph that carries a certain reverence, strengthening, after all, probably, the fear of God.

But today is completely different. Today, many of us who have spiritual experience, have been in the Church for several days, praying to the saint of God Nicholas, - probably today we can agree that when we went to the temple of God, when we were present here, we felt that we had come to some kind of then very close, to a loved one. To your father, grandfather, to a very close relative, to whom you can always come easily, without ceremony, easily, by opening the door, literally, with your foot. Why is this so? Where does this experience of today, characteristic of many of us (many testify to this!) come from? What is this connected with?
In the service to St. Nicholas (in the canon), there are the most interesting prayer words. It is written there like this: “According to the Mother of God, you are the second intercessor and prayer book for us before God.” This, probably, is the answer to this experience: one of those closest to the Lord is the one closest in prayer for us.

We know that our Lord is the Life-Giving Spirit, and material measurements are not applicable to God. Therefore, when we say “closer,” we measure this proximity neither in centimeters nor in meters. There are completely different measures of length. And this measure is love.

God is love, and whoever abides in God abides in love (see 1 John 4:16). What does Saint Nicholas do, being closer to God, to those who pray for us? Only one thing - expresses his god-like love for us.

Moreover, what is striking is that Saint Nicholas did not live in Rus', he did not live on our land, and especially not in our time. It is understandable when we turn in prayer with special love to St. Seraphim or Sergius, Blessed Matrona or Ksenia - well, they are ours, relatives. Everything is clear! But, let’s say, in Bolgar we have the martyr Abraham - well, it’s completely ours, where is it closer?! Everything is clear!

Saint Nicholas of Christ. Where did the feat of his earthly service take place? In Asia Minor, far from us. There, in present-day Turkey, where only the name remains of Christianity. He lived among those whom we call Greek-speakers, among those who were either Greeks or converted to the Greek language, the so-called Pontic Greeks. His feat took place there, but there he is not as revered as we are, which is amazing! There after Mother of God Greeks usually remember the Great Martyr and Victorious George, and in him they see the second intercessor after Holy Mother of God before God. Amazing!

Why Russia? What connects St. Nicholas with our land? The answer will be: “We don’t know! We don’t know...” And so it turns out: we didn’t find him - he found us! And again the mind is at a loss as to why? And the answer is the same again! In what we talked about - in the love of God, sometimes for us, such as we are, obscure, incomprehensible, and as a result of thinking about which more questions arise than answers. But is this the main thing? No. What's the main thing? He himself found us, he himself came to us! And with his prayer he shows such care that it is amazing, even in the little things and in its constancy!

I remember, in my distant youth, a story told by two people - a husband and a wife. They told it from the words of their fellow countryman. They told about the fact that he (the husband) heard from him. What fact? There were post-war years, many men did not return home. There was a family headed by a soldier’s widow: children at home, hard work in the countryside, they had to be at home only after dark and leave after dark. But we didn’t live exactly the way we live now: we had to heat without gas and take water from the tap. Therefore, it was physically difficult, it was not easy at a time when the head of the family (and this is the housewife, a woman) was at work, and all the care fell on the eldest child - a girl who was, well, a little over 10 years old. It was her responsibility. And once, as they said, there was such a fact in their house.

Mom is gone. Winter, frost - the house becomes cool, the girl worries about the younger ones. She did what she had done more than once and what everyone in their family did. She takes the sled and goes into the forest for brushwood. But in the summer, collecting brushwood is one thing, we know, but in the winter, under the snow, in the frost... We need to make a reservation: maybe someone, at least from Kulikov’s stories, knows that the winters were different. Now we have winters for beggars who walk without clothes and do not freeze. Then they were freezing in their clothes... And so she went. She collected something there, found something, didn’t find it, was out of breath, tired, and tired, she sat down to rest. And she was drawn to sleep. What would happen to her? Yes, what happened to many at that time is not surprising - she would have frozen, simply frozen.

And then the next thing. Mother came home from work - from what was then called work on the collective farm. She came running and escaped for a while. Eldest daughter No. Asks the little ones. “She’s gone, she’ll come,” they answer. It gets dark - she's gone. The mother is worried and roars. She understands: she went into the forest with a sled, and it’s already getting dark... And so, in despair, which is probably characteristic of our people, she began to turn not just to the Lord, but to the saint of God Nicholas: “Saint of Christ, Pleasant of God , save, save, bring your daughter home.” Like this. Runs out to the yard - no, no. I came home again. This is how he rushes about and calls upon Nikolai Ugodnik. And then my daughter comes with a sleigh, with this snow-covered brushwood. The mother was delighted: “Daughter, how did you get out? It's already dark. Where have you been? Why so long? I was so worried!” And she said very simply (well, a child, a little over ten - a child): “Here I am, mom... It’s cold... I went and collected this brushwood. Then she got tired and sat down. And I fell asleep so sweetly, so good!” The mother got scared: “What next, daughter?” “And then... some grandfather pushes me and says: “Daughter, you’ll freeze!” Come out, my berry. Let's go, let's go, I'll take you out." And so, I came out.”

Who was it? Why exactly at this time, when the mother called out to Nikolai Ugodnik? What, the saint himself?! The mother understood this, and everyone in the village found only one explanation: the saint himself appeared alive to her daughter, or simply for his prayers some old man, taken from somewhere unknown, unknown to no one, was sent into the forest at night. What was that? And again it doesn’t matter to us. That's not the main thing. It is obvious that for the prayers of this mother, the Lord saved her daughter, saved her family. And so already the widow’s family (her husband died in the war)... The Lord saved from yet another grave!

And this example is so everyday, small, but it just speaks of how close everyone who turns to St. Nicholas is to St. Nicholas, how much he is part of our earthly life even in such seemingly non-global things, what love his heart is filled with for the most ordinary people, to our most seemingly mundane needs. This is the greatness of it. “The great is known in the small,” it is said, and we know the truth of these words, both through this fact, and through many others that cannot be listed in the history of our people. We see how close the saint of Christ is to us with his prayer, his care, his mercy.

That’s why we go to church so easily on this day. So the door to the church just comes off. We feel so easily, as if we had come to the closest, to the dearest, who will always accept with unchanging love. And that's how it is. And we repeat again: we did not find him - he found us and took our land and our people as his inheritance.

Conclusion! Very simple. First, of course, joy. Of course, joy and great joy. And secondly, unshakable hope. Therefore, prayer to St. Nicholas will never fade in Rus'. Therefore, his care and mercy over us will never cease. It is probably difficult to find on our land a house or an apartment where Orthodox Christians live, and there would not be an icon there, an image of the saint of Christ, the saint of God, now revered and celebrated by us.

For the prayers of Saint and Wonderworker Nicholas, may the Merciful Lord preserve and cover us both in our small problems and in our big troubles, and most importantly, with his holy prayers, may he strengthen us on the path of eternal salvation, so that not only here on earth we can be with next to him, but also in eternity, in the Kingdom of God, to stand as close to the Lord in love as he stands.

Memory of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.

Sermon by Abbot Hilarion Alfeev

Each saint lives, as it were, three lives. One is his real life. The other is his life. The third is the “posthumous” life of the saint, that is, his life in the centuries-old experience of the Church, including various miracles, healings and cases of this saint helping people.

About the first one real life We sometimes know something of the saint, sometimes very little, sometimes almost nothing. We know more about the life of a saint if he left autobiographical writings (such as St. Gregory the Theologian), or if he committed acts about which information has been preserved in historical sources (for example, in “ Church history"Eusebius of Caesarea, where many saints are mentioned), or, finally, if the saint is close to us in time and the memory of him is still alive among our contemporaries (for example, Reverend Silouan Athos, many martyrs of the 20th century).

The second life of a saint is his life, written in some cases many centuries later and often devoid of historical accuracy. The life of a saint is his verbal icon, a certain idealized image: it is always written in accordance with the canon, beyond which the author allows himself to go only in exceptional cases. The canon of hagiography is that the same verbal cliches, the same episodes, and descriptions of miracles pass from one hagiography to another. Almost every hero of hagiographic literature is born from pious parents and already in early childhood shows signs of special Christian piety, avoids ordinary children's games. Almost every saint studies diligently at school, but refuses higher education; undergoes temptations from the devil, but always overcomes them; fights against any malicious heresy of his time and wins victory over it; performs numerous miracles and healings.

Only in rare cases - for example, if the life was written by one of the closest disciples of the saint, who knew him during his lifetime - does it retain the features of factual and historical authenticity (such as the Life of St. Simeon the New Theologian, written by his disciple Nikita Stifat, or the life of St. Sergius of Radonezh, written by Epiphanius the Wise). However, in many cases, the life does not even pretend to be historically authentic, just as the icon of a saint does not pretend to be a portrait. If we compare the life of Gregory the Theologian, compiled in the 7th century, with his autobiographical writings, we can easily see the difference between his real and idealized images. Often what is written in the life even contradicts the information about the life of the saint that we have from other sources.

What do we know about the real earthly life of St. Nicholas? Almost nothing. There is his life with stories about various miracles, but many of these stories are borrowed from the life of another saint, Nicholas of Zion, who lived in the 6th century. None historical source IV century does not mention Nicholas, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia. The life of St. Nicholas tells how he took part in the First Ecumenical Council (325), at which he struck the heretic Arius, for which he was deprived of his dignity, but was subsequently restored to episcopal dignity. This episode is missing from the documents of the Council that have come down to us. Moreover, among the signatures of the 153 participants in the Council there is no signature of Archbishop Mir Lycian Nicholas. One can, of course, assume that the signatures were collected precisely at the moment when St. Nicholas was defrocked by the Fathers of the Council. But, be that as it may, we do not have any documentary evidence of the episode with Arius.

Does all this mean that hagiographies cannot be trusted at all? Not at all. If only because it is not always possible to demand historical authenticity from hagiographies, which they do not claim to have. Life tells us, first of all, about the significance of the saint for the Church and the church people, and draws us his spiritual image. As for the historical appearance of the saint, in some cases it remains, as it were, “behind the scenes.”

And here it is important to talk about the third life of every saint, which he lives in the experience of believers over the many centuries that have passed after his death. It's about about healings and miracles that occur at the relics or tomb of a saint, about the diverse help that a saint provides when they turn to him in prayer. And in many cases it turns out that in a mysterious way this life of the saint in the experience of the Church corresponds to what we can learn about the saint from his life. And life, devoid of historical authenticity, turns out to be unconditionally reliable at some deep and experiential level. And the miracles described in life are then repeated many times in the experience of other people.

From the life of St. Nicholas we learn that he cared for the poor and saved people who were in the grip of acute material need. It is said, for example, that he placed three bags of gold on the window of the house of a bankrupt family. But how many people today can testify that through prayer to St. Nicholas they received unexpected financial help. From his life we ​​learn that the saint helped those in need at sea. But even today there are many cases when shipwrecked people saw St. Nicholas coming to their aid. The life tells how Saint Nicholas appeared in a dream to the emperor, who sentenced three innocent people to death. But even now there are cases where St. Nicholas saves people from sudden death. The sword is already raised over the man, he loses last hope for salvation, when suddenly a handsome old man appears who brings news of deliverance.

This explains the phenomenon that a man about whom we know almost nothing historically has long become the most popular saint of the Christian East and West. Can Christmas in the West pass without the presence of Santa Claus, bringing gifts and joy to children? Even many non-Christians turn to St. Nicholas with prayer - and receive help. To this day imperishable relics Saints resting in the city of Bari in southern Italy exude fragrant and healing myrrh, and thousands of people receive healing from it.

Let us pray to the saint that he never leaves us with his gracious presence. We will turn to him not only at critical moments, but also in everyday life. The experience of believers shows that Saint Nicholas responds even to requests for insignificant and insignificant things. He is undoubtedly one of our most effective helpers, standing at the throne of God and interceding for our salvation.

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

Delving with spiritual reasoning into the life of the saint and wonderworker Nicholas of Myra, we ask the question: what did he do in his life such that his veneration embraced a universal scale? We know, for example, that the works of the Apostle Paul, Anthony the Great, Macarius the Great two thousand years later turn the souls of those who read. There are millions of those whom they saved with their writings. What did Saint Nicholas of Christ write? Nothing, not a single line, reached us. Why is there such a scale of national veneration of this particular saint? After all, it is amazing that it is difficult to find an Orthodox home where there would not be his holy image. Did everyone call on John of Kronstadt? No, not all. And everyone knows Nikolai Ugodnik. Muslims even call on his name. This saint of God is so quick, so strong is his prayer to the Lord, that words cannot be found - the Lord shows such strength for his prayers. Well, how did he deserve such power of prayers before God? We read the life and see: he didn’t do anything special. He was for the name of Christ before the adoption of the Edict of Constantine in 313 in the persecution for Christ - he spent several years in prison. John the Theologian spent 25 years in hard labor in a quarry. The martyr Abraham was torn to pieces and quartered among the crowd by his relatives. Maybe the saint performed some kind of prayerful feats or some special fast? Nothing has been said about this, no knowledge about it has reached us. He was at the Ecumenical Council and rose up against the heresy of Arianism along with other fathers. But he did not do as much to defeat Arianism as, for example, Cyril of Alexandria and Macarius the Great.

Modern church archeology and history testify that in the biography of the saint and the wonderworker Nicholas, the biographies of two individual personalities are intertwined. Nicholas the Pleasant lived in the 4th century, and 300 years later in the same city, in Myra of Lycia, there was a bishop under the same name, also known great life in God. Church writers, rewriting the lives of both, mixed and confused everything into a heap, and now it is no longer clear where it is written about one and where about the other.

So what is this saint of God known for, why does the Lord hear his prayers so much, why does he perform such amazing miracles for his prayers? The question is very important and very fundamental for you and me. This is not a question of idle historical curiosity; this question is relevant to each of us. If the Lord hears His saint the wonderworker Nicholas like this, if such miracles are performed through his prayers, then one thing turns out: as if his life was already truly great, although unknown. That's why it's great because it's unknown.

You and I know the words of Christ the Savior that when doing good, there is no need to blow a trumpet before you (Matthew 6:2) and that left hand should not know what the right one is doing (Matt. 6:3). We, having not done a good deed, take a big trumpet and blow it on all corners: “I want to do such and such a good thing.” And if they did, then the tongue almost falls off from the praise. If we refrain from boasting out loud, then inside, in our souls, we think highly of ourselves. We torment everyone and torment ourselves, seeking human glory for ourselves. And that’s why, if we do something good, we turn it into evil with vanity, by tickling our pride.

No exploits are known about Saint Nicholas, no deeds are known. He performed good deeds, his exploits not before people, not so that someone would write it down and glorify him or he would glorify or praise himself, but before God in complete selflessness. And these small touches from his life that we know speak about this. For example, it is known that when he was a bishop in Myra, he learned that one of the people of this city, once rich and influential, had become poor. He had three daughters; and they were at the age when they needed to be married off. It was necessary to get married with a dowry at that time. A dowerless woman is one who will never marry or marry some old widower. Well, he became poor and about the dowry for three daughters there was no question.

And what did their father intend? He decided to open a private brothel. Who will work in it? Yes, his daughter. Prostitutes. And he, as they say now, is a pimp. He will count the money. Why all this? Yes, to save money, and then, for the good of their daughters, to go to another place where no one knows them, to erase everything that happened. There will already be money with this dowry acquired in this way, then they will be worthily married off. He didn’t think about his daughters or his soul; it was important for him to be in the spirit of the times. After all, we know about ourselves how important it is to us what people say about us, how sensitively we treat this painful topic. We don't care what God says. This is what vicious people like me will say, their opinion is very important to me.

Saint Nicholas found out about this. And what does he do? It is written in the life: at night he walks quietly and collects what he had in a wallet - a leather bag - and quietly throws it through the window into the house. The owner saw that something had fallen. I went to look. Fathers, gold, money! What is it? I went out - there was no one, silence.

This man married his eldest daughter without sin. Bishop Nicholas found out about this and repeated the same thing for the second time quietly at night. The father gave away his second daughter. He realized that this is not just a miracle, someone is clearly helping. But he didn’t know who and began to follow. And when his hand reached out to the window for the third time, he jumped out of the house. And there is only a figure receding into the distance. He runs and asks to stop. He doesn't stop, he runs further. Father barely caught up mysterious man: So this is the bishop of our city Nikolai! Vladyka made him promise that while he was alive, he would not tell anyone about this and forgot about it himself.

And so, saving his soul and the souls of his daughters, he accomplished his work according to the gospel commandment: the left hand did not know what the right hand was doing. He did his alms in secret, without blowing a trumpet before himself. This touch from the life of Nikolai Ugodnik shows why so little is known about his life. His whole life was hidden in Christ. He didn’t care what people would say about him, what opinion he would have in the eyes of people. It was important for him that his heart burn with the Holy Spirit.

The second case was when troops marched east through the Myra Lycian region. At this time, there was a brutal long war between Byzantium and Iran and a military unit passed through the city. Three military leaders witnessed a picture that amazed them: an execution was being prepared in the central square, and at that time the bishop of the city, Nikolai, ran out of the crowd and held the executioner’s hand, preventing the execution from taking place. The executioner was at a loss and did not know what to do, and this Nikolai began to say that the victim was innocently convicted and that he could prove this man was right. Let's just think about it: high rank the nobleman was sentenced to execution. The reason was, of course, intrigue. He was brought down by someone who is stronger than him and this bishop stands up for him. What will happen to the one who prevented him from limelighting and robbing this rich man? Did Saint Nicholas think about this? No. He did not want to please the mighty of this age, but so that God’s truth would triumph. He was an archbishop, a shepherd who had to save, preserve. He did not think about himself, but about each of those who were faithful to him.

The three commanders were shocked by what they saw. They saw executions many times and participated in them themselves. But for someone to cover up the accused so disinterestedly was rare.

Soon these military leaders were recalled from the army to the court of Emperor Constantine and imprisoned without trial. They sat there and did not understand what had happened. Having used connections and money, bribed someone, they learned that a slander had been erected against them, some kind of slander was being prepared and they were preparing for execution. What could they do? Despair and horror were about to overwhelm them. And what did they come up with? They came up with a prayer that they began to pray. They were not Christians, but pagans, and began to say this: “God, in whom Bishop Nicholas from the city of Myra believes, hear us and help us!”

See how interesting they saw the power of the bishop? They understood who she was from and began to pray to this God.

Soon they were summoned to the emperor, who began to question whether they knew Orthodox bishop and described his appearance: gray hair, beard, short stature, receding hairline. One of the military leaders says: “We don’t know personally, but we saw him. According to the description, this is a bishop in the city of Mira.” The emperor asked: “What connects you with him?” They say: “Nothing but a prayer to the God Whom he serves, that that God will save us.”

Constantine paused and said that at night in a dream a bishop with the appearance he described appeared to him and ordered him not to do harm to the innocent and to release those who had been slandered in vain from prison and threatened him with punishment if he did not obey. The Emperor ordered a clear investigation, during which it became clear that they had been slandered in vain.

For the sake of our own earthly good, we are ready to sell and betray anyone, or at least modestly remain silent, not protecting the innocent. The one whose memory we commemorate today was not like that. And that is why the Lord, seeing the secret exploits of the saint, intercession for the innocent, helping the disadvantaged, in which this servant of God succeeded so much, raised him to such a great height of Christlikeness that now his prayers have ineffable power.

It is amazing that historians and church ethnographers to this day cannot indicate the nationality of St. Nicholas. But ask any illiterate granny in any remote village, she will say that Nikolai is our native Russian. Of course Russian! What else? Also, some Yakut will say that he is a Yakut. And the German recognizes him as a German, naturally. Santa Claus - Saint Nicholas. It’s amazing how close and dear he has become to everyone and his prayer before God has such power.

It would be right, I think, if I talk about last fact, experienced by me as a priest, in the story of a man who was shocked by the prayer of St. Nicholas.

Pilgrims arrived, among whom was one man. He tells me, “I was in your church four weeks ago. I came because I had a problem. I held a very high position, I was used to living like a lord, on a grand scale. I gathered a team around me that supported me and lived comfortably. But those whom I raised, they later threw me down in an affair. And I went from princes to filth. And my daughter’s wedding was approaching this time, and I promised my only daughter a wedding - there’s so much money! I was left without anything at all, but I couldn’t go back on my word, I got into debt. They celebrated the wedding as a princess for my daughter, and now I’m in such debt that I’m even afraid to think about this figure, and I can’t imagine how I’ll live now after many years of lordship in the dirt. Then I came here and you advised me to pray every Thursday at eight in the evening, reading an akathist to St. Nicholas the Pleasant. And so, as they told me, I strictly carry out everything.”

Question: what is this “everything”? Once a week he reads an akathist to Saint Nicholas, 20 minutes. For a long time? He said it himself: 4 weeks. That's the whole task, that's the whole feat that he accomplished. And now he arrived and asked a question: “I began to read the akathist and a friend remembered me and called me to a high position. I began to think: is it worth going or not? At this time, another calls, having learned that I am now out of work. He's calling me too. I'm thinking: where is it better? While I was thinking, the third one remembered me. So I came to consult where from three places It's better to go." All three positions are commanding positions, all three are just sitting and pointing fingers. I told him: “Tell me, what is most important to you in this work?” He says: “The truth?” - “Of course the truth!” He replies: “It’s a shame to say this in church, but it’s important to me now, in debt with this cruel wedding. And I live not according to my capabilities, but according to my needs; my debts do not stop growing. Money is important to me to pay off my debts.” - “Well, then choose the position where more money" He paused and said: “All three positions are of high position and very monetary, all three.” I couldn’t help but burst into tears: “Listen, brother, 60 years old suits you, have you ever prayed to God or not?” He says: "Never." - “Now listen to what happened to you: when you were 60 years old, you remembered God for the first time. And not because your soul asked for the truth or about eternity, but you remembered God. No, money, money, a luxurious life, that’s what made you turn to God and you began to pray. And how many times did you pray in four weeks? How many Thursdays? Four times. Nikolai the Pleasant asks the King of the Worlds for you, and the Lord, hearing the prayer of Nikolai the Pleasant for you, came out to meet you and on a tray with a gold border carries three positions, three positions, all three commanding positions and one richer than the other and says: “You have me at 60 years old.” I remembered it for the first time, but Nikolai Ugodnik is asking for you. Choose. Don't like it? Maybe I can offer you something even better?” Amazing! Do you even hear what you’re saying?” He looked at me, paused and with tears in his eyes said: “Now no one can tear God out of my heart with a hot iron!”

Here, look how the Holy Spirit acts through the prayers of St. Nicholas! He didn’t just beg this man for a position or money. No, he did it in such a way that the fire of faith lit up in his heart so that now no one can burn it out with a red-hot iron, as he said. It turns out that while solving an earthly problem, Saint Nicholas turned him to God all his life. This is how the Saints of God operate! This seems to be an everyday example. But Saint Nicholas did not show himself in great things, not in deeds the whole country or states like Venerable Sergius, and in the personal life of specific people, seeing a specific need, helping a specific person in a specific need. Acting by the power of God and solving a specific earthly problem, it leads the soul to transformation, turns it 180 degrees towards God, and directs its feet towards the kingdom of God. The mercy of the Lord is multiplied by the prayer of the saints, pouring out in an inexhaustible stream upon us who ask Him for mercy. This world is changing, but the love of God and the love of His saints for Him and for us remain unchanged.

Today it was said about St. Nicholas in the canon that he is alive even after death. The soul stands before God and thinks about us, doing things that can only shock and make us amazed. Therefore, today with all our hearts we are glad to congratulate everyone on the memory of this great saint of God, whose name everyone knows, whom we constantly call upon and for whose prayers the Lord has shown, is showing and will show so much mercy over everyone and over each of us. you. The Lord called us to turn to him with our prayer. And so that our prayer is even more effective, looking at the saints of God, let us try to imitate their lives. May God grant that, praying to St. Nicholas, we find that spirit of burning that was in him, that spirit of selflessness with which he was rich, that spirit of truth, the spirit true love with which his soul burned. Happy holiday everyone!

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit!

Dear brothers and sisters, I cordially congratulate you all on the holiday - the memory of St. Nicholas, Archbishop of Myra, the Wonderworker.

Saint Nicholas is a great wonderworker and ascetic. For every believer’s heart, this is a saint, whom they turn to with special love, warmth and reverence, and most importantly, with hope.

We perceive St. Nicholas as a father and a person who is especially close to us and can always understand and help. Life tells us that Saint Nicholas, having devoted himself from his youth to serving God, people and the Church of Christ, always tried to support and console the faint-hearted, to help the suffering, unfortunate and disadvantaged person. In a word, he always tried to act as the Holy Scripture tells us about this " So, in everything that you want people to do to you, do so to them."(Matt. 7, 12).

Saint Nicholas is glorified by our Church from east to west, from north to south. There is not a single temple where we would not meet his icon. Both in the Russian Church and in Orthodox churches in the East or in the West - everywhere his memory is honored with special love and reverence.

Saint Nicholas is an image of shepherding and mentoring. I would even say more. Saint Nicholas is the main example for bishops and clergy, and the day of his death and commemoration could be called the holiday of the clergy. Indeed, in his life, every confessor and priest should try to imitate the life of the saint and, above all, take the example of the Chief Shepherd - Christ. The Gospel that we heard is precisely about shepherding.

The main quality of a priest is love for his children. Love for those people who entrust their souls and hearts to the shepherd. We hear a parable that the Lord addresses to his apostles. He says that the one who enters the fence from the outside, not through the entrance, but as if climbing over the fence, is a “false shepherd.” A real shepherd enters the fence in front of the sheep, instructs them, and the sheep hear his voice. The Lord speaks of himself as the Chief Shepherd, the one who can instruct and help, who can save from danger. It is not for nothing that the Church blesses this Gospel passage to be read in memory of the saints, including St. Nicholas.

The Troparion to St. Nicholas says: “The rule of faith and the image of meekness” - that is, he should be an example to follow for all people. The “temperate teacher” is the one from whom we should learn the virtues of humility and patience. “Show thee to your flock” - indeed, every priest and shepherd should set an example of his life for his flock. Any parent, if he wants his children to grow up as worthy people, must set an example of virtue with his own behavior, teach the child how to act and what not to do in life. And woe to that parent who teaches one thing, but acts completely differently in his own life.

“For this reason you have gained high humility, rich in poverty.” Only a person who humbles himself and can tolerate his neighbor will be able to teach others humility and reach the heights of spiritual life. Real wealth can only be collected by a person who can endure some hardships, who in his life will try to remember asceticism and abstinence.

Commemorating St. Nicholas, dear brothers and sisters, we pray and ask for your support and strength. We turn to him as a true father and shepherd, but we ourselves - both the laity and the clergy - must always remember that in our lives there is a certain responsibility, a certain obedience, which we must fulfill sincerely, selflessly, thereby set an example for our neighbors. We should not be disingenuous, harbor any grievances, we need to be sincere and open people, this is the only way to correct evil and change the world.

On this day, I would like to warmly congratulate the clergy of our diocese, as well as everyone who is present here and performs the cathedral service with us. Congratulations to all of you, dear brothers and sisters, and wish you the prayers of St. Nicholas. I wish you that the saint will be an example for you, so that you will always find a true shepherd in him. And to the best of your ability and ability, you tried to imitate him.

God bless you all, dear brothers and sisters, God's help! May the Lord, through the prayers of St. Nicholas, give us joy, consolation, and everything we need in our daily lives. God bless you all!

+Bishop of Pokrovsky and Nikolaevsky Pachomius
Holy Trinity cathedral Pokrovsk (Engels)
December 18, 2015