Archpriest Andrew Lemeshonok: We have forty days of
joy ahead of us, and that is such a temptation! It is a greater temptation than
fasting even, because only a courageous and a truly faithful person can be
happy when they feel pain, when someone wronged them, when everything is
falling apart. May God grant you this joy, which no one and nothing can take
from you.
Sermon after the Liturgy on April 30, 2016
***
We have to be extremely cautious during this
period of celebration so that we don't lose our way. We did a lot of fasting
somehow but now we may begin to forget that the enemy is lurking around and
gnashing his teeth; he stands behind our backs watching our every step. If we
relax even for a single moment, we will immediately face a temptation. We
should be aware of the fact that everything is fine only when a person does not
lose his connection to God. As soon as he loses it, he is already lost. You
can't tell how far astray he will go. This is why you should stop in your
tracks immediately and cry out like children who lost their parents do, «Mom,
Dad, where are you?» We cry «Lord, where are You? I'm lost!» Of course, the
Lord will reply, «Come here, I am near». Take care, don't get lost. Don't hurry
if you are not sure. Keep silent if you don't know something. If you are angry,
you should go and reconcile first, and then come to conclusions and act
accordingly. Therefore, my dear friends, let us learn to fight the sin, fight
the devil, fight this sinful world and defeat it with God's help.
Sermon after the Vespers on May 1, 2016
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Priest Alexander Pashkovsky: The Lord told Apostle
Nicodemus that one has to be born again in order to get into the Kingdom of
Heaven.
There are extremes on the road to the Heavenly
Kingdom. Extremes aren't from God. However, there is also the royal way in the
middle, and we should take it.
What makes one suffer the most? Either pride,
when one is proud, unaware that everything he has is sent by God, or
melancholy. Melancholy also stems from pride because it means that we lack
faith and trust in God.
Sermon after the Liturgy on May 5, 2016
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Priest Valery Zakharov: The Lord says, I am the way, the
truth, and the life(John 14:6). He has everything. He has everything we
will ever need. If we properly get what He wants to teach us, if we do not
wander in darkness instead of light — the light of Christ — all other things
will be added unto us, God will send them our way. On the one hand, it sounds
too easy, and on the other hand, it is easier said than done. The Lord whispers
into our ears, and sometimes we cannot hear his quiet voice. One has to stop
and be quiet in order to maintain peace and silence inside his heart and be
capable of hearing the Lord's voice. Only then we will be able to hear what the
Lord says.
***
Pascha is a holiday that must be permanent. It
must never stop. Saints used to say that one should always keep Pascha in his
heart. It is possible because there are examples of saints who greeted everyone
with, «My joy, Christ is risen!» We have to learn to greet people like this and
not in a rude and brusque manner. When we make people happy, the Lord makes us
happy, too. This is a fundamental law. Lord promises to repay us a hundredfold
for any good that we do.
Sermon after a Liturgy in the Boarding Home for Children with Special Needs
on May 1, 2016
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Archpriest Demetrius Basalygo: We should be always
asking ourselves: are we ready to refrain from retaliation? Are we ready to
stand up for God's righteousness until the end? Are we ready to forgive
betrayals, treason, offences and misunderstandings — that cup that Jesus drank
when He walked the earth?
***
The Church lives in the healed time, where the
compartmentalisation between the past and the future is no longer an issue,
where death, time, and distance are overcome. This is hard to grasp but that's
the Church experience.
Sermon after the Divine Liturgy on April 24, 2016
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Archpriest Sergius Khrapitsky: People are looking for
earthly things, but God came into this world and became human in order to take
us to the Heaven, to unite us around gratitude and praise to him. We come to
church, praising God and thanking him in the Sacrament of Eucharist. The word
Eucharist means «thanksgiving». Here we come together and become one family —
the Church of Christ.
Sermon after the Divine Liturgy on April 24, 2016
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