T A L M A C H
so much and simple
Translation
from Russian
Vladimir Djambov ©
St. Theophan the Recluse
Collection of sermons
Words about Repentance,
Communion of the
Holy Mysteries of Christ and
the Correction of Life
Collection of sermons ‘Words about
repentance, communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ and the correction of
life.’
Words for the Holy Forty Days and
weeks of preparation for it
Part 1. In the week of the publican and the PhariseeIn the week of the publican and the Pharisee (do not rely on your righteousness)In the week of the publican and the Pharisee (complacency and self-justification is the most pernicious charm)In the week of the publican and the Pharisee (persuasion to persuade the soul to be ashamed and disgusted with sin and its sinful state)Part 2. In the week of the prodigal sonIn the week of the prodigal son (the Church wants to elevate us to an inspired determination, leaving sin, to walk the right path to the Heavenly Father)In the week of the prodigal son (which means to wake up from the sleep of sin)In the week of the prodigal son (about the attempts and tricks of the enemy, seeking to devour every zealot of goodness and purity)Part 3. Meat-fare weekIn the week of meat-fare (let us draw in our mind a picture of the Terrible Judgment and we will wear it incessantly)In the meat-fare week (the secret of preparing an acquittal at the Last Judgment)In the week of meat-fare (about the Second and terrible coming of our Lord Jesus Christ - abbreviated from the words of our holy father Ephraim the Syrian on the Second Coming)Part 4. Cheesefare weekOn a cheese week (on the matter of remembering where we fell from)In the week of cheese-fare (in Lent for the last time we were given time for repentance)In the cheese-fare week (fasting seems gloomy until they enter its field)Part 5. On Wednesday of the week of the first Great LentOn Wednesday of the week of the first Great Lent (the main thing for us is the cleansing of conscience)On Wednesday of the week of the first Great Lent (on the knowledge of sins and self-knowledge)On Wednesday of the week of the first Great Lent (the spiritual father is the face of all mankind; do not be ashamed to expose yourself at confession)On Wednesday of the week of the first Great Lent (sorrow for sins and a decisive change for the better is the heart of fasting)Part 6. On the heels of the week of Great LentOn the heel of the week of Great Lent (contrition for sins is not a simple feeling: the limit of heartfelt contrition for sins is a firm intention not to offend God with your sins anymore)On the heels of the week of Great Lent (wait for the Lord in reverent silence: get ready to meet him, receive him and rest in yourself in a worthy way)On the heels of the week of Great Lent (how should we settle down and act in order to worthily proceed to the Holy Mysteries)Part 7. On Saturday of the week of the first Great LentOn Saturday of the week of the first Great Lent (in the honoring of Holy Communion is not the end, but the beginning of labors and deeds)On Saturday of the week of the first Great Lent (about the spiritual pleasure of prayerful stay with the Lord)On Saturday of the week of the first Great Lent (the real change and correction of life is the goal of the whole dispensation of our salvation)On Saturday of the week of the first Great Lent (no matter how many of you there are, everyone has the whole Lord)On Saturday of the week of the first Great Lent (the more often one takes communion, the closer one is to the Lord)Part 8. On the first week of Great LentOn the first week of Great Lent (which should be in every partaker of Christ's Mysteries, who has received the Lord in them; and in whom there is no Lord)On the first week of Great Lent (how to behave in order to avoid new falls into sins)On the first week of Great Lent (if you fall again, who knows if you will get up?)Part 9. On the second week of Great LentOn the second week of Great Lent (what parts of nature we have, what attacks on them and what weapons of our spiritual warfare against them)On the second week of Great Lent (the most important tricks to ensure your success in the struggle)On the second week of Great Lent (how does it happen that when we destroy ourselves, we do not destroy, but save)On the second week of Great Lent (fighters of passions, do not weaken and do not heed their flattering speeches)On the second week of Great Lent (what is the crucifixion of the world to us and us to the world)Part 10In the week of the cross (or die, or be on the cross of self-crucifixion)In the week of the cross (about three types of crosses: about external crosses)In the week of the cross (about three types of crosses: about internal crosses)In the Week of the Cross (about three types of crosses: about the cross of devotion to the will of God)In the week of the cross (you went up to the cross, letting you resist sin)Part 11. On the Fourth Week of Great LentOn the fourth week of Great Lent (depiction of the life of St. John of the Ladder; how to become a complete imitator of St. John)On the fourth week of Great Lent (the main content of the "Ladder" and a brief outline of our entire path to the Lord, under the guise of climbing the ladder)On the Fourth Week of Great LentOn the fourth week of Great Lent (an excellent alphabet for everyone, or about three rows of feats)Part 12. On the fifth week of Great LentOn the fifth week of Great Lent (here is the lesson for us: do not appropriate the Kingdom of Heaven for ourselves)On the fifth week of Great Lent (how can we learn from the conversion of St. Mary of Egypt, or about the veils of sin)On the fifth week of Great Lent (about the three classes of sinners, or what is the key to the door of repentance?)On the fifth week of Great Lent (two powerful ways through which Saint Mary of Egypt withstood the struggle and overcame sin)Part 13. In the Passion Week of Great LentOn Tuesday of Passion WeekOn Wednesday of Passion Week (how to avoid the fate of Judas bitter)On the Great Thursday (The Lord is in us! Let us take care to keep him in ourselves forever)On Great Thursday (The Body and Blood of the Lord is a great gift)Great Thursday (as you wish, but make sure that you are always as if you just received communion)
Part 1. In the week of the publican and the Pharisee
In the week of the publican and the Pharisee
(do not rely on your righteousness)
Here comes the preparatory week for Lent again! Thanks be to the Lord, who has made it possible for us to live up to this soul-saving time! Let us pray that He will help us and use it, according to His good intentions for us. In this respect, however, I do not find it necessary to tell you much. This is not the first time you meet this time; more than once heard an explanation of the meaning of these days and an indication of what should be taken from them as a lesson; more than once, it’s true, and by the very fact they experienced how they are spent on building themselves up and how they are spent on ruin. And yet, what is the need for lengthy instructions? It is enough to say: “Brothers and fathers, do as you already know, as your conscience inspires you and your experience teaches, only so that everything turns into your creation and the salvation of your souls.”
With all that, I do not want, however, to leave you without some, although general, reminders as a guide to the salutary passing of the time that has come.
There are patients who go to the waters for treatment. How from a distance they begin to think about the upcoming journey and how carefully they prepare everything so that they can quickly and conveniently reach the healing waters and how fruitfully they can use the appointed time of treatment! Here we are approaching our own course of salvific healing of our souls - holy fasting. And here we will bathe in the tearful waters of repentance, and take inside the multi-healing medicine - the Body and Blood of our Lord. It is necessary for us to prepare for it, and moreover, as much as the soul is higher than the body, our concern for this should be stronger and more effective than those of those.
For the first time, there is no need to burden yourself with many things. Let us only take care to enter into the intentions of our mother, the Church, and reproduce in ourselves the preparatory dispositions indicated by her. In fasting, we will work on cleansing our conscience and correcting our lives. And just as the success of these labors depends on the softening of the heart through contrition, so the Holy
Church predisposes us to this feeling and in various ways wants to arouse and strengthen it in us. Now, by the parable of the publican and the Pharisee (
Lk. 18:10–14 ), she inspires us that the surest way to contrition is to destroy the Pharisaic conceit in oneself and root the repentant cry of the publican in the heart: “God, be merciful to me a sinner” (
Lk. 18, 13 ). Next Sunday the parable of the prodigal son (
OK. 15:11-32 ) she teaches that no matter how deep someone's fall, but if he turns to the Lord with a contrite and humble heart, crying: “I am not worthy to be called Your son; accept me among Your hired servants ” (
Lk.15, 19 ), will be accepted into the arms of the Heavenly Father, the most merciful. If whose soul turned out to be too petrified and insensible, the Holy
Church , further, wants to crush it, painting the Last Judgment. If someone has become so accustomed to his humiliating condition in sin that he would consider it his natural position, and not imagining a better one, - Holy
Churchfor such a man he remembers the fall of his forefathers, in order to irritate in his heart sorrow for the lost and arouse jealousy for its return, leading to the thought of how great it was and how it is therefore worth pitying for it and working in every possible way to again become its owner.
