Patriarch's sermon on the feast day of St. Tikhon and the fathers of the Local Council of 1917-1918 after the Liturgy in the home church of St. Tikhon's University

Patriarch's sermon on the feast day of St. Tikhon and the fathers of the Local Council of 1917-1918 after the Liturgy in the home church of St. Tikhon's University Патриаршая проповедь в день памяти святителя Тихона и отцов Поместного Собора 1917-1918 годов после Литургии в домовом храме Свято-Тихоновского университета print version November 18, 2018 23:18 On November 18, 2018, on the 25th Pentecost, Memorial Day of St. Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, and Fathers of the Local Council of the Russian Church 1917-1918, His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill celebrated Divine Liturgy in the home church of the holy Equal to the Apostles Prince Vladimir Orthodox St. Tikhon humanitarian University . At the end of the service, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church addressed the believers with a sermon. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost! Today we heard the Gospel reading (Luke 8: 41-56) about two events that are associated with the manifestation of the same human feeling: this is the resurrection of the daughter of Jairus, the head of the synagogue, and the healing of a bleeding woman. Indeed, at the base of both events, to which the Lord responded with His miraculous power, was a very important human feeling — a feeling of hope. Without hope, neither the daughter of Jairus would not be resurrected, nor the bleeding woman would receive healing. What is hope? We very often use this word, but, probably, very few people, thinking about the concept associated with it, would see a very close, deep connection with another word - the word “faith”. In Dahl’s excellent dictionary, we can read that hope is an expected certainty — this is the exact wording of our remarkable scientist. So what is confidence? The word "confidence" is the same root as in the word "faith." There can be no confidence without faith. Expected confidence is hope, which cannot exist without faith. Therefore, the word “hope” loses all meaning outside the religious context, because without faith in God there can be no hope. And what could be? Maybe a dream. Open the dictionary Dahl - what is a dream? Clear definition: a game of imagination. Expected confidence and play of imagination. How far the meaning of these concepts! Indeed, in our confidence, in our hope, there is always faith. And, as St. John Chrysostom remarkably said, he who sticks to God will not stumble. Indeed, a person will not stumble if he puts his life in the hands of God, if his hope is impregnated by faith, if he lives in union with God. Then his wings grow, he becomes really strong and capable of many deeds, including great ones. Today's gospel reading testifies again and again how close God is to man, how merciful the Lord is. The Savior is ready to go to the home of the ruler of the synagogue to resurrect his daughter, and does not refuse to help the unfortunate woman who clung to His clothes, but pours His grace on the one that placed His last hope on Him. Hope does not disgrace (Rom. 5: 5) when it is really connected with faith. Modern people who often say “I hope” need to clearly understand that without God and without faith there is no hope, but only a dream, a game of imagination. And how our lives will be poorer, how interpersonal relationships will become poorer if hope leaves them! It is often said: hope dies last, and this is true, because hope is connected with faith in God. Today we remember St. Tikhon, the Patriarch of All-Russia, with whom this place is closely connected both in its history and today: in honor of Patriarch Tikhon our famous university was named, which did so much and does to educate our people, to educate the Orthodox intelligentsia, for training for both the Church and secular works. Can we imagine the feat of Patriarch Tikhon, if he had lost hope? Or the feat of our new martyrs, confessors, those who were shot in Butovo, who were imprisoned in Solovki and other places? Could they know that their torture and death would be known to the whole world — when the whole world was restricted for them by the torture chamber or the interrogation room? But each of them had hope for God. Perhaps, their hope that they would come out of these cells to freedom did not come true. But the Lord prepared for them something else, fulfilling their hope to the full. Their death became the seed for modern Christianity, especially in our country. Because it is impossible to be indifferent to the feat of the new martyrs and confessors of our Church. It is impossible not to think about the strength of their spirit, about the strength of their faith, about the victory they have accomplished over their persecutors and tormentors. Therefore, the celebration of the memory of St. Tikhon, the new martyrs and confessors of the Russian Church is, above all, the glorification of the hope that they lived and which they, through their feat, commanded to all of us. Hope dies last, and she never dies with a Christian, because we hope not only that the Lord wisely rule our lives, but also that by His mercy, in response to our repentance and our desire to live in accordance with His law, He will open for us the gates of eternity. Amen.