The sermon of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill after the great compline on Monday of the first week of Great Lent in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior

The sermon of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill after the great compline on Monday of the first week of Great Lent in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior Проповедь Святейшего Патриарха Кирилла после великого повечерия в понедельник первой седмицы Великого поста в Храме Христа Спасителя print version March 11, 2019 22:24 On the evening of March 11, 2019, on Monday of the first week of Great Lent, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia made a great eternity with the reading of the Great Penitential Canon of St. Nicholas. Andrei of Crete in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. At the end of the service, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church addressed the flock with a sermon. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit! In the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian, we ask the Lord to protect us primarily from idleness, for idleness is a vice that destroys human life. And then comes a plea to God to deliver us from despondency. Probably, there are no people who would not have experienced this feeling in their lives. St. John of the Ladder says that despondency is a relaxation of the soul and exhaustion of the mind. Despondency is accompanied by a difficult state of mind: it seems to a person that he cannot do much, cannot achieve much, has lost much in his life. And this negative self-esteem is so destructive that people lose their presence of mind, the ability to work actively, realistically assess the events surrounding them and really fall into a difficult mental state. Sometimes despondency is confused with depression. The external manifestations of both are quite similar. But if depression is the result of poor mental health, that is, a consequence of the disease, then depression is not. The concept of "despondency" in general can be defined and described only in the system of religious coordinates. If a person loses faith in God, if he begins to doubt in many respects, if he loses some vital coordinates associated with his religious choice, then, as a result, despondency occurs, the hardest state of mind. Despondency cannot be treated with medication, it is impossible to come out of despondency through suggestion from the outside. This is a condition that only a person can overcome, relying on the power of God. And how is it possible to make such a feat? There are two indispensable conditions: a person must believe in God and believe that everything that happens to him is ultimately an act of Divine providence — either God's permission, if what is happening is sad and sad, or a manifestation of Divine grace, if something joyful and good When a person learns to betray himself into the hands of God, despondency disappears, because instead of despondency one gains the deepest confidence in the strength and intelligence of Divine Providence. I had to meet with people who have passed the hardest way of life, including those who have passed through the conclusion, exile, camp only because they believed in God. And what is surprising: these people have never been discouraged. Even during obedience in Smolensk, I met with one person. He visited me, recognizing my last name, and said that with some young man who bore the same last name, he sailed from then-Leningrad to Nagayeva Bay, and then along the Kolyma highway was taken to the detention center. And he said that the young man had never been in a bad mood - he always remained calm, peaceful and even joyful. And when they asked him why he was in such good mood, the answer was simple: “But I’m going for the sake of Christ where I am sent. And can a bad life for Christ be? ” We need to largely reconsider our attitude to the world, to ourselves. The more comfort in life, the more material opportunities, the weaker a person becomes. He has something to lose, he is afraid of lowering the level of his consumption and comfort and therefore becomes very vulnerable. And not only because excitement covers only with the thought that life can change for the worse, but also simply because very often such a person becomes disheartened. And despondency is where faith disappears and where fear comes to the place of faith. That is why, in the prayer of St. Ephraim Sirin, the request to the Lord to deliver us from despondency comes in second place - the need to get rid of despondency as a state of mind incompatible with genuine human well-being is emphasized in a special way. Each of us in one way or another, under certain circumstances, is subject to this feeling. And for each of us, who at least once was subject to this feeling, today the heartfelt words of the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian are heard with a request to save us from despondency. And to get rid of despondency is to change your outlook on life, to give up fears, to give up perplexities, to try to see the future, without having any opportunity to really do it. This means to surrender into the hands of God with full confidence in the Lord, without any fear, but with great hope in God's mercy. The prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian teaches us all this. And, repeating these words, we will ask the Lord that He will deliver us, including from pernicious despondency, and will enable us to find joy and peace in the soul. I cordially congratulate all of you on the end of the first day of Great Lent. Amen. Press Service of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia