In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and
of the Holy Spirit. Amen. In the first Gospel
reading today, when we began to listen to the
Word of God, we read about the healing of the
two blind men, and whom Jesus has healed in the
house, in a hidden manner. And he commanded them
not to tell anyone about what had happened, which,
of course, as often happens in the Gospel, which
they immediately go out and tell everyone. And
so here we behold Jesus, our Lord, the Messiah.
the Christ of God, the Son of God, who performs
the deeds that are appropriate only for God himself,
to heal, to restore, to heal the blind, to forgive
sins, to give to the people, as he says, in accordance
with their faith. But he is still hidden. He
is still... not understood, for his hour has
not yet come, and his glory has not yet been
revealed, even though his glory is already present
in his body, for his glory is fully revealed
when he is crucified, when he is, when we celebrate,
when we behold, the Pascha of the Lord, Pascha
of his crucifixion and his resurrection. Today
we also celebrate another uncovering, uncovering
of what was hidden. We celebrate the memory of
our venerable and God -bearing Father Seraphim
of Sarov and specifically the feast of uncovering
of his relics. in 1903, when he was glorified,
when the witness of many Orthodox Christians
have resulted in the Church's recognition of
his sanctity, Church's clear witness that he
is the saint of God. And to him, to St. Seraphim,
we can turn with petitions. for his intercessions
for us before Christ our God and before the Holy
Mother of God. And we recall, of course, from
history that this action itself, the glorification
of St. Seraphim, the uncovering of his relics,
did not come easy, did not happen without struggle,
without attempts by the... people who were opposed
to it for whatever reason, to resist it or to
hide his sanctity. There was a resistance from
church authorities. There was a resistance from
society who was undergoing rapid secularization.
And there was, of course, also unfortunate resistance
from his own place of repentance, with attempts
to hide the memory. of Saint Seraphim in his
own monastery. But the glorification of this
of monk Seraphim on the eve of the two Russian
revolutions the uncovering of his relics in a
humble state in which those relics were for they
were not incorrupt but but the incorruption is
not an absolute requirement for glorification
of a saint. So they were revealed as Saint Seraphim
himself was, humble, unassuming, but through
this humility, the glory of God has been revealed.
The healing power of God has been revealed, and
it gave hope to the people. through the witness
of the Church, through the witness of this remarkable,
amazing saint revealed in their midst. For, as
we know, one of the fathers of the Church, St.
John of Damascus, speaks to us about and reminds
us that the saints, the holy ones of God, the
children and heirs of God, the friends of Christ.
Those for they have, he even calls them kings
and rulers, for they were not because they ruled
over anything earthly, but because they prevailed
over the hardships and passions and kept the
likeness of God, the image and likeness of God
intact in their heart. They received God in their
heart and were sanctified, made holy by the union
with him who is the only holy one. And therefore,
God makes them witness. God makes the saints
witness that how to live the life according to
the gospel, how to live this life humbly in an
unassuming manner, in a hidden manner. But through
this hiddenness, the glory of God is revealed.
For this is everything that the fathers of the
church say about the saints of God. This is perfectly
applicable. perfectly made apparent in our father,
Seraphim. For he received the revelation from
the mother of God, but this revelation led him
to go into solitude, into hiddenness, experiencing
hardships, deprivation. And again, misunderstanding
of his own brothers and superiors. For they were
confused. Why this monk was doing something strange?
Why is he not like everybody else? He accepted
asceticism so that he may bear the burden, endeavor
of incessant prayer for others. And we know that
he prayed for almost a thousand days on a rock,
accepting this, this podvik of incessant, unceasing
prayer, showing, demonstrating how an unceasing,
really unceasing, the prayer can be. As St. Paul
says today, we who are strong must bear the infirmities
of the weak. And this is what St. Seraphim did.
While still remaining in his seclusion, in his
solitude, he continued to receive others. Any
hardship that came, he endured it with patience
and loving kindness. When he was famously, famous
episode, when he was beaten by the robbers who
thought to find in his cell an enormous treasure,
he accepted it. He did not resist. He did not,
and he insisted that people who assaulted him
would not be harmed or punished in any way. He
accepted their sin. He accepted the crime that
they have committed. Accepted it as the will
of God. So he is therefore when he finally was
glorified and his relics were uncovered, his
relics were revealed to be the source of healing,
of consolation, and the hope for the people of
God. But after a while, these relics were again
hidden, for the communist regime has seized those
relics. And they were hidden for decades and
decades until for almost 70 years until after
the fall of the communist regime. These relics
were revealed again as a witness to the consolation
and hope that God gives to his people. They again
were revealed. so that they would be venerated,
so that the witness to the sanctity of St. Seraphim
may be proclaimed. They were revealed again in
modern times, when people are in need of consolation,
when we see again rapid secularization of society.
on a global scale. And so we have St. Seraphim
again in the midst of us through his relics,
through his intercessions, through his icons,
through the churches dedicated to him, assembling
the people of God and receiving their prayers,
their petitions, for his intercession for us.
For he has perfectly fulfilled what St. Paul
again tells us today in the first epistle that
we read. Receive one another as Christ received
us into the glory of God. The glory of God and
the light of God were revealed in the humble
body of monk Seraphim. revealed through his relics
after his death, but also, of course, revealed
through his humble and quiet life during his
life, when he was alive. Through his hiddenness,
through his humility, through his quietude, the
glory of God and the power of God has been revealed.
And so, if we venerate St. Seraphim, if we truly
try to be his disciples, as we should be the
disciples of the saints, so let us also receive
one another. Receive one another, for Christ
received us into his glory, into the glory of
God. to give us eternal joy and eternal, everlasting,
incorruptible life. Let us live humbly, and through
this humility, let us with one mouth and one
heart praise and glorify God every day. Glorify
the name of God. Proclaim the gospel of the love
of Christ, of the new life that has been given
to us, humbly and quietly shining with the light
of Christ, which illumines everyone who comes
into the world. Amen.