Homily on the Holy and Equal to the Apostles Myrrhbearer Mary Magdalene and the Name Day of the Most Pious Empress Maria Alexandrovna and the Most Pious Tsarevna Maria Feodorovna
By St. John of Kronstadt
By St. John of Kronstadt
"Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?" (John 20:15).
Blessed tears, blessed seeking! Mary Magdalene weeps for the Lord who died for us, for they have taken the Lord from the tomb, and she does not know where they have laid Him. She searches for the Lord or His most pure Body, in order to express due reverence and love to the Body of the Life-giver – to anoint it with fragrant ointment, even though it itself is more fragrant than all scents, though the deceased Himself grants fragrance to all earthly existence. I repeat: blessed tears, blessed seeking! Oh, if only we would weep for the Lord in such a manner when, due to our sins, He is taken away from us – from our hearts – we should weep for our sins, due to which our Most Holy Lord Jesus Christ is removed from our souls, for He cannot tolerate the slightest darkness and impurity of sin in His animated temple, that is, in a Christian. Oh, if only we sought Him with such diligence, with such fervor and love, as Mary Magdalene did! Such tears, such searching would be the most fragrant ointment for our Lord and Savior, and although we do not possess material myrrh, nonetheless we would resemble the Myrrhbearers, bearing spiritual myrrh in our hearts, by which I mean – faith, diligence, and love for Christ, as well as diligence towards our own salvation.
"Blessed are those who mourn," said the Lord. And how can we not weep, we who bear an unclean soul stained with sins instead of the white and pure garment of righteousness with which we were clothed after baptism! How can we not lament, having defiled the temple of our soul and body, in which the Lord can reside only when we cleanse it through repentance. How can we not grieve, when the wicked sin, like a fox, has found and continues to find many burrows within us, and like birds in the mountains, it has many nests in our hearts, while the Son of God, our Life, our Savior, our ever-present Benefactor, has nowhere to lay His head, for He encounters only sin and sinfulness, iniquity and lawlessness everywhere! How can one refrain from weeping when we, created in the image and likeness of God, incessantly defile this divine image within ourselves and frequently become not images and likenesses of the Lord God, but rather of His adversary, through our countless sins? When we, having become pure members of the Body of Christ through baptism and communion, make His members the instruments of a harlot, or, having become members of His Church, willingly separate ourselves from this saving ark and choose to drown in the waves of the sea of life. Indeed, we must weep bitter, hot, and bloodied tears: for our loss is terrible, our audacity and ingratitude before God is immense! By our weeping, the whole earth should weep: for the crown of earthly creations, the earthly king, that is, man, appointed to rule over all the earth, has himself been subjugated to earthly creatures, departed from obedience to his King, the Lord God, and submitted to His enemy! But what is there in tears? What benefit do they bring? The benefit is that sorrow and tears for sins cleanse the heart's impurities, restore within us the fallen image of God, return to us the grace of God lost through our sins, and once again make us, by the grace of Christ, members of Christ, members of the body of the Church, animated temples of God. And how pleasing to God are these tears of repentance – truly like precious myrrh, because they, arising from a contrite and humble heart, drive away the foul stench of sins from the soul and attract the fragrant myrrh of God's grace, reviving the soul, which has been put to death by sins, and transforming it from a spiritually foul corpse into a fragrant vessel of grace, from an unsightly ruin of sin into a glorious temple of God. Here is your myrrh, brothers and sisters, gathered in this temple to venerate the Holy and Equal to the Apostles Myrrhbearer Mary Magdalene and to learn from her how to follow Him and uphold His justifications and laws, as you who are called the followers of Jesus Christ aspire to do. Bring to Him boldly each day this myrrh – tears for your sins and a sincere intention to live by His holy commandments; He will graciously accept this precious myrrh from you and gradually relieve you of your iniquities, sending upon you the grace of the Holy Spirit, which sanctifies, enlightens, gives life to, rejoices, and strengthens you on the path of virtue. "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted" (Matt. 5:4).
Yes, weeping and tears are necessary for sinners. If we were without sin, we would only be left to rejoice forever, as we were created for eternal joy. And how absurd it would be for one who is imprisoned, exiled, or suffering from a severe fever to leap for joy, when his fate is sorrowful and worthy of tears; likewise, for us sinners, who dwell in the dungeon of our impassioned, eternally turbulent flesh and in this adulterous and sinful world, as if in exile – to remain in a feverish delirium of sin and to rejoice in carnal merriment, while it is more fitting to weep secretly over our sins, especially those sins that lead to both temporal and eternal perdition. Only one who does not understand what sin is, how deadly it is; who does not know that God abhors every sin infinitely, because He is infinitely holy; and that to free us from the most dreadful calamity of sin, an infinite and terrifying sacrifice was needed – the death of the Son of God – in short, only those who are unaware of the dreadful consequences of sin may refrain from weeping over it. And we, it seems, know what sin is: for we are not pagans who dwell in the land of shadows and often mix sinful deeds with lawful ones; we continually hear the Gospel voice of the Lord God and know, both from the Gospel and from experience, as well as from the writings of the Holy Fathers, what sin is, how it deprives us of communion with God, and how dreadful its temporal and eternal consequences are!
But what need is there to speak of tears and weeping on such a high and solemn day as today? Would it not be better for the preacher to speak on this day of the motivations for joy? One might say that there are already many tears and sighs in the world. If I were to speak of the weeping and tears of this world, I could be condemned by the advocates of merriment and joy. However, since I speak of spiritual weeping, which brings blessedness and thus joy to the one who weeps, it cannot be deemed inappropriate to mention weeping on a day of such high significance; discourse on spiritual weeping should accompany the joy characteristic of this day and elevate that joy.
For tell me, who will better honor this day, and spend it in a manner pleasing to God: the one who indulges in bodily pleasures, common in these days among the people of this age, the carnal men, or the one who, with sincere tears cleansing his soul from sins, will spend the entire day rejoicing in God the Savior, in the grace that fills his heart, and in heartfelt prayer for the well-being and long life of the Most Pious Sovereign Empress and the Most Pious Sovereign Tsarevna, who share the name of the Holy and Equal to the Apostles Myrrhbearer Mary Magdalene? Certainly, the latter, and the prayer of the latter will be heard by God more readily; for it is said: the righteous cried out, and the Lord heard them (Ps. 33:18), and whoever mourns for his sins has become justified by the righteousness of Christ. Therefore, mourning for sins does not impede true Christian joy, and the mention of spiritual mourning is not out of place on a day of national celebration.
After the words to Mary Magdalene: "Why are you weeping?" the Lord added: "Whom are you seeking?" — knowing that she was searching for Him, her Lord and Savior. She, thinking that He was the gardener, said: "Sir! if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away." Mary is determined to find and take the pure Body of her Lord, as if He were the King Himself: "I will take Him" (John 20:15). Her zeal was so great and her love for the Lord so fervent! Oh, if only we could possess even a spark of her fiery, profound, and steadfast love for the Lord. Pray for this, O Holy Martyr of Christ! However, it often happens that a Christian, having lost the Lord whom they carried in their heart due to some sin, and feeling the emptiness and the pressure in their heart without Him, earnestly seeks Him again, questioning themselves internally: what sin of mine, voluntary or involuntary, was the cause of His withdrawal from me? And finding that both this sin and that sin were the cause of His withdrawal, he earnestly repents and resolves resolutely: to take, to attract the Lord again through fervent repentance and prayer, and having found Him, not to let Him go any longer. Thus, my brethren, let us not remain a single minute without the Lord, when due to weakness, distraction, or some passion we lose Him – but let us immediately seek Him with heartfelt repentance, faith, and love. For whoever, having sinned, does not repent at once and does not seek to reconnect with the Lord, sleeps the sinful death, does not see or feel the danger of his state, and being dead, dreams that he is alive. Thus, the sick with consumption, being near death, claim that they are healthy and do not need a physician or medicine. Just as the insensitivity of bodily organs and the absence of feeling pain are a sure sign of their decay and impending death, so too in a sinful person, the unawareness and insensitivity to their sins and the lack of recognition of the need for a Savior are reliable indicators of spiritual death, a condition that is exceedingly dangerous for one’s wellbeing. Therefore, blessed are the sinners who wholeheartedly seek the Savior; for the most merciful Savior will not delay in saving them and will say to them: "Your faith has saved you; go in peace" (Luke 8:48).
Let us, fellow sinners, seek the Lord Savior in prayers of repentance and confession, in prayers of faith and love, just as Mary Magdalene sought Him who was dead and has risen, with the same fervor and burning love: and He will, as He did for her, reveal Himself to us, to our consciousness, to our hearts in the peace of conscience, in the joy of the heart, as vividly as if we beheld Him with our own eyes, touched Him with our own hands, just as Mary Magdalene did. Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
