August: Day 2: Saint Basil the Fool for Christ of Moscow

August: Day 2:
Saint Basil the Fool for Christ of Moscow
 
(On Standing Reverently in the Temple of God)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Blessed Basil of Moscow, celebrated today for his holy, God-pleasing life, left his parents' home at the age of 16 and took on the difficult feat of foolishness for Christ. Having neither shelter nor refuge, he walked around Moscow both summer and winter in tattered clothes. People did not understand him, considering him insane, and often showered him with ridicule and beatings, but he made it a rule to endure everything patiently. Taking advantage of convenient opportunities, Basil instructed many in goodness and even gave lessons in piety to Tsar Ivan the Terrible himself. 

Once Tsar Ivan was standing in church and thought about how to decorate his new palace on Sparrow Hills. After the service, Basil went to see the Tsar. "Where have you been? I did not see you in the church," said the Tsar. "But I saw you," answered Basil, "only you were not in the church, but on Sparrow Hills." "Let us now lay aside all worldly cares," they sing in church, said Basil and then disappeared. The Tsar understood the words of the blessed one and began to have even greater respect for him.

II. The admonition given to the Tsar by Blessed Basil about standing reverently in the church prompts us to talk with you about the same subject.

The temple of God is the house of God, or, as John the Theologian expresses it, the tabernacle of God with men (Rev. 21:3). We can boldly say that the Temple of Solomon with all its glory is much lower than any Orthodox temple, because in every temple the Son of God is truly and essentially present, by His ineffable love for us, hiding under the forms of bread and wine. This presence of His, elevating our temples to the true house of God, clearly gives them a much higher advantage, such as a real thing has over its shadow. Therefore, we are completely right to assign to our temples what the Holy Prophet said to the Jews concerning the second Temple: "The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former" (Hag. 2:10), because in our temples Jesus Christ Himself appears visibly, appears not once or twice, as was the case in the ancient Temple, but always, and fills it with His glory. Consequently, what Moses said about Israel should apply to us much more: “What nation is so great that it has a God who draws near to it, as the Lord our God” (Deut. 4:7)?

But since our churches are truly houses of God, it is already self-evident that we must enter and be in them only with the deepest humility, with the strictest attentiveness and with the most complete reverence.

a) It is precisely these feelings in relation to the house of God that we see in all the saints. Thus, when Jacob, during his flight to Mesopotamia, awoke from a dream in which God revealed to him his future destiny, he was completely overcome with awe and said: “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it. How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!” (Gen. 28:16-17). And Moses, when God spoke to him from the burning bush, was filled with the deepest humility and reverence, and the word of God says about him: “He turned away his face, for he feared to look before God” (Ex. 3:6).

b) Now if we compare the behavior of many Christians of our time with the behavior of the saints, what similarity will we find in them? Unfortunately, almost nothing. Many Christians of our time consider the house of God to be a place of such a gathering in which modesty is not needed, and to which they go only to indulge in all kinds of conversations and to be in complete distraction. Almost every feature of their face and every movement of their body serve as proof of what Jesus Christ said about the Jews: “This people draws near to Me with their mouth, and with their lips they honor Me, but their heart is far from Me” (Matt. 15:8). Submitting to custom, they still pray, sometimes bow to the ground, kneel, show a form of piety; but where is their heart? At home, and is occupied with the household, children, or some trade that they love, or from which they receive their livelihood. Some stand with bowed heads and have a look of contrition, but where is their heart? In some worldly companionship, or even at an ugly game, in the abode of vices.

This internal lack of reverence, with which many are during the service, is often combined with external. Some, being in the church, often not only at the back, or in the middle of the church, but even at the altar itself, make laughter and talk so loudly that the service is almost inaudible, and that it is much better to stop the service than to continue it. The priest often gives a sign from the altar for general peace, saying: "Peace be with you!" But many of those present do not think about this at all, and continue to be, as they were, a temptation to those present.

III. Brethren! All the departed saints, seeing such irreverence in us, certainly no longer recognize us as the successors of their faith. Even unbelievers, even pagans, if they were to come to our meetings on other days and look at our behavior, could not possibly imagine that we were standing in the house of God. Even pagans would be amazed and say: “The house of God, and such a noise! and such wandering to and fro! and such turning of heads and eyes! The house of God, and such conversations, such laughter!”

Orthodox Christians! Do not act so ungodly in the temple of God! Come to it and be there with deep humility, in deep reverence! If you wish to venerate the holy icons, then do it either before or after the service; if you need to submit a note to the minister of the altar of the Lord through a church minister about the health or repose of your relatives, then do it extremely quietly and carefully, so as not to violate the decorum of the church and not to upset the prayerful mood of all the brethren. If you need to buy a candle from the church box to put it before the holy icon, then again do not forget where you are, and do it quietly, carefully, and if possible silently. This is required of you by both the greatness of God present here and the sanctity of the actions performed for your eternal good. 

 

Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.