July: Day 10: Teaching 2: The Placing of the Honorable Robe of the Lord in the Royal City of Moscow

July: Day 10: Teaching 2:
The Placing of the Honorable Robe of the Lord in the Royal City Moscow
 
(On the Meaning of the Sufferings of Christ)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Today, the Holy Church commemorates the bringing of the Lord's robe to Moscow and its placement. In 1624, Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich, being on good terms with Abbas, the Shah of Persia, sent ambassadors Vorobyin and Kuvshinov to him. The Shah, having conquered Iberia, was returning victorious. Upon receiving the ambassadors, he spoke to them of his intention – to send the robe of the Savior, which he had found in the treasury of a certain church, to the Russian sovereign. The ambassadors reported this to the Tsar and the Patriarch, who were uncertain of how to respond; meanwhile, the Shah's envoy Irusambek arrived in Moscow with many gifts and a letter. First of all, he presented the Patriarch Philaret with a golden box adorned with precious stones. Within it was enclosed the Lord's robe. The Patriarch received it with honor, yet he himself was perplexed about how to regard the received gift, and thus convened a synod, at which Nektarios, the Archbishop of Vologda, communicated the following: "During his diaconate under the Patriarch of Constantinople, he was obliged to be in Iberia. There, in one church, he noticed burning lamps at a pillar on the right side and inquired about this from the priests. They replied that there was the Chiton of Christ and recounted its history: after the Crucifixion of the Savior, when soldiers cast lots for His garments, it was awarded to a soldier from the Iberian land. That man brought it back to his homeland and gifted it to his sister, with whom, according to her wish, the robe was buried." Soon a tree grew over her grave, from which fragrant myrrh flowed. During the reign of Constantine the Great, in 342 AD, a church was built here, and a bishopric was established in Iberia. However, during the Persian rule, both the tree and the temple disappeared, and what happened to the chiton remains unknown. When the question of the authenticity of the vestments was not resolved at the synod, a fast was appointed, after which Metropolitan Cyprian, by order of the Patriarch, placed the brought vestment upon the sick: all the sick were healed – and everyone was convinced of its sanctity, which was later transferred to the Dormition Cathedral and placed in a specially arranged room, in the corner, on the west side of the cathedral.

II. On the day of the commemoration of the deposition of the honorable robe of our Lord Jesus Christ in the royal city of Moscow, one cannot help but recall the redemptive sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ for us, when the soldiers divided the robe of the Son of God, cast lots for His clothing, and gave Him gall to eat and vinegar to drink to quench His thirst.

"The suffering of Christ,” says Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk, “is powerful and should turn us away from sin, presenting to our spiritual eyes the unchangeable truth and mercy of God.

a) We see that God's justice cannot be violated, but demands its satisfaction without delay; we see that sin cannot go unpunished. God's justice required that we be eternally punished, because we have provoked the 'eternal and infinite' God... Who could become a mediator, intercessor, and reconciler between the infinite, angry God and the offending human? No one! Neither angel nor any other creature. It was Jesus, our Redeemer, who said: 'And I looked, and there was no helper; and I wondered that there was no mediator: therefore My own arm brought salvation unto Me' (Isaiah 63:5). 'And He became the mediator for God and men' (1 Timothy 2:5). And God's righteous judgment turned upon Him: 'There was a curse upon us.' The Innocent One suffered judgment for us who were guilty.

Reflection on God's justice, His righteous anger against sin, and the most severe suffering that Jesus Christ endured for our sins should terrify us and lead us away from sin! If Christ, the innocent and the only righteous one, suffered so horrifically for the sins of others, how will sinners be tormented in Gehenna for their own sins? Christ suffered and died for every individual; however, when a person refuses to use Christ's suffering for their salvation, to turn away from sin, to repent: then this very suffering of Christ will serve as a rebuke, demonstrating that they have rejected such a great gift of God's grace... Then the wretched sinner will feel the weight of sin and realize how great their anguish is... It is easy to sin, but it is not easy to free oneself from sin; without Christ, the burden of sin leads one to the depths of hell, and one must pay the infinite penalty to God's justice. Beware of sin, which incites the righteous God to anger,” admonishes Tikhon of Zadonsk.

b) "In the suffering of Christ, we see the ineffable mercy of our Heavenly Father towards us. He, seeing us in destruction and unwilling to allow us to perish forever, 'did not spare His Son' (Rom. 8:32) for our salvation, but delivered Him up for us. About this, the Son of God Himself, for our consolation, says: 'For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life' (John 3:16)... O, wondrous favor of the Heavenly Father, who, for the sake of His poor and lost creation, did not spare His Son! O, marvelous obedience of the Son of God, who, for our sake, humbled Himself, 'being made obedient unto death, even the death of the cross!'" exclaims the same holy hierarch of Christ, the great servant of God, Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk. "So how can you desire to offend such a merciful Father with your sins and neglect the obedience of His Son, shown for your sake, through an unrepentant life? How can you love the sin for which the Father betrayed His Son, and for which the Son of God endured such severe and bitter suffering? You love the sin because you are not repelled by it; you are not repelled because you do not forsake it.

Reflection on God's justice may deter you from sin; and contemplation of God's mercy may prevent you from despairing due to the commission of sin. Remember God's justice in times of temptation to sin; but do not forget God's mercy during times of temptation for sins committed. Thus, reflection and remembrance of Christ's suffering teach us to fear sin, to hate it, and to distance ourselves from it; and for the sins we have committed, we should not despair, but rather return to our Heavenly Father, following the example of the prodigal son, seeking His forgiveness, and upon receiving His mercy, strive never to distance ourselves from Him again."

III. Christian brethren, let us preserve these teachings and admonitions of our wise Holy Father Tikhon of Zadonsk in the depths of our hearts and always remember that sin is the greatest evil, from which we must strive to avoid by all means, for to atone for it a sacrifice so great and suffering so severe were required, as the sufferings on the cross of Golgotha, of our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ, to whom, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, be glory and thanksgiving forever and ever. Amen. 

 

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