Homily One for the Feast of the Kazan Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos
By St. Innocent of Kherson
By St. Innocent of Kherson
Three weeks ago, we celebrated the feast of the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos. The event commemorated by that feast is joyful in itself, but in some respects it may seem somewhat remote to us Russians, since it took place in Greece a full thousand years before our own day. As we celebrated the feast of the Protection of the Invincible Commander over Byzantium, it was quite natural to wonder: Is the Most Holy Virgin as merciful toward us as She was toward the Byzantines, who shared our faith? Can we point to any event in the history of our fatherland comparable to the Protection of Constantinople by the Most Holy Theotokos? Today, brethren, provides the answer—and the most joyful answer it is. For today we celebrate an event that most clearly demonstrates that the protection of the Mother of God extends over our fatherland as well. To the glory of the Most Holy Virgin, and to increase our spiritual joy in this, allow me, brethren, to recount this event to you, at least in its principal details.
Two centuries ago, our fatherland was struck by one of the greatest calamities: the line of tsars from the house of Rurik came to an end on the Russian throne. What, it might seem, could be easier than choosing one man to rule from among many millions? Yet experience showed that nothing is more difficult than choosing a tsar from among his subjects. The throne did not remain vacant for long, but whoever ascended it could not hold it. Godunov exerted all the powers of his intellect and skill in vain, exhausting every means of winning affection and inspiring fear. Nothing could compensate for the lack of hereditary right. Stained by suspicion that he had exterminated the last descendant of the Tsar’s house, he soon fell, one might say, before the very name of the holy youth he had slain—a name that the pretender set against him. There is no need to explain that this monster could not take the place of a rightful ruler on the throne.
Shuisky’s overthrow of the pretender was another matter. Everything seemed to call Shuisky to the throne: the distinction of his lineage, the multitude of his connections, his achievements in the past, and his recent demonstrations of courage and love for his fatherland. Yet, not chosen by Heaven, and having departed from the truth as often as he had borne witness to it, he ascended the throne only to descend from its heights into captivity and the grave.
At last came the time of complete interregnum, a time whose likeness is found in hell, for there the interregnum is eternal. But for our neighboring enemies, this was the most favorable opportunity to triumph over us. Province after province was torn away from Russia in the south and north. Poland wished to give us its own tsar, and Sweden its own. Exhausted by the absence of legitimate rule and by civil strife, we ourselves began to think that the best way both to end internal discord and rivalry and to avert foreign wars was to place one of the descendants of the Jagiellonian dynasty on the Russian throne. The name of Władysław was already being proclaimed in the churches of Moscow, and half of Russia was already on his side.
“But can a foreigner, imposed upon us by force, be at peace with the Russian heart? Can a man of another faith sit upon the throne of Saint Vladimir and adorn himself with the regalia of Monomakh?” So reasoned those in whom the Russian spirit had not yet been crushed by domestic turmoil and foreign intrigues.
“Let us stand for Holy Rus’, for the house of the Most Holy Theotokos, and for the wonderworkers Alexis, Photios, and Philip. Let us sell our wives and children, but free our fatherland!” cried a true son of the fatherland on the banks of the Volga. His voice, like that of an Archangel calling the dead to life, awakened minds and hearts that had grown numb.
The monk Palitsyn, the citizen Minin, and the boyar Pozharsky, as though chosen by Heaven itself to represent all the estates of the realm, rose up to fight the enemies, gathered a militia, and marched to free Moscow, the heart of the fatherland, from enemy hands. It was a sacred army, unlike any that had existed before or would come after. Yet how much it lacked! It had to capture fortresses defended by an enemy who was both numerous and determined, an enemy who knew well that victory would leave the entire Russian kingdom in his hands, while defeat would bring his dominion to a most lamentable end.
Meanwhile, this army lacked the means to sustain itself; it lacked weapons themselves and, most importantly of all, unity among both its soldiers and its commanders. The last resources for its maintenance, supplied by the Holy Monastery of Saint Sergius, had already been exhausted. A considerable part of the army, stirred by the intrigues of ambitious men, had abandoned the camp of the fatherland and was ready to join the enemy. The spirit of courage that had inflamed the Orthodox warriors was waning. Even the season favored the enemy: the autumn storms were approaching, so favorable to those under siege and so destructive to those laying siege. One more unsuccessful assault, one more internal dispute, and the first winter blizzard would scatter the last remnants of the sacred army.
“Farewell, freedom of our fatherland! Farewell, sacred Kremlin!” more than one son of the fatherland must have thought and said. “We have done everything to set you free, but surely God is unwilling to accept our sacrifice and bless our weapons with victory.”
Meanwhile, this pure sacrifice had long since been accepted as a fragrant offering. How could it have been otherwise, when, as we shall see, it had been carried to the throne of grace by the Most Gracious Virgin Herself? Providence delayed granting victory to the weapons of the Orthodox army so that its success would not be attributed to its own courage. Therefore, when all earthly hopes had fallen away and only one step remained before despair, heavenly assistance was revealed with unmistakable clarity. How did this happen? Listen, and stand in reverence before our heavenly Protectress!
In the besieged capital, surrounded by enemies, enduring the hardship of captivity and an even more grievous illness, languished one of the venerable chief hierarchs who, having come from the East, had found a second fatherland in Moscow. Close to Heaven by virtue of his rank, he was even closer to it through his virtues; therefore, he was deemed worthy to serve as an intermediary between Heaven and earth.
In the stillness of midnight, his cell suddenly filled with an extraordinary light, and he beheld Saint Sergius of Radonezh standing before him.
“Arseny,” said the Venerable One to the ailing hierarch, “your prayers and ours have been heard. Through the intercession of the Mother of God, God’s judgment upon the fatherland has been turned into mercy. By morning, Moscow will be in the hands of those besieging it, and Russia will be saved.”
As though to confirm the prophecy, the ailing elder suddenly regained his health and strength. The joyful news passed immediately from mouth to mouth, reached the Orthodox army beyond the city walls, and inflamed the soldiers with irresistible courage. Daring in the name of the Invincible Commander, the Christ-loving army no longer saw any insurmountable obstacles before it. Despite their fierce resistance, the enemy could no longer hold the fortifications. The Kremlin was in Russian hands.
Reverently acknowledging the help that had come from Heaven, the grateful army made a solemn, prayerful entry into the recovered capital on the following Sunday. The very hierarch who had been deemed worthy to receive the news of heavenly assistance came out to meet them. The wonderworking icon of the Mother of God, which he carried forth, seemed to all who gazed upon it not to be a lifeless icon, but a living image of the Invincible Commander in whose name victory had been won. Everyone hastened to sanctify themselves by touching the wonderworking image, falling to the ground and shedding tears.
And so that the memory of this miraculous manifestation of the protection of the Most Holy Virgin over the fatherland would not fade with time, it was unanimously decreed that a solemn commemoration of it should be held every year on this day.
Consider, then, how important this day is for our fatherland! It is the day of Russia’s miraculous liberation from foreign bondage and internal strife, the day of the rebirth of the Russian land. Had the capital remained in enemy hands, all Russia would most likely have remained in their hands as well. Moscow would have remained captive had the intercession of the Most Holy Virgin not come to our aid, for every earthly resource had been exhausted. Therefore, this day is truly the feast of the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos over our fatherland.
After this, we cannot help but ask: What turned the maternal gaze of our heavenly Protectress toward our ancestors and brought Her wondrous assistance near to them?
Above all, it was the prayers of the saints of God, such as Saints Sergius, Alexis, Peter, Photios, Cyprian, and the other Russian wonderworkers. During the calamities that befell their earthly fatherland, they never ceased praying to the Lord for its salvation, and they moved His very Mother to intercede on its behalf.
Yet the people of Israel once had no fewer intercessors before God in the persons of their departed forefathers and prophets, but they were nevertheless delivered into the hands of their enemies and were eventually rejected altogether. The Lord Himself had previously declared through the Prophet: “Though Moses and Samuel stood before Me, yet My soul could not be toward this people” (Jeremiah 15:1).
This means that the prayers of the saints for those who dwell on earth are not always heard. Why, then, were the prayers of the saints for Russia heard? Because when the saints prayed for Israel, Israel itself did not pray to the God of its fathers, but worshiped other gods. Our ancestors, however, knew no other gods. In prosperity as well as in adversity, they turned for help to the same God of their fathers, to His Most Pure Mother, and to His holy saints.
But let us note something else: our enemies at that time, who occupied Moscow and wished to seize Russia, also prayed to the Mother of God, for they too were Christians. Why, then, did She hear the prayers of the Russians rather than theirs, and why did She grant our fatherland such wondrous assistance?
First, because the confession of faith of our enemies at that time, although Christian, was not entirely pure, having suffered from the mixing of heavenly dogmas with human traditions. Second, because their deeds overturned what they professed with their lips: they spared neither peaceful dwellings nor the very temples of God, daring to mock what was sacred. Finally, they sought to seize Russia unlawfully and, in opposing our tsar, failed to show proper obedience to their own monarch as well. In time, this brought humiliation and ruin upon their own fatherland.
Our ancestors, of course, were not without weaknesses and shortcomings, for which they suffered great calamities and were brought to the very brink of ruin. Yet even amid the most terrible afflictions and in the most desperate circumstances, they knew how to preserve their faith in the Heavenly King and their loyalty to earthly tsars. Their unparalleled zeal bears witness to this: they willingly gave everything for the house of the Most Holy Virgin, for the capital, and for their fatherland.
And so the Mother of God, seeing their repentance, humility, zeal for holy things, and self-sacrifice, was moved to mercy. And, having been moved Herself, She also moved Her Son to come to our aid. Behold the mystery of Her saving protection over Russia!
What does this mystery teach us?
First, it teaches us never to lose faith in the salvation of our fatherland, whatever trials and calamities the providence of the Most High may permit to befall it. The wisdom of God loves to test with afflictions those nations that are pleasing to Him, just as He tests those people whom He loves, in order to purify, strengthen, and exalt them all the more. As its history shows, the Russian people are one such nation. How many times have they seemed to approach the end of their existence, only to rise again in glory! And each time, at their rebirth, the Russian wonderworking saints appeared to intercede for them like angels of God; the Mother of God Herself appeared as well. After this, how can we ever lose hope in the salvation of our fatherland?
Second, this day teaches us all the power of fervent prayer before God, especially the prayers of the saints for us. It was not without reason that Saint Sergius said to Arseny, “Your prayers and ours have been heard.” This means that the prayers offered on earth would not have been heard without the prayers offered in Heaven, just as the prayers offered on earth would not have been accepted without those offered in Heaven. Therefore, in all difficult circumstances affecting our fatherland or ourselves, prayer must be our first and last means of salvation. As we pray ourselves, we must also call upon the saints of God to pray for us, remembering that “the prayer of a righteous man has great power as it is working” (James 5:16).
All the more must we seek refuge under the protection of the Most Blessed Virgin, who has always been, and will remain, the comforter of all who turn in faith to Her intercession and act according to that faith.
I say, “act according to that faith,” because, as I have already noted, our enemies at that time also offered prayers to the Mother of God, yet they received no help from Her because they did not act in accordance with their faith. Instead, they gave themselves over to every kind of impurity and profaned what was sacred.
Therefore, whoever wishes to be found worthy of Her gracious protection must offer Her not only prayers but also, if not good works, then at least living faith, humility, and repentance.
This is the final lesson our present feast teaches us all! Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
