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St. Philaret of Moscow
Elibron Classics
Sermon XXVIII
The Secret Grace of the Blessed Virgin
The Assumption of the Mother of God
"That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly."
– St. Matthew 4:18
At the grave-side of the holy Virgin the Church places us today in pious meditation. For what is a feast of the Church, if not a pious meditation in which the spirit rests from the labor of the flesh, and gathers strength for the work-days of life?
What do we see as we stand by the grave of the holy Virgin? An unusual sight! Commonly, there is light and brightness as far as the grave, beyond it – obscurity and uncertainty; but here we see quite the contrary, on this side of the grave, what high excellence and virtue in what deep mystery and obscurity! Beyond the grave, what light and glory, what triumphant requital of excellence and virtue!
No great effort is needed to explain that the moral worth of the most blessed Virgin Mary ought to be recognized as matchlessly high. This is evident in itself from the dignity of the mission to which she was chosen and raised. If there could have been found a virtue higher than her own, then it would have been unfitting that she should be selected above all to become the tabernacle, the throne, the Mother of God the Word. But in the decrees and works of God there can be nothing inconsistent. Consequently, as certainly Mary is blessed among women, that is, blessed with the highest blessing above all other women, even so certainly was her virtue the highest, the purest, the most perfect, albeit she is pure and perfect through this same Christ, Who became the reward of her purity and excellence.
But see how little is known, how little is seen of Mary's worth before her death.
Who could know better than he who was honored by the trust of becoming the guardian of this treasure of the world, of this sealed treasury of heaven? But Joseph knew so little in the beginning how highly she was to be honored, that he thought it even possible to make her a public example (Mt 1:19), although he was not willing to do so. Joseph was ready to throw away this priceless jewel, if it had not been more carefully kept by more enlightened guardians, – the angels. "And not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream."
O wonderfully-silent Virgin! was it not more natural that thou shouldest thyself inform Joseph of that, of which he was at last informed by the angel? Wherefore didst thou await the distant messenger from heaven? Why didst thou not hasten to succor the just man who had almost fallen into injustice? Doubtless that thy virtue, thy grace, thy dignity should "not appear unto men, but" solely "unto thy heavenly Father which is in secret" (Mt 6:18).
The mystery of the high dignity of the Virgin Mother of God, was more or less revealed by the angels, by the star, by the wise men of the East, by the shepherds, by Simeon; but the angels returned into heaven, the wise men into the East, the star disappeared, Simeon departed in peace from this world, the light of the glory of Bethlehem was obscured by the wrathful breathings of Herod, and by the blood of the innocents, Mary hid herself at one time in Egypt, at another in Nazareth, and concealed her dignity and glory in her own heart. "But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart" (Lk 2:19).
The time came when the fame of the wisdom and miracle-working power of the Son of Mary shone throughout Judea and Galilee. It behoved that the reflection of the Son's glory should also soon illumine the Mother's person. Once it seemed unexpectedly that this was about to begin. A woman, perhaps herself a mother, or one who strongly desired to be such, pictured more vividly than others the happiness of the most blessed Mother, and publicly gave way to an enthusiasm which incited her to glorify Jesus, and along with Him His Mother. "A certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto Him, Blessed is the womb that bare Thee, and the paps which Thou hast sucked" (Lk 11:27). But mark, she speaks in periphrasis, she blesses the womb and the paps, but does not utter the name of her whom she blesses. Why? Doubtless because she knows her neither personally nor by name.
Others knew Mary both personally and by name; it could not be otherwise; and notwithstanding this, remained most strangely ignorant of her. Listen what the townsmen and neighbors of Joseph and Mary said, "Whence hath this Man this wisdom, and these mighty works?" Consequently they acknowledge the wisdom of Jesus, see His miracles, assert them, and are thereby incited to learn all that concerns Him. "Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not His Mother called Mary?" (Mt 13:54-55). You see they are not even able to say, Joseph, the son of David, Mary, the daughter of David, – they know only that which is on the surface – that Joseph is an artisan, that Mary is – Mary. How do they not even know that which the Jews so carefully strive to know as well of themselves as of others? How did they not know the race and origin of Mary? It is impossible to explain this otherwise, than that the holy Virgin not wishing in any way to appear unto men, seeking no human comfort, was not even willing to solace herself in her poverty by revealing to men the dignity of her lineage; and she therefore no more proclaimed her origin, than she did her virtue and her grace.
But what is there to be wondered at, that strangers, be they more or less acquainted with her, for a long time refuse to see the glory of her whom "all generations shall call blessed" (Lk 1:48). Her Son Himself, – I should even hesitate to say it, could there be any hesitation in repeating the words of Truth itself, – her Son Himself seemingly not willing to give her before men the honor which belongs to a mother; and He appears to be ignorant of, or unwilling to know her. "Who is My mother?" (Mt 12:48) asks He, as if He were seeking upon whom to bestow the name, honor and glory of His mother, passing her over in silence to whom His birth had given a right to this title. "My mother and My brethren are these which hear the word of God and do it" (Lk 8:21). But speaking thus, the Lord denies not His Mother in the flesh, because more than others she hears the word of God, who heard it before others; and more actively than others she performs it, who has prepared unto Him a worthy tabernacle in her womb. But, firstly, the Lord exalts by this saying those who hear and do the word of God, and incites them to continue this saving work. Secondly, He does also, in the previous saying, conform Himself to His Mother's own rule, not to appear unto men, keeping aloof as far as possible from human fame, seeking the glory which is of God, and therefore does He tarry, deferring to reveal unto men the whole dignity and glory of her "who is more favored than Cherubim, and more glorious than Seraphim" (From a Canticle which is sung during Matins).
I proceed further with the earthly career of Jesus and Mary, and I see the same everywhere. Where glory abounds, there Mary appears not; as for instance, at the triumphant entry of the Lord into Jerusalem. And when the Mother of the Lord appears she meets not with glory, as for instance: "Now there stood by the Cross of Jesus, His Mother, and His Mother's sister" (Jn 19:25).
Let us follow the Crucified One, through the gates of death, into the realm of glory of the Risen. The time has come, when not only the first, but even the last in faith among His disciples, glorifies His divinity, saying, "My Lord and my God!" (Jn 20:28). The glory of the Lord's resurrection is already followed by the new divine glory of His Ascension into heaven. But I look for a man, an act, a word, wherein now at least the glory of "the Mother of my Lord" should appear, which when at its dawn, without witnesses, and without immediate result, the just Elizabeth proclaimed. I seek, and I seek in vain, "These all" – is written of the Apostles after the Lord's Ascension – "continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the Mother of Jesus" (Acts 1:14). What a strange enumeration. Not only after the Apostles, but even after certain unknown women, they have hardly at length remembered to name "Mary the Mother of Jesus". What then is this? Does indeed the narrator not revere the Mother of God? God preserve us from admitting this thought, offensive not only to the holy Virgin, but even to the evangelist St. Luke. What means it then? It means this, that St. Luke writes in the Book of the Acts of the Apostles in the same spirit as that in which the blessed Virgin conducted herself in their midst; and, although she, by the height of grace, presides invisibly and in spirit over the assembly of the Apostles, – by lowliness of heart, in the body, she suffered not herself to be visibly the object of any glory, accepted no pre-eminence, and placed herself on the same rank with the other women, teaching them by her example, the same that the Apostle Paul taught them afterwards by his word: "Let your women keep silence in the churches" (I Cor 19:34). "Let the women learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach" (I Tm 2:11-12). I should desire, I would say in passing, that our alienated brethren should take this example into serious consideration, they, who before the judgment of Christ, having condemned without discrimination the whole hierarchy, and thereby punished themselves by a willful renunciation of the priesthood, do as the maximum of disorder, intrust the conduct of their divine service to virgins, who are undoubtedly not wise but foolish. For what virgin if not a foolish one, would dare to accept in the Church that which the holy Virgin the Mother of God dared not to undertake? (This relates to a certain sect of the raskolniks, concerning which see the Note at the end of the volume.)
Let us look on the other sphere, immeasurable to the eye, but easily perceivable by its brightness, which was opened to the holy Virgin by her assumption. As soon as this was accomplished, the Apostles, as says the sacred tradition, were assembled from everywhere by the Holy Ghost, not so much to lament, as to celebrate her burial. And as before, when the unbelief of Thomas was turned into a means of proving the reality of Christ's resurrection, even so now, the delay of Thomas is turned into the means of the glorification of the assumption of the Mother of God, until now unrevealed as her life upon earth had been hidden. Having received glory from God in heaven, she no longer rejects human glorification upon earth, before then unwelcome to her humility, but now useful and beneficent to those who live upon earth.
Her glory had also its enemies, as had even the glory of Christ Himself: but herein above all appears the divine grace, that her enemies are less an obstacle to it than a means to attain its end. What obtained those heretics who both astutely and daringly strove to bereave the holy Virgin Mary of the exalted name of Mother of God? This, that the Orthodox Church, guarding against their malice and daring, began still more fervently to glorify the holy Mother of God; wherefore there is now in the Church, not one day, not one divine service, which is not abundantly adorned by her divine glory. And this is not merely a contest of words between the orthodox and the heretics, but a real strife between spiritual powers and a perfect victory of the power of Christ over that of His antagonists. For the glorifying lips would have tired in the course of centuries, if at the voice of prayer and glorification the holy Mother of God had not met the faithful with her powerful aid, bringing into the soul Christ and His grace, in the same manner as she is pictured, bearing Him in her arms, on our sacred images: "Hail, thou that art highly favored." Thy divine glory shines forth in godlike miracles!
This, my brethren, is what I see today, standing by the ritual of the Church and on duty at my post, in contemplation by the grave of the holy Virgin-Mother of God. But wherefore this vision? For a pious meditation ought not to be idle, but active. Moreover, the example of her hidden life should help us to understand, to receive and to accomplish the doctrine of Christ: "That thou appear not unto men . . . but unto thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." Thou shalt struggle, do good works, serve God; but be careful that thy efforts, thy virtues, thy godliness do not appear unto men without necessity, willfully, in self-gratification, in vanity; take God as the witness of thy conscience, and He shall be thy remunerator for all that thou in secret from men doest or sufferest for His sake.
The Lord commandeth secrecy, firstly, in the works of charity: "Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen by them; but when thou doest alms let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth." Secondly, in works of godliness: "But thou, when thus prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut the door, pray to thy Father which is in secret." Thirdly, in works of self-sacrifice and mortification of the flesh: "That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret." Consequently, He enjoins the secrecy of modesty and lowliness in all the duties of man towards God, his neighbor and himself, – in every virtue, in all works of the law.
Some will say, But how then will the word of Christ Himself be fulfilled, saying, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven" (Mt 5:16)? Trouble not yourselves about that; the word of Christ shall be fulfilled by itself without your aid. It is said, "Let your light so shine", by itself, naturally as every light shines; but it is not said, make a show of your light. Good works are works of light in themselves; work in secret, the light will shine forth when and inasmuch as God, the Author of light, shall command. The only thing to be dreaded is to do dark, evil deeds, these surely can give no light and God will not be glorified by them.
Some also say, How is it then possible to pray or to preach at church, if even works of godliness ought to be done in secret? To answer this, let me remind you that in the sermon in which our Savior speaks of prayer which is in secret, He speaks also of the gift at the Altar, "if thou bring thy gift to the Altar"; and this takes place but during public divine service, openly and solemnly. We perceive from this that by the commandment of secret prayer, we are not released from the duty of sharing in divine service at church. But there is also in this case a prudence of its own kind, not to appear vainly before men, but to stand humbly before the heavenly Father, Who is in secret. If standing in church, thou accomplishest acts of piety in common with all those present, but strivest to repress, or to render imperceptible in thee the particular emotions excited by piety, – sighing and sobs ready to escape thee, tears to flow, – in such a disposition thou dost, even amidst a numerous assembly, stand before thy Father, which is in secret.
Let us reflect, my brethren, how ignoble, wearisome and useless it is to live but for show, as many do, in moral, social, and family life. They show everything, expose everything, trumpet everything, proclaim every insignificant act like a clucking hen which proclaims her new-laid egg. But the proclamations of the hen are better grounded, they announce an egg, which is really laid and remains, whereas vain persons announce that which either exists not, or which is annulled by its very proclamation. For instance, a work of charity is done, well, until now it exists; but if he who has done it boasts of it, then is the good action annulled. Now it is manifest that there is no good in his heart, there reigns in it but vanity. There is no good in his action. It is nothing good even in the eyes of men, for they penetrate vanity, and if they glorify the act of a vain man, they at the same time proclaim also a condemnation of his vanity. How much more then is there no good therein in the sight of God. He renounced vain men when He said, "they have their reward" (Mt 6:2,5,16).
Christian! be, and pretend not; this is one of the most important rules for thee. Learn to know the unparalleled dignity of modest, quiet, and hidden virtue. It is its property to be a mystery upon earth, because it is of heavenly birth, and exists for heaven. Perfect it in secret, and preserve it from the eyes of men, often impure, and impairing its purity; but offer it fervently and unceasingly to the pure and purifying eye of God. "And thy Father which seeth in secret, Himself shall reward thee openly." Amen.
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