Подражать вере наших сродников. Проповедь о. Константина Корепанова (14.06.2026)

🔻Sermon Text🔻 SECOND WEEK AFTER PENTECOST, All Saints Who Shone Forth in the Russian Land. Imitate the Faith of Our Relatives Sermon by Priest Konstantin Korepanov In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Today, the Holy Church celebrates the feast of all saints who shone forth in the Russian Land. As we say in today's prayer, as we say in the festal troparia, as we say in the canon—these are all our kin. People born on this land, people who spoke our language, people who in some sense, and sometimes literally, are our ancestors in the flesh, are truly our relatives. Some of us are truly, literally, descendants of saints. I myself spoke with someone whose grandfather and great-grandmother were canonized. This isn't some kind of metaphor; it's the reality of our kinship, our genetic, cultural, and ethnic community. These are people who truly belong to the people we call Russian, without much thought about what defines this concept, without trying to give it some kind of philosophical or social definition. It's a spiritual concept. And today we celebrate Holy Rus' Day. In the proper sense of the word—Holy Rus'. Sometimes Holy Russia is used to refer to a political entity or a historical phenomenon. But that's not true. Such a thing never existed. Holy Rus' is the entire host of saints born on this earth, who entered the Kingdom of Heaven, those revealed and those unveiled, those canonized and those not—but only those people who entered the abodes of the Holy Heavenly King, those people who became the firstfruits, the offering of the Russian people, and who entered the Kingdom of Heaven. For not every Russian person enters heaven by birth. And not every Orthodox Christian enters the Kingdom of God by baptism, but only those who have affirmed their life, their existence, their sojourn on this earth as an abode in faith. And today, as we celebrate the memory of Russian saints, we must, of course, reflect on the words of Holy Scripture read today, on what it means to honor the memory of Russian saints. Well, how should I honor their memory? Well, if I bear the name of Sergius, Seraphim, or John in memory of John of Kronstadt, then it seems I should pray to them. But if not, if I bear the name of some ancient martyr or an ancient Byzantine emperor, then does that mean I don't honor Russian saints at all? How should I preserve their memory? Here's today's passage from the Apostle Paul's Epistle to the Hebrews, where he says some interesting words: "Therefore, since we also are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinners, lest you also grow weary and faint in spirit, for you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin." It turns out that honoring the memory of the saints means imitating their faith. It's not simply coming and praying to them, as we do. It is imitating their faith. Here, for example, are the first saints canonized in Rus'. Do you know who they are? Boris and Gleb were the first to be glorified, the first saints, not in chronological order—but the first saints who were truly canonized almost immediately after their death. And why? Because they imitated Jesus Christ. They chose to suffer rather than wage war against their brother, who was a scoundrel. But he was their brother—how can I rebel against my brother, even if he's a scoundrel? And so they allowed themselves to be killed. But a great blessing came out of this, for the Russian land received saints, the first saints to emulate. A thousand years later, a little more, a little more, a thousand years later, the last Russian emperor acted in exactly the same way, preferring to accept death with his family rather than rebel against his people, not to start a fratricidal war, which was started anyway—but not by him. He chose to die, to end his life as a passion-bearer, but only by fulfilling Christ's commandment—not to raise his hand against his brother. And these people accomplished their feat of faith. They imitated the faith of Christ, imitated Christ, and were also canonized. They didn't simply pray—they imitated. ... Continued in the comments. Video recording made on June 14, 2026, during the Divine Liturgy at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Yekaterinburg. Text transcript: Elena Plotnikova