In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Brothers and sisters,
Today, before vigil, we served the last pannikhida for Brother Joseph. We prayed for the last time for him, for the repose of his soul. The Church prays for the forgiveness of the sins of every deceased person, no matter how righteous he may be, for there is no man who has not sinned. But when, by the judgment of the Church, a righteous man is recognized as a saint, then prayers for him cease, and the Church begins to pray to him, asking for his intercession before the throne of God and praising his exploits. This is what the glorification of a new saint is.
Holiness is a gift of God’s grace. No matter how hard one may work, no matter what he does, he cannot attain holiness on his own. The path to holiness is a mystery. How did Brother Joseph please God? We can only guess about this based on what he himself has revealed about his inner world.
Br. Joseph treated the Myrrh-streaming Icon not as an inanimate object, but as the Mother of God Herself. When we are in the presence of a famous, honourable person, we do not allow ourselves to behave freely and at ease, we try to be attentive. As for Brother Joseph, he was in the presence of the Mother of God Herself for 15 long years, day and night, in constant fear of offending Her in any way by his thoughts or actions, in constant reverence and prayer, maintaining constant spiritual vigilance, fearing to allow even the slightest bad thought. He did not even dare to look at the icon with curiosity. Such an intense, attentive life in the fear of God cleansed his heart from passions, as if by fire burning out of it everything sinful.
His other spiritual feat was sincere, unfeigned love. Brother Joseph himself speaks about it this way: “I prayed a lot and only asked God for one thing, that He would leave me my old heart, that I would be sincere with people. So that if I meet someone, give him a hug or shake hands, it should be from the bottom of my heart and soul, and not some kind of performance.”
The higher the spiritual ministry entrusted to a person, the more severe temptations are allowed on him. One can only imagine what terrible internal and external attacks Br. Joseph had to endure from enemies visible and invisible.
God does not send the gifts of grace to those prone to self-conceit, lest they become proud and perish. Brother Joseph was vouchsafed to become the chosen one of God and the Most Holy Theotokos. Thanks to his deep humility, he was able to carry out this great ministry unharmed. He saw himself only as an unworthy, sinful instrument in the hands of God.
Thus, his spiritual life was based on the Fear of God, Love and Humility. These three virtues caused him to ascend, in the space of 15 years, from a pious young man to holiness and martyrdom. These 15 years of constant, strenuous struggle were for him the ascent to his Golgotha.
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13), the Lord said to the Apostles at the Last Supper. Martyrs, dying for Christ, show the highest degree of love for Him. Martyrdom is a great feat, incomparable to anything else. The martyrs drank the cup of Christ and were baptized with His baptism (Matt. 20:22). Martyrdom is the baptism of blood. It not only cleanses all sins, but also sanctifies, and fills with the grace of the Holy Spirit. Martyrdom is a mystery. How can a sinful man in an instant become more than just righteous, but holy, i.e., a vessel of God’s grace and a source of grace for others? We can’t understand this.
We have now sung the magnification to the holy Martyr Joseph for the first time, we have glorified his feat of Martyrdom, and confessed that we honour his precious suffering for Christ and for our Church. But before addressing him for the first time as a saint, before singing his magnification, we made a prostration before his icon.
We fell prostrate on the ground, asking his forgiveness for all our wrongs before him. For the wrongs he suffered from us, both during his life and after his death. But asking his forgiveness for everything, we at the same time turn to him in hope that he will not remember our wrongs and will intercede before God for our Church and for each of us. After all, during his lifetime, Brother Joseph never refused anyone and prayed before the miraculous Icon for all who asked him, much more now he prays for all of us not before the Icon, but before the Mother of God Herself.
Everyone called him Brother Joseph. To our entire Church, he was “Brother Joseph.” And he really treated every person as a brother, always ready to help him. But if the Martyr Joseph was our brother, then we also are his brothers. And now, standing in front of his icon, we experience the same feelings as the brothers of the other Joseph, about whom we read in the Bible. Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery to Egypt to get rid of him. But God made him Pharaoh’s dignitary and the ruler of Egypt. And many years later it came to pass that Joseph became a protector for his brothers and saved them from starvation, and he did not remember the evil they had done to him.
In the same way, we now find ourselves in a pitiful situation, in need, in danger, there is almost nothing left of our Church. And the Holy Martyr Joseph, in heavenly glory, boldly stands before the Queen of Heaven and prays for us.
We now see in the world the complete triumph of evil in various forms and manifestations. But the glorification of the new saint is proof that the triumph of evil is only seeming. The death of a martyr is not a defeat, but a victory. The martyrs are crowned as victors over the devil, they defeated him by the power of the Cross of Christ. Therefore, the glorification of a new saint is a great celebration, a triumph.
We have a great host of intercessors – the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia, to whom belongs the holy Martyr Joseph, the last of the New Martyrs. Let us keep asking his prayers for our Church and for all our needs.
Amen.
