of Vladyka Seraphim
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Today, we are commemorating the memory of Saint Tikhon of Kostroma. To begin with, this man was a soldier. In due course, as he followed his military obedience, he went from Lithuania to Russia, and there he left the military and became a monk in the monastery in Kostroma. In this new place, he gave up everything and followed Christ. In Kostroma he worked with his hands, as did all the monks in that monastery, and he contributed to the economy of the whole monastic family as is normally the case. Although every monastic community has its own way of life, some communities make their living in other ways than only working with their hands. However, what else might be done depends on where the monastery subsists, what is the environment and climate, and what are the abilities of the monks. In Egypt, they made baskets, and the like. In the case of Saint Tikhon, his work was to do wood-turning on a lathe, and some other things. Apparently there is a very good manuscript about him.
Saint Tikhon concentrated so much on following Christ that by the end of his life, he had nothing of his own, and thus he had nothing for his burial. The archbishop and the monastic community had to put together the things that were required, including the shroud, for his burial. Not everyone of us is called to follow Christ in quite that particular way, but we are all called to put Christ first in our lives, and to trust Him that everything will work out correctly and well, even though we have all sorts of difficulties and bumps in our lives.
It is the same Lord of our lives who is healing the lepers this morning. It is the same Lord, who heals leprosy because of His loving compassion, that takes care of your life and mine. This same loving compassion has never changed. He looked after Saint Tikhon in the same way.
When we look at the lives of people who have gone before us in this diocese in particular (because this is our context), we can see many examples of people who have been sustained by Christ, regardless of the difficulties. Saint Tikhon, the Patriarch of Moscow, was the one who incorporated this diocese in 1903. He consecrated many of the Temples in this diocese. He also consecrated Temples that are no longer in this diocese. When Saint Tikhon came to North America, he was faced with a very big challenge. He prepared the way for the mobilisation of our Church in North America through his establishment and organisation of things. Through the blessings that he gave, our Church in North America took its character as a North American Church, and not merely a ghetto. By this I mean that Saint Tikhon blessed the organisation of dioceses and parishes in the spirit of normal Orthodox ecclesiology, while taking into account how civil law, incorporations and property ownership function on this continent. The incorporation of the dioceses of Canada in 1903 was a brilliant example of this. Under his direction, the Church met the needs not only of the immigrants, but also of the many converts to Orthodoxy that his blessing made possible.
When Saint Tikhon went back to Russia, he very soon encountered the Revolution. It was he, an unlikely candidate (because of various Church politics), who was chosen by the Lord to lead the Church in Russia through the worst times of the Revolution. We can so strongly say that he was chosen by the Lord since his name was picked from three names in a chalice by an old, blind and holy monk, after prayer. It was because of his love for the Lord, and the Lord’s protection of him, that he was able to survive and to make the Church survive all the attacks against her. He listened to the Lord. The Lord inspired him, and he acted accordingly. It was not only because Saint Tikhon was so smart a man that these things happened. It was because his heart was in tune with the Lord. That comes first for us all, and it came first for Saint Tikhon. Because of that, he was able to make all the decisions that were necessary for the Church in Russia to survive in the time to come. We are not so certain how he died. Some say he died of natural causes, and other people say that he died because they gave him ground-up glass in his food (which is likely enough). Regardless, he is definitely a confessor and martyr for the Church, and a strong intercessor for the Church there, and for the Church here.
It is important for us to remember that although Saint Tikhon left North America, he never forgot his flock here. He continued to pray for them, and he still continues to pray for us. (It was not because he wanted to go back to Russia. Rather, he went out of obedience. He was told that his time in North America was over, and he was to go back to Russia and work there.) This is the same love that characterises our Saviour. He is always with us. He is always looking after us. He is always compassionate and caring for us. It is this sort of love that you and I need to try to imitate, to emulate. This love is not particular, partisan or exclusive. This love embraces everyone. The love of Jesus Christ, the love of both the Saint Tikhons mentioned today, is not exclusive but inclusive love. It is love that embraces everyone both together, and in particular. “Particular” by itself can be exclusive, but within the inclusiveness, the particular is life-giving. It is not exclusive. It brings people in and enables people to grow. This is the love of Jesus Christ. We can see this in His love for the apostles all together, and for each personally at the same time. As one nun said : “The Lord loves each one of us best”.
Saint Seraphim spoke about the acquisition of the Holy Spirit. That included this sort of love, and this way of living life in the love of Jesus Christ : imitating Him, emulating Him, trying to be pleasing to Him, telling other people through this love how to find Him. Let us ask the Lord this morning to renew our love for Him, to quicken us in this love, and to help our hearts to hear Him when He speaks to us and to follow Him when He says : “‘Follow Me’” (Luke 5:27). Let us do what He says to do when He asks us to do it, even if to do so is intimidating, even if it is strange. He says : “Go ; do”. It is necessary that we go and do as He says. He knows what He is doing with our lives, and He does not tell us in advance what is going on. His love knows all, directs all, and gives life. It is crucial that we learn how to trust Him. This love is never deceptive. This love is never failing. This love is always right. Let us ask the same Lord to enlighten our hearts so that we can discern that it is He who is speaking to us. Let us follow Him, obey Him, and glorify Him throughout our lives, together with the unoriginate Father, and the all-holy, good, and life-giving Spirit, now, and ever, and unto the ages of ages.