NOT OF THE SAME BLOOD, BUT OF THE SAME SOUL
Oh my Holy Rus', my Russia, blessed in the Right religion! Today you have united again to pray to our Defender the Virgin Mary and the saints...
Russia processions and stands in the light of the Grace of Christ... But the world «meal-monger» evaluating the whole world, and insatiable banker, a «laughing lion» on their cold lifeless mountain tops is blind. He does not understand what happened there in the distance, where that noise and joy came from, why some kind of «pleasure» has passed by without touching him? And it disturbs his black heart. The fact that other people can see the Grace of Christ irritates him most. How can those who do not have a «Mercedes», wear shabby, not «Coco Chanel»-type clothes... How can they possibly see what he cannot see at all?
My Russia, nun Inonia, special, no longer belongs to this world... And now it seems to be true like never before. According to Patriarch Kirill, more than three million believers venerated the Belt of the Mother of God and bowed to Her as the Mistress and Defender of Russia. More than that, there were lots of those who only could touch the Belt with their hearts for different reasons such as lack of time, helplessness or other circumstances... I, for one, will always remember watching my fellow believers standing in the heavy rain. They were trying to protect a child or an elderly woman with their umbrella or raincoat...
And who are these people, my compatriots: good Samaritans or sinners who believed on the last cross, which promised salvation?
Now I see them, my «Samaritans», my «monks», brothers and sisters, walking and walking for Grace... They can see it, feel it, they have this sense – the sense of Grace, which is why they were born Russians in Russia. «We are Russians! What a delight!» exclaimed Alexander Suvorov, addressing his warriors, the miracle-heroes, in his mind. And he could hear the echo of his troops from far, far away... Today it does not matter if you are a Tatar who accepted Orthodoxy, or a resident of Azerbaijan, or somebody else. Now you are processioning, you venerate the Belt of the Mother of God and worship the great saints, because there is no «strangers» for God, and that makes you one of us... Of course, you may change at home after a while, it is difficult to keep Grace, especially for years. Only a few saints managed to do that... But today you are the Good Samaritan, the sinner who repented on his cross – you can see other horizons... Your neighbors will offer you a bowl of cereal and a cup of hot coffee; they will protect you from the wind and rain. You are one of us, and only here, in the procession, walking to God; you can understand the Russian Idea and accept it with your heart. The Idea cannot be found by «the Greats of the World». This idea is unselfish love. This love is Grace...
Who could succeed in standing patiently or walking days and nights without repentance, without wishing to change their soul, without love and faith? Grace must be earned and accepted by faith. It can be achieved by the deeds of the struggle. One radio station said shamelessly and blasphemously, preaching «minority opinion»: Their heartfelt faith purposefully called «superstition». All these fully reveals the state of their mind: «What the heart thinks the tongue speaks»! All positions are clearly set and opposed: «the bleeding» Rus' is eager to touch Christ, standing in penitential prayer, and those well-fed, «ripe» voices spoilt with self-confidence, selfdom and speculation. Such is the smell of the fat pigs defecating along fences, so «ripe and stinky». They are so fat that they will never be able to look up at the Sky, the Sun, and God.
Looking for my friends among the pilgrims during the Procession, I really wanted to bow to all of them, and even strangers... To them, my native Russian people. They are neither my friends, nor my relatives, but they are my neighbors, who accepted and understood this great miracle of the Grace of God, which was shown to us, sinners. And of course, we all happened to gather here not without a reason. As the saying goes, «Not of the same blood, but of the same soul»...
Vasily Kilyakov. From «Inonia»
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