The following sermon by St. Sava of Serbia was translated to modern language by Bishop Atanasije (Jevtic) of blessed memory. We present an English translation for our readers on this Sunday of Orthodoxy.
St. Sava of Serbia (1) Brothers and friends, fathers and children called by God, bow your God-loving hearts to hear divine dogmas. And when you have heard these holy words, place them, brothers, into your hearts and the conscience of your souls, and before the eyes of your minds; and understand them.
(2) The merciful and man-loving God, having shown His measureless mercy for the human race, bowed down the heavens and descended to earth, and by His divine masterpiece and the voluntary endurance of many sufferings of His divine body has enlightened our race. And He sent the Holy Apostles across the whole world, saying to them: Go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. But inasmuch as they did not come to us, our fathers believed them, having heard the truth of their words. And the all-merciful God, Who has immeasurable mercy and desires that none of us perish, according to that same first commandment and also according to the teaching and preaching of the holy Apostles, raises me to this sacred place, not desiring to “fill the lack” of our fathers; and by Thy Holy Spirit commands me to reveal to you this word on your salvation, which, shouting aloud with love, preserve it, so that we might also be participants among the ranks of the saints.
(3) Therefore, brothers and children, I first of all ask you, having placed all my hope in God, first of all to hold to His true faith. Because, as the Apostle said, For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ (Cor. 3:11)—the Holy Spirit through the Holy Apostles and God-bearing Fathers; and this is the true faith, confirmed and preached in the seven Ecumenical Councils. And therefore, on this foundation of the Holy Faith we need to build with gold, silver, and precious stones—that is, with good works. For neither righteousness of life without the true and enlightened faith in God, nor the true confession of the faith without good works, can bring us unto the Lord; but we must have both together, that the man of God may be perfect (2 Tim. 3:17), and not be found lacking through the absence of either one in the temple of our life. For, as the apostle says, but faith, which worketh by love (Gal. 5:6).
(4) Therefore, we believe in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, hymning the Divine Trinity, the Cause and Creator of all that is caused, visible and invisible. [The Trinity] Which is comprised of one essence, that is, nature, and in three Persons; we speak of Hypostasis and Person. We do not mean by this any form or division into three Gods, nor three natures or essences, but we confess one God and one simple and incorporeal nature and essence; and by the distinction of the Persons we understand a distinction of Hypostases. [In this manner] we worship the Trinity in Unity and the Unity in Trinity—the Triune Monad and the One Consubstantial Trinity, the One Almighty and Self-Acting. We alone know Him who is eternally existing, without beginning, uncreated, immortal, incorruptible, impassible, all-knowing, all-embracing, and all-comprehending Mind.
(5) And one of the Trinity, not the Father nor the Holy Spirit, but the Son begotten of the Father, God and the Logos, in time was born of Him who begat Him, indivisibly and not made, but begotten, being of one essence with God the Father and ever existing with Him; Who by His goodness created all things out of nothing, and Who in the last days, for our salvation, came down from heaven and dwelt in the womb of the Virgin, uniting Himself to an exalted body, and in truth receiving from that very Immaculate Virgin Mary, [the Theotokos], a rational and intelligent soul. He, God the Logos, one God with the Father, because of His great love for mankind, by the will of the Father and of the [Holy] Spirit, chose to save His creation; descending from the bosom of the Father, from which He was never separated, (and entering into the womb of the Immaculate Virgin), and taking upon Himself flesh conceived not previously, animated with a rational soul and mind, God [incarnate] came forth, ineffably born while preserving inviolate the virginity of her who bore Him; undergoing neither confusion nor change, but remaining what He was and becoming what He was not. Truly, taking upon Him the form of a servant, and not in appearance only, He became like unto us in all things, sin only excepted.
(6) We know Him as perfect God and perfect Man—not one and another, but one and the same before the Incarnation and after the Incarnation, one composite Hypostasis; caring for the same in two perfect natures and properties, and in two natural wills and operations, unchangeably united in the Hypostasis. We confess Him as One who wills and [works] divine things as God, and who wills and [works] human things as Man. For He was not subject to natural necessity, but was born by His will, hungered by His will, thirsted by His will, was wearied by His will, feared by His will, died by His will—truly and not in appearance—having endured all the natural and blameless human passions… And He, the Immaculate One, was crucified and tasted death, and on the third day He rose again with the body, seeing no corruption; and the human nature, incorrupt and immortal, rose again; and having taken it up into heaven, He sat at the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again to judge the living and the dead. As He was taken up in His body, so shall He come, and shall render to every man according to his works. For He saith: “The dead shall be raised, and they that are in the graves shall come forth; and they that have done good,” with true faith, “unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment” (cf. Jn. 5:28).
(7) Moreover, we worship, venerate, and kiss the holy icon of the human Incarnation of God the Logos, anointed with the Godhead and remaining unchanged, so that he who is anointed with faith may account himself as beholding God Himself manifested in the flesh. We also worship the wood of the Holy Cross, and the sacred and honorable vessels, as well as the divine churches and holy places. We bow down and render veneration to the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos and to the icons of the saints of God, lifting up the eyes of our soul to the Prototype and raising the mind to that which is incomprehensible.
(8) This is the God-loving dogma of the Orthodox Fathers and of Tradition. Following them, we likewise believe and confess thus, and we anathematize all heretics and every heresy of theirs.
(9) We receive all seven Ecumenical Councils: the first, held at Nicaea, of the 318 holy Fathers; the second, in the city of Constantine, of the 150 holy Fathers; the third, at Ephesus, of the 200 holy Fathers; the fourth, at Chalcedon, of the 630 holy Fathers; the fifth, again at Constantinople, of the 164 holy Fathers; the sixth, again at Constantinople, of the 170 holy Fathers; and the seventh, held somewhat later in the metropolis of Nicaea, of the 350 holy Fathers, against those who reject the venerable icons, who neither depict nor venerate them, but impiously slander the Christians. We also receive all the Holy Councils which, by the grace of God, were convened at various times and in diverse places for the confirmation of the Orthodox evangelical teaching which the Catholic [Sobornaya] Church receives. And those whom these holy Fathers rejected, we also reject; and whom they anathematized, we likewise anathematize.
(10) For the devil in various times and seasons devised many heresies, and through his servants and successors sowed many evil tares throughout the world for the corruption and destruction of the true faith; these we anathematize, and together with them those who invent evil dogmas, and we hate every wicked heresy.
(11) But we rather strive after all piety, which the wise servants of God—the Prophets, the Apostles, and the Saints—have taught us, even as the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, the Son of God, when He came down from the Father and was incarnate and born ineffably of the pure and immaculate Virgin, accomplished the saving dispensation of the Father, being wondrously and truly crucified upon the Cross, and on the third day rising again; and after His Resurrection remaining here upon earth for forty days. And when He was about to ascend into heaven unto His Father, He commanded His disciples, His Apostles, saying, Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you (Matt. 28:19–20); and again, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned (Mark 16:15–16). And so this is the true faith: to be baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
(12) Therefore, we Christians have made this promise: always to pray to our God, (keeping His commandments and ever doing His will). For, as James saith, faith without works is dead (Jas. 2:26). But, my beloved brethren and children, as I have already said, we [must] both hold fast and [guard] these things with fear and trembling. Therefore, keep the word of God and the holy faith of Christ; call upon His most holy Name with a pure heart; be not slothful in holy prayers; cleave unto Him, confessing your sins, weeping before Him with tears; and let Him dwell in your hearts, praising Him always, day and night, without ceasing.
For when men confess God and pray unto Him, God Himself assures them and spiritually, through faith, enters into the hearts of those who well heed His teaching. For spiritual doctrine is not a game nor the vain words of human imagination, but the holy faith in God which is preached, upon which are founded holy works in Christ Jesus our Lord, of whom the prophets prophesied by the Holy Spirit, whom the Apostles taught, whom the martyrs preserved, and whom the venerable Fathers upheld without blemish—as upon the indivisible cornerstone of the Church of Christ, who is the Wisdom and the Power of the Father; and the Holy Spirit abides in Him—strong, mighty, firm, and sure in the faith. He it is who even now establisheth and confirmeth many, and unto all He giveth confirmation in His divine faith.
He, the merciful Lover of mankind, reacheth us by His abundant grace, correcting our failings and desiring, as a Shepherd, to be righteousness, to gather us, His wandering sheep, into [His] heavenly fold. Having attained unto this fold with the noetic and spiritual eyes of our soul, we ever pray unto Him, ever cleaving unto Him and making our confession before Him, as He Himself granteth us either to utter or to conceive within the heart in silence. And if we fulfil His will, we shall receive from Him salvation both in this age and in the age to come, provided we faithfully keep His commandments, which the Lord Himself commanded us to observe and for which He promised us a heavenly reward, saying, Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death (John 8:51).
(13) Yea, my beloved children, what is more sure and more righteous than this word, which Christ Himself testifieth and confirmeth in truth? What can be better than this: never to taste death eternally? For this very not tasting of death is already far removed from sin; since through the temptation of sin the taste of death entered into all mankind before Christ. Wherefore He Himself tasted death, He who after His first begetting of the Father is sinless and immortal, yet He tasted it for our sakes and suffered, that we through faith in Him might taste immortality, even as the Prophet saith, O taste and see that the Lord is good (Ps. 34:8). Thus the Lord is exceeding good, righteous, and faithful in all His words, and all His works are done in faithfulness. Therefore, my beloved children, we who love Him ought to work the works of faith in Christ Jesus our Lord, we who have received from Him the immortal faith, such a gift—that we should never die!
(14) Thus, if ye keep these things, ye shall be blessed (of God forever; your heart shall be blessed, and your soul shall be blessed you shall be blessed) even ye who have received the faith of God and have preserved it in purity. Looking unto the immortal gift of Christ, ever perform immortal works in Christ: pure faith and frequent prayer; love and hope toward Him; a pure conscience before God and men; fasting and watchfulness; prostration upon the earth; truth in all things; purity of body and soul; temperance; and the guarding of the grace of holy Baptism—the illumination of God—whereby we renounced satan and all his works. And always love repentance, and the confession of your sins, and mourning for them; compassion, humility, righteousness; the instruction and correction of your life; hatred of sin; not drunkenness, not fornication, but rather a pure life well-pleasing in the sight of God.
(15) For God is One from the beginning and unto the ages of ages. And this is the first commandment spoken unto them that love Him: that each one of you should love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength (Mark 12:30). And let these words, which He commandeth this day, be written in your hearts and in your souls (cf. Deut. 6:6), that ye may fear the Lord God Almighty, and serve Him only with fear and trembling, and give honor and glory unto Him alone, and cleave unto Him alone; and swear not at all by His Name, but let your word be, according to the Apostle, Yea, yea; Nay, nay (Matt. 5:37).
And in general, let there not be named among you any other god save Him who made heaven and earth; neither anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth (Exod. 20:4), to which ye should bow down or serve, save the Lord your God, in whom ye were baptized and believed, renouncing the hidden works of shame, and becoming partakers of His good faith and of His immortality. Hold fast unto Him, for all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him (Heb. 4:13), and our God is a consuming fire (Heb. 12:29); visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Him, and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love Him, and keep His commandments (Exod. 20:5–6). For He is the God of gods and Lord of lords, great God, a mighty, and a terrible (Deut. 10:17). Therefore keep His commandments, and do before His eyes all the words which He hath commanded you, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days for ever (cf. Deut. 4:40), if thou do that which is good and pleasing before the Lord thy God, to whom be glory and dominion unto the endless ages. Amen.
