Поклонение духомъ и истиною по всеи земли
Worship in Spirit and Truth
Christ's call to worship the Father in spirit and truth is fulfilled as the Holy Trinity is glorified everywhere, and the Father reveals these mysteries to the humble.
Just as the Savior said to the Samaritan woman: the time is coming—and has now come—when people will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem, but true worshipers will come who will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father seeks such people to worship him—that is, together with the Son and the Holy Spirit, as he truly is.✦1 Already across the whole earth the Holy Trinity is glorified and receives worship from all creation; the small and the great glorify God, according to the prophecy: 'And no one will teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, "Know the Lord," for they will know me, from the least of them to the greatest.'✦ Just as the Savior Christ said to the Father: 'I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and the understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.'✦2
Adoption as Sons
Through baptism and faith, human beings are granted the grace to become children of God, born not of flesh but of the Holy Spirit.
And the good God has shown such mercy to the human race that even fleshly people, through baptism and good works, become sons of God and partakers of Christ. For as the evangelist said: "To those who received him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born not of blood, nor of the desire of the flesh, nor of the will of a man, but of God" — by the Holy Spirit in the holy font.3
The All-Working God
God's sovereign acts invite universal praise and awe at His boundless love for humanity.
And our God has done all these things in heaven and on earth; He made whatever He willed. So who will not glorify Him, who will not praise Him, who will not bow before the greatness of His glory, and who will not marvel at His boundless love for humankind?4
The Mysterious Incarnation
The Son, co‑eternal with the Father, takes flesh from a pure Virgin, entering and coming forth in a way known only to Himself.
Born of the Father before time began, sharing the Father's throne, of the same essence as him — as light is with the sun — he came down to earth, visited his people without being separated from the Father, and took flesh from a pure Virgin, without a husband and undefiled, entering her in a way known only to him.5 After taking on flesh, he came forth just as he had entered.6
Read the original Church Slavonic
Яко же и къ самаряныни глаголааше Спасъ, яко грядеть година, и нынѣ есть, егда ни во горѣ сеи, ни въ Иеросалимѣхъ поклонятся Отцу, но будуть истиннии поклонници, иже поклонятся Отцу духомь и истиною, ибо Отец тацѣхъ ищеть кланяющихся ему, рекше съ Сыномъ и съ Святыим Духомъ, — яко же и есть. По всеи земли уже славится Святаа Троица и покланяние приемлеть от всеа твари, малии, велиции славять Бога, по пророчьству; «И не научить кождо искреняго своего и человѣкъ брата своего, глаголя «познаи Господа», яко увѣдять мя от малыих до великааго». Яко же и Спасъ Христос къ Отцу глаголааше: «Исповѣдаю ти ся, Отче, Господеви небеси и земли, яко утаилъ еси от прѣмудрыихъ и разумныихъ и открылъ еси младенцемь, еи, Отче, яко тако бысть благоизволение прѣд тобою».
И толма помилова благыи Богъ человѣчьскыи род, яко и человѣци плотьнии крещениемь и благыими дѣлы сынове Богу и причастници Христу бывають. Елико бо рече евангелистъ: «Прияша его, дасть имъ власть чядомъ Божиемъ быти, вѣру яштиимъ въ имя его, иже не отъ кръве ни отъ похоти плотьскы, ни отъ похоти мужескы, нъ отъ Бога родишася», Святыимь Духъмъ въ святѣи купѣли.
Вся же си Богъ нашь на небеси и на земли елико въсхотѣ, и сътвори. Тѣмже къто не прославить, къто не похвалить, къто не поклониться величьству славы его и къто не подивиться бесчисльному человѣколюбию его.
Прѣжде вѣкъ от Отца рожденъ, единъ състоленъ Отцу, единосущенъ, яко же солнцу свѣтъ, съниде на землю, посѣти людии своих, не отлучивъся Отца, и въплотися отъ Дѣвицѣ чисты, безмужны и бесквернены, въшедъ, яко же самъ вѣсть. Плоть приимъ, изиде, яко же и въниде.
Scripture echoes
- ↩John.4.21-John.4.23 — Jesus said to her, "Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father." John.4.22 — You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, because salvation is from the Jews. John.4.23 — But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. For the Father seeks such as these to worship him.
- ↩Jer.31.34;Heb.8.11 — No longer will they teach one another, each saying to his neighbor and each to his brother, 'Know the LORD,' for all of them shall know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more. Heb.8.11 — And they shall not each teach his neighbor, and each his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.
- ↩Matt.11.25-Matt.11.26;Luke.10.21 — At that time Jesus answered and said, 'I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and have revealed them to infants.' Matt.11.26 — Yes, Father, for so it was your good pleasure before you. Luke.10.21 — In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will before you."
Notes
- 1 ↩Ilarion’s clarifying aside (рекше) extends the Johannine worship of the Father to Trinitarian worship: with the Son and the Holy Spirit.
- 2 ↩Исповѣдаю ти ся renders Jesus’ thanksgiving/confession before the Father (εὐχαριστῶ / confiteor tibi); “I thank you” is the natural modern Gospel cadence.
- 3 ↩The final clause (Святыимь Духъмъ въ святѣи купѣли) is Hilarion's interpretive addition after the Johannine quotation: birth from God is realized by the Holy Spirit in the baptismal font.
- 4 ↩человѣколюбие renders Greek philanthropia: God's active love for humankind, not mere human kindness. 'Love for humankind' keeps that force without the cold modern sense of 'philanthropy.'
- 5 ↩единосущенъ is rendered with the creedal sense 'of one essence'; състоленъ is 'sharing one throne / co-enthroned,' not merely seated nearby.
- 6 ↩The couplet 'entered / came forth' preserves the traditional claim that the virginal mystery is known only to Christ: exit mirrors entrance without violating the Virgin's purity.
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