By Saint Innocent (Veniaminov), Metropolitan of Moscow
To leave one’s homeland and go to remote, wild places, deprived of many of the comforts of life, in order to convert people who are still wandering in the darkness of ignorance to the path of truth and to enlighten with the light of the Gospel those who have not yet seen this saving light – this is a truly holy and apostolic deed. Blessed is he whom the Lord chooses and places in such service! But especially blessed is he who with all zeal, sincerity and love strives in the work of conversion and enlightenment, enduring the labors and sorrows encountered in the field of his service! For his reward is great in heaven. But woe to him who is called and appointed to preach the gospel, and does not preach the gospel! And yet more woe to him who, having passed through land and sea in order to convert others, makes the converted sons of hell, more than himself!
And so you, priest, are appointed to such a task, for which you will either enter into the joy of your Lord, as a good and faithful worker, or receive additional condemnation, as a hypocritical, wicked and lazy servant of His. And may the Lord God preserve you from the latter, and may He give you the desire and strength to achieve the former.
Being in the place of your service, you will have special and various duties, firstly – spiritual, as a priest and preacher of the word of God, secondly – external, as a member of the well-established management of society; and therefore for your guidance here I offer you instructions concerning both.
Part 1. The most important instructions concerning the spiritual duties of a preacher
I. Preparation for preaching
The instructions concerning this subject are quite clearly outlined in the decree of 1777, where it is said, “that he (the preacher) should not consider his calling and duty fulfilled in the hasty baptism (of those he converts), but should strive to instill in them the power of Christian teaching and guide them to all good behavior, without which baptism, taught to savages, can hardly be called an abuse of one of the greatest sacraments of the Christian faith.”
1) The first and real preparation for this is prayer, which alone can open the source of the highest instructions and send down a blessing on every good undertaking and deed; and therefore always, and especially before any conversation with the ignorant, whom you wish to enlighten with the word of truth, turn to God with fervent prayer. 2) Always have a modest and humble disposition of spirit and do not presumptuously promise yourself extraordinary or certain success in your work. Such promises come from pride, and grace is not given to the proud.
3) Every time you take up a task, bring yourself to calm and full presence of mind; otherwise you will not be able to express even what you know firmly and thoroughly.
4) Do not begin a task without preliminary reflection and do not perform it with absent-mindedness and negligence; for your work is God’s work, and he is cursed who does it with negligence.
5) Always remember that if a preacher does not have love in himself, both for his work and for those to whom he preaches, then even the best and most eloquent exposition of the doctrine may remain without any benefit, for only love creates; and therefore try to have in yourself the spirit of holy love.
6) Make it a rule for yourself: when visiting remote places (such as those where Christianity has already begun) do not begin to conduct divine services and rites until you have offered at least a short lesson to the parishioners you visit.
7) It is natural to begin preaching the word of God first where you will have a permanent residence; but if circumstances force you, or the opportunity presents itself to be in other, further places, then, despite the fact that you have still managed to do little among those living with you, do not miss the opportunity to be wherever possible, and offer your word everywhere and to everyone, in accordance with age, condition and time.
8) Choose the time for teaching and talking with foreigners primarily when they are gathered. For this you can either go to them, or, if possible, invite them to you.
9) At first, due to ignorance of the language of the foreigners, you will have to use an interpreter of your speeches: try to choose him from the most well-intentioned and pious people, and teach them the catechism in advance. It is better if the interpreter is always the same.
II. The order of preaching the faith
10) Christianity is a need, satisfaction and consolation primarily of the heart, and not only of the mind; and therefore in teaching the doctrine of faith one must try to act more on the heart than on the mind. The curiosity of the mind is insatiable, but whoever feels with his heart the need of faith and its consolation will accept it quickly and easily, and it will not be fruitless in him. But in order to act on the heart, one must speak from the heart: from the abundance of the heart the lips speak. And therefore only he who is filled and abounds in faith and love can have lips and wisdom, which the hearts of those who listen cannot resist, and which correctly indicates how, where and what to say. So, notice and seize the moment of the heartfelt disposition of those who listen to you. This time is always favorable for sowing the word of God.
11) The method of teaching the doctrine of faith varies: both according to the inner state of the soul of the one being taught, and according to age, and according to mental abilities. And in relation to this, keep in mind that those with whom you will deal, according to habits and concepts, are pagans and lost, and according to the degree of education, children. To this you must apply the method and order of teaching them saving truths.
12) The order in teaching the doctrine of faith must be in accordance with that which Providence itself has shown us. The law of Moses was given before the law of the Gospel, and even before the written law of Moses, the unwritten natural law was known, and its author was God, the Creator and Provider. Before the very time of the law of Moses, the solemn sign of the power, omnipotence and glory of God was revealed. Looking at this great and universal image, establish your small and private task thus:
a) From the existence and arrangement of visible things, show the existence (in which, however, it seems that no one doubts), omnipotence, power and glory of the Creator of the universe, His goodness, omniscience, etc. Together with this, briefly tell the history of the creation of the first man and the origin from him of all people and nations, who in this regard are living monuments and visible proofs of creative omnipotence and wisdom. Then set forth the composition of man, consisting of soul and body, his difference from other animals, the immortality of his soul, and indicate God’s intention in creating him, i.e., bliss.
b) Then show the moral law of Moses, as a God-written natural law, as a means to achieving bliss, simply and briefly.
Speaking of the law, you can probably hear from the wildest echoes and confirmation of the truths of this law, indelibly printed on the tablets of everyone’s heart. Try to arouse this feeling in them and use it to your advantage.
c) When your listeners are convinced of the existence of God and the law, then show them the necessity of fulfilling the law, as the will of the Creator, and the visible consequences of fulfilling and not keeping the law. In this example, tell briefly about the flood (the tradition about it, although confused, is found even among savage peoples), as a consequence of not keeping the law of God, about God’s blessing of the forefathers after the flood, and especially Abraham (whose descendants exist even to this day), as a consequence of fulfilling the law.
d) After this, begin the actual preaching of the Gospel as Jesus Christ Himself began, that is, by proclaiming repentance and consolation, or the approach of the Kingdom of Heaven. Try to bring them to a feeling of repentance, or close to repentance. This can be achieved by convincing them that for failure to fulfill the law written in their hearts, they will certainly be punished both in this life and the next, or if not in this, then all the more severely, eternally in the future, because no one will escape these punishments by himself, etc. Here it is necessary to speak in such a way as to arouse in them some fear of future punishments; and when they are brought to this sense, then preach to them Jesus Christ, the Savior, Redeemer, and Hope of all people, for their consolation.
To bring to a sense of repentance and contrition is one of the most difficult works of a preacher; but this state is one of the most important in the conversion of a person and is the cultivated ground for planting the seed of Christianity. For then it can fall into the very depths of his heart and, with the subsequent assistance of grace, bring forth abundant fruit. The gospel of the Savior to a sinner who feels himself guilty before the law, beforehand and without any persuasion instills in him love for this Savior, whom he does not yet know. And whoever loves Jesus Christ in this way will especially love Him, having come to know Him, and having believed everything that He said, and you will also speak of Him. Consequently, then the revelation of all the mysteries of our salvation will be both easy for the preacher and convenient for those who hear him in such a frame of mind.
d) Having shown the necessity of the redemption of the human race and the greatness of God’s love for it, teach about the coming of the promise into the world of the Redeemer, His eternal birth from the Father (here we must also speak about the mystery of the Holy Trinity), the incarnation, birth and earthly life of Jesus Christ, His teaching, suffering, death, resurrection, ascension, constant presence with believers and His second coming, the resurrection of the dead (which, although in their own way, all savages believe in), the future life, the reward of the righteous and the sinners.
e) Finally, say that Jesus Christ during his earthly life had many disciples, from whom he chose twelve, gave them special grace and power, and sent them into the whole world to preach the Gospel to every creature. And everything that they taught and that Jesus Christ commanded is written in their writings, which have reached us, and which are already known to almost all nations, and that all good and simple-hearted people who managed to hear their teaching accepted it with joy, and followed, and will follow Him. Such people are usually called Christians; and those of them who accurately kept the word of Jesus Christ became saints, and the bodies of many of them rest for many centuries incorruptible, etc.
After this, it is very opportune to make a proposal to everyone, whether they would like to join the number of believers in Jesus Christ and through him expect eternal salvation, bliss, etc.
This teaching of faith is enough for the first time for those who have not heard the word of salvation before. 13) In explaining the subjects of faith, one must speak thoughtfully, clearly and distinctly, and as briefly as possible, otherwise your sermon will have little success. In explaining the teachings of Jesus Christ, one must not dwell on them here, i.e., not mention everything that Jesus Christ said. But only say that the entire teaching of Jesus Christ is that we repent, believe in Him, and have selfless, pure love for Him and for all people. In confirmation of His teaching, speak briefly about His miracles. 14) When you see that your listeners have understood you correctly and express a desire to be counted among the flock of Christ, then offer them: a) the conditions for those wishing to join the ranks of believers; b) about holy baptism as a mysterious rebirth from water and spirit, introducing into a new Christian life, and about other sacraments as means to receive the grace of Jesus Christ, and c) about how one should lead his life who wants to be a true Christian and, consequently, to take advantage of all the fruits of redemption.
a) The conditions under which those who wish can join the ranks of the disciples of Jesus Christ are: to renounce all their previous faith, to leave shamanism and not to listen to shamans, not to follow customs contrary to Christianity, to agree to do everything that the new law and the church require of them, to confess their sins.
b) Those who wish and agree to fulfill all the above conditions are to say that entering Christianity is a great and important matter; and therefore entry into it must be solemn, where the one wishing to enter must renounce everything contrary to the Christian faith before witnesses and give a promise to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, and seal all this with holy baptism, which is both a visible sign of entry into Christianity, and a means of cleansing the soul from sins, and a door to the acceptance of other gifts or means that impart the grace of God, that is, the sacraments of the Holy Church, which we will talk about here. Here it is also necessary to show the dignity of the Holy Cross and the power of the sign of the cross, as well as in what mind and with what beneficial intention the Holy Church accepts and honors the holy icons. c) As for the teaching about how a Christian should behave, I will not go into much detail at first, but will only say that whoever wants to be a true Christian, i.e. a disciple of Jesus Christ, and take advantage of all the gifts of redemption, must: 1) surrender himself to Jesus Christ with faith, hope, and love, and 2) imitate Him in everything, i.e. try, as far as possible, to always act as He did. Here it is necessary to briefly speak about the virtues of Jesus Christ mentioned in the Gospel, so that the newcomer could understand exactly how he should act; for example, Jesus Christ forgave His enemies, and so should we, etc. 15) Finally, it must be said that no one, especially relying on his own strength and on himself, can be a true disciple of Jesus Christ without God’s help, and if Jesus Christ, out of His great love for people, had not given us His help, then no one would ever have been able to become a perfect follower of Him. But now anyone who wants can receive help from Him. This help is the Holy Spirit, given freely; It can be received especially through prayer. True prayer is the turning of the heart to God with submission, faith and hope. One can pray everywhere and always, but especially close is the gracious help of God in church prayer. 16) Such teaching is sufficient for new converts. The further teaching of Christianity, such as: a more extensive and spiritual interpretation of the Ten Commandments, etc., an explanation of the words of Jesus Christ, transmitted in the Gospel, the teachings of the apostles and partly the traditions of the Holy Fathers, constitute the subject of not just a new doctrine and spiritual food not for infants in the faith, but for those of age, or at least growing in Christianity.
Source in Russian: Works of Innocent, Metropolitan of Moscow / Coll. Ivan Barsukov. Book 1-3. – Moscow: Synod. type., 1886-1888. / Book 1. – 1886. – VI, 494, [3], p. / Instructions for a priest appointed to convert non-believers and guide those converted to the Christian faith. 239-263 p.
