Esteemed judges! Dear brothers and sisters! \nIf it were possible to count the multitude of God's bounties and to measure the magnitude of God's mercy against the number and severity of human sins, one would have to fall into great despair. Thus once spoke the eminent saint of our Church, Basil the Great. And today, as we solemnly consecrate the courthouse premises, as we pray for all its employees, a thought involuntarily arises: surely humanity would also be in despair and horror if it were possible to see a certain material reflection of even a tiny fraction of those crimes and sins that fall to the proceedings of earthly courts. \nIndeed, all of us present here, and especially those who by God's providence are destined to be a judge, or in some other way to be involved in the judiciary – we know well that our earthly life is a continuous struggle between good and evil; that ordinary earthly joy borders on sorrows, that the righteous live alongside sinners. We observe with indignation how quite often sinners prosper while the righteous suffer. We see that often people repay good with evil, and we and our neighbors suffer from injustice and cruelty. \nIn view of all this: what do we expect from the court and judges? What do we desire to see here? We expect that for which Christianity constantly prays: justice, fairness, truth, mercy – words that we constantly encounter in Holy Scripture and in prayers. We also expect what people once expected from the wise King Solomon. Holy Scripture recounts how one day two harlot women came to him, who, living in the same house, gave birth to children almost simultaneously, but one child died. Both mothers claimed that the living child was hers and requested the king's judgment. The matter was complicated by the fact that there were no witnesses. And Solomon rendered a brilliant judgment. He said: Take a sword and cut this living child in two, and give half to one and half to the other! Immediately the mother of the living child, wishing to save her son, said: Please, my lord, give her the baby alive, but do not kill it! And the other: Let it be neither mine nor yours, cut it! So the king judged: Give this living baby to the woman who wants to see it alive: she is its mother! \nIt is interesting that this instructive story ends with these words: "And all Jerusalem heard of that judgment which the king rendered, and they began to fear the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to administer judgment." \nSo, greeting all of you today, dear brothers and sisters, with a wonderful event – the consecration of the court, we wish, first of all, God's blessing for fruitful work, Solomonic wisdom, truth and justice. May the Lord, who loves truth and righteous judgment, send you great bounties and mercy. On this occasion, we also wish all of us a clear conscience. For when, as St. John Chrysostom says, the conscience is clear, then you have a constant feast and you are nourished by good hopes and comforted by the assurance of future happiness. But when you are restless in soul and guilty of many sins, then even at thousands of feasts and celebrations you will feel no better than those who weep! \nI call upon you God's blessing! \n