Spiritual Homilies 1 part 13/36

For just as, when a woman has conceived seed, the tender embryo remains in the womb, and, so to speak, the child is in a material and dark place...

—if then it happens to come forth at the fitting time, it sees the creation which it had never seen: heaven and earth and sun; and immediately friends and relatives receive it into their arms with joyful faces.

...it becomes necessary to use the knife and cut up the child within, and thus it is found passing from death to death and from darkness to darkness; apply this also to the spiritual realm.

As many as have received the seed of the Godhead, these possess it invisibly, and because of the sin that dwells together with them, they are in dark and fearful places.

If, then, they safeguard the seed which they received, they are born again into visible manifestation; and thereafter, at the dissolution of the body, the angels and the choir above receive them into their arms with joyful faces.

But if someone, having received the weapons of the Lord for battle, does not act bravely like a man, but becomes slack and enfeebled, he is immediately handed over to the enemies, and at the dissolution of the body such a one is found passing from the darkness now surrounding him into another, more grievous darkness and destruction.

Just as if there were a garden having fruit-bearing trees and other fragrant plants, altogether well cultivated and lovingly tended, and having a small wall instead of a fence guarding it...

—but it happens that a rushing river passes by there.

Then, if the water washes a little against the wall and undermines its foundation, it makes for itself a channel and, little by little, breaks down the fence, bursts it apart, uproots the plants, destroys all the cultivation, and renders it fruitless—so also is the heart of man.

It has good thoughts and evil thoughts, and the rivers of wickedness are always drawing near to the heart, wishing to cast it down and throw it into their own domain.

So then, if the mind is somewhat light and yields to unclean thoughts—wrongly—to the evil thoughts that are always drawing near, they enter in through deceit and destroy the beauties that are there, obliterate the good thoughts, and lay the soul waste.

Just as the eye is small compared with all the other members, and the pupil itself, though small, is a great vessel—for beneath a single sky it sees stars, sun, moon, cities, and other creatures—

—likewise, all those things seen at once are formed and imaged within the small pupil of the eye; so it is also with the mind in relation to the heart.

And the heart itself is a small vessel, yet there the lions are, there the dragons, there the spirits of error lurk, there the venomous beasts and all the treasures of wickedness, there the rough places, there the ravines, there the uneven roads. Likewise again, when it is illumined, there is God, there the angels, there the life, there the light, there the heavenly cities, there the apostles, there the treasures of the kingdom—there all things are.

Just as there is a mist lying over the whole world, over the air and the mountains, so that man does not see man, so also this darkness of the evil one lies over all creation and over every human soul, because of the transgression.

He who is overshadowed by such darkness is as though in the night, and conducts his life in fearful places.

Just as a great quantity of smoke fills a single house, so also is sin: like a great quantity of smoke, together with its filthy thoughts, it settles in and draws into the thoughts a countless multitude of demons.

Just as, then, when in the visible world a war is being waged...

—the wise and the great men do not go out to war, but remain behind for fear of death, and so the recruits, the poor, and the common men are put forward; and it happens that they achieve victory over the enemies and drive them from the borders, and then they receive the victory prizes and the crowns from the king, and come to advancement and honors, while those great men who remained at home are found last of all—so it is also in the spiritual realm.

...arrows, and their victory becomes eternal.

But the wise, who indeed seek out the reasoning too subtly, flee the battle and do not advance, and are found behind those who fought and conquered.

And just as violently blowing winds stir all the creatures under heaven and produce a great noise, so the power of the enemy strikes and whirls the thoughts about, and shakes the depths of the heart toward his own will, and scatters the thoughts for his own service.

Just as tax collectors sit in wait along the roads, seize those passing by, and extort them, so also the demons closely watch over souls and seize them; and when souls go forth from the body, if they have not been purely cleansed here, they are not permitted to ascend to the mansions of heaven and meet their Master.

For they are dragged down by the evil spirits, the demons of the air.

Just as a chariot, if it has no charioteer to guide and lead the swiftly-running animals wherever he himself knows best, turns aside from the straight road and is smashed, so also the soul, if it has no charioteer of the Spirit to guide it as the Spirit itself knows how, turns aside and falls into ravines and snares of the devil.

Just as a farmer plants many vine-shoots, and after they have passed through the harsh winter and the fearful winds, then it becomes clear which one has taken root, so also man is planted in God.

—receiving the grace of the Spirit, he passes through all the winters of temptations, and is tested by the spirits of wickedness with whom he dwells; and then it becomes clear whether he has taken root in God, whether he stands firm in His love, whether he has securely kept the grace which he received, and whether he has grown in it and been perfected in it, whether he has traded his talent and doubled it.

And just as the farmer wishes all the vine-shoots to come to fruit-bearing and perfection, so also God wishes all who receive the grace of His Spirit to be tested and perfected.

Just as gold is mixed with earth, then, being washed by water, becomes visible apart from the earth, and again is cast into the furnace until it is perfectly purified, and then it receives the image of the king and goes forth into commerce and is deposited in the royal treasuries...

—but before being washed clean, it was trampled underfoot by wild beasts—so also the soul, being in the earth and mixed with sin, was trampled underfoot by the wild beasts of the evil spirits; then, by the Spirit, the heavenly water, it is washed clean, and is first manifested, receiving grace, and knows itself to be separated from wickedness.

—then it is cast into the furnace of testing, that it may be perfectly cleansed from every stain, and thus it receives the image of the heavenly King, and Christ is formed in it; and then, having become pure, it is useful to the Master, and is deposited among the royal treasures in the kingdom of heaven.

The breastplate which warriors use, called the 'oven,' is made in the image of a man, and if it does not have the body that moves it and carries it, it remains idle; so also the soul, being an image of God, if it does not put on the Spirit, and the Spirit does not move it and fight the enemies as the Spirit knows how, the man is nothing, being weak and immobile, knowing neither the enemies nor how to fight.

For indeed the warrior, if he does not have a swift horse and warlike weapons, is able neither to fight nor to flee, should the need arise, but being unarmed he perishes and is slain; so also the soul, if it does not have the Holy Spirit as a weapon by which it may be armored, being naked of Christ, is slain and perishes.

Seed is praised because of the land, and the land because of the good seed; so also holy men, because of the God who is in them, are called spiritual and holy and are admired, and God is glorified because of those who possess Him and bear fruit.

Now the eagle, or some other high-flying bird, flies up from the ground with great effort, but when it reaches a height, it is in great calm, rest, and freedom from care; so also the soul, having received the wings of the Spirit, first wages war against its enemies and struggles, being helped by wings from above.

—but when it comes to the height, greatness, and riches of grace, it rests without care and without fear in the air of the Godhead.

But when the bird falls back down to the ground again, it is oppressed by all, whether wild beasts or men.

For the nature of wings on the ground is useless; so also the soul that is strengthened by the Holy Spirit, if it moves about in the upper air of the Spirit, is fearless and free from care.

—but if it busies itself with earthly things, distractions, and entanglements, it is easily seized by the spirit of darkness and by the wild beasts, the opposing powers.

For the nature of the Holy Spirit does not delight in pursuing earthly and material things.

Just as a certain king writes letters to those to whom he wishes to grant certificates and his own gifts, writing: 'Hasten quickly to come to me, that you may receive royal gifts from me'—and if they do not go and receive them, they gained nothing by reading the letters; rather, they are guilty even of death, having refused to go and be deemed worthy to receive royal honors from the king's own hand—so also God the King sent the divine Scriptures to men as letters, making known through them that they should entreat God and, believing, ask and receive a heavenly gift from the very substance of the Godhead...

—that you may become partakers of the divine nature.

And if a man does not come forward and ask and receive, he has gained nothing by reading the divine Scriptures; rather, he is guilty of death, because he refused to seek and receive from the heavenly King the gift of eternal life, without which it is impossible to attain immortal life.

It is good always to fear the Lord and not to trust in oneself in every way, lest one be evilly submerged.

—thinking that he is doing something well, which is not as he supposes.

For there is a way which seems right to a man, but its end, according to Scripture, comes to the depths of Hades.

Let him, therefore, rather always entreat God, that He may become his guide and way and mind and discernment and interpreter, and until he finds Christ within himself, let him not trust himself at all.

As when someone finds himself in the danger of shipwreck and takes hold of some piece of the ship's equipment in order to be saved, and no longer cares about what is in the ship, because of his fear of the sea, so the Christian, for God's sake, ought always to fear and not to be contemptuous.

Let him who wishes to be saved, therefore, strive to know what God wills.

For this is the will of God: to love God, and to strive earnestly to love one's neighbor also.

Let him, therefore, be humble before God and men, and let him always give heed to his heart, and resist evil reasonings.

And when someone gives such heed, he must always also be in fear, and loving, and humble.

—and such a one has a concern for how he may please the Lord, and he wars against the old man.

But he who is without such concern has a heart that is perishing, and he stands still in his oldness, has not yet begun to strive, and does not know how to fight.

It is good, therefore, always to be in fear, and to seek understanding and help from the Lord, that one may be able to be saved through the Lord.

There is a fountain from the house of the Lord, according to the prophet, and above it trees, and their leaves do not wither, and the fragrance does not fail.

A certain mystery lies hidden in this passage.

The living fountain from the house of the Lord is the Lord himself, becoming in your heart a living fountain.

For he said to the Samaritan woman:

Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him, it will become in him a fountain of water springing up into eternal life.

Those who are planted and watered from it bear fruit and give forth fragrance.

Rivers of living water shall flow out of his belly.

The righteous, then, are called rivers.

For just as the visible rivers—the Euphrates or others—are able to benefit the more level places where they flow or run, but cannot rise up into the high mountains, where there are forests and animals and wild beasts, nor can they give drink there, neither to the hills nor to the higher places,

so also were the prophets:

They were rivers, since the Holy Spirit flowed into their hearts from above like a river.

But they watered only their own nation of Israel.

But the apostles were clouds full of rain:

They brought the rain down from above and watered the whole earth and the plains upon the earth, and the things that had dried up sprang up again, and the springs were renewed.

Just as, if there is a small river, everyone passes over it, but if it swells and increases, it becomes impassable because of the abundance of water, so also in the soul: as long as a person is an infant, the evil spirits walk about within and take up residence there,

but if an abundance of grace comes upon the soul and becomes a flood, the evil and unclean spirits can no longer pass through there:

for they are drowned and submerged.

Just as the rain, coming down upon the earth, waters the whole earth—the mountains, the forests, the hills, the plains—so also the apostles, filled with the Spirit, went into the whole world and poured themselves out upon the entire inhabited world.

One creature nourishes and gives life to another creature, as the seeds of wheat and of barley are nourished by the clouds—the clouds being creatures—and the rain and the sun, though themselves under command, give life; so those men too nourished their fellow-servants with the heavenly word, and through their good teaching gave life to and raised up thoughts that had been corrupted and put to death.

Let us therefore first seek whether we have been sown in the invisible earth and planted in the heavenly vine.

And just as there is light entering through a window, while the sun sends forth its rays upon the whole inhabited world, so the prophets were luminaries of their own house, Israel, but the apostles were suns shining their rays into all parts of the inhabited world.

There is a land in which the four-footed animals dwell, and there is a land in the air, in which the birds walk and live; and if these wish to stand on the ground and walk, they have hunters who catch them; and there is a land of fish, the water of the sea:

And each creature, in whatever place it was born—whether on land or in the air—there it has its manner of life, its food, and its rest.

So there is also a satanic land and homeland, where the powers of darkness and the spirits of wickedness pass their days and walk about, and there is a luminous land of the Godhead, where the camps of the holy angels and the holy spirits walk and rest,

and neither can that dark land be seen or touched by these, nor can the land of the Godhead be touched or seen by dark eyes.

But to spiritual persons, both the satanic land of darkness and the luminous land of light appear to the eye of the soul.

As the account of outsiders tells, there are fiery mountains, and there are animals there like sheep; and so those who hunt them make iron wheels and cast hooks and send them into the fire, since for those animals the fire is their food, the fire is their drink, the fire is their rest, their growth, their life—instead of everything else, fire is to them all things:

and if you take them out into another air, they perish.

And their garments, when they become soiled, are not washed in water, but in fire, and they become cleaner and pure white.

So then Christians too have that heavenly and holy fire as their food; it is their rest; it cleanses, washes, and sanctifies their hearts; it brings them to growth; it is to them the very air of life.

They perish at the hands of the evil spirits, just as those animals, going forth from the fire, die there; just as fish die out of water; just as four-footed animals, thrown into the sea, are drowned; just as birds walking on the ground are caught by hunters—so also the soul perishes if it does not remain in that land, in that luminous homeland where the powers of light of the angels are; and if it does not have that divine fire in place of food and drink and clothing and the cleansing of the heart and the sanctification of the soul, it is choked, and held fast, and destroyed by the evil spirits.

Just as, if there is a great city whose walls are desolate, as though broken down, one must seek to fortify the city securely so that enemies cannot enter, so also souls that are adorned with knowledge and understanding and the keenest mind are indeed like great cities,

but one must inquire whether they are fortified by the grace of the Spirit, lest the enemies enter and lay them waste.

For the wise men of the world, Aristotle or Plato, prudent in knowledge, were like great cities, but they became desolate at the hands of their enemies, because the Spirit of God was not in them.

But as many unlearned persons as are partakers of grace are like small cities, yet fortified by the power of Christ.

Now those who fall away from grace perish for one of two reasons: either because they do not endure the afflictions that come upon them, or because, having been made sweet by the pleasures of sin, they remained in them; for it is not possible for those who travel the road to pass through without trials.

For just as in childbirth the queen and the beggar-woman have the same pain:

likewise the land of the rich man and of the poor man, if it does not receive proper cultivation, cannot bring forth worthy fruit—so also in the labor of the soul, neither the wise man nor the rich man reigns in favor with grace, unless through endurance and afflictions and many labors:

for such must the Christian be.

Just as honey happens to be sweet, and none of the bitterness of venomous beasts can change it, so they themselves prove good to all who approach them, whether good or evil, as the Lord says:

Be kind, just as your heavenly Father is kind.

For that which harms and defiles a person is within, creeping and teeming in the soul—a rational and mobile spirit of wickedness, which is the veil of darkness, the old man, whom those who flee for refuge to God must strip off, and put on the heavenly and new man, who is Christ.

Nothing from outside, then, can harm a person, except the living and active spirit of darkness that dwells within the heart.

For out of the heart come forth evil thoughts; therefore the one who wishes to be of use to God must at all times wage the struggle within his thoughts—to whom be glory forever.

The lover of truth and lover of God, who wishes to go forth into life, and who through his faith has truly tasted the heavenly sweetness of the life of the Spirit, and has in truth become a partaker of the ineffable pleasure, and has received experience and perception of spiritual food, and has grace innate and hidden in his soul, and has given himself wholly over to the wills of grace—all the things of this age are hated and rejected by such a person.

And they are reckoned as though full of foul stench, because of the true and ineffable beauty of the spiritual light, and the glory and wealth of the heavenly goods, of which his inner man was deemed worthy to receive experience and perception through the Spirit, and because he has given himself wholly over to the wills of the Spirit.

For if anything glorious in this life should come to such a person—such as wealth, or honors, or offices, or the glories of men, or praises and prostrations and beatitudes—none of these things can hold him or master him, because he has received experience of another, true wealth, and of another honor and heavenly glory, and his soul is nourished with incorruptible delight and pleasure in every perception and full assurance through the fellowship of the Spirit.

And just as a rational shepherd differs from irrational cattle in every way—in understanding, knowledge, discernment, and the rest—so such a person differs from the rest of men in every way, both in the outward conduct of virtues that appears to men, and in the inward renewal, sanctification, and discernment hidden in the reasonings of the mind.

For such a person is wholly understanding, wholly mind, wholly knowledge, wholly wisdom—he perceives within himself another spirit and another mind and another understanding, strange and heavenly, beyond the world, and has come to share in it.

For we speak wisdom among the perfect, but a wisdom not of this age, nor of the rulers of this age who are passing away:

but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery.

Of this wisdom, and of this Spirit, and of the understanding that is not of this world, true Christians become partakers.

Therefore also, from all men who have the spirit of the world—the prudent, the wise—these differ in everything.

For such a person examines all men according to what is written, and knows each one—from where he speaks, and where he stands, and in what condition he is.

But him no one of the men who have the spirit of the world can know or judge, except only the one who has the like heavenly spirit of the Godhead knows his like, as the apostle says:

comparing spiritual things with spiritual, to spiritual men.

But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God:

but the spiritual man judges all things, yet he himself is judged by no one.

Such a person renounces the world and the glorious things of the world—wealth and luxury and every enjoyment—and all the things of this age become abominable to him.

And just as one who is burning, held fast by a most violent fever, loathes and rejects whatever food or drink, however sweet, you bring to him, because he is inflamed by the fever and is being worked upon and glutted by it, in the same way those who are inflamed with the heavenly love of the Spirit, and with a reverent longing, and with the love of God's love, their soul wounded, and with that divine and heavenly fire which the Lord came to cast upon the earth, wishing it to be swiftly kindled—being violently worked upon and burning up into the heavenly longing for Christ, as has been said before—consider all the glorious and honored things of this age as refuse and abomination, because of the fire of the love of Christ that holds them fast and kindles and burns them with disposition toward God:

from which love neither anything heavenly, nor earthly, nor under the earth will be able to separate them, just as the apostle Paul testified, saying:

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? and so forth.

One must direct oneself so that the whole care and seeking and preoccupation and occupation of the mind may concern the seeking and acquiring of the intellectual substance of the soul—how it must be adorned with the virtues of the commandments and with the heavenly ornament of the Spirit and with the Lord's purity and sanctification—so that when someone, having renounced all things and having cut away all the obstacles arising from matter and earth, from fleshly love or attachment to parents and relatives, becomes free of them, he permits his own mind to be occupied, or carried away, or distracted by nothing else—such as offices, or glory, or honors, or fleshly friendship, or certain other earthly concerns—but rather the mind takes up wholly the care and labor concerning the acquiring and seeking of the intellectual substance of the soul, and is wholly and entirely given over to the expectation and awaiting of the visitation of the Spirit, just as the Lord says:

In your patience possess your souls; and again:

Seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.

May it be that, thus striving and always giving heed to himself—whether in prayer, or in obedience, or in whatever work of a commandment done according to God—the mind might remain, never departing from its own searching and from the seeking after the Lord.

And would that he might thus be able to pass through the darkness of the evil powers, and to gain possession of his own soul, which lies in the destruction of the passions, by always forcibly and eagerly making himself a captive toward the Lord and cleaving to him alone, as it has been said:

and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, so that through such a struggle and longing and seeking of the mind he might be counted worthy to become with him one spirit of the grace of Christ, and of the gift resting in the vessel upon which it has come to dwell—the soul having prepared itself beforehand for every good work, not insulting the Spirit of Christ by its own wills and the distractions and preoccupations of this age, or glories, or offices, or self-willed opinions, or fleshly pleasures, and the pairings and fellowship of the evil spirits, but having dedicated itself wholly and entirely to Christ, and cleaving to him alone, and abiding unceasingly in his commandments, and having worthily honored the Spirit of Christ that has come to dwell in it—wherefore it is also counted worthy to become with him one spirit and one blending, as the apostle says:

He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him.

But if anyone gives himself over to cares, or to glories, or to the honor of men, or concerns himself with office and seeks after these things, and the soul is confounded and confused amid earthly reasonings, or is altogether bound and held fast by something of this age, then even if such a soul desires to pass through and escape and free itself from the darkness of the passions in which it is held by the evil powers, it cannot, because it loves and does the will of darkness and does not entirely hate the practices of wickedness.

Let us therefore prepare ourselves with full purpose and full will to walk toward the Lord and to become followers of Christ, fulfilling his wishes and remembering his commandments so as to do them, and having separated ourselves wholly from love of the world and estranged ourselves from earthly desires, and having hung our souls upon him alone, let us keep in mind occupation with him, and care and seeking after him.

...and let us become such, and may we be counted worthy to enjoy Christ together through all the ages, to whom be glory forever.

Perfect Christians, who have been counted worthy to attain the measures of perfection and to become close to the King, are always devoted to the cross of Christ.

For as among the prophets the anointing was more precious than all things, because by it kings and priests and prophets were anointed, so now those who are anointed with the spiritual anointing become christs by grace, so that they become kings and prophets of the heavenly mysteries.