Spiritual Homilies 1 part 16/36

He himself, then, first leads up our inner man into the building of his body, and of angels, and of the perfected holy spirits; and again he himself comes down from within to those on earth, and having pitched his tent here for himself and having chosen a place, he remains.

And just as the eyes of sensible sight see the sensible sun, so through the eyes of the soul we see the intelligible light of the Sun of Righteousness.

And just as the swallows, having departed at the time of winter, when they cannot bear the harshness of the air and the hardness of the frosts, return in the season of spring, when they find the air calm and serene, the earth now growing warm — and coming, they enter the houses of men as though their own houses, and fearlessly darting in and building nests for themselves, they hatch their young and, in due season, utter the sounds of nature — so also the Lord, having come into the houses of our souls, rests in the nest of our heart and dwells there, the waves and the fierce winter and the darkness now passing away, and there his rays of most sweet light shine, full of deep peace entering into such a house.

In the season of summer, then, as the heat of the sun draws near and lingers, the earth flourishes, stirring with all the fruits and plants that are in it;

the vines too, and all the trees of the forest, and the fields grow thick, shaded over with blossoming leaves and adorned with flowers.

Moreover, even the irrational animals bear fruit, bringing forth their offspring from the womb, so that there are now new bodies of lambs and of other animals, and the innocent and guileless hearts of newborn young; and almost all things that a little while before were gloomy and shrunken and motionless and unfruitful are now changed, bearing fruit and moving and being nourished.

For the earth, frozen by the cold, is loosed and shines with the varied grasses and herbs, and the desolate mountains, clothed with greenery, cast off their wildness, and all the springs, enriched by the increase of water, pour forth a sweet and clear stream; and every kind of creature, birds and four-footed beasts, leaps and exults, changing together with the most pleasant and temperate season, and rejoices, being fed abundantly.

Now all these things are types of intellectual and spiritual realities.

For by the terrible mist and the bitter winds the mind is bound and fettered and unfruitful, and all its thoughts, enslaved, are in much grief;

for there many thoughts arise, foreign to your nature... and each such thought is from Satan.

But in the time of the visitation of the Holy Spirit, a great transformation and change takes place;

for the mind begins to blossom and to bear spiritual fruits from the soil of the heart; the thorns and the hedges and the evil demons are torn asunder by the power of the Spirit,

and the heart itself begins to be moved and to conceive the heavenly seed, and to be cultivated by the true Husbandman in much calm and much peace; and blessed are those who have been visited and cultivated by the Holy Spirit, unto the ages of ages.

What is that which is 'according to the image and likeness of God'? Answer.

God is incomprehensible and uncircumscribed; so too the mind is carried everywhere, and comes to be where it has not been, and if it wishes, it goes forth to the outer parts and to the lower and upper parts of the earth; and the more one advances in the knowledge of the Spirit, the more he comes to know his own being.

And just as sculptors and all bronze-workers first fashion in wax the model of whatever figure they wish to make, and afterward, in the likeness of this, make it in bronze, pouring in the molten bronze, so God, taking dust from the earth, made the image of the outer man, and according to the likeness of this He made the inner man, which is called soul and mind — a precious vessel, known and understood by God alone and by the perfect and Spirit-bearing.

And more precious than all creatures is the soul of man.

The outer man is born as the other animals also are; he eats from the earth, grows old, and dies.

But the inner man (that is, the soul) has come to be according to the image and likeness of God, and is compared to Him; for she is the bride of the King, and just as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so the Lord rejoices over the soul.

And she has been called... unto adoption as a son.

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God, and brothers and friends of the Bridegroom.

And just as the Lord, having gone up onto the mountain, was transfigured into his divine glory, so souls, from now on, are illumined and glorified together with him; and on the last day, the bodies too, glorified together with them, will flash with light.

Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.

So then, from this time onward they already have the adoption and the indestructible joy in which Christians rejoice;

for grief does not succeed them again.

And the joy of the world, when affliction overtakes it, is dissolved; but the grace of the Lord causes them to reign together with him unto endless ages.

And the kingdom of this world and the dominion of the earth is lowly and held in contempt, but that of the Lord is unceasing.

It has therefore been demonstrated that the soul has its own image, corresponding to the members of the outer man;

but let us send up glory to the blessed and immortal Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, to whom be glory unto the ages.

The man of God who truly walks in the way of righteousness, and the obedient servant of the Lord, always makes progress in every good thing and in every condition of virtue, and becomes better than himself, improving day by day, and acquires a foundation for all the practices of virtue — such as humility and gentleness, kindness, patience, longsuffering, love, faith, hope, self-control, courage, and goodness.

For each of these has much depth and breadth, and... a work of subtlety.

Just as if there were in paradise many fruit-bearing and various trees, and each tree had branches, and again the branches had small twigs and yet finer sprigs and a great multitude of leaves — so in each of the virtues there lies a great subtlety of work and a great depth... and each one turns out to be, as it were, a perfect result.

Now the foundation and groundwork and the highest point of all these, on which everyone who comes to God must be grounded and founded, is trust in God and firmness of faith; this above all everyone who wishes to please God ought to acquire, and to be established firmly in trust in God.

Otherwise they are like those who build a house without a foundation.

For indeed those around the Maccabees, having contended greatly and shown nobility with great magnanimity in many great wars, subdued their enemies in bodily warfare through their faith and trust toward God; let us take them as an example for ourselves in the unseen warfare against the spiritual forces of wickedness, that we, the true warriors of Christ, ought likewise to be eager, courageous, noble, and magnanimous;

Now these things happened to them typologically, and were written for the admonition of us, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.

In the various afflictions, then, and the manifold temptations that are stirred up against us by the spirits of wickedness, we, the noble athletes and warriors of Christ, ought to be patient and to act manfully and to be longsuffering, so that in the consolations and gifts of grace also we may be able to be thankful.

For just as the visible world of men is governed by God through grace and justice — by grace in the abundance and fruitfulness of crops, in health, and in the mildness of the seasons, and in every gift of good things; but by justice and discipline in famines and plagues, afflictions and hardships, catastrophes, hailstorms, calamities, and all things that are ordained by God for discipline, for the sake of justice and the benefit of men — so also the soul that wishes to inherit the world above, the world of the Godhead, is governed in manifold ways by grace: at times it exults in the ease and gladness of the Spirit and rejoices in the consolation of grace, and at other times it is delivered over to discipline and to various temptations and every kind of affliction of the worldly spirit, so that, having been trained through all things and found approved, and enduring nobly in all temptations, and in nothing being turned aside from pleasing God, and thus having proved acceptable in Christ, it may be made worthy of God, inheriting eternal life through grace and justice.

And just as in this life, ease and abundance and fruitfulness and peace do not exist wholly among men, but God disciplines and shows mercy and cares for the world by the balance and measure of justice, so also the soul that longs to be born unto the world above does not exist wholly in ease and gladness and joy of the Spirit, but God disciplines it, and shows it mercy, and orders it, by the balance of justice and grace.

For if life among men were wholly ease, and luxury, and satiety, and wealth, without afflictions and pains, men would not have endured it, but, despising God, would have given themselves over entirely to the pleasures of the flesh.

For it says, 'Jacob ate and was filled, he grew fat, he grew thick, he grew broad... and the beloved kicked.'

Apply this also to the spiritual realm.

If the soul lived wholly and continuously in the joy and ease and gladness of the Spirit alone, she would no longer know herself, and would be ignorant of the discipline and way of righteousness, and would be lifted up in pride; and she would advance only in self-conceit, exalting herself above all, and would no longer even consider herself to be human.

'By reason of the exceeding greatness of the revelations, there was given to me a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.'

You see that for such a holy man afflictions were still profitable; as he himself says, 'tribulation works patience, and patience, proof, and proof, hope;'

'and hope does not put to shame.'

So then, afflictions turn out to be profitable, and serve to make the soul more approved.

Let him who serves acceptably and has dedicated himself to the Lord bear all the afflictions that befall him, enduring nobly and eagerly, always looking to the grace and loving-kindness of God and expecting help from thence, so that, becoming in every way worthy of God, he may be established.

For God knows how much testing and discipline and temptation one must undergo in order to become more approved, only if the person becomes master of patience.

For if men possessing but little understanding and slight reasoning can test and discern how much weight and burden each animal is able to carry — a mule, or a donkey, or a camel — and if the potter, having formed his vessels, knows that unless they are put into the fire they will not become useful to him, and understands how long they must be left in the fire to become fit, and neither leaves them longer than is needed, lest they be ruined, nor falls short, lest they become unworkable and useless — how much more does God, who is ineffable and unspeakable, the true knowledge and boundless understanding and incomprehensible wisdom, know how many trials and afflictions and temptations the souls that wish to please him require?

And after the afflictions, they are deemed worthy to attain the fullness of grace, and acquire complete purity and sanctification through the fellowship of the Spirit, and receive entirely the redemption of the passions, the evil spirits being now subjected to them; and thus, having been made blameless and spotless through the Spirit, they are made worthy to obtain the kingdom of heaven, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and dominion unto the ages.

The souls of Christians, coming into many afflictions in this world through the evil one, resemble a kind of hemp.

For just as the fiber of hemp, the more it is beaten and worked, becomes all the finer and more useful and purer, so that from it the finest threads can be made, and the more it is worked and combed the more useful it becomes, so also the souls of Christians who love God and love the truth, the more they enter into many afflictions and trials and temptations through the spirits of wickedness, while they themselves endure and are longsuffering, are made purer and more useful and more approved for the spiritual work of the subtlety of grace, and in the end are deemed worthy to dwell in the heavenly place of the saints.

For the soul, being tested in many temptations and various afflictions, and being helped by grace, and enduring patiently in hope of the Lord, gradually diminishes from itself every form of evil, and lays aside the heavy burden of the sin that dwells within it, in some such manner as this:

Just as if someone travels a long road, going to some city, carrying a sack full of sand, and this sack has a very fine hole at the bottom, and as he walks, all along the road it trickles out and he himself grows lighter, and finally, when he arrives at the city, the heaviest sand has been emptied out, and he himself has been lightened and rests completely from the weight of the sand — so also, when the soul that truly struggles, traversing the way of righteousness and hastening to the city of the kingdom, carries with it the heavy burden of the sin of the passions, the more it traverses the way of the virtues and clings to the Lord, so much the more do sin and the passions diminish, and it feels within itself the very sense of lightness and gentleness of feeling.

...traversing it blamelessly and well, she is made worthy to enter into the very rest of the fullness of grace, being delivered entirely from the heaviest burden of the sin of the passions.

But first it must pass through many temptations and afflictions, and thus it enters into the rest of the fullness of grace, that is, it is made worthy to attain freedom from the passions.

For just as a newly formed vessel, if not put into the fire, is unworkable for men, or just as an infant babe is unfit for the works of the world — for it can neither build a city nor plant, nor sow seed, nor accomplish any other work of the world —

so also souls that are untried and have not been tested in various afflictions by the spirits of wickedness are still infants and untrained, and (so to speak) are not yet useful for the kingdom, as the blessed Paul says:

'But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate, and not sons.'

Behold, how greatly afflictions and trials and temptations are of benefit to man, making the soul useful and approved.

Only let one prepare himself eagerly and nobly and manfully, bearing with patience the things that come upon him, and let him hold fast to hope and trust, always having the expectation of redemption, and taking courage in the compassion of Christ, that he will not, in the end, allow a soul that seeks him to be tempted beyond its strength, but will make, together with the temptation, also the way of escape, that it may be able to bear it.

And further he judges this within himself, that even if he should kill me, and I should suffer countless other worse things, being permitted by my Lord to suffer and be afflicted by the spirits of wickedness, I will not let him go.

For he is faithful, who will deliver me from every affliction and bring me up again from the depths of the earth; and thus, having given himself wholly and entirely over to the Lord, and having endured to the end, he will afterward receive experience of his benefaction and help and the recompense of good things, as the Lord says:

'But he who endures to the end, he shall be saved.'

For if, in this life, men cannot attain to dignities and advancements, nor receive any greater rank from the king, unless they first undergo much training and display many valiant deeds, entering into war, having learned every art of warfare and having been trained in it, and having demonstrated victory by experience, and having raised up trophies over their adversaries, and having found favor with the king in all things — for then they are deemed worthy of dignities and great royal honors — how much more, in the case of the heavenly and true King, does no one become worthy to receive at once the dignities of grace and the gift of the Spirit and the heavenly gifts from God, unless the mind is first trained continually in the meditation of good thoughts and in attentiveness to the holy commandments and in trust toward God, and thus is deemed worthy of grace and receives the heavenly weapon (the Spirit itself), and by it finds great favor against the spirits of wickedness;

...striving, and agreeing and consenting with the grace given to him by God, and having become, together with the heavenly weapon, an ally and fellow-warrior against wickedness continually, and having, through many labors and struggles and trials, put to flight the war against the spiritual forces of wickedness.

And when he has won the victory over his enemies, then he is deemed worthy to obtain divine and heavenly dignities and glorious and spiritual honors from the heavenly King, being able thereafter also to train others and to teach them warfare —

even though he himself, for all his willingness, had previously known nothing of warfare.

So also in spiritual matters, he who expounds the word of God and presides over souls ought to be experienced in all spiritual matters, so that, having shown by experience the practice of the words he expounds, he may on each occasion, through himself, bring benefit and help to those who listen.

For the wisdom of God, and the way of Christianity, and the work of grace, being perfected in the faithful soul, is accomplished with a certain great subtlety and increase and progress; and when one thinks he has completed it, then he must begin a deeper matter, since the mysteries of the Spirit and spiritual progressions come to be in the soul; and often, having thought he had finished, he must often begin again.

For if in this life, in worldly wisdom, there are — I mean — first elementary teachers, then grammarians, then rhetoricians, again sophists, and finally philosophers, and when one has passed through all these teachers, completing one stage and beginning another, then he begins to plead cases before magistrates; then, having in time gained good repute, he in due course himself becomes a magistrate, and then again takes for himself an associate on the bench, lest he should ever depart from what is just —

If then in this world there is so great a subtlety and advancement of wisdom, how much more does the ineffable and infinite wisdom of God, and the way of Christianity, possess much subtlety and many advancements.

And the more one advances, one takes the beginning of other matters, becoming more inward with the mysteries of the Spirit and the hidden treasures of wisdom; and the more one increases and advances in grace and grows rich in the knowledge of God, the more one also comes to recognize the thoughts and cunning devices of wickedness, as the apostle says:

for we are not ignorant of his devices.

Since, then, so great a hope lies before us, and so many spiritual goods have been prepared for those who in truth are willing to strive, let us also give ourselves with all our strength to please God, so that, having obtained the spiritual gifts and having advanced in the wisdom of God, and having overcome every trial and affliction through the grace of Christ, and having been perfectly counted worthy of sanctification, we may become worthy of eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory forever and ever.

The soul that loves the heavenly goods and hopes to reign together with Christ ought, through transformation and change, to be changed from the wickedness of the passions into the virtues of Christ, and to have its will altered, and altogether to acquire the renewal that comes through the Spirit, while it is still in the flesh.

...with the virtues of the Spirit, and tabernacle and make His abode alone with it; then there prayers and acts of worship are unceasingly offered to God in spirit and in truth; then psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs are sent up from the soul through grace into the heavens; then there come banquets and a festival of angels and a heavenly and unspeakable joy, as Christ the tabernacle-dweller keeps spiritual festival in the soul and gladdens the mind with heavenly gladness and exultation.

And let us also use the same thought in another way.

Just as gold, which was formerly mixed with earth and trodden underfoot by wild beasts and creeping things, when it is taken and cleansed and refined by those who know the art of purifying gold, then becomes a crown and royal diadem fit for the head of the king — so too this soul, now mixed with the earth of sin and entangled with material and vain thoughts, trodden underfoot by the wild beasts, the spirits of darkness, through the working of the passions, and found in much insolence and shamefulness of wicked thoughts, and defiled in the darkness of this present age — just as the gold there was mixed with the earth — when the good and true craftsman and purifier of our souls comes, He takes it and cleanses it from that insolence and the dreadful darkness that had covered it, and having made it pure like fine gold, He fashions it into a crown and heavenly diadem for Himself.

And you shall be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem of beauty in the hand of your God.

Behold, from what insolence and dishonor into what glory and honor a man is transformed, through the power of the Holy Spirit and through the right choice, earnestness, zeal, and faith of his own free will!

For God, in His own goodness, was pleased to share His own kingdom with the soul; and when He comes and visits the soul that has, with its whole will, given itself over to spiritual well-pleasing, He imparts to it the light of His divinity through the communion of the Holy Spirit, and then the soul's intellectual disposition increases, stretches out, and is enlarged even to the heights of heaven; and He Himself comes down from above to her, taking her up to Himself, and stretching her out even to heaven, and there He counts her worthy to enjoy ineffable spiritual mysteries.

O the ineffable good pleasure! O the indescribable loving-kindness! O the inconceivable love and the unutterable compassion!

From what dishonor and lowliness into what honor and greatness He transposes and transforms souls that truly believe and have given themselves over to every well-pleasing!

For that heavenly sweetness and rest is insatiable.

...she may come and be overtaken by an unfillable fullness of divine love, having partaken of such great goodness and joy and the peace of the ineffable Godhead.

For just as the sea is not filled though all the rivers flow into it, so the soul that has been counted worthy to enter into the peace of the Godhead of the Spirit is not satisfied, however much He gives her of the gifts of heavenly graces; and the more she receives, the more she seeks; and the more she is satisfied, the more she still desires; and the more she is filled, the more she still lacks; and she becomes, as it were, an unfillable abyss, on account of the great desire of the Spirit and the heavenly love of the insatiable charity of Christ.

She walks on earth in the flesh, yet in her mind she has her dwelling in the heavens with the Lord.

Those are counted worthy to attain these good things and receive such an increase of advancement in the soul, who have given themselves over to a humble disposition, and do not admit within themselves any thought of pride and self-conceit, but consider themselves unworthy both before God and before men, and always strive as though they were at the beginning, and thus, by regarding themselves as nothing and humbling themselves, are counted worthy to obtain those spiritual goods, as the Lord says:

He who humbles himself shall be exalted, and he who exalts himself shall be humbled.

For those who, having become partakers of some small grace, give themselves over to arrogance and self-conceit, thinking themselves to be something, grieve the grace of the Spirit, and are deprived even of the good they possess, on account of the folly of their childishness.

Let us therefore seek the Lord with the love and affection of the soul, always awaiting Him, hanging upon Him, and desiring to possess Him alone, who becomes the promiser and fulfiller of so many good things to those who believe in Him.

Now the word of the Spirit, spoken by those who are spiritual, is this:

Just as, if there be a very great river full of water, as much as passes by, so much again comes:

for it is never lacking, always being generated and welling up from the immeasurable spring of the deep.

In the same way, those who possess the living spring of the Spirit, the more they recount the mysteries of the Spirit, the more they find, since the divine spring always wells up with ever newer and heavenly mysteries of the Word.

Let us therefore also entreat the Lord to let us partake of the spiritual fountain of living water, for whoever drinks and takes of it shall never thirst forever, according to the word of the Lord, but there shall be in him a fountain of water springing up into eternal life, and rivers of living water shall flow out of his belly.

Those, then, who out of the Spirit recount the mysteries of the Spirit and bring forth the word of God from the living fountain of God — to these, hearers ought to give heed as though hearing the word from the mouth of God Himself, and as though the Holy Spirit were moving the instrument of the tongue and speaking through it.

How, then, shall it be possible for us now to attain these spiritual and heavenly good things, unless we continually look to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, and give heed always to His humility — how, being God, He emptied Himself into a lowly nature?

How then should not we, who are by nature lowly, be humbled, and, recognizing our own nature, be ashamed, seeing that the glorious One became inglorious for our sake, and He who is God took upon Himself the lowly human nature, and lived in the world as poor and humble, being despised and reproached by unworthy men?