Spiritual Homilies 1 part 20/36

Just as a house that has the master and king who built it dwelling within it bears all his good things within itself — for there his wealth and the various treasures of his valuables are stored, there all the garments of his various splendor are laid up, there great cleanliness of incense and every fragrance is prepared, there feasts and festivals are always held for the master of the house, and simply every enjoyment of luxury and every beauty of splendor and glory — in the same way also the soul that has been deemed worthy, through much faith and every virtue, to receive within the house of its body the master and king who fashioned it, and to become his holy and pure bride through the ineffable and mystical communion of the Spirit, has there hidden treasures of wisdom and knowledge stored up within the house of its body; there the heavenly and luminous garments of the Spirit, surpassing all beauty, are laid up as treasure; there the fragrance of the Holy Spirit is fulfilled; there festivals of holy angels and powers are always celebrated on account of the indwelling master and king, Christ; and simply, such a soul is always filled with every spiritual gladness and heavenly enjoyment, having the heavenly bridegroom continually dwelling with it in the house of its body.

Truly blessed is that soul which from this present life has been deemed worthy of such good things.

But woe to the house that does not have its master dwelling in it.

For just as an earthly house that does not have its own master dwelling in it becomes, through neglect, desolate and a ruin, and there dogs and pigs go in and out, and there cats and ibises and ravens come to dwell, there it becomes a storehouse of dung, and that house is filled with every uncleanness and foul stench;

so woe to that soul which has not been raised up, through grace and the divine power, from the fall and error of the passions of wickedness, and which does not have its King, Christ, dwelling in the house of its body; for there is the storehouse of the truly wicked dung (that is, of the most foul-smelling sins), there hedgehogs and ibises and ravens — the spirits of wickedness — through whom the passions of wickedness, being at work, dwell, having, since Adam's transgression, their pasture in the soul; there sirens and donkey-centaurs and demons will dance, according to the oracle of the prophet, through whom the wicked and shameful and vain and earthly reasonings of our heart, being at work, gush forth, and, the doors of the soul being open, the wicked and savage beasts and reptiles — the spirits of wickedness — go in and out.

This evil inheritance of the passions was given to all humanity from the transgression of Adam, since he lost the former nobility of his pure nature and the sacred dignity, and was deprived of seeing his own Master because of the transgression of the commandment, and for this reason went astray and was cast out of paradise.

For the aforesaid evils dwell in every soul and are at work through the passions of sin, in the soul that does not have its King, Christ, dwelling within it, in all perception and knowledge and full assurance, through whom the complete healing of the heart can come about.

...of her body, in sanctification and purity.

And thus, with him dwelling within her, all purity and sanctification and virtue and understanding and knowledge and wisdom of the Spirit will be there, and having been deemed worthy of such grace, she then becomes worthy of the kingdom of heaven.

Let us therefore also entreat the Lord, while we still have the time for repentance, with all sobriety and watchfulness of faith, and let us prepare ourselves beforehand in every virtuous manner of life, that the heavenly King, Christ, coming, may dwell in us according to his promise.

For otherwise it is not possible for him to come and rest in us, unless first, as much as we have strength and impulse, we become estranged from every passion of wickedness and united to all spiritual virtues; and thus, our house having been prepared beforehand and a dwelling fit for the Master made ready, then the Lord, coming in his own goodness, will dwell in us and will make his dwelling with us; and thus, our souls, purified by the power of his grace and sanctified by the communion of his Spirit, and having come to the measure of spiritual maturity, will be deemed worthy of eternal life, unto the ages.

All the works that appear in the world are done in hope and with the aim, for each one, of partaking in the enjoyment of his labors and toils.

The farmer sows in hope, and at the sowing begins to rejoice, expecting manifold fruits, and he endures labors and toils for the sake of hope and expectation; for, it says, 'he who plows plows in hope,' and if he does not enjoy in full assurance the fruits that come about through his toils, he is profited nothing.

Likewise also he who takes a wife takes her in hope of begetting children and having heirs; and the merchant, similarly, gives himself to the sea (and to a ready danger of death) for the sake of profit.

So also in the work and struggle of piety and of the kingdom of heaven, the monk gives himself, in hope of the eyes of the heart being enlightened and the mind being renewed through the Spirit and changed and transformed into the fruits of the Spirit, withdrawing from worldly affairs and devoting his leisure to the Lord, preparing himself with prayers and supplications and all virtues, awaiting the Lord, for when he will come and dwell in him and cleanse him from the indwelling sin of the passions.

But he does not rest, nor is he fully satisfied, in his labors and manner of life, until he attains the things hoped for, until the Lord comes and dwells in him with all perception and the working of the Holy Spirit.

But when he tastes the goodness of God and delights in the fruits of the Spirit, and the covering of darkness is taken away from him, and the heavenly light of Christ shines and works in him with inexpressible joy, then he is fully assured concerning the mercy of grace, having the Lord with him in much love and spiritual affection, and rejoices greatly, because he has been deemed worthy to attain the things hoped for.

...of the heavens, in the Jerusalem above, the pledge of whose inheritance he has received from now — until he lays aside the body, that is, until he comes to be in the perfect measures of grace and in the fullness of Christ, he ought to have fear and to suspect danger and much concern.

Let us therefore also entreat the Lord, that he may fully assure us by the mercy of his goodness, and strip off from us the old man, and clothe us with the heavenly power of the Spirit, so that, having gained the true and great profit of the gift of Christ and of the things hoped for, and having come from now into the full assurance and exultation of the Spirit, and thus being henceforth guided by him in all things, we may be in much calm and peace, and, found pleasing to him in all the commandments according to his will, and perfectly sanctified by his Spirit, and from now cleansed from all filthiness, we may rest with him in his kingdom unto the ages of ages.

The wisdom of God, being infinite and incomprehensible, works out, incomprehensibly and inscrutably, in relation to the testing of the free will, and works out the dispensations of grace toward the human race in manifold ways, so that those who love him with the whole heart may be made manifest.

For to some, the gifts and the graces of the Holy Spirit come to meet them without labors and toils, immediately as soon as they approach and ask, or even, at times, while they are still in the world;

But this is not done idly, nor untimely, nor at random, but by a certain ineffable and incomprehensible wisdom of God, so that the moral choice and the free will of the one who has quickly attained divine grace may be tested — whether he perceives the benefaction and the goodness and sweetness of God that has come about toward him, and, in proportion to the benefaction and grace received without toil, displays his zeal and his running and his struggle and the fruit of his love that comes from will and choice — he thereby renders the recompense of the graces, that is, whether, having given himself over entirely to the love of God, he will fulfill his will.

But upon others, who have withdrawn from the world and renounced this age and are found in much perseverance of prayer and fasting and zeal for the rest of the virtues, God is very patient, not immediately giving them the gift of the Spirit and his grace and giving them rest, but testing them through prolonged extension, handing them over to afflictions and not giving them the rest of the Spirit quickly.

And this is done not idly nor untimely nor at random, but by an ineffable wisdom, for the testing of the free will — to see whether such a one considers God, who has promised to give to those who ask and to let those who seek find and to open the door of life to those who knock, to be faithful and true; to see whether, having believed truly in his word, he remains to the end asking and seeking and knocking, lest, growing faint of heart and drawing back, he turn away, or, disbelieving and despairing, he grow negligent, not enduring to the end — all this for the testing of the will and the moral choice.

...upon him, testing the love and faith of his will, he himself always seeking and demanding the gift of his Spirit more keenly and more laboriously and more unsparingly, having believed and fully assured himself that God is true and cannot lie, having promised to give his grace, unto the end, in all patience, to those who ask with faith.

For those souls to whom God is deemed faithful and true have also sealed this, that God is true.

Accordingly, it behooves them to keep the aforesaid things, always examining themselves, in what respects they fall short — as far as depends on themselves — whether in labor or in struggle or in zeal or in faith or in the rest of the condition of the virtues; and, examining themselves, they force and constrain themselves, as much as they are able, toward pleasing God, having once believed that God is true, and that if they remain steadfast toward him to the end, they will not fall short of his gift, but at some time will be deemed worthy of the heavenly grace and will attain eternal life.

And thus they pour out all their love toward him, having renounced all things and expecting him alone with much desire and hunger, and always awaiting only his consolation and the rest of grace, and being consoled or resting or bound willingly by nothing of this world, but always contradicting material reasonings, they expect only the consolation and help of the Lord.

But to souls that undertake such a moral choice and zeal and endurance of love, he himself is already secretly present, and helps and guards and supports them in every fruit of virtue.

even if they are in affliction and toil, and even if, in the knowledge of truth and manifestation of the soul, they have not yet received the grace of the Spirit and the rest of the heavenly gift, and have not perceived it, because of the ineffable wisdom of God and his indescribable judgments, in that he tests souls in various ways and looks to the love that comes from will and moral choice;

And to those to whom he granted his own grace of the Spirit more quickly, testing in them the proportion of their love and zeal and running and keenness and their renunciation of the world; but for those for whom he prolonged, in his patience, the grace of perception and revelation, testing in them their endurance and their love toward him unto the end and their zeal and undoubting faith, in that they turn away, as far as lies in their will, from all visible things, and finally empty themselves out toward him — and then they receive the promise of the Spirit.

For there are boundaries and measures and standards, before God, of the free moral choice and of the will's love and zeal toward him, he looking to the measure of the love and zeal that comes from moral choice toward him, and of the disposition, as much as is able, toward all his holy commandments; and thus, deeming worthy of the kingdom and of eternal life those who have fulfilled the measure of their love and debt toward him.

...having for many years shown very great love to him from the whole heart, the rich man sets his eye upon him for good, and appoints him steward and administrator over his house, since indeed he has displayed such goodwill and zeal and love toward him with all his strength, and his love and goodwill toward him increase day by day; then he gives him glorious garments from his own substance, and deems him worthy to sit upon horses and chariots with much honor, and entrusts to him his estate and his wealth as to one who is faithful; and thus he himself receives back, many times over, the love and goodwill that the poor man showed toward the rich man.

For again, the rich man, having entrusted his own affairs to him, holds all his love toward him, and he himself is his rest, and all things are in his hands, and his eyes always look toward him for good.

Behold, the good things and the love from goodwill that he displayed, he received back many times over.

If, then, love among men possesses such a consequence of recompense, how much more the soul that comes to the Lord, who is truly the only rich one, while it is itself poor and needy, lacking eternal life and the wealth of Christ and the heavenly bread.

For having poured out all its love toward the Lord, and having him alone before its eyes, and having reckoned all things — life, clothing, wealth, delight — as nothing, and having cut itself off from every other hope and having him alone as its hope, and eagerly performing, as far as it is able, the practices of virtue for his house, and thus having emptied itself out entirely and wholly toward him, even if it does not immediately attain the heavenly graces, nevertheless it is kept for it, at some time, to receive back its love and its goodwill toward him, if it perseveres to the end, always increasing its faith and love and hope toward him and its practice of every virtue; and thus it will attain the heavenly graces, having been tested and having displayed to the end a sound service and zeal and love and goodwill toward him, and it is deemed worthy of heavenly wealth as one faithful and having shown all goodwill, and thus, having attained eternal life, it will rest always with the Lord in his kingdom.

But lest we seem to speak these parables of our own accord, bringing them from human examples, let us learn from the divine Scriptures that these things are in harmony with what we have said before, for they say:

That younger son, who took his possessions and, living dissolutely with harlots, squandered them, and came into great poverty, and reached such want that he could not even fill his belly with the carob pods — having come to himself and having remembered his father's wealth and his compassion, said:

'How many hired servants of my father have bread enough and to spare, and I am perishing here with hunger!' And having turned back and come to his father, he poured out all his love toward him, saying:

'I am not worthy to be called your son.' And:

'I have sinned against heaven and before you, father.'

Then the father, seeing his repentance from the whole heart and his love toward him, that he had emptied himself out entirely and wholly toward him, no longer having any other hope before his eyes but only the father's face, rendered back to him love in return, and deemed him worthy of the first robe and of the ring, and slaughtered the fatted calf for him, and this one became a partaker of his father's wealth.

if they display zeal of love and fulfill the measure of their debt.

But as for the other part—those whom grace anticipates, and who obtain the gift of the Spirit quickly and without labor—consider how their purpose and will are tested: whether, in proportion to the benefits received, they will show forth goodwill and zeal of love toward him and the practice of every virtue, and perceive the benefits, and produce worthy fruits, and fulfill the measure and the debt of love owed by the will.

We shall use another fitting parable from Scripture.

To Israel, the gifts and graces and those many benefits of God came beforehand, before he had done anything toward God or shown practices of virtue worthy of such benefits.

For how many wonders God did for them: on the one hand, scourging the Egyptians with every chastisement and plague on their account, and leading them out of Egypt with great power and much wealth; on the other hand, overshadowing them by day from the heat with a pillar of cloud.

And again, having split the Red Sea, he led them through as on dry land, delivering them from their enemies and drowning the Egyptians in the waters; for their sake he turned bitter waters into sweet, rained down manna from heaven for forty years; their sandals and garments did not wear out for so many years; they were counted worthy to receive a law written by the finger of God, and he bestowed on their nation the dignity of the priesthood and of prophecy, and all the other graces of benefits—which perhaps it is not even easy to number—they received before they had shown anything worthy of those benefits.

And after those many gifts and graces, when they were tested and were sought out for the fruit and recompense of their voluntary love toward the Lord, they were found wanting in the service that should be rendered to him in much love.

For in the end they turned aside to idols and fornications and every impiety, as also the Holy Spirit reproaches them in Ezekiel—how many benefits he bestowed on them, and they showed forth nothing worthy of the graces that had come to be for them; for indeed the word that says the following is addressed to them:

I found you in the wilderness naked and unseemly, and I washed you from the blood of your darkness, and I adorned you with ornaments, and put bracelets on your hands and a jewel on your forehead and a diadem upon your head; you ate fine flour and oil and honey, and you became renowned among all the nations.

And after these things, having turned aside, you went away in your fornications after your lovers.

For her adornment and nourishment and beautification were all those benefits—the legislation, and the worship, and the priesthood, and the prophecy, and that whole order of things in the former covenant.

And for how many ages and times God was patient toward them, awaiting their return and the fruit of recompense for those many and ineffable benefits; and even while they were sinning, the grace of the Spirit did not depart from them, but prophecy remained among them, and the priesthood, and all the legal worship—until at last, when, according to the great loving-kindness of God and Father, he had sent his only-begotten Son for their salvation, they added to all their lawless deeds also the murder of the only-begotten Son; and then finally, taking account and enumerating their many transgressions, and finding them overflowing in excess, and judging them unworthy of salvation—

because with an insensible heart they did not turn back to him nor perceive his many benefits, in the end he abandoned them, stripping them bare on every side and scattering them among the nations.

(of the priesthood, of the temple, of kings)—and because of her insensibility he abandoned her in her ancient impurity and dishonor, taking back from her the gifts and graces and benefits which he had given, on account of her great ignorance and her inclination toward the worse; and, being judged unworthy of that adornment and those gifts, the kingdom was taken from her, as the Lord says, and given to a nation producing her fruits.

Now understand these things also with reference to the soul, which quickly is counted worthy of the heavenly gift and the grace of the Spirit, and easily and readily obtains it before showing forth anything of virtue and labors and struggles.

For if it does not perceive the benefit and the grace and heavenly gift that came to it so easily, and does not always show forth fruits worthy in proportion, and does not show its impulse toward the Lord and the labor of struggle with all zeal and eagerness, and does not empty out all its love in pleasing God, grieving the grace in no deviation—even though the gift of the Spirit be with it and it perceives him present—yet does not render the recompense befitting the blameless service rendered out of full purpose and will, being united and ever cleaving to the Spirit of that ineffable benefit, and making the recompense and proportion of love and zeal and every virtue that is fitting—then, as long as it is in the body, he is patient with it because of much goodness, awaiting its return with the whole heart and its repentance, bearing with its sins and negligence and contempt.

But if it remains to the end insensible of the benefits, having insulted the gifts and the grace of the Spirit, and having followed ignorance and insensibility, and does not recompense the measure of love, then, when it departs from the body, a word comes to it, saying:

and, her transgressions and negligence and contempt having overflowed in excess through insensibility and ignorance, having recompensed nothing worthy of the grace and benefit, being found to have acted out of her own will and choice, and not having shown the talent and the mina doubled, she is finally handed over to the spirits of wickedness for dishonor and disappearance and corruption and punishment, into everlasting anguish and affliction, because she did not perceive the gifts and benefits of God which, easily and readily, through his loving-kindness, had swiftly come to her for encouragement and help and support, having shown nothing worthy and fitting, but having always followed her own wills.

Therefore she has also met with such an end.

For measures and bounds and standards of a man's zeal and struggle and love and labor and faith and every virtue that come from his own choice exist with God.

For the mighty will be mightily tested, and the least will be granted the pardon of mercy; and the Lord says:

The servant who knew his master's will, and did not prepare nor do it, will be beaten with many stripes;

and the one who did not know, but did things worthy of stripes, will be beaten with few.

And of him to whom much was entrusted, they will require the more.

Understand "knowledge" here in various senses: either according to grace and a heavenly gift, or according to the hearing of the Scriptures, or according to understanding and discernment and comprehension.

For each one will be required, in proportion, to give the fruits of virtue and the trading of the talent and the perception of the benefits.

Therefore every man will be without excuse before God on the day of judgment.

He had the Lord either through the learning of the Scriptures, or according to his own understanding and comprehension and discernment, or according to true knowledge and visitation and perception of the Spirit, and full assurance of the good things to come through heavenly sweetness and revelation of the Spirit.

According to that measure, then, each one will be required to give, worthily, the zeal of love toward him, and worship, and faith, and the practice of every virtue.

And the one who never heard the word of God, nor encountered Christians or those who fear God, but was raised up to the end in the error of idolatry—he too will justly be condemned; for God will judge all justly, because such a one did not come to know, from the ordered beauty of the world, that there is someone who created these things, nor from the ever-varied and manifold motion of creatures continually occurring—how it is that the great multitudes of rivers neither run dry at the source from which they flow, nor, arriving at their destination, overflow and inundate, though ever being filled and pouring forth.

And this too from the motion of the stars and sun and moon—that these could not of themselves have such order and beauty and unceasing motion, having ways and a manner of discovery beyond description, but there is someone who has ordered them and moves them without weariness and without ceasing; and this too from the change of the seasons and the alternation of the times, giving way to one another ineffably—for winter gives way to spring, and spring to summer, and summer to autumn.

And again, beholding the pouring down of rains, and the fearsome voices of thunders, and the brightness of lightnings, and the awe of that brilliance, he ought to have understood that these things would not of themselves come to be and be set in motion in such order and truth and measure, if there were not someone who was the maker of these things.

For whoever looks attentively at the whole order of visible beauty will easily understand that there is someone who is the maker and orderer of this creation.

Therefore every one is without excuse before God, and will justly be judged, and will be required to give love toward God and a condition of virtue, according to the proportion of his knowledge and the benefits and his understanding and comprehension.

For he will come, it says, and will render to each according to his works.

For God is righteous, and righteous are his works and his judgments, and his ways are unsearchable.

Yes, righteous and holy are his judgments.

Not as some, foolishly defining election and foreknowledge, bring injustice against God—saying that he chooses whomever he wishes to save, but whomever he wishes to destroy he irrationally lets be carried away—but, being righteous, he foreknew, as God, those who would love him and would choose his ways out of will and free choice, and these he predestined and elected to eternal life according to righteous judgment.

But if, as God, he also does many paradoxical things unknown to the human race, do not fix your gaze on his paradoxical acts, since you cannot comprehend his wisdom; but look instead, according to the God-inspired Scriptures, at the way which he appointed for his servants to walk—in what afflictions and in what contests they walk, and with what labor and zeal and striving and running.

And by attending to the contest appointed by God, you will always be ready and quick and eager for the way of righteousness.