Spiritual Homilies 1 part 22/36

You see that the conscience does not conceal the rest of the thoughts that obey sin, but immediately reproves them—for it does not lie—it rebukes, it bears witness before God in judgment, as one that always reproves.

Just as, if there is a chariot, the reins and the animals and the whole equipage are under one charioteer, and then, whenever he wishes, it is carried along with the swiftest impulse, and again is held back, and wherever he wishes to turn, there the whole chariot comes together;

for it lies in the power of the charioteer—so also the heart has many natural thoughts bound up with it, and the mind and the conscience rebuke, direct, and rouse the natural thoughts that well up in the heart.

For the soul has many members, and yet it is wholly one.

For from the time man transgressed the commandment, the serpent, the devil, having entered in, became master of the house, and, as it were, a soul in one part along with the soul.

For the Lord says in the Gospel:

'Whoever does not deny his own soul and does not hate himself is not my disciple,' since sin, having entered into the soul, has become a member of it, and many unclean thoughts well up in the heart.

He, then, who does the wills of his own soul does the wills... of sin, since sin has become interwoven with the soul.

But he who subjects his soul to the Spirit, and is angry with himself and with the desires that dwell together with him, this is the one who subdues the city of his enemies; and this one is counted worthy to attain great spiritual measures, and receives back, through the divine power, the pure man, and a greater one comes to be in him;

For such a one is deified and becomes a son of God, receiving the heavenly seal in his soul.

For his elect are anointed with the sanctifying oil and become dignitaries and kings.

For man has this freedom: even while being in the depth of wickedness and enslaved to sin, he has the freedom to turn to the good; and, being bound by the Holy Spirit and taken captive and made, as it were, drunk unto the heavenly things, he likewise has the freedom to turn to evil.

A woman clothed in rags, starving and filthy, if with much toil she attains to royal rank and puts on a crown and purple and becomes the bride of a king, remembers indeed her former squalor and has the wish for it, but she does not want to go back to her former shame, since that would be foolish.

But those who have tasted the grace of God and are partakers of the Spirit, if they do not guard themselves securely, are quenched and become worse than they were when they were still worldly.

Is God, then, mutable or weak, that the Spirit is quenched? Answer.

It is the men themselves who do not agree with grace, but turn aside and fall into countless evils.

For to those who have tasted that gift both things are present together: joy and consolation, trembling and fear and mourning.

For they mourn for themselves and for the whole of Adam, since human nature is one; and the tears of such people are bread, and their mourning is sweetness and rest.

But if a man holds his own soul as dishonored and despised, and is poor in spirit and abhorrent in his own eyes, while in truth he is stolen away by wickedness without knowing it—then even if he performs signs, he is not to be trusted.

For this is the sign of Christianity: that one who is in truth great and approved before God strives to remain hidden from men, and, even if he possesses all the treasures of the King, to hide himself and say, 'These are not mine; another has entrusted this treasure to me; I am poor; whenever they wish, they take it away from me.' But if someone says:

'I am rich, it is enough, I have acquired it, I have no need'—this one is not a Christian, but a vessel of deceit and of the devil.

For God is insatiable, and the more one feeds on him, the hungrier and thirstier one becomes, and one holds an unquenchable burning and longing.

Such people, as long as they live, strive to advance in this, and continue to seek more, and make themselves out as poor, as needy, as possessing nothing.

For this is what they say: 'We are not worthy that this sun should shine upon us.' This is the sign of Christianity; this is true humility.

But if someone says, 'I am satisfied and I have been fulfilled,' this one too is a deceiver and a liar.

You, then—whose king do you belong to? Examine yourself.

For wherever you keep watch and make agreements, of that one you are a partner; for it is written:

'To those who love God, all things work together for good.'

You have your own will, and to whomever you give your impulse and your obedience, of that one you become the possession, the son, and the friend.

If you love and take delight in the wills of wickedness, they immediately cooperate with you and cling to you.

For sin is easily provoked, and it comes with eagerness;

for it is a ruler that rejoices in the ill-treatment of men.

Likewise again, if you love and delight in the good, it too comes and helps.

But here it comes only with much struggle, since it is a kingdom that has no end;

for this reason what is precious is rare, and what is achieved with difficulty is glorious, and therefore also eternal, since all wish to enter and attain the good without labor; but between them and it lies a long course and a struggle, and out of many, few are chosen.

Those, then, who have conquered have come to a peaceable and gentle ruler and king, who rejoices in doing good to men; such people, from now on, inherit the land of promise, and come to the harbor of rest, and to the holy city, and to the place of repose.

For just as there is a visible heaven, which is called the firmament, so above this there is another heaven, luminous, where are the camps of the angels... (and, above all, God and the angels); there is the tabernacle not made with hands.

All these things, then, are divine and ineffable and full of light, since they are spiritual and substantial, not belonging to this age but to another world, where there is no darkness or night or war or Gehenna.

For since the outward eye cannot perceive those heavenly things, for this reason this firmament was created as a veil, so that no one might imagine he simply beholds them, except those pure in heart and sanctified in mind—the fellow-citizens and fellow-initiates of the saints.

And when this firmament is rolled up, then those unseen things receive the elect.

For many, being of the good portion and being made to work by the good Spirit, thought that they had been made perfect, and afterward suffered an assault and a plot from the evil spirits—just as soldiers who, having supposed they had conquered their enemies, and having thereafter thrown down their weapons and being free of care, find that the enemies, having laid an ambush and suddenly standing over them, kill some, and, having bound the others, take them captive.

So also sin, once stirred up, made its assault: it bound some in its own depth and the snare of wickedness, while it took others captive into the passions of dishonor.

Apart from the law of the Spirit (that is, unless through Jesus Christ), they cannot be freed from evils and escape from the dominion of the devil.

For Paul, describing the fall of man, says:

'Who will deliver me from death? I thank God, through Jesus Christ, that the law of the Spirit of life has set me free from death.'

For just as, when a spring is welling up, those who drink from it lack nothing, so those who possess the resources and treasures of the Spirit within, in the mind, whatever they speak, benefit those who hear in faith, while they themselves remain such as they were before.

For, from now on, palaces and dining halls and houses of surpassing greatness are being built for the spiritual by the Spirit, and various and glorious raiment is also being prepared; so, when they depart to Christ, their own kin—the spirits of the righteous, and the whole heavenly kingdom—receive them with great joy.

For the Lord says to them:

'Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things;'

'enter into the joy of your lord.'

For many of the brethren, receiving grace and cooperating with it day by day, advance to growth and progress, going forward to great measures;

others, when they receive a gift from God, even though grace is present with them, turn aside into disorder and into many evils.

And when they fall into sins, does grace remain, or does it immediately depart? Answer.

It happens that, even when a man has sinned, on account of God's love for mankind, grace remains as long as he is still in the flesh; but when the soul is separated from the body, then grace also departs, and the soul goes to its own place, being handed over to the evil spirits.

For there are two laws in man: the law of wickedness, stealing him away to its own place, and the law of grace, drawing him to the heavenly things;

and to the degree that he enters into trials, he is strengthened and grounded and becomes an unshakable rock.

And such a mind, standing at the door and not turning its back to the enemy but resisting, at the departure from the body is taken up, together with the soul, by the angels of the right hand, into the region of the kingdom, and passes into eternal life.

Just as among visible things, suppose there is a king giving gifts to his servants, and some, on receiving them, squander them on fornication and licentiousness and gluttony, while others, on receiving them, keep them safe and acquire for themselves precious vessels—these latter are altogether glorious, for they have multiplied what was given to them as gifts.

For in truth, those who have tasted that sweetness, when they behold a visible king clothed in purple and possessing dignities and treasures, consider it, as it were, a stench, and it appears to them abominable and lowly, since they have entered into the royal and heavenly houses of Christ, and heavenly houses have been opened to them, and they have inherited another wealth, having become sons of the heavenly light, of the boundless age.

Comparing, then, the earthly things with the heavenly, they then perceive the chasm between them and the difference.

For just as, suppose someone is gripped by a fever, and while the sickness is still at its height, if you bring to such a one various dishes, or sweets, or other food, he is nauseated and disgusted, being sated and, as it were, made drunk by the fever, and having it as if it were his food;

so also the spiritual, having the burning of heavenly love and of the divine fire, whatever visible things of this world someone may bring to them—whether dignities, or kingship, or wealth, or glory—they are nauseated by them.

Just as someone feels revulsion when passing through a place where there are corpses and a great stench,

so, hearing spiritual teaching about light, about the kingdom, about the other age and the divine power, they likewise feel revulsion and grow listless, unable to receive the word of God.

For in truth these are wise and courageous.

These are the warriors who keep their mind on high, being angered at the desires and pleasures that dwell within them, resisting wickedness with the mind, becoming obedient, and rejoicing together with the law of God.

What then of the orator or the philosopher? Desire rises up against him, and he commits adultery, and he is carried away by greed, and his mind is driven by the evil spirits — where then is all their great wisdom?

Christians, though clothed in the body, have such joy and love within themselves, and such hope toward God and toward the brethren, that it cannot be expressed by human mouth or tongue.

And such people, even now while still in the body, have foreknowledge, and, as though looking in a mirror, behold the rest that is from there, the eternal light, and the joy that is stored up in reserve.

If then it is so here, how much more, when the soul departs to Christ into that age, does it rejoice, being together with the Lord and the apostles.

Just as, if an eye is diseased, it is unable to see the rays of the sun, so also Satan and the powers of darkness are unable to see or approach the light that works within the saint, because it exposes and burns them.

For indeed concerning the Lord they cried out, saying:

"What have we to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come before the appointed time to torment us?" Just as when a robber or a condemned man is seized, he is bound and kept guarded in dark places, though sentence has not yet been passed upon him to be burned or put to death, so also are the souls of sinners:

They are held fast by the evil spirits and by the angels of the left, and for the present are kept and bound in dark places until the day of the judgment of Christ.

For those who are liable for sins wish to ascend into the heavens, but they are dragged down by the evil spirits, having become obedient servants and slaves of sin while still in the flesh.

There is also a revelation which says that two angels accompany a man, one good and one evil.

And when a man is about to be separated from the body, a comparison is made between his righteousness and his sins, and whichever side weighs heavier, there he is held — either to the right or to the left.

But as many as have received in this life the seal and the royal image in their souls, together with the divine and heavenly fire — when these are being separated from the body, the demons do not dare to approach them.

And even if their rulers wish to approach them more harshly, they are burned by the fire.

"and it shall burn up his enemies round about."

For if it had been permitted to Satan to do whatever he wished — such is his nature, savage and powerful — in an instant he would most easily have destroyed and sunk everything.

But for this reason the devil is restrained by divine power, which takes hold not only of Christians, but of the whole race of Adam, both sinners and idolaters —

for it waits to see whether their children or kinsfolk are going to turn back and serve God.

For this is what is meant: "those whom he foreknew, he also foreordained."

For as many as he knows will, by their own free choice, become obedient to his commandments and choose the good — these he has foreordained and holds as his elect.

But as many as are more slack, and having entered the contest turned their backs, these are dead in the inner man;

for he is put to death, and altogether dead, as one who has been made subject to the reign of wickedness.

...was given? To whom does the Lord say:

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

"Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men."

"Your faith has saved you" — surely spoken to those who possess free will.

For we say that man possesses free will and the freedom of his own will, to turn either toward the good or toward evil.

For this very nature was created in such a way as to be receptive of both good and evil, being fittingly disposed to incline toward whatever actions it wills.

For this reason the apostle also says:

"To whomever you yield obedience, you are slaves of the one you obey."

"Present your members, then, as slaves to righteousness, unto sanctification." And again:

"If you are willing and obey me, you shall eat the good things of the land."

And the psalm says: "Of my own will I will confess to him."

The mind, then, is an adversary equally matched in strength for both good and evil, having an even balance and equal weight against wickedness, being able to fight against it, to resist it, and to be angered at the desires.

Grace dwells with many secretly and in many ways, even though they do not hear the word, and it guides and shepherds their very heart and mind, yet they themselves do not know it.

But after some time, when they come to knowledge, then grace itself reminds them: "At this time, in this misfortune, I helped you and worked out the dispensation on your behalf; and likewise on many other occasions I helped you secretly."

In like manner, wickedness also, shepherding the mind, takes it captive and steals it away, and they do not know it.

For it was sin that prompted Joseph's brothers to sell him, and it is likewise sin's prompting that the Egyptian's wife fell in love with him.

And again, that Joseph interpreted the vision and succeeded in this, being secretly guided by grace, he himself said [as much].

Likewise also, his not yielding to desire, but exercising self-control, was due to grace secretly helping him.

"Give me weapons, and I will fight the foreigner." A man outwardly small and of little account — whence did he take courage for so noble a deed? Clearly, being invisibly guided by divine power and grace, he came into the battle and was not afraid to engage the foreigner Goliath;

hence his victory was the work of grace, but he himself did not clearly know how to discern this.

There are, then, righteous men to whom sin, invisibly and stealthily, down to the smallest stroke, suggests that they act inconsistently; and there are sinners to whom, through certain dispensations, grace suggests — without the men knowing it — that they do certain things useful and beneficial to the soul, and so they depart into life.

You see that grace dwells with many sinners too, suggesting to them, through certain soul-profiting dispensations, what is useful; and again, sin also dwells with the righteous.

Often someone possesses but a single stroke of grace, and that very thing grows and becomes an infinite and immeasurable breadth and length.

For I knew a brother who had the countenance of grace:

and that very thing appeared to such a man, faint as a grain of mustard seed,

and suddenly that small thing grew and was magnified, so that it was found more precious than all creation, visible and invisible.

For it descended into the abysses and beneath them, and it became lofty and ascended to the highest heavens, into the boundless age, so that in every way and in every place it encompassed all creation, and that small stroke, which was as a grain of mustard seed, appeared broader and deeper than all things.

You see, the Lord contracts himself, when he wills, appearing small;

but when he wills, he is broadened and magnified to whatever length and breadth and height and depth he wills.

They are diverse and work in many ways, and grace itself is transformed in many ways.

There is, then, a greater measure of grace, when it works in depth within the heart.

Hence in India, barbarians who had heard from so great a distance merely a report about Jesus — that he appeared in Palestine in a human body, and worked signs, and was crucified and rose again — believed so greatly from the mere report that he is God, that they even gave over their bodies to martyrdom and burning.

You see there the working of grace:

for if there had not been this working in them, how could barbarian men have given themselves over to death for the name of Jesus? But greater still is when it forever wells up in the heart, as though a spring, in substance and with full perception and assurance.

This measure is safe and sure for those in whom it works.

It is as if there were a city, and Indians and Saracens entered and seized it, but the king to whom the city belongs came and cast them out, and gave it its own kingdom and its own army, so that that city would be in joy and the deepest peace, having a gentle king.

So it is also with man.

For the body itself too, being sanctified together with the soul, exults and rejoices with it, in the same way that, when the soul is worked upon by sin, the body itself is also weighed down and afflicted along with it.

Just as, then, it suffers together in evils, so also in sanctification and in grace the body rests together with the soul, and is glorified together with it forever.

Outwardly speaking, a soldier who has received wounds in the back a second time is reluctant to go out again and engage the enemies;

likewise the merchant, when he has amassed great wealth, is reluctant to travel abroad and undergo hardships; and the farmer, when he has brought in abundant harvests, is reluctant to clear woodland.

But in spiritual matters it is not so; rather, whoever tastes that sweetness and that most excellent food comes forward still more fervently and insatiably.

And the more you work the soil of your heart and dig it deeper, the good that dwells with you does not allow you to grow negligent, but rather urges you on to dig the soil of your heart still deeper, so that there the most beautiful paradise of the soul may be planted.

Since, then, that glory is ineffable, however much you may store up as treasure, it makes you appear as a poor man [by comparison].

Outwardly speaking, if someone rises from poverty to wealth by his own courage and vigor, he then strives to catch up with those richer than himself, and strives to surpass them as well.

So it is also in the spiritual realm.

The richer one becomes, the more he always runs after greater and higher things, and you can no longer make such a person cease from labor and prayer,

since in prayer itself he sees the Lord giving him rest, because He himself is his rest.

But there are some untaught people who say, "I have acquired it, I am rich, I no longer need anything." These are robbed and deceived by Satan.

For the good kindles all the more into desire, for it is insatiable and unceasing, and that sweetness surpasses every pleasure and sweetness.

And who that ever partakes of such a thing says, "It is enough"? But if someone neglects this matter for one hour or one day, he is cut off and harmed, and the portion of sin rises up harshly.

For if wood runs out, a fire is extinguished; and if a lamp burning fiercely runs out of oil, it too is extinguished; and if a mass of water surrounds someone, whether in a river or in the sea, as long as his head still inclines upward, he has hope of life, but if the water covers it, he perishes.

It is just as if there were two runners of equal pace pursuing one another in a race;

if the one running in front slackens his effort a little and becomes slower in the race, he is overtaken and struck down by the one who catches up with him from behind.

The same thing is found true in every craft.

Unclean spirits, watching closely, seize ground against you, choke the soul, carry it off as spoil, and lead it astray from God.

For they are tireless, readily shedding blood.

There are some kings who, if they conquer two nations, whether Persians or Goths, are satisfied.

But other kings, having an insatiable and audacious mind, strive to subdue all nations, to hold them under their own authority, to keep them in subjection, and to be set above all nations.

None of the most consummate craftsmen has ever been able to grasp the utmost limits of his craft.

Neither can the most perfect sophist boast that he has grasped the limit of discourse, for even wisdom as it appears is beyond comprehension; nor has the most eminent philosopher been able to grasp its limits; nor can the master-builder declare that he has attained or come to know all the depths of his science; nor can the physician master the whole of his art and heal every wound and every affliction.

If, then, no one can grasp even the visible things upon the earth, how much more is that manifold wisdom of God ineffable and incomprehensible.

There is a city of the saints which has rest.

Those, then, who journey through that city begin, by the power of God, to cut off the passions of the soul — that is, they conquer anger, vainglory, gluttony, evil desire, envy, love of money, falsehood, and the like.

But such people can in no way cut off any of these things at all, unless they journey by means of the grace of the Lord;

someone draws near to that city and is still lacking a certain step; if he does not secure himself but instead turns aside, he has lost everything and has become a stranger to that rest.

But there are others who, helped by the Lord and conquering little by little, do not stray from the way, but even though they have not yet arrived at the city, they continue journeying onward for the present.

The soul itself has many members, and again sin itself has many members.

And it has sown there many evils: haughtiness, hatred, falsehood, malice, deceit, hypocrisy.

The Lord, then, comes — a nature most sweet and pleasant, just as the nature of honey is sweet and that of fire is warming.

And people, being moved upon by divine grace, suppose, "We are better than the bishops and all the deacons."

But this happens to them because that very thing which they received is not to be found under heaven, since it is something newer, strange, and foreign to this world;

and not knowing how to discern such matters, they are deluded by sin.

For sin itself, even while grace is present, still holds the pastures of the soul and of all its members, and being robbed by evil, they do not know it;

for evil wars against them under the very appearance of grace.

It is necessary, then, that that little leaven be leavened into all the members, and that the whole mind be seasoned with the heavenly salt; and thus, little by little, the evil is diluted, thinned, and filtered out, and the whole becomes sweet as nectar.

For when darkness grows thick, it quickly does its evil work.

For sin itself is the mother of sins and of iniquities.

Just as someone in a dream who finds, say, thirty gold coins imagines that he has found what he did not have, so people are mocked by evil.

Just as the sea is salty and bitter, yet at wide intervals it has certain bays in which there is sweet water from various places, so also out of the sea of the inhabited world, few are found who have that sweet spring welling up in their hearts.

As many prophets as arose in agreement with Moses — since he is the first of them — these are the true companions;

and as many as are bishops or deacons who hold the Lord and speak in accord with the Gospels and with the apostles, these are, so to speak, one building;

for they build upon the foundation.

But if they are not in agreement, they are false apostles, they are false prophets.

The most skilled craftsmen are able to test the stamp of a coin,

to see whether it has been counterfeited in some way — something which the inexperienced cannot discern unless they are skilled; so it is also in the spiritual realm.

Many who appear righteous are considered to be Christians;

but it belongs to craftsmen and to the experienced to test whether they truly possess the seal and the image of the king, or whether something in them has been counterfeited — for craftsmen alone admire the works of craftsmen.

But if they are not craftsmen, they cannot discern the deceitful workers, since these too bear the outward form of monks, that is, of Christians.

For indeed the false apostles too suffered for Christ, and they themselves preached the good news of the kingdom of heaven.

For this reason the apostle says:

"In dangers more than they, in afflictions beyond measure" — wishing to show that he suffered more than they did.

Gold is found easily, but pearls and precious stones fit to be set into a king's diadem are found only rarely;

for often even among these there are none found fit to advance into the crown of Christ; but the true Christians build themselves into the crown of Christ, and that soul becomes a companion of the saints.

For just as in the time of Moses a veil was placed over his face because the people were unable to gaze upon his face, so also today a veil lies upon your heart, so that you may not fix your gaze upon that glory which Moses had upon his face.