Spiritual Homilies 1 part 33/36

It is necessary, then, that one who has first come to the Lord should thus compel himself toward the good, even when the heart is unwilling, expecting always with undoubting faith his mercy; and he must compel himself toward humility, compel himself toward love though he has no love, compel himself toward gentleness though he has no gentleness, compel himself to show mercy and have a merciful heart, compel himself to be despised and to be patient, and not to be indignant when scorned or dishonored, according to what has been said:

"Do not avenge yourselves, beloved"—and to compel oneself toward prayer, even when one does not yet have the prayer of the Spirit.

For thus God, seeing one so contending and forcibly leading himself toward the good even though the heart is unwilling, gives him the true prayer of Christ, gives him a heart of compassion, true kindness, and altogether fills him with the fruits of the Spirit.

But if someone compels himself only toward prayer, not having prayer, in order that he may obtain the prayer of grace, but does not compel himself toward gentleness and humility and love and the rest of the Lord's commandments, nor has care and effort and labor to accomplish those, as far as lies in his own choice and free will, then sometimes there is given to him the prayer of grace in rest and gladness from the Spirit, partially, according to his request—but in his character he remains similar to what he was before.

He does not have gentleness, because he did not seek it laboriously, nor did he prepare himself beforehand to become such.

He does not have humility, since he did not ask for it and did not compel himself toward it.

He does not have love toward all, since he had no care and struggle concerning this, either in the request of his prayer or in the actual pursuit of the deed.

He does not have faith and confidence toward God, since he did not come to know, nor did he test himself whether he has it.

And he did not labor in tribulation, seeking from the Lord to have firm faith toward him and true confidence.

For it is necessary that each one, just as he compels himself toward prayer and constrains his unwilling heart, so also toward confidence and toward humility, and toward love, and toward gentleness and toward integrity and simplicity, likewise toward all patience and longsuffering according to what is written; thus he must compel himself to be treated with contempt, and to consider himself worse and last of all; thus not to converse about things that are of no use, but always to meditate on and speak the things of the Lord, both with mouth and with heart; thus not to be angered, not to cry out, according to what has been said:

Toward all the ways of the Lord, toward every exercise of virtue and good and noble conduct, toward every manner of goodness, toward all humility of gentleness, and toward not being lifted up or thinking highly of oneself or being puffed up or speaking against anyone—toward all these things he who wishes to be well-pleasing and to please Christ ought to compel himself, so that the Lord, seeing his purpose and readiness thus to constrain and by force lead himself toward all simplicity and goodness and humility and love and prayer, will give himself wholly to him, truly and purely accomplishing all these things in him, without labor and without compulsion—things which before, even by force, he was not able to keep, because of the sin dwelling within him.

And all these pursuits of virtue become for him as it were his nature.

For thereafter, the Lord, having come and being in him—and he himself being in the Lord—himself performs in him his own commandments without labor, filling him with the fruits of the Spirit.

But if someone compels himself only toward prayer, as has been said, until he receives some gift from God, but does not likewise compel and accustom and constrain himself in these things—that is, in humility and in the other virtues—not that it is possible to accomplish this truly, purely and blamelessly, but he ought thus to prepare himself beforehand as far as possible toward the good—then sometimes, when he asks and entreats, divine grace does come to him.

For God is good and kind, and gives to those who ask him the things they request.

But he who has not accustomed and prepared himself beforehand for the aforementioned virtues either loses the grace, or, having received it, falls through having become proud, or does not progress and grow in the grace that comes to him, because he does not give himself to the commandments of the Lord by his own choice.

For the dwelling place and the rest of the Spirit is humility, love, gentleness, and the rest of the Lord's commandments.

Therefore, those who truly wish to please God, and to receive from him the heavenly grace of the Spirit, and to grow and be perfected in the Holy Spirit, ought first to compel themselves toward all the commandments of the Lord, and subject the unwilling heart, according to what has been said:

"Therefore I set myself right by all your commandments; I have hated every unjust way."

For just as one compels himself and constrains himself toward perseverance in prayer, until he accomplishes this, so likewise, if he wishes, he compels and constrains himself and accustoms himself to a good habit in all the pursuits of virtue.

And thus, continually asking and entreating the Lord, and obtaining his request, and partaking of a taste of God, and becoming a sharer of the Holy Spirit, the gift of the Spirit given to him grows and flourishes in him, resting in the humility that he sought and in love and gentleness; the Spirit itself grants him all things, and teaches him true humility, true love, true gentleness—that toward which he had advanced, and sought, and taken care—and it was given to him.

And thus, having grown and been perfected in God, he becomes an heir of the kingdom of heaven.

For the humble man never falls.

For how could he fall, being beneath all? Great humiliation is haughtiness; great exaltation and dignity is humility.

Let us, then, also accustom ourselves and lead ourselves toward humility, even when the heart is unwilling, and toward gentleness and toward love, entreating and beseeching God in faith and hope and love, unceasingly in this expectation, and let us set our aim, that he may send his Spirit into our hearts, that we may pray and worship the Father in spirit.

...things which now, even by force, we are not able to do—hearts of compassion, kindness—and may teach us to perform all the commandments of the Lord truly, without toil and without compulsion, as the Spirit itself knows how to fill us with its fruits.

And thus, when the commandments of the Lord have been fulfilled by us through his Spirit — who alone knows the will of Christ — the Spirit will bring us to perfection in itself, and being perfected within us and cleansing us from every stain and defilement of sin, so that it may present our souls, like fair brides, pure and blameless to Christ; and we resting in God in his kingdom, and Christ resting in us for the boundless ages.

"Many are those who persecute me and afflict me;"

"yet I have not turned aside from your testimonies."

For to the degree that they are hard-pressed and persecuted by evil spirits distracting the reasonings of the soul, or stirring up other afflictions, by so much the more do they cling to the Lord, forcing themselves to seek him.

For there are many hindrances in the world to being well-pleasing to God.

Poverty and want are a hindrance and a struggle toward eternal life; wealth likewise is a hindrance; dishonor and insults — this too is a hindrance; the glories and honors of men likewise become a temptation; sicknesses and sufferings — all these prove hindrances against man; likewise, among the unseen things, the afflictions and temptations of wickedness hinder the soul from drawing near and cleaving to God, but seek rather to bring it into slackness and dissolution, as the prophet says:

"Troubles and distresses have found me;"

"your commandments are my meditation."

The afflictions of wickedness, then, are a proving-ground for the soul; likewise ease and rest and the consolation of the Spirit become, for the infantile and foolish soul, a proving-ground, but for the discerning and faithful soul they are established unto eternal life.

For through both these circumstances God tests souls, that he may know whether one loves him not for gain, but only for the sake of the Master and Creator himself, as worthy of much love and honor — God.

Through the consolation of the grace of which he was deemed worthy, he grew lax, having become slack from the strain and from continual and unceasing zeal and struggle.

Such a one, then, is in truth worthy of God, and becomes a son of the kingdom.

All the things in the world, then, as has been demonstrated, are hindrances toward eternal life for the one who has grown slack, is of little faith, and is infantile in mind — whether it be the grievous and toilsome sufferings, or sicknesses, or poverty, or insult, or dishonor, or even the war of wickedness that is waged in secret; or, on the other hand, the honored things — wealth, glory, praises, and beatitudes —

all these are hindrances toward eternal life against the man who remains infantile in understanding.

But turn it around, and you will find all these same things to be for the benefit of the man who is faithful, understanding, and courageous, becoming, as it were, co-workers of the kingdom for him who truly loves God and desires to keep his commandments — because, having broken through all the things in the world reckoned as hindrances, having conquered and surpassed them, he has loved God alone and clung to him alone.

"The cords of sinners have entangled me, yet I have not forgotten your law."

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

We, then, likewise, giving ourselves over to the Lord with right mind and faithful understanding, and following him as our own Master and Creator, let us show forth love by deliberate choice through the working of the commandments, so that through such works and through right mind, having from this time been deemed worthy of the spiritual promises, and our hearts having been sanctified through grace and united with the Spirit, we may become heirs of the heavenly kingdom in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory unto the ages.

The blessed apostle Paul, the master-builder of the church, ever taking thought for the truth and unwilling that the hearers of the word should be hindered through ignorance, pointed out more precisely and more clearly the aim of the truth, and made known the perfect mystery of Christianity in every believing soul — namely, that through divine working one should receive the actual experience of it, which is the illumination of the heavenly light in revelation and power, the shining forth of the Spirit upon holy souls — so that no one, supposing the illumination of the Spirit that comes through knowledge alone to be everything, might through ignorance and negligence fall short of the more perfect mystery of grace, but rather might come to know with much greater assurance the illumination of the soul that comes to the worthy through the revelation of the intellectual and heavenly light, having received the glory of the Spirit, which he bore for the sure security of knowledge and the exact discernment of understanding for those who obey with good will and love of the truth.

But if the ministry of death, engraved in letters on stones, came in such glory that the sons of Israel could not gaze steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face — a glory that was being brought to an end — how much more shall the ministry of the gospel be in glory? For if the ministry of condemnation was glory, much more does the ministry of righteousness abound in glory.

Indeed, that which had been glorified in this case has not been glorified, because of the glory that surpasses it.

For if that which was being brought to an end came through glory, much more that which remains is in glory.

He has spoken of "that which is being brought to an end" because the glory of the light lay upon the body of Moses.

Having, then, such a hope, we use great boldness of speech.

...with a human face, to the worthy, eternally, immortally, and without ever being brought to an end;

But we all — that is, those who have been born of the Spirit through perfect faith — with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Lord the Spirit — with unveiled face, that is, the face of the soul — and:

"But whenever one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away."

"Now the Lord is the Spirit."

Clearly, then, through these words he showed and made known that there is a veil of the darkness of wickedness, which, entering into humanity through the transgression of Adam, covered the soul; but now, through the shining forth of the heavenly light of the Spirit, it is being taken away from faithful and worthy souls.

This, indeed, is why the Lord's coming took place — so that those who truly believe might attain to such measures of holiness.

The illumination of grace, then, is not only a revelation of thoughts and knowledge, but the sure, everlasting shining forth of a substantial light within souls.

"...that light should shine out of darkness — he who has shone in our hearts unto the illumination of the knowledge of the glory of Christ." And:

"Enlighten my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death" — that is, so that my soul, when it departs from the flesh, may not be covered by the covering of the death of wickedness. And:

"Uncover my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law." And:

"Send forth your light and your truth;"

"let them lead me and bring me to your holy mountain and to your dwelling places." And:

"The light of your countenance, O Lord, has been marked upon us;"

"you have put gladness into my heart" —

all of which set forth the same sequence of meaning.

As for the blessed Paul, too, the heavenly light of the Spirit that shone around him on the road, surpassing the sun, through which he was deemed worthy of that grace, was not an illumination of thoughts and knowledge, but the substantial shining forth of the light of the power of the Spirit within the soul, and a substantial revelation of heavenly mysteries — the excess of whose brightness the eyes of his flesh, unable to bear, were blinded; and it is through this light that all knowledge is revealed, and God is truly made known to the soul.

"For as is the man of dust, such also are those who are of dust; and as is the heavenly, such also are those who are heavenly" — that is, those who have been born from above of the Spirit, and who themselves, through much progress in grace, have been deemed worthy to become spirit, as it is said, that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. And again:

"who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."

For the heavenly image of the Spirit, once united to the worthy and faithful soul, makes it heavenly and spiritual, according to its own peculiar grace of holiness.

"Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, let us also bear the image of the heavenly one."

Now the image of the heavenly one is Christ, borne within holy souls.

"Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts."

For every soul that, through faith and diligence in every virtue, is deemed worthy from this time forth to put on Christ in perfection, in power and in full assurance, and is united to the heavenly light of the incorruptible image, is at all times deemed worthy to receive, in substance, the knowledge of heavenly mysteries; and on the day of resurrection, the body, having been glorified together with the soul in that same heavenly image of glory, and having been caught up into the heavens by the Spirit — according to what is written, to meet the Lord in the air — and having been deemed worthy to become conformed to the body of his glory, shall together with the soul reign with Christ unto the ages.

From this time forth, without ceasing, the worthy and truth-loving souls — deemed worthy by the Spirit to be illumined by the heavenly light of the Spirit, and to have the veil of the darkness of wickedness taken away from them by the Spirit from this time on — receive then also the complete redemption from the passions of wickedness, and are deemed worthy to accomplish blamelessly and perfectly the fulfillment of all the commandments; and, as has been said, they receive through actual experience the knowledge of heavenly mysteries which eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and which have not arisen in the heart of man.

"For to us, he says, God has revealed these things through his Spirit."

And thus, having been deemed worthy to become perfect, pure, and blameless through the illumination of the Spirit in this world, on that day of resurrection they will be glorified together with their bodies, through the heavenly and spiritual light that even now shines within them.

"He who raised Jesus from the dead, he says, shall also give life to our mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in us."

For to the degree that anyone, through his own faith and diligence and struggle, has now become a partaker of the Holy Spirit and of heavenly glory, and has adorned his soul with good works, to that same degree will he be deemed worthy on that day to be glorified together also in his body.

For whatever a man has stored up within himself, that same thing comes forth outwardly then.

And just as, in winter, the trees keep their fruit hidden within, and bring it forth outwardly in summer or in spring, so also souls, whatever fruits they have struggled to acquire within, these same fruits will then come forth outwardly upon the body as well; and as for the holy, the godlike and heavenly image of the Spirit, now stamped within them, will then make the body too godlike, light-like, and heavenly.

But as for the unworthy and sinners, the dark veil of the worldly spirit has covered the soul, and through the working of the passions and of evil deeds makes it now unseemly and dark; and on that day it will likewise show the body to be dark, formless, and full of shame.

For just as, at the transgression of Adam, when the sentence was received from God — "in whatever day you eat, you shall die the death" — this first happened to the soul, whose intellectual and immortal faculties were quenched, put to death, and covered with darkness, cut off from heavenly and spiritual enjoyment; and only afterward, nine hundred and thirty years later, did the death of the body take place — so now again, Christ having been reconciled to humanity, having become incarnate, and having endured the cross and death for our salvation and recall, restores the soul that truly believes, while it is still in the flesh, to the enjoyment of the unspeakable mysteries and heavenly lights, and frees it from the darkness of the veil of the passions through the communion of the Spirit, and restores again its intellectual faculties to the divine light, glorifying it through grace.

And after this, in the resurrection, the body will be restored to immortal and incorruptible glory, and then, clothed with the radiance of heavenly light, it will together with the soul enjoy eternal good things.

Let us reign together with Christ in eternal and unspeakable rest, unto the ages.

Those who have withdrawn from the world, and who genuinely have heeded the words of God, and live with dignity, yet are still under the veil of the passions — which all acquired through the disobedience of Adam, that is, the fleshly mindset of wicked reasonings, which the apostle calls death, saying:

"the mindset of the flesh is death" — these resemble men walking in the night;

for although they are illumined by the stars — that is, the holy scriptural commandments — they are nonetheless in the night, by reason of the unseen working of the passions, and they stumble, and cannot see all things exactly, because of the working of the darkness of the passions.

Therefore it is necessary for them, persevering with toil and much faith in the virtues, to beseech the heavenly Master, that, when the day of the sun of righteousness dawns in their hearts, they may be able to discern all things exactly — both the varied and manifold harm of the intelligible beasts, and the unspeakable variety of the good things and the surpassing beauties of the enjoyments in the incorruptible world, which the spiritual and perfect men, in whose hearts the intelligible light has effectively shone, know in true discernment — and the virtues of the better things, and the terribleness of the worse, according to the differing working of each, as the blessed Paul says:

"Solid food belongs to the perfect, to those who, by reason of practice, have their faculties trained to discern both good and evil." And the blessed Peter says:

"And we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts." And elsewhere:

"But for you who fear the Lord, the sun of righteousness shall arise, with healing in its wings."

But those who are entangled with the world resemble men walking in a gloomy night, full of cloud and mist, in which not even a faint gleam of starlight shines — that is, of the divine word illumining the soul — so that they resemble the blind.

So it is with those who are wholly immersed in material entanglements, and who, in the fear of God, perform neither commandments nor any other good works, but are wholly deceived by the vanity of the world amid its harsh labors.

But as many worldly people as are illumined by the commandments of God, as though by stars — living with faith and the fear of God — are not wholly in the gloomy and dark night;

therefore they too can have hope of salvation.

For just as, from different arts and different occupations, men in this world gather wealth, and from different means, in the ranks of rulers, the profit of gold is procured, and from different possessions or animals or certain other things, gold is gathered for the master of the household — so also from different gifts (as it has been said...

But having gifts that differ, according to the grace of God given to us, each one, through various ascetic labors and righteous deeds and virtues done for God's sake, according to his own good practice, zeal, and faith, acquires the heavenly gold (that is, the heavenly wealth of the Spirit of eternal life).

For this reason no one ought to judge his neighbor, or condemn him, or despise him; let each one simply run faithfully for God's sake, and strive, and gain the spiritual profit.

running toward perfection unceasingly and without slackening.

For those who practice their crafts with patience and endurance grow rich little by little, part by part, and even become renowned in the world; but the idle hired laborers, like Helots, who immediately consume whatever comes to hand and do not labor with patience, always remain naked and poor.

So those who always labor diligently at the works of virtue in hope, with patience and endurance, and faithfully await the heavenly hope, keeping before their eyes the succor of grace — these truly gather the wealth of the Spirit through their endurance, patience, labor, and prayer; therefore they are also found glorious before God in that age. But the impatient, who are ready only to receive grace but do not endure with all patience in laboring, toiling, and pleasing God in all things, are stripped even of the grace of which they were counted worthy.

For a weak and slothful resolve, being always out of accord with grace, and found naked of good works and destitute of virtues, is shown to be disapproved and without honor before God in that age.

For he who truly wishes to please the Lord, and in truth is eager to resist the opposing part of evil, has his struggle in two contests and two combats:

one against the visible things of the world, and worldly distractions, and the love of fleshly bonds (the passions of sin); and, in the hidden realm, against the very spirits of wickedness themselves, concerning which the apostle said:

Our struggle is not against blood and flesh, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of the darkness of this age, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

For man, having transgressed the commandment and been banished from paradise, was bound in this world by two kinds of chains: in worldly affairs and the love of the world, and of fleshly pleasures, and of wealth, and glory, and possessions, wife, children, kinsfolk, homeland, places, garments, and, in short, all visible things — from which the word of God commands him to release himself by his own free choice, since each person is voluntarily bound to all visible things, so that, having released and freed himself from all these, he may be able to keep the commandment perfectly. And in the hidden realm the soul is fenced about, walled in, and enclosed, and bound with chains of darkness by the spirits of wickedness, unable to love the Lord as it wishes, or to believe as it wishes, or to pray as it wishes.

For this opposition in all things, both visible and hidden, has come down to us from the transgression of the first man.

Whenever, then, someone, having heard the word of God, strives and casts away the affairs of life and the bonds of the world, and renounces all fleshly pleasures, having freed himself from them, then, by attending upon the Lord and devoting himself to him, he is able to recognize that there is within, in the heart, another struggle and another hidden opposition, and another war of thoughts and spirits of wickedness, and another contest lies before him.

And thus, by remaining constant and calling upon the Lord with undoubting faith and much patience, and awaiting the help that comes from him, he is able to obtain that inward redemption from the bonds and enclosures and barriers and darkness of the spirits of wickedness, which are the workings of the hidden passions.

But this warfare can be abolished through the grace and power of God.

For it is impossible for anyone to be delivered by himself from the opposition and deception of the thoughts and invisible passions; only to speak against them, and resist them, and not take pleasure in them, is possible.

...is carried away with them, and does not even recognize that there is another struggle and combat and war within.

For it may happen that when someone, having struggled, lifts himself up and frees himself from all the visible bonds of worldly and material things and fleshly pleasures, and begins to devote himself to the Lord, emptying himself of this world, then — and only then — he may be able to recognize the inward deception of the passions lodging within him, and the war within, and the inner bonds.