Spiritual Homilies 1 part 4/36

But in the world itself there are some who are murderers, others who are fornicators, others who are plunderers, and there are others who give their own goods to the poor.

The Lord takes heed to these and to those, and to those who do good he gives rest and reward.

For there are measures that excel, and measures that are small; and even within the light itself, and within the glory itself, there is a difference:

and even within hell itself and its punishments, it is made evident how the sorcerers, and the robbers, and the fornicators are judged, and how the others who have committed only small offenses are judged.

But those who say that there is one kingdom and one hell, and that there are no degrees, speak wrongly.

For indeed those who do good things have a reward, and help, and places of rest.

How many worldly people stand at the theaters and in scenes of disorder, and how many there are who are even now praying and fearing God!

And God pays heed to these and to those, and as a righteous judge prepares rest for the one, and punishment for the other.

Just as you see the chariots and horses, how they are yoked and driven, racing against one another—for each chariot bears contrivances and devices against the other chariot, so as to overthrow it and win—so too there is in the heart of those who contend a theater of the evil spirits wrestling with the soul, while God and the angels watch the contest.

So then, every hour many fresh thoughts are created by the soul, and likewise also by the evil within.

For the soul has many hidden thoughts which it does not yet know, and in that very hour it brings them forth and gives birth to them; and evil itself likewise has many thoughts and devices, and hour by hour it begets fresh thoughts against the soul.

For the mind is the charioteer, and it yokes the chariot, holding the reins of the thoughts.

And it races against the chariot of Satan, which he himself has yoked against the soul.

How is it that some say, 'We can no longer pray'? If then there is rest, why do they not remain in prayer? Answer.

This rest, when it abounds in a man, gives him compassion and other ministries, to visit the brethren or to minister the word.

And that same nature also desires to go, to see the brethren, to speak a word.

For nothing that is cast into fire can remain in its own nature, but of necessity it too becomes fire—just as, if you cast a pebble (or a stone) into the fire, it becomes lime.

As in the middle of the sea, your whole self is submerged and becomes invisible; but the more it descends and enters into the depth, the more that same nature wants again to rise up and float and come out into the harbor, and to see the men upon the earth—so too is it with the spirit.

One enters into a great depth of the Godhead and into a sea of grace, and again he remembers his companions, and that same nature wants to go to the brethren, to fulfill love, to give full assurance in word.

How can the two persons—grace and sin—be in the heart? Answer.

Just as when there is a fire outside a cauldron, if you then put wood underneath, behold it becomes fiery-hot, and what is inside the vessel cooks and boils, while the fire burns beneath it from outside.

But if someone neglects this and does not put on wood, the fire begins to grow lukewarm and, as it were, to be quenched. So too is grace, the heavenly fire—it is both within you and without you.

So then, when you pray and give your thoughts over to the love of the Lord, behold, you have put on the wood, and all your thoughts become fire and are dipped into the thought of God, and sin withdraws so as to become more external to you—yet it is also within you, and it shows itself also outside of you.

But if one grows a little negligent, whether toward worldly things or toward distraction, evil again enters in and clothes itself upon the soul and afflicts the whole man.

For the soul remembers the former rest.

So it begins to entreat and to labor more continually.

Again the mind turns its attention to God, and the former rest begins to draw near to it; it begins to seek more intensely.

'I beseech you, Lord,' it says—and little by little the fire is added to it to be kindled, and the soul is given rest.

Just as the hook draws the fish little by little up from the deep—for if this were not so, and it did not taste the bitterness of death, how would you be able to distinguish the bitter from the sweet, and death from life, and to give thanks to the one who gives life?

What is Satan, and when did he fall, and why was he let loose into the world? Answer.

Satan was an angel, a creature, and existed before Adam was created.

This one, by his own will, offended God and sinned.

So then, this same one was set for Adam's governance and training, and he is like a rod of discipline.

For through him those who are being disciplined are disciplined, through him those who are being tested are tested, through him those who are being perfected are perfected.

Through him the wise are crowned; through him those athletes who contend are made known and are crowned.

For if he did not exist, there would be much quiet and stillness for Adam—just as the mountains or the trees do not labor nor do anything at all. But for this reason, as God willed, he made this world, and within it he gave Adam over to the evil one for training.

Just as when there is a racetrack and two chariots are running, the king and the people and the populace watch with pleasure, since they themselves do not labor, but rather those who contend against one another—for each chariot runs so as to overthrow the other, each trying to outrun the other, each trying to cast the other down; and then there are shouts over the victors, but mourning and weeping over the vanquished. So too the Lord, having made this world so that Adam should not simply be idle, set an adversary against him; and behold, in the theater of this world and in its racetrack there are many contests and races.

God and the heavenly Church—behold—look upon the warfare and the contests, and at the victory many acclamations are given by the angels, and shouts of triumph, as they glorify the heavenly Master.

Just as when there is a lion, and there is one whose task it is to leap over it, and then the crowd and the rulers watch there.

So then, when the lion is released and is leapt over, behold, the lion falls into laughter and mockery, and they begin to laugh at it. So too Satan, when defeated by Adam, falls into laughter and mockery at the hands of the angels.

The lion is set for terrifying; Satan is set for destroying souls.

How, when the three youths were in the furnace, the Lord rejoiced and said to his angels:

'Let us go, let us see the bodies of the righteous (of Adam), how the hairs of their faces conquered the fire.'

And again, how they watched Thecla when she entered the theater—there were lions set against her, and bulls, there were many beasts, there were shouts.

But she, having faith and love and her mind fixed on the heavens, prevailed over all of them.

The mind, then, ought to be ready and prepared for the battle, and not to fear the threats of the enemy.

All the contrivances and arts and devices and machinations that he brings against the thoughts and reasonings of men—through faith the Lord destroys and triumphs over them all; only do not you be afraid.

Just as the three youths there said to the king, 'You cast us into the fire, and we do not die,' so also you say to Satan:

'I do not fear you, son of error.'

'Even if you inflict blows and temptations upon me, I have God, I have Jesus who consumes you with the breath of his mouth, who punishes you with eternal chastisement.'

'And even if you devour all my members, I do not fear you, nor do I die.' Just as when there is a martyr, and they cut off his hands and his feet and all his members, and still he, taking courage and believing in the Lord, says to the one cutting him:

'The God in whom I believe is able to save me, and to punish you with eternal fire.' Do not, then, fear Satan; be courageous and contend against him.

'I have God who punishes you, Satan.' Yet in one respect Satan is harsher than you.

For example, there they dragged Paul, in outward appearance, into the theater and threw him to the beasts; to resist he was not able, but as for entering—he entered. So too with you: as for entering into the theater of the heart and being dragged and held fast by the unclean spirits and the venomous beasts, since you do not wish it, you are dragged in and suffer unwillingly; but as for resisting and contending, that lies in your own nature, so that by the help of the Lord you may prevail.

For indeed holy Paul at that time, through faith and the cooperating divine power, prevailed over the beasts.

But thoughts and purposes that have been bound in love, and evil habits that have grown together with a person, are loosed and depart only with difficulty.

For there are many who love the evil customs in which they were brought up—shameful pleasures, or love of money, or pride—and these are not easily set aside; likewise, in turn, the thoughts and reasonings that have been bound to the love of the Lord and have been brought up in it—these journey well and truly travel the straight road.

And just as there, the ark, which the Philistines took, in which the law of God was deposited—as soon as it entered that city, immediately the carved images and idols of that city fell down, and many plagues were brought upon them—so too, wherever the laws of God are being inscribed upon the tablets of the heart, the carved images and idols of the unclean spirits fall away from the heart of one's thoughts.

How ought each person to gather together his mind and his reasonings, which wander off into the world, and think of nothing else but the expectation of the Lord, and preserve the soul's love toward him? Answer.

Just as, if a mother has children, and they simply go off and wander here and there at random, does not the mother take them and gather them into the house, disciplining and admonishing them? So too the soul ought to gather from every direction her own wandering thoughts, as if they were her own children.

And let her make her words divine, rational, heavenly, and let her teach herself true prayer, undistracted, unwandering.

But if, even while lying down for prayer, we wander outward in our thoughts and do not gather ourselves together, but instead give ourselves over and grow slack with thoughts of sin, and our will does not draw and compel our thoughts toward the Lord, how shall the Lord himself, by his own will, come to us and truly gather us to himself, while we ourselves are slack and wandering outward in our thoughts? (If the body is indeed set for prayer, yet you do not let the Lord come to you by his own will, just as you yourself do not hasten toward him by your own will.)

For all pleasing of God and the ministry of the soul consist in the thoughts.

Strive to please him inwardly always, awaiting him inwardly, always earnestly seeking him inwardly in your reasonings, and compelling and constraining your own will and purpose continually toward him, and you will see how he too, by his own will, comes to you and makes his dwelling with you.

For to the degree that you constrain your mind to seek him, he himself is constrained all the more, by his own compassion and goodness, to come to you and give you spiritual rest.

He has not departed from you at all; he stands invisibly beside you, beholding your mind, your reasonings, your thoughts, watching how you seek him.

Whether with your whole soul, or sluggishly; whether with negligence and slackness of mind, or by cooperating with the passions of dishonor.

And when he sees that you are always earnestly drawing your reasonings from every quarter toward the seeking of him alone, then he manifests himself and appears to your soul, shining upon you with an ineffable and desirable beauty; and thus he imparts to you help from himself, and works in you the whole of victory, rescuing you from your invisible enemies, having first beheld your right and undistracted seeking of him, and the unceasing expectancy of your mind, and your straightforward love toward him. And so he teaches you and gives you true prayer, true love, the faith of truth, and true joy—which is the Lord himself, becoming all things in you.

For one enters in to bend the knee, and the heart is filled from the divine working, and the soul rejoices together with the Lord as a bride with the bridegroom, according to the word of Isaiah the prophet, who says:

'As the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall the Lord rejoice over you.'

And it happens that such a one is occupied all day long, and in a single hour gives himself over to prayer, and the inner man is caught up in prayer into the boundless depth of that other age, with much sweetness, so that the mind, being wholly aloft and caught up there, is astonished, so that at that time there comes about a forgetting, in one's thoughts, of earthly concerns, because the thoughts have been filled and taken captive into the divine and heavenly things, into the boundless and incomprehensible realities, into certain wonders which it is impossible to express with a human mouth—so that in that hour one prays and says, 'Would that my soul had departed together with this prayer!'

Does a man always enter into those realities? Answer.

Grace indeed is present unceasingly, and is rooted and leavened from youth, and its very presence with the man has become as though natural and fixed; and though grace is one, it administers itself in many ways, as it wills, for the benefit of the man.

At times the fire burns and blazes up more, at times it is, as it were, gentler and softer; and this light, at certain seasons, is more kindled and shines, at other times it is drawn back and grows dim—though the lamp is always burning and shining. And when it is made bright, one is examined more, as it were, in the intoxication of the love of God; but at times, by way of dispensation, it yields, though the light, remaining present, becomes duller.

To some the sign of the cross, through light, was also impressed upon the inner man.

At another time again, in prayer, as though in ecstasy, the man was found standing at the altar in the Church, and there were brought to him three loaves, as though leavened with oil; and the more he ate, the more it increased and grew larger.

At another time again, there was, as it were, a certain garment of light, such as does not exist on the earth in this present age, nor could it be fashioned by human hands.

And just as, when the Lord went up onto the mountain with John and Peter and James, his garments were transfigured and shone forth,

so was that garment, and the man clothed in it was amazed and marveled.

But at another time, while that light was shining unceasingly in the heart, a light more inward and deeper and hidden was opened, and the new and luminous world was present together with the Lord, praising and glorifying him, so that the whole man, swallowed up in that sweetness and contemplation, no longer possessed himself, but was as one foolish and barbarous to this world because of the surpassing love and delight and because of the hidden mysteries — so that the man, being at that time set free, arrived at the perfect measures and was pure and free from sin.

But after this, grace withdrew, and the veil of the opposing power came;

and it appears only in some partial way, and it stood at a lower degree than perfection.

As if we should say, one must pass through twelve degrees and arrive at perfection.

At a certain time he arrived at attaining that measure and entering into perfection; then again grace yields, and he descends by one degree, and stands at the eleventh.

But there is one who is always rich in grace, standing night and day at the perfect measures, being always free and pure — as one taken captive and held aloft.

And there were shown to my mind those wonders, and the things which the man experienced — for it was always with him — and he was not able to bear the dispensation of the word or its weight, nor could he endure hearing anything or being anxious even in the least about himself or about tomorrow, but only to lie in a corner, rapt aloft and as if intoxicated.

So that the perfect measure was not given him, in order that he might be free to attend to the care of the brethren and to the ministry of the word. Again, the middle wall of the fence has been broken down.

But the matters stand thus:

as though a certain dark power lies upon it and lightly covers it like thick air, although the lamp is always burning and shining, yet as it were a veil lies upon that light;

hence such a one confesses that he is not perfect, nor entirely free from sin;

so that one may say both that he is free and that he is not free, and that the middle wall of the fence has been dissolved and broken, and yet again in some part it has not been entirely dissolved.

Nor is prayer always the same;

for there is a time when it burns more and comforts and gives rest, and there is a time when it withdraws and grows gloomy, as grace itself administers what is profitable for the man.

Nevertheless, though having entered at times into the perfect measure, and having tasted and had experience of that age, still I have not yet seen a perfect Christian or one wholly free; but rather one may find rest in grace and enter into mysteries and revelations and into much sweetness of grace, while sin is still present within.

But they, because of the surpassing grace and the light within them, suppose themselves to be free and perfect, being deceived through inexperience, because they have the working of grace.

But I have not yet seen anyone free, since I too, in part, at certain times entered into that measure, and I know how to discern how a man is perfect.

You — in what measures are you? Answer:

There is much joy, so as to appear like an innocent and simple child, and the man no longer condemns a Greek or a Jew or a sinner or a worldly person, but the inner man sees all with a pure eye, and rejoices over the whole world, and wishes to bow down before all, and loves both Greeks and Jews.

At another hour, as a king's son, he thus takes courage toward the Son of God as toward a father, and doors are opened to him, and he enters within into many mansions; and the more he enters, the more are opened to him again — for instance, from a hundred mansions another hundred mansions — and he grows rich; and the more he grows rich, again other newer and more wonderful things are shown to him, and as a son and heir he is entrusted with things that cannot be spoken by human nature or articulated by mouth and tongue.

At another hour, then, as an ambassador of God, out of the great love toward him, he begins to plead on behalf of the world, that the whole of Adam might be saved, being inflamed by love.

And wishing all to be saved, he teaches the word of life, and, acting as an ambassador for the things of the kingdom on behalf of Christ, expounds — so far as it is possible to hear — certain heavenly and divine mysteries of that infinite age which is unnameable and incomprehensible.

At another hour, the whole man is armed, clothed with the whole armor of God, and takes up a heavenly army of holy spirits, and begins to cut down the camps of the enemies and to make there a slaughter of many fallen.

At another hour, grace works within the soul, and the soul and the Lord rejoice together with one another, and the man is in much light and joy toward both the Lord and the brethren; yet the lamp and the light burn night and day.

Yet altogether, by dispensation, the man has not been set entirely free, and yet he is almost wholly set free, and he is wholly pure, and yet he is almost not as he ought to be.

Yet the middle wall is cut through, and death has been conquered.

But at times the lamp burns yet more and grows bright, so that the man is not able to bear that brilliance and that splendor, but is as one utterly undone.

Again, although the light is kindled, it is as it were gloomy, and there lies upon it as it were a certain thin, dark air, as upon the skin of the opposing power.

For this reason such a man says:

that he is not wholly free.

Just as the child, being born from the womb, comes forth with sound members and without blemish in its body, so also those who have been born of the grace of the Spirit — even though they appear in the flesh in this world — yet in spirit they are wholly at rest in that world yonder, whence also they were born; and these alone are able to give a perfect word to the brethren, having in themselves the members of the Spirit perfect.

But if some have not been born from thence, they are not able to hand on a spiritual word, since they do not have the living Spirit, which dictates to them the heavenly things.

And just as, if there be a child born from the womb blemished, or lame, or blind from birth, it is as a portent and a sign to the world, so are those wise men who wish to be interpreters of the Scriptures but do not have the heavenly Spirit;

for, not having been mingled with the Godhead, they are blemished, not having sound members, but handing on a word that is reprehensible and unsound.

And just as there might be a coin which on one side seems to have its stamp, but on the other side is damaged and useless, not passing current in commerce, so also are those who are damaged by the fire, that is, by sin;

for by their own mind, that is, by their own wisdom, they wish to speak of heavenly things, whence they have not been born.

For instance, suppose for me one person, that there is someone wise, a virgin, and blameless in outward appearance, fasting, keeping vigil, having renounced the world, a stranger to the world, praying.

Then I converse with this man:

'Are you a virgin? More than you am I.'

'Are you poor? More than you am I.'

'Do you fast? More than you do I.'

So in these things I surpass you;

I say, then, that one ought not to remain content in these outward things, nor ought the mind to be careless and rest in these as though it were already perfect; but the mind must seek some heavenly power, that it may be mingled within the mind, and must await at every hour the heavenly gift, so that your nature may be mingled with the fruits of nature, in order that whatever you do, you may do it purely.

And just as, suppose there were a king having sound members, if he is not clothed in the purple, he is not venerated as king, so also you — in vain do you have your natural members sound, if you do not put on the purple of the Spirit; you will not be crowned, nor will you be able to ascend to the royal throne;

but in vain do you carry these things about.

'But if for thirty or forty years I do not receive the divine power, and it happens that I depart from this life, what then?' Answer:

To this I answer you, that God will not judge you as a blasphemer, because you displayed greater zeal.

God will have this to say to you: since you went out after me, and wept, and sought night and day, and beyond what you formerly were — careless about outward things and puffed up over them — you have now striven the more, seeking the truth according to the Scriptures, so as to receive the divine power in yourself, I do not judge you in this as a blasphemer;

By no means; rather, he receives you as having become better than yourself compared to what you formerly were.

And you yourself, examine within yourself and discern that your present manner of life and labor is higher than before.

But I say to you, according to the Scriptures, that he who seeks finds, and he who asks receives, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

'Prove to me how the divine power is present with the faithful.'

I will answer you — and how shall I persuade you that the divine power is present with the faithful? From the Old Testament, or from the New? Let us come first to the shadow.

Who empowered Abraham, being an old man and having a body already deadened, to come to renewal and beget a son? But you say to me:

'He accepted his sacrifices, but he was not present with him himself.'

And what friend, wishing to meet with his friend, first goes about his property — into a field or a vineyard — and only then sees him and embraces him? Did God then merely accept Abraham's sacrifices and his possessions, but was not present with him himself, nor dwelt within him? And when he joined battle in war, who was it that won? Was it his nature alone, or was it God, dwelling in him and working the victory? Let us come to Noah.

Who was it who subjected before him all the kinds of wild beasts? Was it his nature, or something heavenly present with him, above nature, which had created these very animals and subjected these beasts before him? And did Jacob, by his own power, roll away such a stone, or was it a divine power in his mind that rolled away the weight of the stone? And God was so unceasingly with him that even when he slept, he did not leave him.

For he opened to him the doors of the heavens, and showed him the heavenly house itself, appearing to him in the form of a ladder.

Then he wrestled with him as man to man.

Who was it who shut the doors of the heavens? Was it Elijah? Or was it God within him who commanded the rain? I think it was the one who has authority over the rains and is the creator of the heavens.

He took his seat within his mind, and through his tongue the word of God prevented the rain from coming down upon the earth; and again he spoke, and the doors of the heavens were opened, and the rain came down.

Likewise Moses cast down the rod, and it became a serpent; and he spoke, and it became a rod again; he took ashes from the furnace and scattered them, and there came gnats and frogs into the houses of the kings and of all the Egyptians.

Clearly a heavenly power dwelt in his body, and through Moses it wrought such signs.

Joshua the son of Nun, when he went to the city of Jericho, encamped around it for seven days, being able to do nothing by his own nature.

So God commanded him to gather harps and trumpets, and thus of themselves the walls of the city fell.

Likewise also, when he went into the land of promise, the Lord said to Joshua:

'Go forth to war.' Joshua said to the Lord:

'As the Lord lives, I will not go without you.' And who was it that commanded the sun, so that it stood still for another two hours in the thick of the battle? Could nature itself have commanded this? Or was it the power present with him that commanded the sun, and it obeyed, and brought about the victory? When Moses engaged in battle with Amalek, whenever he stretched out his hands toward God, he trod down Amalek; but whenever he let his hands sink, Amalek prevailed.

When you hear that these things happened, let not your mind wander far away, since those things were a type and a shadow of the true realities.

For when you stretch out the hands of your mind and your thoughts toward heaven and desire to cling to the Lord, Satan becomes lower than your thoughts, and you trample him underfoot; but when your thought — that is, your mind — inclines toward earthly and fleshly things, Satan becomes higher than your thoughts.

And just as there the walls fell by the power of God, so now too the walls of wickedness that hinder the mind, and the cities of Satan, and the enemies, are utterly destroyed by the power of God.