Orthodox faith - saints about the Holy Trinity. Church of the Life-Giving Trinity on Vorobyovy Gory
The Day of the Holy Trinity, Pentecost, the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostle's Day or simply Trinity is the twelfth holiday celebrated on the 50th day after Easter, on 2019 - June 16.
Blessed be the ecu, Christ our God. Who are wise fishers of phenomena, sending down the Holy Spirit to them, and with them they caught the universe: Lover of mankind, glory to Thee.
The real beginning of the history of the Church, its birth, was the feast of Pentecost in the year 30.
Jerusalem was crowded with pilgrims coming from all over the Roman Empire. Suddenly the attention of the people was attracted by a group of Galileans: overwhelmed by inspiration, they addressed the people with strange speeches. Some thought they were drunk, but others were amazed that these people from Galilee were understood even by those who did not know the Aramaic dialect. Then Peter, a disciple of Jesus, came out and said that the time had come for the fulfillment of the prophecies, when the Spirit of God would rest on all the faithful. “Men of Israel! - he exclaimed. - Hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man testified to you by God with powers and wonders and signs, which God did through Him among you, as you yourselves know, Him, according to the definite advice and foreknowledge of God, delivered, you took and nailed them with the hands of the wicked , killed; but God raised Him up, breaking the bonds of death: because it was impossible for it to hold Him.”
The power of Petrova’s speech was incomparable. On the same day, thousands of Jews were baptized in the name of Jesus...
What happened to the disciples? What suddenly turned them into bold proclaimers of Christ?
No amount of research by historians can provide an answer. Here is the mystery of the Spirit of God, who was sent by Jesus to strengthen His nascent Church.
From the moment when a mysterious sound like the sound of wind swept over the disciples and tongues of heavenly flame flashed, they became different people. Those who only recently fled Gethsemane in Fear are beginning the worldwide preaching of the Gospel.
Neither the threats of the bishops, nor torture, nor prison will stop them. New generations will come after them. Rulers and philosophers, officials and police will arm themselves against them. But, crucified, burned, perishing in circus arenas, they will stand in the power of the Spirit.
Temptations and temptations will flood in like a muddy wave: imaginary Christians, imaginary Christian emperors, unworthy shepherds, false teachers and schismatics. But nothing can crush the Church of Christ.
The Feast of Pentecost is the day of the manifestation of the Spirit of God in the Church. God the Father laid its foundation in the Old Testament, the Son-Logos created it by incarnating on earth, the Spirit acts in it. Therefore, the holiday of her birth is called the day Holy Trinity.
Kontakion of the holiday:
When the languages of the Most High descended, dividing the languages; When we distributed the fiery tongues, we called everyone into unity, and accordingly we glorified the All-Holy Spirit.
On Saturday, the eve of Pentecost, the remembrance of the dead is performed.
After the Liturgy of Trinity Day, Vespers follows, at which the priest reads three prayers addressed to the Triune God. At this time, everyone kneels for the first time since Easter.
In Russian folk tradition The Trinity holiday was associated with seeing off spring and welcoming summer. On this day, it has long been customary to decorate churches and houses with birch branches and flowers in honor of the life-giving Spirit of God.
Books about Pentecost
John Chrysostom "Conversations on Pentecost"
What are the fruits of the Spirit? Let us listen to Paul, who says: “ the fruit of the spirit: love, joy, peace"(Gal. 5:22). Look at the accuracy of his expressions, at the sequence of teaching: first he put love, and then he mentioned what follows; put the root, and then showed the fruit; established the foundation, and then erected the building, starting with the source, and then moving on to the streams. No sooner can the foundation of joy be laid than if we first begin to consider the well-being of others as our own and taking the benefits of our neighbor as our own; and this can happen only if the power of love prevails in us. Love is the root, source and mother of all good things.
Gregory the Theologian "Word on Pentecost"
The Holy Spirit always was, and is, and will be; He did not begin and will not cease to exist, but is always one and indivisible with the Father and the Son. For it was indecent either for the Father to ever be without the Son, or for the Son to ever be without the Spirit; It would be extremely inglorious for the Divine, as if, as a result of a change in His advice, to come to the fullness of perfection. So the Spirit was always accepting, not accepting; doing, not being done; filling, not being filled; sanctifying, not being sanctified; leading to deification, rather than being led into deification. He is always the same for Himself and for Those with whom He is one; invisible, not subject to time, incontainable, unchangeable, has no quality, no quantity, no form, intangible, self-moving, ever-moving, free, autocratic, omnipotent (although, like everything that belongs to the Only Begotten, so everything that belongs to the Spirit is raised to the first Guilt ); He is life and life-giving; He is light and the Giver of light; He is the original goodness and the source of goodness; He - The right spirit is sovereign(Ps. 50:12.14), Lord(2 Cor. 3:17), sending (Acts 13:4), separating (Acts 13:2), building a temple for Himself (Col. 2:22), teaching (John 16:13), acting as he pleases(1 Cor. 12:11), dividing the gifts, Spirit of Adoption(Rom. 8:15) truth(John 14:17), wisdom, intelligence, knowledge and piety, advice, strength, fear, according to those who were counted (Isa. 11:3.4). Through Him the Father is known and the Son is glorified (John 16:11), and through them alone we know Him, one and indivisible, service and worship, one power, one perfection and sanctification. But why expand? Everything that the Father has belongs to the Son, except ungeneracy; everything that the Son has belongs to the Spirit, except birth. And unbornness and birth do not distinguish essences, in my opinion, but differ in one and the same essence.
Leo the Great "Word on Pentecost"
is the inspirer of faith, the teacher of knowledge, the source of love, the sign of chastity and the basis of all moral perfection. Let the souls of the faithful rejoice in the fact that in the whole world there is one God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit, glorified by the confession of all languages; and also that this sign, which appeared in the form of fire, continues today in deeds and gifts. For the Spirit of truth Himself strives for the house of His glory and His light to shine, and wants that in His temple there is neither darkness nor cold.
Christos Yannaras "Faith of the Church"
The descent of the Holy Spirit is not some magical addition to a person’s abilities and gifts, but a release of life potentials, in which there is nothing illogical or “supernatural.” The “outpouring” of the Spirit on human nature transforms not its logos (that is, what nature is), but the way of its existence, the path of hypostatic self-determination. The perception of the gift of the Spirit of God means that the need for biological heredity and individual autonomy ceases to determine our hypostatic existence. The organic consequence of precisely this freedom from natural necessity and the power of causality are all the miraculous “signs” in the life of Christ and the apostles - “signs” constantly experienced by the Church and her saints.
Nikolai Afanasyev “Church of the Holy Spirit”
The Church is a grace-filled organism, not because it once received the gifts of the Spirit, which it stores as in some treasury, not because some in it receive charism, but because it lives and acts by the Spirit. She is the place of His action. There is no life in the Church, no action in it, no service in it without the Spirit, and finally, there is no Church itself. Founded by Christ at the Last Supper, it was actualized at Pentecost, when the glorified Lord sent the Spirit to the disciples. From this day forward, the Spirit lives in the Church, and the Church lives by the Spirit.
Veniamin (Fedchenkov) “The Kingdom of the Holy Trinity”
Interpretation of the service for the feast of Trinity and Pentecost. This book has an amazing form: it’s like Veniamin’s (Fedchenkov) diary entries “from the inside” of the celebration. It is clear that, interpreting the holiday of Trinity, the bishop reaches the level of high theological themes.
Gregory (Krug) “Thoughts about the icon”
The outpouring of the Holy Spirit is the utmost completeness of the fulfillment and crowning of the Church of Christ, like a dome that overshadows the temple in the descent of the Holy Spirit. The entire Church was filled with the fullness of the Trinity glory, prophetically announced by Joel - “and I will show wonders in heaven...” - which is a hidden image of the Trinity. Everything in the Church was determined by the descent of the Holy Spirit, but this descent, I think, should not be understood as some one-time action of God’s vision, which gave the Church a complete dispensation and became the sacred remembrance of the Church. It seems that the descent of the Holy Spirit, which took place in a certain place and on a certain day, is an ongoing secret action in the Church, as if the breath of the Church. Having arisen under certain conditions, having its own beginning, it has no end. It is as if a heavenly stream has opened in the Church, the waters of which will never dry up.
Innocent of Kherson "Feast of Pentecost"
The Feast of Pentecost is celebrated by the Church on the fiftieth day, counting from the first day of Easter, where its name comes from - in remembrance of the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles in the form of tongues of fire (Acts 2: 1-14), why this holiday was and is also called Spiritual day (ημερα πνευματος), or the feast of the Descent of the Holy Spirit. It is also called Trinity Day, or the Feast of the Holy Trinity; since with the descent of the Holy Spirit the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity became clear and open to everyone. “The Trinity,” says the service for this holiday2, “share the grace, so that the three Hypostases may be honored in the simplicity of power, but in one now are the days of the Lord, the Son, the Father and the Spirit, blessed.” - The moral idea of this holiday is that the Spirit of God alone gives strength and strength for Christian activity, that without Him not a single truly good deed can be accomplished, not only our salvation, and that, therefore, we must behave in such a way that the Spirit God's dwelling constantly in us.
Bible on Pentecost
Acts of the Holy Apostles
1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all with one accord together. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 And cloven tongues as of fire appeared to them, and one rested on each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
5 Now in Jerusalem there were Jews, pious people, from every nation under heaven. 6 When this noise arose, the people gathered together and were in confusion, for everyone heard them speaking in his own language. 7 And they were all amazed and amazed, saying to one another, “Are not these all Galileans who speak?” 8 How can we each hear our own dialect in which we were born? 9 Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjacent to Cyrene, and those who came from Rome, Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabians, we hear them speaking in our tongues about the great deeds of God? 12 And they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others mocked and said, “They are drunk on sweet wine.”
14 And Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and cried out to them: Men of Judah, and all who dwell in Jerusalem! Let this be known to you, and listen to my words: 15 They are not drunk, as you think, for it is now the third hour of the day; 16 But this is what was foretold by the prophet Joel:
17 “And it will be in last days, says God,
I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters will prophesy;
and your young men will see visions,
and your elders will be enlightened by dreams.
18 And against my servants and against my handmaids
in those days I will pour out my Spirit,
and they will prophesy.
19 And I will show wonders in heaven above
and signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and smoking smoke.
20 The sun will turn into darkness,
and the moon - in blood,
before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes.
21 And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
22 Men of Israel! Hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man testified to you by God with powers and wonders and signs, which God did through Him among you, as you yourselves know, 23 Him whom you took, according to the express counsel and foreknowledge of God, and nailed them with the hands of wicked men. , killed; 24 But God raised Him up, breaking the bonds of death, because it was impossible for it to hold Him. 25 For David says of Him:
“I always saw the Lord before me,
for He is at my right hand, so that I will not be shaken.
26 Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad;
even my flesh will rest in hope,
27 For You will not leave my soul in hell
and You will not allow Your holy one to see corruption.
28 You made me know the way of life,
You will fill me with joy before You."
29 Men, brothers! let it be allowed to boldly tell you about the forefather David, that he died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Now being a prophet and knowing that God had promised him with an oath that from the fruit of his loins he would raise up Christ in the flesh and set him on his throne, 31 He first said about the resurrection of Christ that
His soul was not left in hell,
and His flesh saw no corruption.
32 This Jesus God raised up, of which we are all witnesses. 33 So He, having been exalted by the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, poured out what you now see and hear. 34 For David did not ascend into heaven; but he himself says:
“The Lord said to my Lord:
sit at my right hand,
35 Until I make Your enemies Your footstool.”
36 Know therefore, all the house of Israel, that God hath made this Jesus, whom ye crucified, both Lord and Christ.
37 When they heard this, they were touched in their hearts and said to Peter and the other apostles: What should we do, men and brethren? 38 Peter said to them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins; and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is to you and to your children and to all who are far off, even as many as the Lord our God will call. 40 And with many other words he testified and exhorted, saying, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” 41 So those who gladly accepted his word were baptized, and that day about three thousand souls were added. 42 And they continued continually in the teaching of the apostles, in fellowship, and in the breaking of bread and in prayer.
43 Now there was fear on every soul; and many signs and wonders were performed through the Apostles in Jerusalem. 44 But all the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 And they sold the estates and all kinds of property, and distributed them to everyone, according to each person’s need. 46 And every day they continued with one accord in the temple and, breaking bread from house to house, ate their food with joy and simplicity of heart, 47 praising God and being favored by all the people. The Lord daily added those who were being saved to the Church.
Before ascending to heaven, Christ commanded the disciples to return to Jerusalem after the ascension and remain in the city until they were endowed with power from above. So Jesus gave them the promise that they would receive the Holy Spirit, which He spoke about throughout His life. This promise was fulfilled in the disciples on the fiftieth day after Easter, that is, on the tenth day after the ascension of Christ. In connection with this event, on the day of Pentecost, the Church celebrates and honors the Most Holy Trinity, and the next day sings and glorifies the Holy Spirit. Thus, Pentecost is the feast of the Holy Trinity.
In this chapter we will try to take a closer look at events of a Christological nature in their connection with the Third Person of the Holy Trinity - the Holy Spirit. Since Christology is unthinkable outside of Triadology, we will also turn to the dogma of the sacrament of the Most Holy Trinity.
The number of holidays called “Lord’s” by the Church also includes the holiday of Pentecost, since it is the final holiday of the Divine Economy. The purpose of the incarnation of Christ is victory over death and the coming of the Holy Spirit into the hearts of people. The task of church and spiritual life is the formation of people as members of the Body of Christ and their acceptance of the grace of the Most Holy Spirit. These concepts are inextricably linked.
The Holy Fathers call Pentecost the final feast, in the sense of the re-creation and renewal of man: “The post-feast return, and the final feast, we celebrate brightly, this is Pentecost, the fulfillment of promises and offers.” The beginning of the Divine Economy and the sacrament of the incarnation of God the Word is the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos, and its completion is Pentecost, since only then, through the action of the power of the Most Holy Spirit, did man become a member of the resurrected and deified Body of Christ. Thus, everything that relates to the Holy Spirit directly relates to Christ. Christology is unthinkable outside of Pneumatology (the doctrine of the Holy Spirit), just as Pneumatology is unthinkable outside of Christology.
I
The descent of the Holy Spirit on the disciples took place on Sunday. This once again confirms the value and significance of Sunday. It is characteristic that all the great Lord's holidays took place on this day. According to St. Nicodemus the Holy Mountain, on the first day, that is, Sunday, the creation of the world and creation began, since on this day light was created. On Sunday (with the resurrection of Jesus Christ) the restoration and renewal of creation began, and on Sunday (with the descent of the Holy Spirit), it was completed. All creation was created by the Father with the participation of the Son and the Holy Spirit; renewed by the Son with the favor of the Father and with the assistance of the Holy Spirit; and is completed by the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father and is sent into the world through the Son.
Of course, by saying this, we in some way isolate the Persons Who were the initiators of creation, renewal and completion of creation. Despite this, we believe and sacredly confess that the energy of the Trinity God is one, and it is impossible for one Person to separate and separate from the rest of the Persons of the Holy Trinity.
Christian Pentecost, during which we celebrate the descent of the Holy Spirit, coincides with Jewish Pentecost. On the day when the Jews celebrated Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles and made them members of the risen Body of Christ.
In terms of its importance, Pentecost is the second Jewish holiday after Passover. On this day, according to legend, the Jews celebrated the acceptance of the law of God by Moses on Mount Sinai, which occurred on the fortieth day after the Passover holiday. In addition, the Jewish Pentecost was also an expression of gratitude by the Jews in connection with the harvest. Due to the fact that this day fell during the harvest period, it was also called the “Harvest Festival.” All the Jews brought the firstfruits of fruits to the Temple on this day. Pentecost, brightly celebrated by the Jews, was also called the “Feast of Weeks” (see Ex. 34, 22; Lev. 23, 15-17; Num. 28, 31; Deut. 16, 9-10).
A brief overview of the Jewish Pentecost shows that it was a prototype of the New Testament Pentecost. On the day of Jewish Pentecost, Moses passed the law Old Testament, on the day of Christian Pentecost, the disciples received the Holy Spirit and personally experienced the law of the New Testament - the law of God's grace. In the Old Testament, the disembodied Logos taught the law on Mount Sinai, but in the New Testament, the resurrected and already incarnate Logos sent the Holy Spirit to the disciples who were in the Jerusalem upper room, and they became members of His glorified Body. If on Pentecost of the Old Testament the firstfruits of the harvest were presented, then on Pentecost of the New Testament the firstfruits of the “reasonable fruits” from the harvest produced by Christ Himself were presented, that is, the apostles were presented to God.
Of course, there is a huge difference between the revelation of God at Sinai and the revelation of God in the upper room in Jerusalem. Mount Sinai “was all smoking because the Lord had descended on it in fire; and smoke rose from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain shook greatly.” (Ex. 19, 18). In addition, a commandment was given, on pain of death, for no one to approach the mountain: “Whoever touches the mountain will be put to death.” (Ex. 19, 12). Everything happens differently on the day of the descent of the Holy Spirit: the disciples were filled with joy and transformed; from fearful men they were transformed into undaunted confessors, and from mortals into gods by grace. The difference between Sinai and the Jerusalem upper room is also visible in the difference between the laws of the Old Testament and the New. There the law was inscribed on stone tablets, but now it is written in the hearts of the apostles. The Apostle Paul says: “You are a letter of Christ, written through our ministry, not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of flesh of the heart.” (2 Cor. 3:3). With the descent of the Holy Spirit, the prophecy of the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled, according to the words of the Apostle Paul: “I will put My laws in their thoughts and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.” (Heb. 8, 10).
II
The Feast of Pentecost is the Feast of the Holy Trinity, since with the descent of the Holy Spirit the truth is revealed to us that God is Trinity. As earlier in the Old Testament, in shadowy form, so in the teachings of Christ, people were taught the Trinity of God, but empirical experience They acquired His Trinity Hypostasis only on the day of Pentecost. Thus, Pentecost is a holiday of Orthodox Theology.
When talking about Orthodox Theology, it must be said that the word about God (Theology) is one thing, and the word about the incarnation of God (economy) is completely different. Thus, on the day of Pentecost we do theology according to Orthodoxy, since we learn that God is Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. According to revelation-based Orthodox teaching, God the Father is beginningless, uncaused and unbegotten, that is, He has no cause for His existence from anyone. God the Son comes from God the Father by being born, while God the Holy Spirit comes by coming forth.
These three terms: “ungeneracy”, “birth” and “procession” were revealed to us by Christ, and our logic is powerless in front of them. To this day they remain a mystery and a mystery to us. However, the fact is that despite the fact that the Son and the Spirit come from the Father in different ways, that is, they have Their own individual hypostatic properties and mode of existence, Their essence is one.
Despite the fact that the Father is the parent and creator, the Son is the birth of the Father, and the Holy Spirit is the generation, that is, the procession, the Persons of the Most Holy Trinity have one nature - essence and glory - energy. All three Persons of the Most Holy Trinity are of the same essence, of the same glory, of the same power, and none of Them has greater dignity than the Other. Speaking about the First, Second or Third Person of the Most Holy Trinity, we do not distinguish Them by dignity, superiority or power, but by the image of Their being (Basily the Great).
The Holy Fathers, each in their own measure and as far as possible, experienced this sacrament through personal experience. Based on the knowledge acquired from revelation, they describe it. For example, St. Gregory the Theologian mentions three lights that enveloped him during the vision. He writes: “I cannot understand one thing, and I am filled with three lights; I can’t talk about three and turn to one.”
The Mystery of the Most Holy Trinity was revealed to us by Jesus Christ Himself, who told the disciples that the Holy Spirit comes from the Father and is sent by Him (Christ) (John 15, 26). This means that the Son of God does not participate in the emission of the Holy Spirit, but in His sending into the world, and this sending is “in energy” the revelation of the Holy Spirit.
According to St. Gregory Palamas, the Holy Spirit comes from the Father, but one can also say that He is sent both through and from the Son “according to energy,” but only regarding His manifestation in the world, and not according to the essence of His being. The existence of the Holy Spirit is different, and His manifestation “in energy” is completely different.
God the Father is “inaccessible” and from eternity, before all ages, gives birth to God, equal to Himself, the Son, and brings forth equal God- Holy Spirit. The Divinity is not fragmented during the separation of Persons, since it is unmergedly united with the calculation of the Trinity. The fact that the Son is born from the Father, and the Holy Spirit proceeds from Him, in no way means that They are later than the Father, because time does not penetrate between the ungeneracy of the Father, the birth of the Son and the procession of the Holy Spirit. All three Persons of the Holy Trinity are eternal, co-originating, co-equal and equal (Leo the Wise).
III
The creation and re-creation of the world is the common energy of the Trinity God. It is this theological truth that leads us to the conclusion that the work of Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit are one and the same. This is emphasized in order to avoid the danger of speaking about the economy of Christ as independent of the Holy Spirit, and the economy of the Holy Spirit as independent and independent of Christ.
The Divine Logos became man by the favor of the Father and with the assistance of the Holy Spirit. Christ was conceived in the womb of the Most Holy Theotokos “by the Holy Spirit.” Then, after the resurrection and, of course, on the day of Pentecost, Christ “sends” the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit is sent through the Son. And He, having descended on the apostles, inscribed the image of Christ in their hearts, that is, made them members of the resurrected Body of Christ. As we see, one cannot distinguish between the work of the Son and the work of the Holy Spirit.
This truth is well reflected in the Holy Scriptures. Throughout His life, Christ healed and cleansed the hearts of the apostles with His teaching, the revelation of His sacraments, and miracles, and therefore at the end He said: “You have already been cleansed through the word that I preached to you.” (John 15:3). Jesus once said that if anyone loves Him and keeps His word, His Father will love him, and then, as Christ says, “...We will come to him and make our abode with him.” (John 14, 23).
The fact that the Father and the Son will dwell in a purified and sanctified person does not mean that this will happen without the presence of the Holy Spirit, or that the Holy Spirit will be alienated from the work of sanctification. Elsewhere in Holy Scripture we see Christ’s promise to send to his disciples the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father, “...abides with you and will be in you.” (John 14, 17). Consequently, a person who accepts the grace of the Trinity God becomes a member of the resurrected Body of Christ, the abode of God the Father and the temple of the Holy Spirit, that is, the tabernacle of the Trinity God.
In one of the troparions of the iambic canon of the Feast of Pentecost, St. John of Damascus uses the expression “knowledge, the Spirit of the Father’s Word,” which means: the Holy Spirit is the knowledge of God the Word, begotten of the Father. The Holy Spirit is characterized as the “knowledge” of the Word, for He reveals and reveals to people the Word of God, since “without the Spirit the Only Begotten Son cannot be conceived” (St. Gregory of Nyssa).
In addition, the Apostle Paul says that “no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.” (1 Cor. 12:3). The Holy Spirit is also called “knowledge” of the Word because He taught the apostles and restored in their memory everything that Christ said. The truth was revealed to them that Christ is the true Son and Word of God, and later, from the general teaching, the consubstantiality and unity of the Son with the Holy Spirit was confirmed (St. Nicodemus the Holy Mountain).
By his incarnation, the Son and Word of God glorified God the Father. On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles, and thus God the Son (Leo the Wise) was glorified. Based on this, we can say that the Father glorified the Son by calling Him “the beloved Son.” The Son was glorified by everything He did with the participation of the Holy Spirit. The Son glorified the Father by the work of saving the human race. At the same time, the Son glorified the Holy Spirit, revealing and revealing Him to the disciples. But the Holy Spirit, generously acting in the bosom of the Church, glorifies the Father and the Son, because all who receive the Holy Spirit become children of God and members of the Body of Christ. As we see, human salvation is general action Trinity God. It is this great Theological truth that we will try to further reveal as best as possible.
IV
Many different names have been assigned to the Third Person of the Most Holy Trinity - the Holy Spirit. One of them is “The Comforter”. It reflects the incessant work carried out by the Holy Spirit both in the Church and in the lives of people. Christ Himself gave this name to the Holy Spirit, saying to His disciples shortly before His suffering: “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever, the Spirit of truth.” (John 14, 16-17). Christ calls the Holy Spirit the Comforter, who will teach the disciples and restore to their memory everything that Jesus told them throughout His life. “But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and remind you of everything that I have said to you.” (John 14:26). Confident in this truth, we still invoke the Holy Spirit with the words: “Heavenly King, Comforter, Soul of Truth.” The Holy Spirit comforts a person struggling with sin and trying to keep Christ's commandments. This battle is fierce because the battle is against evil spirits.
It is necessary to pay attention to the fact that the Holy Spirit is characterized as the Comforter by Christ Himself and at the same time is called by Him “another Comforter.” The Holy Spirit is another Comforter, since Christ is also a Comforter, bringing people comfort. In his conciliar letter, the holy evangelist John calls on Christians not to sin, but adds that if they sin, they should not despair, because “...we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the Righteous.” (1 John 2:1). Thus, Christ and the Holy Spirit are the two Comforters (Advocate) in this world. God the Father also comforts people, since comfort is the common energy of the Trinity God.
The expression “another Comforter” suggests that Christ and the Holy Spirit are two different hypostases, having a common nature, essence and energy. Saint Gregory the Theologian, interpreting the expression “will give you another Comforter,” says that it indicates the “co-dominion” of the consubstantiality of two Hypostases. Christ’s words about sending “another Comforter” indicate that He is also a Comforter. “For another, another like Me, sits.” Thus, here too we can see an indication of the equality and unity of Christ with the Holy Spirit.
V
The Holy Spirit is consubstantial with the Son and the Father, because all three Persons of the Holy Trinity have one essence or nature and one energy or glory. Therefore, where Christ is present, there the Spirit is, and where the Spirit is, there is Christ.
Above we tried to focus attention on the fact that the Persons of the Most Holy Trinity are not separated and Their work is not isolated. Saint Maximus the Confessor says that the Holy Spirit acts in everyone, but in each in a different way. Since people are the creation of God, His energy acts in everyone as a containing, providing and uplifting force. natural seed. In those who lived in the Age of Law, the Holy Spirit acted as the power to detect deviations from the commandments and herald the coming of Christ.
In those who live according to Christ, He acts as an adoptive power, since by the power of the Holy Spirit people become sons of God by grace. And, finally, in those who are deified, that is, in those who have made themselves worthy members of heavenly habitation and the assimilation of His deifying power, the Holy Spirit acts as a power that bestows wisdom. As we see, the Holy Spirit acts in everyone without exception, but in everyone depending on his spiritual state.
From this perspective, the truth is revealed and becomes clear that the Holy Spirit also acted in the Old Testament - in the prophets. Through His power, the prophets saw the incorporeal Word and prophesied about the incarnate Word, that is, Jesus Christ. From Orthodox Theology we know well that all the Old Testament revelations of God were revelations of the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity - the incorporeal God of the Word. Since the manifestation of the Word does not occur independently of the Holy Spirit, it was the Holy Spirit who revealed the disembodied Word to the prophets. Through Him the fulfillment of the future sacraments was also revealed.
Basil the Great says that the Holy Spirit came upon the prophets, and they prophesied about future blessings. A typical example is John the Baptist, who was filled with the Holy Spirit while only a six-month-old fetus in the womb. John the Baptist, as St. Gregory Palamas, in the womb of his mother, accepted the perfection of the future century and theologized about Christ. Likewise, righteous Simeon recognized Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, as we have already seen during the analysis of the feast of the Presentation of the Lord. So, in the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit pointed out to people the transgression of the commandments and revealed to them the mystery of the coming of Christ, while in the New Testament, in the Church, He makes people sons of God - members of the Body of Christ - and leads them to deification.
VI
The incarnation of the Son and the Word of God and all the work of the Divine Economy takes place with the participation of the Holy Spirit. St. speaks about this very colorfully. Basil the Great: “When Christ comes into the world, He is preceded by the Holy Spirit, announcing His coming and revealing His appearance. The Holy Spirit is inseparable from the coming of Christ into the world in the flesh. The actions of powers and gifts of healing took place according to the energy of the Holy Spirit. By the Spirit of God demons are cast out of people. With the presence of the Holy Spirit, the devil is defeated. The remission of sins is accomplished by the grace of the Holy Spirit. By the power of the Holy Spirit the dead are raised."
If in the prophets and in the Old Testament righteous the Holy Spirit acted, pointing to Christ and revealing Him to people, then He acted much more in the apostles and Christ’s disciples. However, since the Holy Spirit acts depending on the spiritual state of a person and at the appropriate time, He acted in them in three different ways and at three times. Thus, before Christ’s passion and during His Sacrifice on the Cross, the Holy Spirit acted “barely visibly,” after the resurrection “more expressively,” and after Christ’s ascension into heaven “more perfectly” (St. Gregory the Theologian).
The Immaterial Word, the Son and Divine Logos, prophesied through the prophet Joel: “And it shall come to pass after this that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions.” (Iol. 2, 28). It is simply obvious that we are talking about the reception of the Holy Spirit and the prophetic gift that was received by the disciples on the day of Pentecost. St. Cyril of Alexandria says that it was then that the disciples began to “speak prophesying.” They announced the mysteries of Christ, which were prophesied by almost all the Old Testament prophets. In other words, at that moment, by the power of the Holy Spirit, the disciples understood and comprehended that all the prophecies of the Old Testament refer to the Person of Jesus Christ. Thus they improved in knowledge and revelation.
By the power and action of the Holy Spirit, human nature returns to its original state, again acquiring the gift of prophecy, which was possessed by the forefather Adam (St. Nicodemus the Holy Mountain). Indeed, observing the life of primordial man in paradise, one cannot help but highlight his pure mind and prophetic gift. God created Eve from his rib while Adam was sleeping. But having awakened from sleep and seen Eve, illumination came upon him through the action of the Holy Spirit, and he confessed that she came from his body: “... this is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.” (Genesis 2:23).
This means that those who receive the Holy Spirit and are members of the Church not only return to the original state in which the forefather Adam was, but ascend even higher, since they are united with Christ. Having the Holy Spirit, a person becomes a prophet and acquires prophetic charisma. This can be seen in the example of the lives of the saints. A person learns the mysteries of Christ, contemplates and experiences the Kingdom of God through personal experience. By the power and operation of the Holy Spirit, the prophetic gift becomes a natural state of man. A sign of the action of the Holy Spirit in a person and the presence of this gift in him is reasonable prayer.
VII
The mode of action of the Holy Spirit in both the Old and New Testaments is well reflected in the analysis of the question of the Church. Examining it, one can note characteristic points that indicate the union and close connection of Christology and Pneumatology.
According to the Holy Fathers, the Church existed even before the incarnation of Christ, since the creation of the angelic world and man constitutes the beginning of the Church. With the fall of Adam, the fall of the Church also occurs, but it is preserved in the person of the prophets and other Old Testament righteous people. Since the power of death was in full force, despite the achievement of deification and knowledge of the disembodied Word by the Old Testament Lover of God, the kingdom of death still prevailed over them and, dying, they all went to hell (St. John Chrysostom).
With the incarnation that took place in the Holy Spirit, Christ took on the “flesh of the Church,” pure, uncorrupted human nature, and united it in His hypostasis with the Divine (St. John Chrysostom). Thus, the Church acquires a Head and becomes the Body of Christ. Clement of Rome also says that the Church began with the appearance of Angels, and that at first its nature was spiritual, but later, with the incarnation of Christ, it “appeared in the flesh of Christ,” that is, it acquired flesh - it became the Body of Christ.
Since the incarnation of God's Word occurred with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, like everything that happens in the Church, Pentecost is closely connected with the Church. Jesus Christ once said to the Apostle Peter: “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16, 18). These words were fulfilled with the death of Jesus on the cross and His descent into hell. With the death of Christ, the soul of the God-man Christ, departing from the body, but not for a second ceasing to be united with the Divine, descended into hell, while His Body, united with the Divinity, was laid and sealed in a burial cave. The power of hell and death was defeated because it could not overcome the Church, which is nothing other than the Body of Christ.
The Day of Pentecost is the day of the founding of the Church from the point of view that on this day the apostles became members of the Body of Christ. Previously, they had simple fellowship with Christ, but now, by the power and action of the Holy Spirit, they become members of His Body. From spiritual, the Church becomes carnal. Saints, deified, have connection and communion not only with the incorporeal Word, but with the incarnate Word, with the God-man Christ. The doctrine that the Church is the Body of Christ, and His saints are members, is developed by the Apostle Paul (1 Cor.12:1-31). The message says that the Church is not a simple religious organization, but the Body of Christ. Moreover, it is said that the distribution of gifts occurs through the action of the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul concludes: “You are the Body of Christ, and individually members.” (1 Cor. 12:27).
It must be added that in the teaching of the Holy Fathers there are two truths that point to the common energy of the Persons of the Holy Trinity. Christians are members of the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 2:27), but at the same time they are also temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19). One does not exclude the other.
VIII
The descent of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost in no way means that He was not previously present on earth and was not with people, but rather that the Holy Spirit acts in various ways. Two characteristic points can be cited that clarify the meaning of the descent of the Holy Spirit and His various actions.
On the day of Pentecost, the apostles realized the truth that the Holy Spirit is a separate Person, and not simply Divine energy. The Holy Spirit, Who appeared in the Old Testament barely visible, like a breath, like a sound, like the rustle of the wind, like the inspiration of the prophets, appeared on the day of Pentecost “as existing in a special Hypostasis.” Thus, after the events during which the Hypostasis of the Son appeared, events began to occur when the Hypostasis of the Holy Spirit appeared (St. Gregory Palamas).
The second point on which we can interpret everything relating to the descent of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost is that on this day the Holy Spirit made the disciples members of the Body of Christ and gave them the power to participate in Christ's victory over death.
Speaking about the descent of the Holy Spirit, St. Nicodemus the Svyatogorets uses passages from the works of Sts. Nicetas Stiphatus and Basil the Great, according to whom the Holy Spirit descended not “slavishly,” but “masterly” and “autocratically.” Just as the Son and Word of God, by His will, voluntarily became man, so the Holy Spirit, by His will, made the apostles members of the Body of Christ. After all, the will of the Father is also the will of the Son and the Holy Spirit, and vice versa. The energy and will of the Trinity God is common and united.
The term "autonomy", which means "freedom", is used in various ways in relation to God, Angels and people. It is said that God is autocratic “solely, excellently and supremely, since He is above autocracy.” God cannot be compared to human realities. Naturally, Angels also have autocracy, but unlike people, they use it without hindrance. That is, they accomplish whatever they want without any obstacles, since neither the body nor any other opposing force interferes with them.
People are independent, and they also have free will. However, their "autonomy" has been damaged and they cannot achieve what they want easily. The reason lies in the attacks of the devil, the heaviness of the body and the passions to which we voluntarily submitted. Therefore, it is necessary that man’s autocracy and will be strengthened by God. The Old Testament says: “The will of the Lord is prepared” (Proverbs 8:35). And the Apostle Paul writes: “It is God who works in you to will and to do for His good pleasure.” (Phil. 2:13).
This means that the Holy Spirit descended into the hearts of the apostles and acts in all people according to His personal will, and not “slavishly.” People must respond to the work of the Holy Spirit with their own personal will, since God never violates their free will. However, a person’s desire and autocracy must constantly be strengthened by God, because in a state of fall a person becomes a dependent being and is enslaved.
So, speaking about the descent of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, in no case should it be understood as the incarnation of the Third Hypostasis of the Most Holy Trinity, since only the Son and Word of God became man, but as the hypostatic manifestation of the Holy Spirit into the world, transforming the disciples and making mortal people living members Body of Christ.
IX
With the sacrament of Baptism, a person becomes a member of the Church, a member of the Body of Christ. For the apostles, the day of Pentecost was the baptismal day. And Christ for them is not just a Teacher, but also their Head. Immediately after the resurrection, Christ said to His disciples: “For John baptized with water, but a few days after this you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 1:5). The Holy Spirit descended on the disciples and baptized them. Thus, the upper room, in which they were waiting for the fulfillment of the Father’s promise, was filled with the Holy Spirit, who made it a spiritual font (St. Gregory Palamas).
The Holy Spirit appeared in the upper room like a swift gust of wind. Evangelist Luke writes: “And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.” (Acts 2:2). This stormy gust of wind was often foreshadowed in the Old Testament. This is the sound about which the mother of the prophet Samuel says “that the Lord ascended into heaven and thundered.” This sound was preached by the vision of the prophet Elijah, when he saw God with the voice of a gentle breeze. Christ pointed to this sound when he cried: “If anyone thirsts, come to me and drink,” meaning the Holy Spirit, Whom all who believe in Him will receive. It is also foreshadowed by the breath of Christ on the disciples after His resurrection, giving them the Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of sins.
The appearance of the Holy Spirit under the image of a gust of wind has a certain meaning: it indicates that the Holy Spirit is always victorious over everything. He overcomes the obstacles of the evil one, lays waste cities and destroys every enemy fortification. At the same time, He humbles the proud, exalts the humble in heart, restores what was destroyed, and frees prisoners (St. Gregory Palamas). By the power of the Holy Spirit, a person can become a living member of the Church, overcome all enemy forces, and overcome even death itself.
X
That the work of Christ is not different from the work of the Holy Spirit, and vice versa, is also evident from the manner in which the Holy Spirit appeared on the day of Pentecost. Evangelist Luke, who is also the compiler of the book of the Apostolic Acts, says: “And cloven tongues as of fire appeared to them, and one rested on each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:3-4).
Here it is necessary to give some theological notes that St. Gregory Palamas, analyzing this event, indicating the unity and unity of the Holy Spirit with Christ. First of all, the tangible manifestation of the Holy Spirit occurred in the form of tongues to express the fusion of the Spirit with the Word of God, because nothing is more akin to the word than language. This shows that the Holy Spirit does not create anything different from what the Word of God does. In addition, the Spirit appears tangibly in the form of tongues to show that he who teaches the truth needs a grace-filled tongue.
The tongues in which the Holy Spirit appeared were of fire. And this is also very important. This expresses the consubstantiality of the Holy Spirit with the Father and the Son, since God is “a consuming fire.” This is a direct indication that the Holy Spirit has one nature and one energy with the Father and the Son. The tongues of fire also show the double mode of action of the apostolic preaching. Fire enlightens and ignites, just as the teaching “according to Christ” enlightens the obedient, but for the disobedient it becomes absolute hell.
Of course, the fire through which the Holy Spirit revealed Himself was uncreated, uncreated. For this reason, the holy evangelist does not say “tongues of fire,” but “tongues as if of fire.” The tongues of fire separated and rested on the heads of the apostles. This indicates that Christ alone has the fullness of Divine power and energy, since He is of one nature with the Father and the Holy Spirit. The grace received by the saints is not the nature of God, but His energy, which gives different gifts to everyone.
No one else has the fullness of Divine grace like Christ, who has all its fullness in the flesh. The fact that these tongues of fire rested on the heads of the apostles indicates the lordship and unity of God's Spirit. We are not talking about some created energy, but about the uncreated energy of the Divine. Therefore, tongues are presented as if they were seated - an image of royal glory. Although the energy of the Holy Spirit is divided, at the same time it remains one. Indeed, the Holy Spirit is present and acts “inseparably divisible and participating in all, in the image of a solar ray,” that is, in the same way that people do not separate a solar ray from solar energy. By partaking of the most pure sacraments of the Body and Blood of Christ, a person partakes not of just some part of the Body of the Lord, but of the whole Body. At the Divine Liturgy, the priest says: “The Lamb of God is fragmented and divided, fragmented and undivided.” Thus, the energy of the Holy Spirit is the energy of the Word and the Father—the energy of the Trinity God. Human salvation is participation and partaking of the uncreated energies of the Holy Trinity.
XI
Christ, who promised His disciples to send down the Holy Spirit, gave them a clear commandment: “But you remain in the city of Jerusalem until you are endowed with power from on high.” (Luke 24:49). The disciples kept this commandment and remained in a constant meeting in the Jerusalem upper room, in silence and prayer, awaiting the outpouring of the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Evangelist Luke confirms: “And they remained always in the temple, glorifying and blessing God.” (Luke 24:53).
The expression “until you are endued with power from on high” is very unusual in its essence, so it needs to be explained. Christ does not say that they will simply receive the Holy Spirit, but that they will put on Him, like some kind of spiritual armor, for warfare with the enemy. This is not a matter of simple enlightenment of the mind, but of the transformation of their entire being. There will not be a single part of the body, not a single energy of the soul that would remain uncovered by the energy of the Holy Spirit.
It is known that with Holy Baptism, which is the introductory sacrament through which a person enters the Church and becomes a member of the glorified Body of Christ, we put on Him - Christ Himself: “As many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” (Tal. 3, 27). But at the same time we also put on the Holy Spirit, according to the unequivocal promise of Christ. After all, this is precisely the purpose of the interconnected sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation.
The endowment of a Christian with the Holy Spirit is not external and superficial, but internal, like the combination of metal and fire. Hot iron glows with flame over its entire surface, and not in any specific part. Likewise, those who have received the Holy Spirit feel how He fills their heart, enlightens their eyes, sanctifies their hearing, curbs their thoughts, gives wisdom, fills their faces with grace. The same thing happens to them as with the first martyr Archdeacon Stephen, who first showed at the Sanhedrin the blessing given to him in his soul by the Holy Spirit, and then revealed the glory of his face (Macarius the Golden-headed). Thus, the energy of the Holy Spirit sanctifies, enlightens and illuminates the entire existence of man.
On the sedate, the following wonderful troparion is sung: “All wisdom flows from the Holy Spirit, from here the apostles receive grace and the martyrs are crowned with their deeds and the prophets see.” All charisms and all gifts given to members of the Church are gifts of the Holy Spirit. Prophetic Vision, Apostolic Life and martyrdom- all of these are gifts and charisms of the Holy Spirit. This means that the visions of the prophets are not the product of some imagination or reason, the apostolic life is not a simple anthropocentric missionary, the martyrdom of the saints is not the fulfillment of a strong desire - but all these are gifts of the All-Holy Spirit. One of the charisms in which one who receives the gift of the Holy Spirit is clothed is venerable life: the desire to keep the commandments of God and remain in spiritual and bodily purity, to live a single life in the world in Christ or to live in Christ through pastoral service. That is, all charisms are taught by the Holy Spirit. Thus, the Holy Spirit “gathers the entire Church Council,” where the Church is the Body of Christ.
XII
As soon as they were filled with the Holy Spirit, the apostles were filled with joy. It was a completely new experience for them. Previously, they were simply good people, but now they have become members of the resurrected Body of Christ. They are not limited to merely worshiping Christ, but are now inseparably united with Him. Some were perplexed when they saw them, while others mocked and said: “They got drunk on sweet wine.” (Acts 2:13).
The coming of the Holy Spirit into the human heart is called by the Holy Fathers of the Church “sober intoxication” (St. Dionysius the Areopagite). Regarding similar states of St. Isaac the Syrian says that at such a moment all a person’s powers are plunged “into deep intoxication” from great joy and fun, but he himself remains “sober” because at the same time he does not lose either his feelings or his mind. When a person is possessed by the Holy Spirit, he remains free. It will be more accurate if we say that it is then that he acquires real freedom, which is not the ability to choose, as philosophical ethics says, but a natural desire, transcendence of death.
The Apostle Paul writes characteristically on this occasion: “And the spirits of the prophets are obedient to the prophets.” (1 Cor. 14-32). This means that it is not a person - a prophet who is subject to charisma, but charisma is subject to the prophet, that is, the freedom of human will is not erased, just as his rational powers and spiritual energies are not trampled upon.
Saint Nicodemus the Holy Mountain says that there are three types of intoxication. The first is intoxication, which is the cause of many troubles, caused by material wine. The second is intoxication caused by passions. It is this intoxication that the prophet Elijah had in mind when he said: “They are not drunk with wine.” (Isa. 28:1). And in another place, turning to Jerusalem, he says: “Hear this, therefore, you who suffer and are drunk, but not from wine.” (Isa. 51:21). And finally, the third type of intoxication is the intoxication caused by the Holy Spirit. We meet him in the mother of the prophet Samuel, who prayed so hard in the Temple. Her prayer was reasonable and was at such a level that the son of the priest Elijah considered her drunk and even wanted to drive her out of the Temple. But she answered him that she was not drunk, but was simply pouring out her heart to the Lord. (1 Samuel 1:14-15).
The apostles also underwent this third type of intoxication on the day of Pentecost, having received the Holy Spirit. Their hearts opened to their full width, they came to know Christ more deeply, became members of His glorified Body, great love and aspiration for Christ arose in them, and all this, according to the interpretation of the Holy Fathers, found its expression in prayer.
XIII
The Feast of Pentecost, as we have already emphasized more than once, is the last holiday of the Divine Economy. For the salvation of the human race and its return to its original state, and even for its ascension to a higher level, to the one that Adam should have achieved, but could not, God sent His beloved and only begotten Son. Christ revealed His Father, revealed His existence, and then sent the Holy Spirit, who makes people members of the Body of Christ and enlightens them so that they know Christ and the Father. Consequently, the order of the Divine Economy and salvation of the human race is: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Father sends the Son, and the Son sends the Holy Spirit. However, the deification of man occurs in a completely opposite way: from the Spirit man ascends to the Son, and through the Son he knows the Father.
Saint Basil the Great, analyzing this event, and mainly its last moment, which describes man’s path to the knowledge of God, says that when accepting the gifts given by the Holy Spirit, first of all we turn to the Giver, that is, to the Holy Spirit. Then we comprehend the sender, that is, the Son, and only then does our thinking rise to the source and cause of all good things, which is the Father.
This teaching can be found among many saints. It is necessary to cite the teaching of Simeon the New Theologian, who says that if Christ is the door, then the Holy Spirit is the key with which we open this door and thus reach the dwelling of the Father.
In this perspective there are also prayers to the Holy Spirit, such as the prayer: “O Heavenly King, Comforter, Soul of truth, Who is everywhere and fulfills everything, Treasure of good things and Giver of life, come and dwell in us, and cleanse us from all filth.” , and save, O Blessed One, our souls.” Here you can see the order of ascent to this knowledge of God. By the Holy Spirit, the human heart is cleansed, comes to know Christ and is then raised to the Father.
As has already been said earlier, the energy of the Trinity God is common, however, this does not mean that the Persons of the Holy Trinity are abolished. Divine grace acts through Persons, since Orthodox Theology speaks of hypostasized Grace and Energy. This is clearly seen in the following of the Divine Liturgy. The entire prayer of offer is essentially a prayer to the Father for the sending of the Holy Spirit and the transfusion of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ. Indeed, the Holy Spirit transmutes sacred gifts into the Body and Blood of Christ, and we become the dwelling place of the Trinity God.
XIV
The Holy Fathers of the Church teach that although the Holy Spirit acts in all creation and in all people without exception, each person participates in His energies in accordance with his ability to receive. A person must have a “receiving organ” to receive the manifold gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Regarding this St. Maximus the Confessor says that any gift is acquired by saints not according to their natural strength, but according to the power of God. The Holy Spirit does not give wisdom to those who do not have a mind capable of containing this wisdom; no knowledge if there is no power of reason; no faith if there is no intelligence about the future; no gift of healing without natural love for mankind. This means that the saints accept the gift of Theology, the gift of knowledge, and the gift of healing only if there is a “receiving organ” within them that can receive and accommodate this gift.
This happens not only with the gifts of Theology, but with all other gifts. It says “gifts” because they are bestowed from God, but again, in accordance with the spiritual state of each person. Saint Maximus the Confessor emphasizes that the actions of the Holy Spirit are perceived by each believer depending on his faith and the state of his soul.
Saint Nicodemus the Holy Mountainer, at the end of his interpretation of the canon of each Lord's feast, makes significant additions. In them, he focuses on the way through which a Christian can be honored to experience this event in his life through personal experience. Usually he uses one very characteristic phrase: “How and in what way.” I consider this expression very important, because it makes the preaching of the Church concrete and not abstract, because, you see, you can talk about theological problems theoretically without affecting human souls. This kind of approach is unorthodox. Reading the works of the Holy Fathers of the Church, we are convinced that everything that happens is analyzed by them, based on the perspective of “How and in what way.”
So, at the end of the explanations on the canon of Pentecost, St. Nicodemus the Holy Mountain gives us a way by which we too can acquire the Holy Spirit tangibly in our hearts. Using the example of the apostles, who, in obedience to Christ's commandment, returned to Jerusalem and remained there continuously until they received the Holy Spirit, he says that this is precisely the path that can lead us to the reception of the Holy Spirit. It will be necessary to neglect everything worldly, and when the mind returns to the heart as something sacred, we will begin to pray unceasingly according to the word of the Apostle Paul “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17).
It will be necessary to rise upward from earthly things, that is, above all voluptuousness, love of money, vanity and any other passion, and constantly remain in the upper room - in pure reason. Then the heart will be freed from passions, and the peaceful soul will be free from blasphemous, evil and base thoughts. Saint Basil the Great says that it is impossible to become a receptacle of God's grace unless all evil passions are first removed from the soul. “So it is necessary that the previous be cured in order to accommodate the future.”
Saint Diadochos of Photikius teaches that with holy Baptism we received the Holy Spirit into our hearts and became members of the Body of Christ. However, our passions have covered this grace, which is never completely exhausted, but is only covered by them, like coals covered with ashes, and becomes ineffective. On the one hand, we need to brush away the ashes of passions, and on the other, we need to put in the work of the commandments as firewood. But in order for the wood to ignite from a spark of God’s grace, you need to blow hard with the prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son and Word of God, have mercy on me.” This prayer is called "reasonable and holy prayer."
Analyzing this thought, St. Diadochus of Photikis says that this prayer, if it becomes continuous in the heart, then it not only cleanses it from passions, but, having acquired a spark of God’s grace, fans a wonderful fire in it, devouring the attacks of evil thoughts, delights the heart, the whole inner world and enlightens the mind. Also St. Gregory Palamas says that he who encloses his mind in the heart and lifts it to God experiences a good change.
Indeed, when a person becomes a capacious vessel, the fire of Divine grace is kindled in his heart by the action of the Holy Spirit. Saint Basil the Great says that the real “ignition of the Spirit is a kindled heart,” and also claims that this fire, enlightening souls and destroying stems and thorns (sins), acted in the apostles, who spoke with fiery tongues. He shone on the Apostle Paul, he warmed the hearts of Cleopas and those with him. This fire is the despair of demons, the power of resurrection, the energy of immortality, the enlightenment of the souls of the holy righteous, the content of rational powers.
Thus, having happened once in history, Pentecost is repeated in the lives of the saints. All the deified, having reached a certain state of spiritual life, participate in Pentecost - the descent of the Holy Spirit, and become apostles and disciples of Jesus Christ. Pentecost is the apogee of glorification and deification. All who follow the disciples along this path ascend to contemplation and participate in the uncreated grace and energy of Pentecost.
The purpose of this work was not a detailed disclosure of the doctrine of the Person of the Holy Spirit and His energies. Without any doubt, there are many interesting sides to this question, but what we have sought to prove is the impossibility of separating Christology from Pneumatology, as well as Pneumatology from Christology. Mainly, the moments of the Christological character of the feast of Pentecost, closely connected with the Holy Spirit, were highlighted here.
The Apostle Paul is specific in his expression: “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” (Rom. 8:14). Not all people created by God are children of God, but only those led by the Holy Spirit. Adoption is inextricably linked with internal, rational prayer, “with which we cry: “Abba, Father!” (Rom. 8:15). The Spirit of God in the heart of man “bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” (Rom. 8:16). That is, a son of God is one who has the Holy Spirit within him, testifying and confirming that this person is a child of God. And the existence of the Holy Spirit in the human heart is confirmed by internal, heartfelt prayer that occurs with invocation.
If a person does not have the Holy Spirit in him, then he does not belong to Christ, which means that he is not a living member of the body of Christ. If he is baptized, then the grace of baptism remains inactive, and the person remains a dead member of the Church. This is said by the Apostle Paul in one very important passage of an apocalyptic nature: “If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.” (Rom. 8, 9). No one belongs to Christ unless he has His Spirit with all the prerequisites we have previously given. Conversely, he who has the Holy Spirit in him is a real member of the Body of Christ, since he lives not “according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” (Rom. 8:8-9). From this it is clear how closely Christology and Pneumatology are related to each other.
The purpose of the incarnation of the Word of God is for people to receive the Holy Spirit and become members of the Body of Christ, and through this - dwellings of the Trinity God. Therefore, the goal of a person’s spiritual life is the communion of the Holy Spirit, through which we become living members of the Church, living members of the Body of Christ and thus have communion with the Trinity God.
Christology that does not lead to the communion of the Holy Spirit in the actual Body of Christ is theoretical and does not bring any benefit to man. Christological terms must be explained and analyzed in order to provide a means of “cure” and show the way for purification, enlightenment and deification.
We carried out previous analyzes within this framework. It is a great honor and blessing for us that we belong to the Orthodox Church and have the opportunity to participate in the grace of the Holy Spirit and become earthly worshipers of the Holy Trinity. It is only necessary to live up to this great blessing.
The New Testament consists of books called the Gospel, the Acts of the Apostles, the Epistles of the Holy Apostles, and the Apocalypse. The New Testament is smaller in scope than the Old Testament, but it contains truths that help us understand the meaning of the Old Testament and greatly enrich our understanding of God. From the New Testament we get the most complete picture of what God is.
The Lord Jesus Christ Himself testifies: “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30), and: “he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me” (John 12:45).
In several places the Savior says that He is God's Son. Repeatedly in the Lord's speech there is a mention of Holy Spirit Which is sent down from Father upon request Son. And finally, He admonishes the apostles with the words: “Go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19).
Unlike the Old Testament, the New Testament speaks of God as one being in three Persons - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. God is the unity of three Persons, having the same Divine nature, which in its entirety belongs to each of the three Persons, so that they are not three Gods, but one, one God. And at the same time, there are three Divine Persons, three Persons, three Hypostases in Him. This combination of unity and multiplicity remains an unknowable mystery to the human imagination.
For a person who thinks his thoughts through to the end, the great mystery of the Divine nature is proof that only God could give people such a revelation. And in fact, if Voltaire and his followers were right when they asserted, inverting the biblical truth, that man created God in his own image and likeness, then, probably, such a God would be eminently accessible to human understanding. After all, a person is not able to invent what he himself does not understand: the incomprehensible cannot be invented. When a person invents something, he tries to be convincing to other people. The revelation about the nature of the Divine in the New Testament is perceived by our minds as an incomprehensible mystery. But then, isn’t this the best evidence in favor of the fact that the doctrine of the Holy Trinity is of Divine origin?
Of course, God does not at all pursue the goal of asking us unsolvable riddles. He is simply limitless and incomprehensible by His nature. And therefore, by entrusting us with the secret of His existence, He thereby confronts a person with a problem that our mind is not able to fully comprehend. And even when we cross the border separating earthly existence from eternal life, when we finally move into that world where much that is now hidden will be revealed to us, even there and then we will not fully comprehend the secrets of Divine life. Because God and man are incommensurable quantities; because the criteria of human thinking, which are based on the experience of our life, are not applicable to the knowledge of the Divine secret. Behind the revelation of the Trinity lies the mystery of the infinite God, and man, being unable to penetrate the depths of this mystery, can only touch it and reverently testify to this mystery.
From the New Testament we learn that God is a Trinity - a kind of mysterious trinity. By the way, English "Trinity", or French "Trinite" or German “Drayinichkeit” and means “Trinity”. Slavic word "Trinity" is a synonym for “Trinity”.
“No one can clearly and completely comprehend with the mind and express in words the dogma of the Most Holy Trinity,” says the Monk Simeon the New Theologian. And yet, in order to get closer to understanding the mystery of the Holy Trinity, the fathers and teachers of the Church, that is, the outstanding theologians of antiquity, developed a special terminology. In particular, two concepts were formulated: nature (in Greek “us`iya”) and face (“ip`ostasis”). Nature is a certain general category inherent in a particular phenomenon or being. For example, when we talk about “human nature,” we mean that such different and dissimilar individuals at the same time have common characteristics that are common to them, which make up their nature. Thus, people have human nature, animals have animal nature, and so on.
The Holy Fathers spoke about the nature of God as a category common to all three Divine Persons. As for the face (otherwise “ip`ostasis”, in Slavic - hypostasis), then this is a person, a totality distinctive features. The following analogy helps to understand the difference between nature and person: each person has a human nature, but at the same time is a person different from other human personalities.
God is not a being with three heads and three faces. God is one nature, which is fully expressed in each Divine hypostasis, in each Divine person. Christians believe in one God. To better understand this, let us resort to proof by contradiction.
Man has a human nature. But there is not and cannot be such a person on earth that would include all the wealth of human types, intellects, temperaments, emotional and volitional qualities, that is, would combine in itself what is inherent in the entire human race, the entire totality of human personalities, together taken. There cannot be such a superhuman personality, which would be capable of absorbing all of humanity without a trace. But in each Divine Person, in each Person of the Holy Trinity, the entire Divine nature is represented entirely and in absolute completeness. God has one nature, and each of the Persons of the Holy Trinity possesses the fullness of this nature. Therefore, we should speak of one, one God, expressing His nature in three Persons.
This difficult to comprehend religious truth cannot be fully perceived by people. We can only use analogies in order to get closer to understanding the mystery of Divine life. Of course, we resort to distant similarities from the experience of our own lives and use clearly insufficient categories of our thinking, aware of the entire conventionality of such ideas. But it is also true that a person knows God not through reason, but through the depth of his religious feeling.
There are certain relationships between the three equal Persons of the Holy Trinity. Already from the very name of God the Father it follows that His relationship to the other Persons of the Holy Trinity is a relationship of fatherhood.
The Word of God and the teaching of the Church testify that God the Father eternally begets God the Son. “Eternal” means outside of time, always. The truth of the pre-eternal, timeless birth of the Son is incomprehensible to human consciousness. But again, through our imperfect analogies, we will try to touch on this secret. We know that human thought is generated by the mind. Thought and mind are inseparable. Thought is a derivative of the mind, reflecting its power and essence. When discussing the eternal birth of the Son of God by God the Father, one can resort to likening their thoughts and minds - with the amendment, however, that the Son of God fully reveals in
to Himself the nature of God the Father.
The theologian, church writer and father of the Church Basil the Great, who lived in the 4th century, in his Eucharistic prayer calls the Son of God “an equal seal.” That is, such a reflection of God the Father, which equally and in its entirety contains the Divine nature. It is no coincidence that the Apostle John the Theologian begins his Gospel with the words: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1).
This is said about the Son of God, whom the Apostle calls the Word(in Greek “Logos”), about the second Person of the Holy Trinity - about the Divine Thought and Divine Wisdom, about the “equivalent seal”, born from God the Father outside of time, carrying in itself the fullness of Divine life and Divine nature.
What then is God the Holy Spirit? This is Divine energy, eternally emanating from God the Father. For there has never been a time when this energy did not emanate, and there will not be a time when it will stop emanating. The procession of the Holy Spirit does not exhaust the nature of the Father and His personality, just as the pre-eternal, timeless birth of the Son does not exhaust His personality and His nature. God is completely present in His energy, which He transmits to the entire creation - the surrounding world. This Divine energy is not a particle of God the Father, but includes all Divine life, all Divine nature. And in this sense, God the Holy Spirit is God in the absolute manifestation of His nature, personal God and the third hypostasis of the Holy Trinity.
So, Each Person of the Holy Trinity has in its entirety the same Divine nature. That is why the Trinity is called consubstantial. The persons of the Holy Trinity, possessing one, that is, the same nature, represent an indissoluble unity, they are inseparable.
We can understand the revelation about the inner life of the Holy Trinity by again turning to some analogies from our human life. After all, unity also exists between human individuals. What is capable of ensuring the inseparability of individuals to the maximum extent, what force can bring them extremely close? There is only one power that can do this - the power of love. True love connects two personalities so organically and indissolubly that they become one. In harmonious love lies the desire for complete unity. But in the love and union of two, the personality of each is not destroyed at all. Even the most happy marriage, which connects two people with the closest ties, not only does not destroy their personal characteristics, but, on the contrary, strengthens and enriches each of its constituent halves.
The limit of human love is set by human nature itself. Even very loving people cannot unite completely, because this would be against the laws of nature. True, there are cases of selfless love when one gives his life for another: “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).
In this case, it is as if a complete surrender of oneself to another occurs, but at the same time one dies, his physical existence ceases.
In other words, in the conditions of earthly reality, even such an omnipotent force as love is capable of uniting, even to the point of death, but is not able to make two into a single whole. However, what is impossible for man is achievable in the Divine being. Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol wrote wonderfully about this: “God is all one love, containing in His Trinity both the lover and the beloved, and the very action of love. The lover is God the Father, the beloved is God
The Son, and the very love that binds them, is God the Holy Spirit.”
The New Testament Revelation about the structure of the inner life of God is the basis of all Christian morality. For we learn that the essence of the Divine is love, and it is also the law by which God lives within Himself. But man was created in the image and likeness of God. And, therefore, in order to become like his Creator, he must also live according to the law of love, extending it to all areas of social and interpersonal relations. This is what John the Theologian means when he says: “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love” (1 John 4:8).
Not only will we not be able to become like God and draw closer to Him, but we will not even be able to understand God if we do not love each other. But if we begin to live according to the laws of love, then through the experience of our existence we will touch the Divine life and thus learn that there is God.
When we talk about love, we must clearly understand what we are talking about.
True love is not the desire to master another for the sake of pleasure and not gratitude to another for their kind attitude towards oneself. Both the first and the second are love not for another, but for oneself. For when we love another person in order to enjoy him, then through him we love ourselves, and not him. When we love another just because he loves us and is kind to us, we again love ourselves. But true love is a complete surrender of oneself to another. By giving, devoting ourselves to another person, we fulfill the Divine law of love.
When performing the Sacrament of Baptism new member The Church is sanctified in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the Trinity, Consubstantial and Indivisible, and thereby assumes the obligation to live according to the law of love, common to the Creator and creation.
Ep.The Holy Trinity– God, one in essence and threefold in Persons (); Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Three Persons have:
– one will (desire and expression of will),
- one force,
– one action: any action of God is one: from the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit. The unity of action in relation to God should be understood not as a certain sum of three mutually solidary actions of Persons, but as a literal, strict unity. This action is always just, merciful, holy...
The Father is the source of the existence of the Son and the Holy Spirit
The Father (being beginningless) is the only beginning, the source in the Holy Trinity: He eternally gives birth to the Son and eternally gives birth to the Holy Spirit. The Son and the Holy Spirit simultaneously ascend to the Father as one cause, while the origin of the Son and the Spirit does not depend on the will of the Father. The Word and the Spirit, in the figurative expression of the saint, are the “two hands” of the Father. God is one not only because His nature is one, but also because to a single person those Persons ascend from Him.
Father doesn't have more power and honor than the Son and the Holy Spirit.
True knowledge of God the Trinity is impossible without the internal transformation of man
Experienced knowledge of the Trinity of God is possible only in the mystical through the action of the Divine, to a person whose heart is cleansed of. The Holy Fathers experienced an experience in contemplating the One Trinity, among them we can particularly highlight the Great Cappadocians (,), St. , prp. , prp. , prp. , prp. .
Each of the Persons of the Trinity does not live for Himself, but gives Himself without reserve to the other Persons, while remaining completely open to their response, so that all three coexist in love with each other. The life of Divine Persons is interpenetration, so that the life of one becomes the life of another. Thus, the existence of the God of the Trinity is realized as love, in which the individual’s own existence is identified with self-giving.
The doctrine of the Holy Trinity is the basis of Christianity
An Orthodox Christian every time confesses the truth about the Holy Trinity, making the sign of the cross through.
From a more specific perspective, this knowledge is necessary:
1. For a correct, meaningful understanding of the Holy Gospel and the Apostolic Epistles.
Without knowing the basics of the doctrine of the Trinity, it is impossible not only to understand the preaching of Christ - it is even impossible to understand who this Evangelist and Preacher really is, who Christ is, whose Son He is, who His Father is.
2. For a correct understanding of the content of the Books of the Old Testament. Indeed, despite the fact that the Scripture of the Old Testament mainly reports about God as the One Ruler, it nevertheless contains passages that can be exhaustively interpreted only in the light of the teaching about Him as the Trinity in Persons.
Such places include, for example:
a) the story of God’s appearance to Abraham in the form of three strangers ();
b) the verse of the psalmist: “By the Word of the Lord the heavens were established, and by the Spirit of His mouth all their power” ().
In fact, the Holy Books of the Old Testament contain not two or three, but many such passages.
(It is worthy of note that the concept “Spirit” does not always designate the third Person of the Holy Trinity. Sometimes this designation means a single Divine action).
3. To understand the meaning and meaning. Without knowledge of the teachings about the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, it is impossible to understand by whom and to whom this Sacrifice was offered, what is the dignity of this Sacrifice, what is the price of ours).
If a Christian's knowledge were limited to the knowledge of God as the One Ruler, he would be faced with an insoluble question: why did God sacrifice Himself?
4. Without knowledge about Divine Trinity it is impossible to fully understand many other provisions of Christianity; for example, the truth that “God is love” ().
If we, out of ignorance of the doctrine of the Trinity, knew about God only as the One, then we would not know to Whom, outside of relation to the world, His infinite extends, to Whom it poured out before the Creation of the world, in eternity.
If we believed that God's Love extends only to His creation, in particular to man, it would be easy to slip into the idea that He is the Lover and not the (infinite in Himself) Love.
The doctrine of the Trinity tells us that God has always abided and abides in intra-Trinity Love. The Father eternally loves the Son and the Spirit; Son - Father and Spirit; Spirit - Father and Son. At the same time, Each Divine Hypostasis also loves Itself. Therefore, God is not only the One who pours out Divine Love, but also the One on whom Divine Love is poured out.
5. Ignorance of the doctrine of the Trinity serves as a breeding ground for misconceptions. Weak, superficial knowledge of the doctrine of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit is also not a guarantee against evasion. The history of the Church contains a lot of evidence of this.
6. Without knowing the teachings about the Holy Trinity, it is impossible to engage in missionary work, in fulfillment of the commandment of Christ: “Go, teach all nations...” ().
How to explain the doctrine of the Holy Trinity to a non-Christian?
It is noteworthy: even pagans and atheists can agree with the statement that there is rationality in the structure of the world. In this regard
This analogy can serve as a good apologetic tool.
The essence of the analogy is as follows. The human mind expresses itself through thought.
Usually human thought is formulated in words. With this in mind, we can say: the human thought-word is born by the mind (from the mind) in the likeness of how the Divine Word (God the Word, the Son of God) is born by the Father, from the Father.
When we want to express our thought (voice it, pronounce it), we use our voice. In this case, the voice can be called the expresser of thought. In this one can see the similarity with the Holy Spirit, Who is the Exponent of the Word of the Father (the Exponent of God the Word, the Son of God).
Table of contents:
St. Theophan the Recluse
St. Innocent of Kherson
About the Descent of the Holy Spirit
Gospel:“On the last, great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.” Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture says, out of his belly will flow rivers of living water. This He said about the Spirit, which those who believed on Him were about to receive: for the Holy Spirit was not yet given to them, because Jesus was not yet glorified. Many of the people, hearing these words, said: He is truly a prophet. Others said: this is Christ. And others said: Will Christ come from Galilee? Doesn't the Scripture say that Christ will come from the seed of David and from Bethlehem, from the place where David was? So there arose a dissension among the people concerning Him. Some of them wanted to seize Him; but no one laid hands on Him. So the servants returned to the chief priests and Pharisees, and they said to them: Why did you not bring Him? The servants answered: Never has a man spoken like this Man. The Pharisees said to them, “Have you also been deceived? Did any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believe in Him? But these people are ignorant of the law, they are cursed. Nicodemus, who came to Him at night, being one of them, said to them: Does our law judge a man unless they first listen to him and find out what he is doing? To this they said to him: “Are you not from Galilee?” look and you will see that no prophet comes from Galilee.
Again Jesus spoke [to the people] and said to them: I am the light of the world; Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 7:37-52; 8:12).
St. Theophan the Recluse
(Excerpts from conversations)
The Spirit of God leads those who receive Him to their destined perfection. The beginning of everything is repentance, the middle is labors and exploits in cleansing the heart from passions, the end is sacred and secret communion with God.
The Holy Spirit is life and life-giving for everyone (1 Cor. 15:45): through Him everyone who comes into the world must be born again; thereby we are created into a new man through circumcision "by circumcision made without hands" (Col. 2:11). His mysterious action in us makes our life hidden "with Christ in God"(Col. 3:3).“By the Holy Spirit every soul is quickened, and exalted by purity, and is sacredly and mysteriously enlightened by the Trinity of the Consubstantial” (Degree of the 4th Tone).
“By the Holy Spirit every soul is quickened.” The revival of the soul is the first action of the grace of the All-Holy Spirit in us. While sin reigns in us, our soul is dead to God and life according to God. Just as life in plants becomes numb from the winter cold, so the spirit of a person freezes when he is given over to sin and slaves to passions: he does not see with the eyes of the mind, does not hear with the ear of good will, and does not understand with his heart either God or the Divine order of things and his fate in it. "Blind, closed my eyes"(2 Peter 1:9) and walks "according to the vanity of the mind", careless about salvation "reaching insensibility" with a petrified and insensitive heart to everything spiritual (Eph. 4:17-19). Will such bones come to life? - They will not come to life if the Spirit is not prophesied, if the Spirit of God, “penetrating all intelligent, subtle spirits” (Wis.7.23) and breathing, "wherever he wants" (John 3:8), will not penetrate, in ways unknown to us, to the dead spirit of man and will not revive him. In the seed that is sown there is the germ of life, and in the plants that die for the winter there is life; but if the Lord does not send the life-giving spirit of spring, then they will not be created and the face of the earth will not be renewed (Ps. 103:30). So the spirit of a person will not come to life if the fire of the Spirit of God does not touch him, does not warm him with Its Divine warmth and does not resolve the oppressive and overwhelming elements of sin and passions that surround him. We cannot say how this saving action of the Spirit of God takes place in us; but we know when, precisely in repentance, the first decisive turning of our mind and heart to God, when the Spirit of God raises the spirit of man into a sense of complete dependence on God and its responsibility before Him, it strikes with the fear of judgment and inevitable condemnation and, drawing from the abyss of despair into himself, with the hope of salvation in the Lord the Redeemer, instills a firm determination to work for the one God with all his heart, with all his soul and with all his thoughts, with complete disgust from the previous order of life. From this moment alone, thoughts about God and another life and concern for pleasing God and salvation begin in him. But this only testifies that the spirit has come to life and awakened from sleep. That is why John the Baptist preaches repentance, the Savior began his ministry with the gospel of repentance, and the first word from the lips of the apostles when receiving the Holy Spirit was: "repent" (Acts 2.38). Metal that is not softened by the action of fire is not capable of being formed: such is the soul that is not crushed by the fire of repentance. Submit to the Spirit, soften with contrition, and the Spirit of God will make of you a vessel of honor, pure and bright, pleasing to the Master of the House.
“By the Holy Spirit every soul,” quickened in repentance, is “exalted in purity.” The revival of the soul, evidenced by zeal for pleasing God and salvation, with readiness for all kinds of sacrifices, is only the beginning of spiritual life. This is a mustard seed, which still has to grow into a tree, or kvass, put in three measures of flour, which still needs to be fermented in all its mass and in all parts. God created a just man, full of humility, meekness, love, fear, faith, charity, self-control and all good feelings and dispositions. When sin came and took possession of the heart, it instilled in it instead of humility pride, instead of meekness anger, instead of love, anger, instead of selflessness, covetousness, instead of fear, fearlessness, instead of faith, forgetfulness of God, instead of every other virtue, a passion contrary to it, so that this passionate, carnal and the sinful man suppressed and starved that inner, spiritual, right man and, keeping him in the unclean shackles of slavery to sin for eternal destruction, did not give him freedom to act and reveal himself. The grace of the All-Holy Spirit in repentance and conversion resolves these shackles, collects the fragmented parts of goodness, revives the inner spiritual person and sets it on his feet. The spirit has come to life, but sin with passions and lusts has not yet died; it still remains active in our members and opposes the law of the mind. The fighting begins. (Gal.5.17). Previously, the passions acted in all members of the soul and body, ; now it is necessary to take them away from the passions and make them useful instruments of all the Truth of God for the renewal of life(See Rom.7:5-6); it is necessary to purge passions and plant dispositions contrary to them in the heart, purge pride and plant humility, pluck out stinginess and plant mercy, pluck out carnality and plant abstinence, etc., and thus cleanse oneself from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. But who can do it? At the thought of another law in our members, warring against the law of the mind and taking captive by the law of sin, the Apostle Paul cried: “Poor man I am! who will deliver me from this body of death? But then, pointing to God’s help, which is given to victory every time, he added: “I thank my God by Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom.7:24-25). Only "Spirit are killed in us works of the flesh" and spiritual fruits are produced (Rom. 8:13).
He teaches hands to fight and fingers to fight against sin and passions, and His fruit is "love, joy, peace, long-suffering, goodness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control" (Gal.5:22-23).
. And this is with every attack of passion, with every good intention. We are not free from labor and deeds to cleanse the heart from bad thoughts and movements, we are not free from caring about decorating it with all kindness, but on our own we will not achieve anything unless help from above comes in time. We fight; but passion goes away and is replaced by a good feeling only when the grace of the Spirit is overshadowed.
We are in captivity: the strongest Liberator must come and bind the one who captivated us so that we can gain freedom. And He is near to all who call on Him: (Ps.90:15). A heart contrite in repentance and humble in labors and exploits will not be humiliated by God. Just as a caring gardener protects, waters and cleanses a trustworthy tree, so the Spirit of God nourishes and cleanses the working soul, which in its labors surrenders itself to His guidance. Little by little, through His action, passions weaken and disappear, and good dispositions take root and strengthen in their place, the old man decays and a new one is created, and the features of the image of God are revealed more and more clearly, until, finally, the soul appears pure and innocent, “as a blameless child of God, among a crooked and perverse generation”, and will shine "like a light in the world", shedding light everywhere to glorify his Father in heaven (Phil. 2:15).
And then the soul, revived and purified by the Holy Spirit, is enlightened by the Trinity unity in a sacred and mysterious way. It is enlightened not only as the sun shines in clean water or a clean mirror, that is, not only by the manifestation of God-like properties, but by the living and sincere union of God with the spirit of man and the mysterious indwelling of him, according to a false promise: “I will dwell in them and walk in them” (2 Cor. 6.16), and by the power of the Lord’s redemptive prayer: “As You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, so may they also be one in Us” (John 17:21). We cannot comprehend how this wondrous work of God’s favor towards us is accomplished, but the word of God is true. “Great and precious promises have been given to us, that through them you might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” (2 Pet. 1:4). And this is not from us, a gift from God, rich in mercy, commensurate only with the strength of filial devotion to Him in those who seek Him and purify themselves, just as He is pure. Through the cleansing actions of the Spirit of God the soul "is being built into a dwelling place of God" (Eph.2.22), "to the temple of the living God" (2 Cor. 6.16), to a spiritual temple (1 Cor. 6:19), which will not remain empty. God comes and makes an abode for Himself in him, as the Lord says: “Whoever loves Me will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make our abode with him.” (John 14:23). So, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matt. 5:8). God rests in them and gives them rest from all works and labors (Heb. 4.10), establishing a peace that surpasses all understanding, in the serene silence of which the unceasing hearts ascend from the altar "spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ" (1 Pet. 2:5). Then "united with the Lord becomes one spirit with the Lord" (1 Cor. 6:17), “and life his hidden with Christ in God" (Col.3.3), Then “with open face, beholding the glory of the Lord, transforms in the same image from glory to glory, as from the Spirit of the Lord.” (2 Cor. 3.18), and then already "God produces in him, and to will and to do according to [His] good pleasure.” (Phil.2:13), revealing, in addition, internal spiritual insights and consolations, and various manifestations of the Spirit for the benefit, or the word of wisdom and understanding, or the gifts of healing, or the actions of powers, or prophecy, or the discernment of spirits (See 1 Cor. 12:7-11). High and incomprehensible is the destiny of those who hold on to the hope set before them! Great and indescribable is this gift to those who have achieved "to the measure of the stature of Christ" (Eph.4:13). But let him not reject the grace of God, confessing that “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man what God has prepared for those who love Him.” (1 Cor. 2:9). “To him who, by the power that works in us, is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, to him be glory in the church in Christ Jesus to all generations, from everlasting to everlasting.” (Eph.3.20-21).
This is the way in which the Spirit of God leads those who receive Him to the predestined perfection, and together the outline of the faces “who do not live according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit!” (Rom.8.4). The beginning of everything is repentance, in which our spirit turns to God and is inflamed with zeal for pleasing God and salvation, the middle is labors and exploits in cleansing the heart from passions by planting virtues in it, the end is sacred and secret communion with God. Making a good start "running to get" (1 Cor. 9:24), and, not considering ourselves to have achieved anything, “forgetting what is behind and reaching forward, they run with zeal for the honor of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" (Phil.3:13-14). Those who do not run, those who do not pursue with zeal, have not yet begun, have not yet entered the field. Those who have achieved enter into peace and become calm “from his works, as God is from His” (Hebrews 4:10). And these have "testimony in oneself" (1 John 5.10); for all others, the sure evidence that they have accepted the promise of the Spirit by faith and are led by it is caring diligence, warm zeal and zeal for pleasing God and salvation. Where there is indifference, carelessness, carelessness, there is no Spirit. The sleeper must awaken in order to begin to act. Spirit of God though “he breathes wherever he wants”, but breathes everywhere and lets everyone hear his voice in their consciences: “Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you” (Eph.5:14). If there are those who are not awakened, it is not because of a lack of awakening calls, but because of their own bitterness. “Today, when you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts! There is still a Sabbath left for God's people. Let us therefore be afraid, lest, while the promise of entering into His rest remains, any of you be found to be late.” (Eph.4,7,9,1), remembering that “Whatever a man sows, that will he also reap: he who sows to his flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” (Gal.6,7,8). Amen.
(St. Theophan the Recluse, “Collection of words for the Lord’s, Mother of God and solemn days”, chapter 27, Word for Pentecost).
If we kindle the gift of God - the spirit, it will not go out; if we do not offend it, it will remain in us. And for this you need to remain in prayerful and ascetic work
The Holy Church brightly and solemnly celebrates the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles. And how can she not celebrate? Because The Church of God was actually created by the Holy Spirit on the foundation laid in the Lord Jesus Christ; To them the mysteries of the Kingdom and all Christian teaching were finally revealed and clarified to the apostles, by Him all nations were conquered and brought into obedience to the faith, by Him were given all the powers that lead to life and piety, by Him were uttered all the statutes and institutions for the cultivation, strengthening and protection of believers, to Him hitherto the guarantee of our salvation is kept intact and intact. Remembering this great work of God, the Holy Church cannot help but rejoice and sing.
But, brethren, let us not forget that every soul is alive by the Holy Spirit, that each of us has become a partaker of His grace, has received the gift and seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit. What will we bring now as a gift to the Lord, who has benefited us so much? It is good, of course, to celebrate and rejoice in the Holy Church, sending thanks to the Lord for His ineffable gift of sending the Holy Spirit, and it is good to gratefully remember our own blessings. But is that all? - No. It is not enough to recognize the gift and see its beauty; one must also include the proper use of the gift according to the intention of the Gift Giver. We are not called to just be called spiritual, but to actually be such, so that the Spirit of God lives and acts in us, fills us, possesses us...
The presence of the Spirit of God in the heart and the action of His grace in us is evidenced by heartfelt warmth towards God - sober, tender, reverent. And so we need to do everything that can excite and maintain this warmth, and move away from everything that can scatter and cool our heart towards God, obeying the commandment of the Apostle who speaks! "Do not quench the spirit" (1 Thess. 5.19), “do not offend the Holy Spirit of God” (Eph.4:30), and elsewhere he commands "to warm up the gift of God" (2 Timothy 1:6). If we warm Him up, He will not go out; if we do not offend Him, He will remain in us, and with Him all the abundance and fullness of spiritual life...
How natural forces weaken and become upset from their lack of exercise, so the grace of the Spirit is reduced and completely withdraws when we do not exercise ourselves in the deeds inherent in it, we do not give it room to act in us and penetrate us, and, even worse, if we do things contrary to it drive her away from you. For just as bees fly away from smoke, so does the grace of the Spirit fly away from the smoke of vicious deeds and passions. For this reason the Apostle said: “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”, then adds: “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and crying and slander, along with all malice, be put away from you.” (Eph.4.30-31), pointing out the deeds by which the Spirit of God is offended. The grace of the Spirit of God is pure. In order to keep it with us, we must keep the house of our heart clean and in a befitting decoration, and this decoration constitutes a union of various virtues... “Therefore put on, the Apostle commands, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, in mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering, bearing with one another and forgiving each other if anyone has a complaint against anyone... Most of all, put on love, which is the sum of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts... and be friendly... Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly... And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” (Col. 3.12-17). This is the decoration of the temple of the heart suitable for the dwelling of the Spirit of God. Let us walk in these deeds, and grace will always be inherent in us, and its fire will never go out in us...
Let's take a closer look at our deeds and see what we still lack. We say prayers and do some good; but then we meet only by chance, now we are ready to do something unkind, we indulge passions, succumb to the lust of the flesh or the lust of the eyes: and what comes out in our life is a mixture of good and evil. And this is the same as setting fire to wood and then pouring water on it: will it catch fire when? Apparently, we lack zeal or selfless determination to work for the Lord in all its fullness, without indulgence or self-pity, with a readiness for all labors and sacrifices. We also stand in prayer, and our thoughts wander here and there: who reads books, who settles accounts, who builds enterprises, who sorts out everyday household chores; and it turns out that we are standing as if in the wind, and in the wind will a candle burn! Apparently, we lack attention to ourselves, sobriety and composure. We do not listen to the apostolic instructions: to gird up the loins of our thoughts, to be sober and watchful, and to pay attention to ourselves; and the grace of the Spirit of God is not introduced into us. And yet, we do some good deed, but the heart is carried away either by vanity, or man-pleasing, or some selfish calculation and defiles our good deed, takes away its value and turns away the face of God from it. Our heart at this time is like a place that emits a stench from which everyone runs. Will the grace of God abide in such a heart?! Apparently, we lack observation of the movements of the heart, the readiness to reject all wrong feelings and devote all deeds to the glory of God, we lack the fear of God, the memory of His omnipresence and walking before His face.
You see what is often lacking in our prayer work and good deeds. Let's make up for these shortcomings. It's not enough to deal with; It is also necessary to have good thoughts and feelings when doing things, to have the art of controlling the movements of your heart, which the Holy Fathers call attention, sobriety, and inner activity. It concentrates all our forces together and is therefore the most strong remedy to the kindling in us of the grace of the Spirit of God. The scattered rays of the sun do not light up by themselves; but when they are gathered into one point by means of a burning glass, they quickly ignite any flammable substance. The same thing happens in us. When we do not pay attention to ourselves, our thoughts and feelings are scattered, but when we pay attention, they gather together, and then warmth is kindled in our heart from the thought of the Lord, who is omnipresent and fills everything.
(St. Theophan the Recluse, “Collection of words for the Lord’s, Mother of God and solemn days”, chapter 28, Word for Pentecost).
Does the Spirit of God live in us? – Lives and acts when there is spiritual life in us. The spirit, combined with the body, is appointed in the world of God to be a priest, in order not only to live in God itself, but also to introduce all material things through itself into the communion of Divine life
“We celebrate Pentecost and the coming of the Spirit” (Stichera on the Lord I cried), we celebrate not only as a fundamental event of the Church of God, but also as a gift from God, assimilated by each of us and essential in our Christian life...
But, brethren, just as there is no doubt that receiving the Spirit is a God-determined advantage for Christians, just as surely is the possibility, when He has already been received, of losing it or drowning it out in ourselves by inattention or by turning our activity to objects that are contrary to Him. The Apostle warns: "Do not quench the spirit" (1 Thess. 5.19). “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” (Eph.4.30). At the same time, bringing to mind the law that whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ is not Christ(Rom. 8:9), and whoever is not Christ’s is not God’s, you will involuntarily come to a caring and fearful investigation, whether the Spirit of God lives and works in us?!
Let us answer this in short words like this: he lives and acts when there are spiritual actions in us, or spiritual life. After this, everyone could determine for himself what his relationship to the Spirit is. But the trouble is that the words: spiritual person, spiritual life, spiritual activity, have no certainty for us. Either they understand them too simply and thereby expand their scope to the point that they can include everyone without exception, or they understand them too highly and thereby reduce their scope to the point that who can be found who could be worthily honored with the title of Spirit-Bearer. I believe you yourself have encountered both in speeches and writings. In order to dispel this uncertainty and give you the opportunity to definitively judge your spirituality, I will outline for you as much as possible. easier life spiritual in its possible forms and manifestations.
Detach yourself somewhat from existing orders, ascend to a place where there is no substance, imagine that you yourself are without a body and are assigned to live and act in an incorporeal region. In this form you are a spirit. This world and everything worldly is unknown to you. Encompassed by God, you receive illumination from the one God and are drawn to Him alone with your whole being. You contemplate Him, you taste Him, you move at His beckoning. This immersion in God, this God-movement and God-bliss, is the true life of the pure Spirit. This is the state of ethereal forces!
But God, the Source of all existence, was pleased, leaving the Angels as pure spirits, to combine the human spirit with the body, and this is what happened! Just as a pure ray of light, reflected in raindrops, or passing through a prism, is decomposed into seven rainbow colors, so the pure and simple spirit, combined with this multi-component organism, with all the simplicity and immutability of its nature, appeared possessing a variety of abilities and endowed with a multitude needs directed towards matter and the world. Another life, complex, was grafted onto the simple life of the spirit, a life turned to God, a life dealing with the world. At the same time, the body lived its own life, letting the spirit know about itself, but not depending on it in what constitutes the essence of this life. And a man appeared into the world, the owner of a threefold life: spiritual, spiritual-physical or mental, and physical.
God's intention in such a dispensation of man was not that the spirit should be sacrificed to the body, matter, the world, but that the spirit, taking into itself material things through the body, would offer everything as a sacrifice to God. The spirit, combined with the body, is appointed in the great world of God to be a priest, in order not only to live in God itself, but also to introduce everything material through itself into the communion of this Divine Life. Life in God, detached from the material, having power over it, and at the same time remained a characteristic feature of the life of the human spirit.
But envy and malice arose, confused the inexperienced thought of man with false concepts, carried away the charms of matter, blinded the heart with deceptive, although brilliant, hopes, and the spirit fell, from the realm of God - into materiality, into love of the body and love of peace. Instead of a legitimate connection with the body, he dissolved with it through consciousness and sympathy, and became from pure passionate, from detached - immersed in the creature, from powerful - a slave. Mental-physical life fell into disarray and swallowed up spiritual life, which began to manifest itself only in the irresistible consciousness of the Divine, in the demands of conscience and in the languid dissatisfaction with all created things that arose from time to time. God-contemplation, God-movement and God-bliss disappeared. The spirit was numb.
The pure spirit contemplates God and receives knowledge of the mysteries from Him. But also the spirit, combined with the body, and after the variety of creatures was revealed to him through the senses visible world, enlightened by the same inner illumination from above, must contemplate in them the reflection of those secrets of the knowledge of God and the secrets of the Divine peacemaking and world government, so that even with this multiplicity of knowledge, one can calmly remain in the same contemplation of God. But, having fallen, he is carried away by the diversity of creatures and is even overwhelmed by the multitude of impressions from them, which crowd out the very thought of God. Studying creation, he does not go further than what he sees in them - their composition and relationships, and, without receiving illumination from above, he does not clearly see in them the reflection of God and the Divine mysteries.
The world has become a dim mirror for him, in which nothing is visible except him (the mirror). This is why multiple knowledge drowns out the knowledge of the one in him, turns him away from it and cools him down towards it. Such is the price and such is the fruit of science in the fallen.
The pure spirit is God-moved. He internally accepts the beckons of God and accordingly arranges himself and acts. And the spirit, combined with the body, after being brought into relationship with many creatures, has received the power to act on them and is itself placed in the necessity of being subject to their action, must also, and only by accepting God’s beckoning, act outwardly and carry out God’s intentions into the order of the flow of created life, not submitting to it, but establishing it in our own way, so that, in this way, despite the external diverse activity, we remain in the same single Divine Motion, outlined by the will of God. But, having fallen, he is absorbed in external relations, he does not control them, but he himself is controlled by them. He considers the current order outside and movement within himself to be a law, which it does not even occur to him to cross. Without accepting God’s beckons, he does not see what God wants, he does not know how and does not dare to establish himself according to God’s intention, but is drawn as if he were drawn and is led as if he were being followed. Instead of a single Godly movement, he is divided into many, which weans him and discourages him from acting according to the will of God.
This is the price of all the various activities of the fallen in state, social and family life.
A pure spirit is God-blessed. He tastes God and is blissful in Him. But the spirit, combined with the body, after the various beauties of the creatures of the visible world have been revealed to it, must have its bliss in God alone, and, contemplating visible beauties, not dwell on them, but penetrate through them to the beauty of God and taste it, so that, thus, with all the multitude of external beauties promising bliss, one can remain in one unchanging Bliss of God - from tasting God directly and indirectly. But, having fallen, he lost this ability to Taste God, and even the taste for the Divine, and began to seek pleasure in creatures instead of ascending through them to God’s pleasure. It was impossible not to notice that this was not the case, and since the memory of God’s Bliss remained in him, then, guided by it, he creates around himself new world, artificial, and collects possible beauties in it, hoping to replace with it what he remembers, but does not have. But that’s not it either. All these pleasures, pleasures, artificial beauties only fuel thirst, and do not give what the spirit is looking for. Instead of the pleasure of the one God, which pleases, he is characterized by the pleasure of many, which languishes and does not give peace, and further confirms him in alienation from God’s pleasure. This is the price of all the natural and artificial pleasures of the fallen.
I deliberately depicted to you the state of the spirit combined with the body, such as it should be according to God’s intention, and such as it became after the fall, in order to thereby approach the answer to the question proposed at the beginning. - So, know, whoever is such as we depict as a pure spirit and a spirit combined with a body, but acting according to the intention of God, he has the Spirit; and whoever is such as the fallen one is depicted among us does not have the Spirit. For the Divine Spirit then descended, then dwells in the Church and is communicated to all believers in order to restore the fallen, return them to their original perfection, reunite them with God and establish in them life according to God.
In whom the contemplation of God is quality, who possesses knowledge of the mysteries of God through direct illumination or through mediocre revelation, who in the knowledge of the visible creatures themselves does not dwell on them alone, but seeks in them to see the reflection of the mysteries of God's knowledge, peacemaking and world government, in that there is spiritual life, he has also the Holy Spirit. He who is steeped in his mind in creatures and does not know God, no matter how learned he is, does not live by the Spirit.
He who recognizes within himself the action of God’s beckons and has acquired the skill to act according to the instructions of God’s revealed will and to organize his life according to it, despite opposition within or difficulties and sorrows without, lives by the Spirit. Whoever does not have God in his thoughts when organizing his affairs, no matter how correct his actions may be, does not have the Spirit.
He who tastes bliss in the one God and enjoys all created things only insofar as it not only does not interfere with, but also contributes to the pleasure of God, he lives by the Spirit. Whoever finds taste in mere pleasures of creatures and suffers from tastelessness for the Divine, no matter how refined his taste he may have, does not have the Spirit.
I will not expand further in explaining the details of the manifestations of the Spirit in us, so as not to tire your attention. Take the trouble to do it yourself. However, I will add one thing. – Those who live by the Spirit know how the life of the Spirit began in them, they know how the Spirit of God, having touched their spirit, instilled in them dissatisfaction with themselves and everything around them, how then the desire to change everything and arrange life according to the direction of the Spirit arose, how their spirit was rejoiced in this very change and what success I encountered in all my labors in spiritual life, how a stagnant feeling began to come to life and warmth towards the Divine, how little by little evil habits fell away and good morals took root, how truth after truth settled in the mind and the knowledge of God increased, how in general man entered more and more into himself, established himself in the heart and became in himself, so as to be attentive to God and walk unceasingly in His presence, not only thought, but also felt. This brief history of spiritual life in man is, perhaps, more than anything else, tangible evidence of his possession of the Spirit of God.
One more word: it is natural for our spirit to live in God. Having fallen, he turned away from God to creation and began to live in it. The Spirit of God comes, plucks him from the bonds of creation and again directs him to God. The aspiration of the spirit towards God is prayer. – So, the action of prayer in us is the fruit of the Spirit of God. There is prayer, and there is the Spirit of God. No prayer, no Spirit of God.
Having confirmed your possession of the Spirit, rejoice, Spirit-Bearers. But for us, who do not see the obvious actions of the Spirit in ourselves, although it is bitter, we should not despair. The Holy Spirit, having descended, does not leave the earth. The entrances to it are open. Let us begin, and He will come and dwell in us...
(St. Theophan the Recluse, “Collection of words for the Lord’s, Mother of God and solemn days”, chapter 29, Word for Pentecost).
St. Innocent of Kherson
(Excerpts from conversations)
A true follower of Christ is only one in whom the grace of the Holy Spirit lives and operates
The Apostle Paul, once passing through Asia Minor with the gospel, found people in Ephesus who called themselves disciples of Jesus, but did not have the grace of the Holy Spirit. To ask them: "have you received the Holy Spirit", - these half-Christians answered: “We haven’t even heard if there is a Holy Spirit” (Acts 19; 1-2). Upon further interview, it turned out that they were baptized only by the baptism of John, which, as is known, was performed in repentance, in the name of the Savior, yet to come, and therefore the Holy Spirit, like the current Baptism, did not have and did not communicate.
We, brethren, by the goodness of God, have all been baptized with the Baptism of Christ, which cannot exist without the Holy Spirit; why we all participated in His gifts of grace, at our very entry into this world. Moreover, each of us not only often heard about the Holy Spirit, but also repeatedly cried out to Him with the Church: come and dwell in us! But what if some apostolic man now stood among us, and with the voice of Paul, in the name of Almighty God, asked: “You who celebrate in honor of the Holy Spirit, who dare to proclaim daily with the Church: we have seen the light of truth, we have received the Spirit Heavenly! – "have you received the Holy Spirit"? What would we say to such a question? Alas, the impoverishment of the Spirit has become so common among Christians that it has ceased to be considered a flaw. Stories about extraordinary gifts of grace seem now to be stories about something that happened in another world, not ours; Many of the most honest Christians would have been no less surprised than the teacher of Israel if they had been decisively told that in order to see the Kingdom of God, it is necessary for everyone to be born of the Spirit (see: John 3; 3).
Is it natural, brethren, for Christians to have such a state of soullessness? And can it continue without extreme harm to us? If it is unnatural and dangerous, then how can we get out of it, and what should we do in order to acquire and, having acquired, preserve the grace of the Holy Spirit? Why can we be sure that we are definitely in a state of grace and have the Spirit of God within us? – These questions are so important that they can and should occupy the mind of a Christian at all times; all the more necessary to pay attention to them in these days, when we triumph in honor of the Comforter Spirit, and we pray to Him to come and dwell in us. But first of all, let us turn ourselves in prayer to this All-Holy Spirit, so that He Himself will give me to speak, and for you to receive the word of truth and salvation - for what do all the words of the preacher and all the attention of those listening mean, if His all-edifying anointing is not added?
That true Christianity cannot exist without the Spirit of God, that a real follower of Christ is the one in whom the grace of the Spirit lives and acts, - this important truth is said and repeated in countless places in the Holy Scriptures. Even through the prophets, God said that in the last days, that is, after the coming of Christ, He will give people a new law, written not on tablets, but on hearts, and that therefore, as a necessary means to the end, the grace of the Holy Spirit will be poured out on every flesh (see: Joel. 2; 28). The last great prophet of the Old Testament, John the Baptist, believed that the difference between his baptism from Christ was that the latter would be given the Holy Spirit, as a necessary gift of the new, higher covenant (Luke 3:16). The Savior Himself always spoke about the grace of the Holy Spirit with special power, as a gift necessary for His followers. Thus, to Nicodemus, who came to Him for instruction on what must be done in order to enter the blessed Kingdom, He said directly that for this it is necessary to be born again - of the Spirit (John 3:3), and that the one in whom this did not happen spiritual birth, no matter who he is and no matter what he does, he cannot see the Kingdom of God, much less enter it. Subsequently, speaking to the Jews during the great holiday and inviting them to drink the living water flowing into eternal life, the Savior again meant by this water nothing more than the Holy Spirit. "He said this, - John notes, - about the Spirit, which those who believed were to receive"(John 7:39). Talking with his disciples about the necessity for His followers to partake of His Body and Blood, He at the same time testified with power that this heavenly eating cannot be valid unless it is accomplished in the Spirit. “The Spirit gives life; the flesh is of no use" (John 6:63). Therefore, parting with the grieving disciples before His death, the Savior found nothing better to say to console them than that the Holy Spirit would come to them in His place: “It is better for you that I go; for if I do not go, the Comforter will not come to you; and if I go, I will send Him to you.” (John 16:7). And after the resurrection, appearing to the disciples, He brought them no other gift from heaven except the Holy Spirit: “He breathed and said to them: Receive the Holy Spirit!” (John 20; 22). And ascending into heaven, He commanded them most of all to wait for the coming of the promised Comforter, and not first to go out to the work of worldwide preaching, but having been clothed with His power (Acts 1:4). The Savior Himself spoke so much about the Spirit and delivered so much in His presence!
This is what all the apostles spoke and wrote about the necessity of the Holy Spirit when they became organs of the Spirit and learned through experience His necessity. St. Paul is especially noteworthy in this regard. In all his epistles, he does not speak about anything so often and so strongly as about the Spirit and His actions: he desires nothing more for his disciples than the grace of the Spirit; he rejoices in nothing so much as in the presence and fruits of the Spirit in them; warns against nothing more than the loss of the Spirit. Not having the Holy Spirit with him is the same as not being a Christian. (Rom. 8; 9),he, according to St. Paul, is not a Christian. Therefore, as we saw at the beginning of our conversation, upon coming to Ephesus, the first thing the apostle did was to find out whether the Christians there had the Spirit, and since they did not have it, to teach it to them.
In general, the New Testament is completely filled with the Spirit. From the Spirit is produced in him the beginning of life in Christ, and new birth into eternal life; we are commanded to expect from the Spirit all success and spiritual perfection; All the gifts necessary for a Christian in the fight against temptations are assimilated to the Spirit; The Holy Spirit appears to be both a Teacher of all truth, and a Comforter who consoles in all sorrow, and a Witness to the blessed union of a Christian with God and the Savior, and a Helper of eternal promises and blessings of the life to come. Therefore, a true Christian is called a spiritual person, and non-Christians and false Christians are called carnal people who do not have the Spirit. Thus, the whole essence of active Christianity, according to Holy Scripture, consists in being born of the Spirit, in filling oneself with the Spirit, in walking in the Spirit, in kindling the Spirit in oneself and others.
Whoever delves into the nature of our holy faith will be convinced for himself that it must definitely be this way and not otherwise, that without the Holy Spirit it is impossible to be a Christian. For what is the essence of true active Christianity, which alone is worth this name, for alone it gives the right to eternal life in Christ?
The essence of this Christianity does not consist neither in enormous and deep knowledge, nor in the strength and swiftness of good, but transitory and remaining without beneficial consequences, feelings, nor in the superficial correction of one’s behavior, which the world itself urgently demands, nor in cutting off some only branches of the evil root our self-love, but in the complete eradication of sin and lust, in the renewal of all the powers of the spirit and heart, in the re-creation of the very inner principle of activity and life. Who can do all this, penetrate to the last foundation of our existence, imprison there the source of corruption and death, and open the sources of life, if not the Spirit of God, by whose power we live, move and exist? A Christian is obliged to crucify his flesh with its passions and lusts: who will lift up his flesh on the cross if there is no Spirit of God? The human spirit itself is carnal, and therefore cannot raise its hands against its nourisher and accomplice; Moreover, he himself needs a cross and death: who will crucify him to the flesh and to the world?
A Christian must be in Christ, constantly cling to Him by faith, like a branch on a vine, and only in this state of unity with Christ can he be a living tree worthy of the garden of heaven; What earthly gardener can graft us into this Divine vine, without the Spirit of God?
A Christian is obliged to wage war not only with flesh and blood, but also with the spirit of wickedness in high places, with the forces of hell; Will our own strength be enough in this fight? Will the proud Lucifer be afraid of our wisdom, our courage, our patience and constancy, if all this is not endowed with the power of the Spirit of God? Briefly: a Christian must be a new creation, created in Christ for good works; Is it possible for a creature to create itself? We were created by the Spirit of God, and by Him, and by Him alone, we are recreated. Where there is no Spirit, there is no spiritual life, just as where there is absolutely no air, there is no bodily life. Therefore, those in the greatest error are those who want to be virtuous and do not try to acquire the grace of the Holy Spirit: they sow on stone, write on water, want to fly without wings, to breathe without air.
And the natural mind can emit rays of light from itself, and produce a rainbow radiance of thoughts around itself; but this light does not have the warmth necessary for the growth of good deeds, and is not able to produce that day of knowledge of God and piety, among which the one who walks will never stumble (John 11:9). It is possible to squeeze drops of good feelings from a natural heart from time to time; but all these drops, no matter how abundant and fresh they may seem, in their very merging will never produce living water that can quench the thirst of the soul, and for the most part evaporate idly in the air, without softening the obstinate disposition, without reviving the withered conscience. You can, finally, speckle your entire behavior with commendable deeds, dissolve all your words with secular kindness, destroy the entire image of your earthly existence, and for this be known as a man of noble rules, an example of how to live, but this is impossible, absolutely impossible, without the grace of the Holy Spirit to do that without which everything else is small and insignificant, that is, to change your heart, which is evil by nature, to renew your fallen spirit, to renounce your unclean will, to die forever to self-love - this is higher than man, this is the work of the all-powerful grace of the Holy Spirit!
By speaking in this way, and it is impossible to speak otherwise without grossly contradicting the truth, are we not, brethren, pronouncing a grave sentence on ourselves? Your own position is open to you, the thoughts and feelings of our brethren are familiar, you know what the ordinary affairs and occupations of each and every one are; tell me: are there many people about whom one could say that the Holy Spirit dwells in them? Does everyone know at least one? Among the incessant conversations about subjects of all kinds, did you ever hear any word about the Holy Spirit? And who would be considered to be one of you who, in any of your congregations, would dare to begin to speak about the Spirit, “Whom the believers were to receive”! (John 7:39).
What does our Christianity mean after this? Where are we all going, and where do we think we will arrive by going this way? Can our poor spirit forever replace the Spirit of God for us? And if only we, without the Spirit of God, could remain at least with our own spirit! But this is impossible! In anyone who does not have the Spirit of God, the spirit of malice certainly lives and operates in him. Until time, this presence of it in a person who has not been regenerated by grace is not so noticeable, and is not accompanied by visible destruction (although even here, from time to time, looking at the actions of such people, everyone involuntarily says: there is an evil spirit in this person)! But at death, when all the veils fall, when a person becomes alone in the midst of heaven and hell, then the terrible influence of the spirit of malice will be revealed in all its strength over souls that do not have the Spirit of God in them.
If, brethren, the gentle call of grace is not strong enough to awaken and attract us to the Holy Spirit; then let the fear of falling without Him to the corrupting influence of the spirit of malice do this! For, as we said, one of two things is inevitable for a person: one must be either a temple of the Holy Spirit, or a nest of the enemy of God! Amen.
(St. Innocent of Kherson. “Words and Conversations on the Feasts of the Lord”, Homily on the Day of Pentecost, at the All-Night Vigil).
About the Descent of the Holy Spirit
1. When we say that the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles, then first of all, brethren, we must remember that His descent should not be considered similar to the descent or coming of man. The Holy Spirit, like God, is omnipresent; He has nowhere to descend and nowhere to come; He is already everywhere and fills everything. Only limited beings, not God, can go and come. All these expressions, as St. Chrysostom notes, are used about God out of necessity, for in human language there are no words to express Divine actions as they are in themselves; and all these expressions mean nothing more than a new manifestation of the power of God, a special revelation of His presence. Where the power of God is revealed, where He tangibly reveals His presence: there, according to our weak concept and even weaker expression, God seems to come.
So, the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles, strictly speaking, is not the descent of God the Spirit to them, but the manifestation of His power in them, the revelation of His special presence in them.
In the same way, brethren, when we say that the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles and began to act in them; then one should not think that He did not act before in the human race. The Holy Spirit, as the Church wisely sings, “has always been, is and will be.” He was in the Old Testament patriarchs - Adam, Noah, Abraham and others; was among the prophets; was pure in every soul; every righteous man had Him; Without Him, not a single truly good deed has ever been accomplished.
Despite, however, this constant presence of the Spirit of God in the holy men of God, one should not think that His descent upon the apostles was not something especially important. No, it is extremely important, extremely beneficial for the entire human race - for the following reasons.
In the eternal council of God about the salvation of the human race destroyed by sin, it was ordained, brethren, that the Son of God, appearing at a certain time on earth, redeemed people from eternal destruction with His death and, after completing this greatest deed, ascended to heaven in order to enjoy the glory of the Divine there. . Why Providence did not deign that the Son of God should remain on earth until the very end of time, in order to visibly govern His Church, of which He is the head and Lord, we cannot say anything about this that is absolutely correct: for the Apostle himself only says that "heaven had to accept Savior until the time of the completion of all things"(Acts 3:21), and why so, he doesn’t say anything. For us in this regard, it is enough to remember the words of the Savior to the disciples who grieved over His departure: “It is better that I depart from you,” and, remembering them, believe that it is really better that our Savior should be in heaven, and on earth with we were the Holy Spirit.
So, since the Savior’s stay on earth was supposed to be short, then in the same eternal council of God, brethren, it was ordained that, after the Savior’s departure to heaven, the Holy Spirit should come, so that, so to speak, taking His place, complete what He began, to make the apostles capable of preaching the Gospel to the whole world, to dispose the hearts of people to accept their preaching, to teach them a living faith in the merits of the Redeemer, to impart to them new spiritual strength for the fulfillment of the new law of grace, in short: to assimilate to the human race those Divine gifts that were acquired for it through suffering Son of God. Therefore, the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles is, as it were, His solemn entry into the high position of Sanctifier of the sinful human race, it is the solemn consecration of the new, universal, eternal Church, such a consecration, after which the Sanctifier has already begun to act visibly and constantly in it.
And from this it is obvious, brethren, how important and beneficial for the entire human race is the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles. If He had not descended on them, then the work of the Savior of the human race would have remained imperfect; the apostles would have been unable to preach Him to the whole world; the world would not know about its Savior; there would be no Christian faith in the world, and our forefathers and we, brothers, would all remain in the darkness of idolatry.
2. Just as all the most important events in the Kingdom of Grace were previously predicted by the prophets, so that people, knowing what to hope for, would hope all the more firmly: so the descent of the Holy Spirit was predicted more than once.
So for another six hundred years, God, comforting, on the occasion of famine, the people of Israel through the prophet Joel, said that He would not only give them their daily bread, but in the last days, that is, in the days of the coming of the Messiah, He would pour out His Spirit on all flesh ( Joel 2:28-32). God said something similar to this through the prophet Ezekiel (Ezekiel 36; 26).
But the contemporaries of these prophets, hungry for bodily bread, cared little about spiritual food, and the comforting prediction did not touch hearts devoted to passions.
John the Baptist, according to the duty of his title, preparing the Jews for the meeting of the Messiah, also prepared them for the reception of the Holy Spirit. He repeatedly announced that after his baptism with water, the baptism with the Holy Spirit would soon be revealed and that the last baptism was indescribably more important than the first (Matthew 3:11). But this proclamation did not produce a thirst for the Holy Spirit in hearts dried up from passions. No one asked what kind of baptism this is, where and how to find It?
The Savior Himself at times pointed to the future coming of the Holy Spirit. So He directly told Nicodemus, who came to Him at night to teach him, that in order to receive the Kingdom of God he must certainly be reborn from the Holy Spirit (John 3:3). But this Israeli teacher knew so little about the Holy Spirit that, as you know, he thought that they were telling him about a new birth from the womb.
Then the Savior, on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles (on which, among other rituals, water from the Spring of Siloam was poured onto the altar), publicly preached in the temple that everyone who thirsts should come to Him, because whoever believes in Him will himself become a source of living water (John 7). ; 37-39). This, as the Evangelist John notes, He spoke about the Holy Spirit. But hardly anyone truly understood Him; for there was a dispute among the hearers about His face, and nothing more.
The apostles themselves, nourishing the hope of the earthly kingdom of the Messiah, thought little (if they only thought) about the Holy Spirit. And the Savior, seeing their inability, did not tell them about Him, or spoke very little.
But when the time came for Him to separate from His disciples, He, in the last conversation - on the eve of His death, to console them, not only revealed that they would soon receive the Holy Spirit, but also revealed the beneficial properties of their future Comforter. “And because,” He said, “that I must leave you, your heart was filled with sadness; but truly I tell you that it is better that I go away from you: for if I do not go, the Comforter will not come, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father. True, I still have a lot to tell you, but you cannot contain it now. When He comes, He will guide you into all truth: He will teach you everything, reveal to you the very future, and remind you of everything that I spoke to you about. He will no longer leave you, but will remain with you forever.”
Nothing could be clearer than this prediction, and the disciples apparently calmed down. But the terrible death of Jesus Christ, which, despite all the predictions, they could not agree with their hope of His earthly kingdom, completely eclipsed in their minds the promise of the Savior: no one thought about the Comforter; everyone just cried and lamented!
The resurrection of Jesus Christ dispelled the cloud of sorrow, but did not revive the desire for the coming of the Holy Spirit. The disciples again began to dream of an earthly kingdom: "God, they asked Him, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1; 6); and if the Holy Spirit comes in this summer, no one even thought to ask about it.
The Savior, seeing the extreme inattention of the disciples, again turned their thoughts and desires to the Holy Spirit, and so that they would wait for Him all the more diligently, he predicted that He would come after a few days (Acts 1:5); finally, just before his ascension into heaven, he forbade them to leave Jerusalem until His coming, and tied them, so to speak, like little children, to the place where the Holy Spirit was supposed to descend on them.
Isn't it painful for the heart, listeners, to hear about such inattention, about such coldness towards the Holy Spirit? The prophets proclaim Him, the Forerunner leads Him to meet Him, the Savior Himself depicts His coming as the greatest good deed, and no one listens, no one comes to meet Him, everyone moves away, everyone runs away. O Divine Comforter! What drew you to earth, to people? To people who did not look for You, did not think about You? And do they seek You more now, do they think more about You now that You have already come? Do we seek You more than we, who repeat daily: Come and dwell in us! The first disciples of the Gospel, at least, subsequently compensated for their inattention to the Holy Spirit with fiery zeal.
3. Indeed, brethren, the blessing with which the Lord bestowed upon His disciples as He ascended into heaven seemed to impart a completely new direction to their minds and hearts. The Comforter, whom they had previously expected so little, became the only object of their thoughts and desires. No one even thought of leaving Jerusalem, they didn’t even go home, but they all stayed together. There were all one hundred and twenty people (including the Blessed Virgin), but there was one soul, one heart. The strongest prayer was added to the strong unanimity. Despite the Savior’s promise to send the Holy Spirit soon, they incessantly prayed for His descent: they prayed because they did not consider themselves worthy of such a great gift; they prayed, because they realized that without prayer nothing important happens; They prayed, because the very desire of the soul for the Holy Spirit was already the purest prayer.
Nine days passed in such a holy disposition. Can you imagine, brothers, how long these days were for hearts burning with thirst for the grace of the Holy Spirit! Or maybe they were very short. He who truly prays is not bored by the length of time; he does not even know how much time there is. For us, the question of prayer is almost always inseparable from the question: for how long?..
When the apostles thus, through unanimity and prayer, unnoticed by themselves, approached and rose to the Holy Spirit, the fiftieth day came after the Jewish Passover, a very solemn day, for the celebration of which many of the devout Jews flocked to Jerusalem from all over the world. The subject of the celebration was the remembrance of the Sinai legislation: for on the fiftieth day after the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, the law was given to them on Mount Sinai, given, as is known, amid thunder, lightning and storms. Moreover, on this same day, according to the law, the firstfruits of the harvest were sacrificed to God, which in Palestine ends during our spring.
All the Jews, according to the law and zeal, hurried to the temple: but the apostles did not consider it necessary to go to the temple, abandoned forever by the Lord of the temple Himself - they stayed in their home temple. But the holy day could not help but arouse even more sacred feelings in their hearts. The memory of God's descent onto Mount Sinai involuntarily aroused hope: whether the promised Comforter would not descend on that same day. And such hope inflamed hearts even more with prayer. One hundred and twenty purest voices rushed to the sky! One hundred and twenty purest hearts opened for the Comforter! The Divine Fire was already beginning to ignite in their insides; The Holy Spirit has already moved at the foundation of their being; He could no longer hide His invisible presence, and the power of grace, through prayer, broke through the forces of visible nature.
Suddenly we heard a noise, like what happens during a storm, from a strong gust of wind. The noise came from the sky, from upper parts air, but soon penetrated and filled the entire temple in which the disciples were with the purest breath. At the same moment, among the temple, in the air, many tongues appeared fiery color; rushing over the heads of the disciples, they landed on them and fell asleep. “If,” says Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, “who saw the apostles at that moment, he might think that there were crowns of fire on their heads” (Catechism 17).
Stormy breathing was the nearest harbinger, and the appearance of fiery tongues was a visible sign of the coming of the Holy Spirit. Being the purest, incorporeal Spirit, He chose this sensual sign in order to manifest His presence all the more palpably. “For,” argues Saint Gregory the Theologian, “just as the Son of God appeared visibly on earth, so the Holy Spirit also had to appear visibly” (Conversation 44). So before, when He descended on Jesus Christ in the Jordan, He chose the appearance of a dove as a sign of His appearance.
There is no doubt, brethren, that it was not in vain that the Holy Spirit chose these and not other signs: with the Wise One nothing happens without a purpose. What was the goal? Fire, as explained by the Fathers of the Church, expressed the effect that the Holy Spirit had to produce both in the apostles, making them fiery zealots of the faith, and in the whole world, burning the thorns of wickedness. Tongues expressed the gift of speech given to the proclaimers of the Gospel. Fire and storm showed that the legislation of the New Testament is no worse than the Old Testament, which was given in the midst of fire and storm; and the meekness of the fire that rested on the apostles, in comparison with the ferocity of the fire of Sinai - the latter killed, showed that the New Testament is filled with mercy and grace that was lacking in the Old.
The violent breathing and vision of fiery tongues did not last long, perhaps a few moments: but the Holy Spirit filled the souls and hearts of the apostles forever. Oh, who can imagine what breath, what fire was in these hearts! How they were purified, transformed, adored! This was, brothers, a truly new, better creation! In this moment, more was done than during the entire stay of the disciples with Jesus Christ, more was given, more was accepted. We can say that the whole world, Jesus Christ Himself, through the action of the Holy Spirit, was now, as it were, transformed in the minds of the apostles; for from now on they no longer “knew anyone according to the flesh,” whereas before they “knew Jesus Christ Himself according to the flesh” (2 Cor. 5:16). Perhaps, if the apostles themselves had been asked about this state, they would have said no more than what St. Paul said about his stay in paradise: “Whether in the body - I don’t know, whether outside the body - I don’t know: God knows”! (2 Cor. 12; 2).
The first miracle was followed by another, greater one. Having hitherto been able to speak only one natural language - Hebrew, and, moreover, in its simplest dialect - Galilean, the apostles and other believers suddenly began to speak now in all the then known languages. There was still no one to listen to them: but they all spoke and could not help but speak: the Holy Spirit moved the heart, the heart moved the lips, and the words flowed out of themselves, like water flows from a source. So, Saint David, when the Holy Spirit descended on him, his heart naturally poured out “a good word... language done with a cane scribe, cursive" (Ps. 44). Each one said what the Holy Spirit gave him to broadcast. There was one giver, but the gifts were different: the sea of grace, so to speak, spilled into the sources, depending on the quality of the hearts, fast, slow, noisy, quiet, more or less deep, but alive and bright in all hearts!
The apostles spoke “about the great works of God” (Acts 2:11), that is, the unappealing perfections of God, the wonderful works of Providence, which were now revealed to them in all their fullness and light. Who wouldn’t want to know exactly what and how they were broadcasting? To see, so to speak, the first experiments in their fiery broadcasting? But Providence hid this from us. It was a broadcast for themselves, their thanksgiving prayer. They began to broadcast to us afterwards, and their broadcast spread throughout the entire universe.
We, brothers, should only note here what prayer means. Prayer preceded the descent of the Holy Spirit; in prayer He descended, bringing prayer with Him. How holy and powerful is prayer after this! How kind it should be to one who wants to acquire and preserve (and everyone must acquire and preserve) the Holy Spirit! “Pray,” says one great ascetic, “pray like the apostles, and for you no more than ten days will pass before you receive the Holy Spirit.”
4. We have seen, brethren, the action of the Spirit of God, we have heard the voices of spiritual people: now let us look at the actions of the world, let us listen to the voice of carnal people.
The sound of violent breathing was probably heard not only by the believers; The voices of one hundred and twenty people were heard, of course, for some distance, thundering to the glory of God. Therefore, many of the foreign Jews who came to the holiday immediately flocked to the apostolic temple.
Everyone was amazed! Firstly, to the fact that they heard the apostles praising God in foreign languages, while prayers were usually performed in the sacred language of Hebrew; secondly, to the fact that they have never heard of such lofty truths, such holy feelings; but most of all they were amazed that everyone: Roman, Greek, African, Indian heard their own natural language, while everyone knew that the speakers were all Galileans, people completely unfamiliar with foreign languages. From surprise they turned to horror, for everyone saw the extraordinary, heard the miraculous, but no one could understand what they saw and heard. “Everyone was amazed and, perplexed, said to each other: what does this mean?”
But soon there were people who decided (as often happens now) to explain to others what they themselves did not understand at all. “What’s surprising here,” they said? This is the effect of wine; wine made them forget decency - and so they think freely, pray in common languages, and are vain about their knowledge.” "Some mocked and said, 'They have drunk on sweet wine.'
Despite all the absurdity of this oath, there is something in it, brethren, that is worthy of pious attention. And the Apostle Paul contrasts wine with the Holy Spirit when he says: “...do not get drunk with wine... but be filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18). This contrast is not in vain. And Saint David says that the righteous "they are filled with the fatness of the house" God (Ps. 35; 9). This expression is not in vain. And the bride - a believing soul, described by Solomon, says that she was even introduced into the house of wine, and calls on others to drink it and get drunk (Song 2; 4-5). There are even more secrets here. What does all this mean? It is likely that whoever is filled with the Holy Spirit, to whom He will “pour out what he deserves,” is beside himself, and in his actions and in his very appearance something strange is revealed, going out of the ordinary order, suitable to what is seen in a person in state of noisy fun. So Saint David, filled with the Spirit of God, with a royal crown on his head, like a baby, galloped publicly in front of the ark of the covenant (2 Sam. 6; 16).
But carnal people do not know any other delight than the sensual; intoxication with the Holy Spirit, holy mockery from the abundance of grace is alien to them; they judge by their own experience, and they blaspheme! – “They mocked and said: they got drunk on sweet wine.”
Thus, brethren, the world always errs when it undertakes to judge the actions of God’s holy men, when it brings them under its own rules, under its own so-called order, but in fact, the disorder of things. Read the lives of the saints, and you will see that many of them were considered strange people, lacking, if not intelligence, then prudence. Already death revealed the general delusion, and showed everyone that they “...the whole world was not worthy”! (Heb. 11; 38).
Thus, at the very descent of the Holy Spirit, the words of the Savior were again confirmed that “The world... does not know Him” (John 14; 17). He will never know Him. But at the same time it was justified that the Holy Spirit, “When he comes, he will convict the world of sin” (John 16:8).
Hearing the blasphemy of the Jews, Peter and the other apostles stood in front of them and pronounced an accusatory word. This reproof was brief and simple, but since the Holy Spirit spoke through the mouth of Peter, his words penetrated the hearts of those who heard and defeated their stubbornness. Having listened to him, Saint Luke narrates, “...they were touched in their hearts and said...brothers, what should we do?” (Acts 2:37).
"Repent, - answered Saint Peter, - and let each one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ... and Not only will you be forgiven, but you yourself... receive the gift of the Holy Spirit; for… The promise of the Holy Spirit is not given to us alone, but also to you, and to your children and to all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” (Acts 2; 38-39).
After this, the Jews immediately repented, believed, were baptized, and the new Church of one hundred and twenty grew to three thousand people. Thus ended the event we are celebrating - the complete triumph of the Holy Spirit over those who did not believe!
If, brethren, even among us, who are now celebrating the descent of this Most Holy Spirit, any soul, moved by hearing about Him and wanting to acquire Him, asked: what should I do? The answer is the same for her: “Repent, believe, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” One obstacle - sin removes the All-Holy One from our hearts, and therefore there is only one way to acquire Him - repentance, dissolved in living faith in the Redeemer. Whoever decides to cleanse his heart with true contrition for sins should have no doubt that the Holy Spirit will visit his poor heart. And what kind of doubt? The promise was not given to the apostles alone, it was given to us, it was given to all those who are far away, whomever the Lord calls. After this, everyone - great and small, rich and poor, learned and unlearned - everyone can ask boldly: no one will be denied!
O all-merciful Spirit! what have we sinners done to deserve so much? great love Yours? Glory, endless glory to You, the Sanctifier of our souls and hearts! Gratitude, eternal gratitude to the Son of God, our Redeemer, Who begged the Father to send You to us! Doxology, unceasing praise to God the Father, Who, without sparing His Son for us, gave us His Most Holy Spirit! Oh, Holy and All-Good Trinity, who has loved us so unworthy, glory, glory, glory to You! Amen.
(St. Innocent of Kherson. “Words and Conversations on the Feasts of the Lord,” Conversation on the Day of the Descent of the Holy Spirit).
About miracles and a virtuous life
“The Holy Spirit has always been, is and will be” (Stichera for the Day of Pentecost).
No matter how joyful, brethren, this present day is, no matter how bright the triumph now celebrated by the Church; but, if we compare our current celebration with that Apostolic Pentecost, then some kind of sad feeling is born in the heart. There the Comforter reveals His presence visibly and solemnly: storm and fire serve as His messengers, and in the little upper room of Zion the miracles of Sinai are repeated; here, our weak prayers to Him, the Almighty, must penetrate through this roof, which always remains closed over our heads, and we, not having a single sensory sign from above, are forced to assure ourselves that He, the All-Good, hears us and is present among us . Then the preachers of the Gospel, having been endowed with power from on high, suddenly became able to understand and proclaim in the ears of the whole world the wisdom hidden in God; and short, unartificial, but full of strength and spirit, their broadcast turned entire tribes and peoples to Christ, forcing them to reject false gods, abandon prejudices, conquer skills and passions; Now, ministers of the word must, through difficult and long teaching, gain information to communicate to others the proper concepts of faith; and, despite all the aids of art, despite all the efforts of jealousy, their most lengthy and eloquent conversations often cannot turn into true Christians even those who were born and raised in the depths of Christianity.
This contrast would not have seemed so sad if the extraordinary abundance of spiritual gifts in ancient times had been the lot of the apostles alone, their collaborators and first successors. Destined for extraordinary, worldwide, arduous service, they also needed extraordinary gifts, emergency help. But in the Apostolic Church, everyone, from the first to the last, was filled with miraculous gifts. "To each", - this is how the Apostle Paul describes the Church of Corinth, - "everyone is given" open action “For the benefit of the spirit: one... the word of wisdom”– the ability to express in words the highest objects of Christian wisdom; "to another word of knowledge"– the gift of active understanding of the truths of faith and their use in life; "other faith"– firm confidence in the authenticity of invisible future benefits, and, resulting from this, patience and courage; "to others gifts of healing"– physical and mental illnesses; "other actions of forces"- the production of such phenomena that exceed all human powers; "a prophecy to another", - prediction of the future, explanation of the truths of faith, through comparison of the present with the past and future; "discernment of spirits to others"– true from false, and their revelations; "different languages"– the ability to speak different languages without learning them first; "to another interpretation of tongues"- the gift of explaining in a known language what someone said in an unknown language (1 Cor. 12; 5-11).
Therefore, when the Corinthian Christians gathered in church to pray, then, according to the testimony of the same apostle, each of them had either a new psalm inspired by the Holy Spirit, or a new teaching, or new language, or a new revelation, or an interpretation of previous revelations. Similar things happened in all other Christian Churches. In Ephesus, when Paul first arrived there, there were several disciples who were called Christians and did not have spiritual gifts; but it was immediately revealed that they were baptized only by the Baptism of John, and not by Christ, and this deficiency was immediately filled through the laying on of hands on them by Saint Paul; after which they, like other Christians, began to speak in tongues and prophesy (Acts 19: 1-7). So truly, brethren, that comforting word of promise was then fulfilled: “And it shall come to pass in the last days... I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh” (Acts 2:17).
And now? We do not dare to think that even now this promise does not have its previous effect on any Christian. Who can know what is happening in the entire Church of Christ, which is scattered throughout the world, gathering from all peoples, tribes and tribes, and in its most chosen members, in their actions and talents, is known to the one Knower of the Heart?
But, on the other hand, eternal and universal experience prompts us to recognize as true that even if today miraculous gifts still exist somewhere; then in a meager measure, without the visibility, universality and completeness with which they appeared in the primacy of the Church.
What does this mean? Why were the first Christians so rich in the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit, but we do not have them? Is this not a sign that the Holy Spirit is now much less favorable towards the Church of Christ? Didn’t He even abandon her for the sins and wickedness of Christians?
These questions are so close to the real celebration, and so important in themselves, that they cannot be left without resolution. But who is able to resolve them as they should? In order to assure others of the reality of the presence of the Holy Spirit in the Church, one must first vividly feel His presence in one’s heart; and such a feeling can more likely be expressed by silence than by ranting. In order to explain more precisely why the Holy Spirit, while continuing to govern the Church of Christ and dwell in it, does not, however, communicate His miraculous gifts to its members, for this it is necessary to have one of those tongues of fire that now rest on the apostles.
Thus, with all the importance of the above questions, we, due to the weakness of our understanding of spiritual things, would have to leave them without resolution, if in this case we did not have an experienced leader, one might say, raised by the Holy Spirit Himself - St. Chrysostom, who in his time, for in his time there were no longer miraculous signs, he resolved the same questions for the edification of his listeners. Let's follow his leadership.
According to St. Chrysostom, one should not grieve and complain that the visible and tangible miraculous signs of the Holy Spirit are no longer in the Church; One can even rejoice that they have stopped, and consider it an honor for the Church. “One should not mourn” because the miraculous gifts that existed in ancient times did not bring salvation to people, but good life saved and can always save without them. “We can rejoice” because the existence of visible sensory signs was, among other things, a consequence of the weakness and spiritual childhood of many first-converted Christians; and their cessation is a sign of the strength and spiritual maturity of the Church of Christ, and provides its members with an opportunity for greater merit in the faith.
Indeed, brethren; if where should one begin to judge the importance or unimportance of possessing sensory (obviously visible) miraculous signs, then precisely with how much did they contribute to salvation? This is the only true rule. So, did the matter of salvation depend in any way on sensory (obviously visible) miraculous signs, on prophecies, on visions, on healings, on the knowledge of languages? Not at all.
And, firstly, as St. Chrysostom notes, there were great saints who did not do anything miraculous, at least they became great righteous people before they began to be miracle workers. “What sign,” he asks, “did John do, drawing many cities to himself? That he did not work miracles, listen to the evangelist who says: Why did Elijah become wonderful? Is it not from boldness before the king? Is it not out of zeal for God? Is it not from poverty, is it not from mercy, the cave and the mountains? Miracles were created by him after all these feats. Was it by some miracle that Job amazed the devil? He did not perform any miracles, but showed a brilliant life and patience, harder than adamant. What sign did David do while still in his youth, when God said about him: “I have found a man after My heart, David the son of Jesse” (Acts 13:22)? And Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob raised anyone from the dead? Has anyone been cleansed of leprosy? It was not signs that made all of these wonderful, but the disdain of wealth, the contempt of glory, the freedom from worldly cares. If they did not have this, but remained slaves of passions, then even if they raised thousands of dead people, not only would they not bring any benefit, but they would also be considered deceivers.”
“And how long,” concludes the golden-tongued teacher, “will these miracles serve as a cover for our negligence? Look at the whole host of saints who have shone forth not through miracles!” (Conversation on the Gospel of Matthew 46).
On the other hand, we find that many, possessing the gift of miracles, not only did not know how to derive any spiritual benefit from it, but also completely perished. A terrible example of this is Judas! No one doubts that he, like the other apostles, performed miracles: he healed lepers, cast out demons, and perhaps raised the dead; and, however, he lost not only his apostleship, but his very soul! Miracles did not save him, for he allowed the demon of greed to take possession of him, became a thief and betrayed his Teacher. And that not only Judas died, and perhaps will die with miracles, is clear from the fact that at the Last Judgment, according to the testimony of the Savior Himself, many will say to the Judge: "God! God! Have we not prophesied in Your name? and was it not in Your name that they cast out demons? and didn’t they do many miracles in Your name?” (Matt. 7:22). How many miracles! What signs! And yet, what will the Lord say to them? “I never knew you; Depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness” (Matthew 7:23). The words are completely unexpected! The verdict is terrible, but completely fair! “Let them,” Chrysostom argues, “be surprised that, having performed so many miracles, they were punished; Don't be surprised. All this grace was nothing more than the gift of the One who gave it, and they brought nothing of themselves, which is why they are justly punished, since they have become ungrateful and insensitive” (Conversation on the Gospel of Matthew 24).
So, if there were great saints who did not possess the gift of miracles, and if some of those who possessed this gift perished, if it was sometimes given to the wicked and unfaithful, then is it not clear, brethren, that our salvation does not at all depend on the possession of miraculous gifts? And if so, then there is no good reason to be sad, no longer seeing miracle workers among Christians. There is only one miracle, the failure of which we must always grieve over us, this is the correction of our, evil by nature, heart, the renewal of our life, spiritual rebirth; but to perform this miracle, which is necessary for each of us, Providence has done everything that is necessary, so it is entirely up to us to experience it on ourselves. “The main benefits,” argues St. Chrysostom, “that is, those gifts of the Holy Spirit, without which our salvation is impossible, we receive in baptism: remission of sins, sanctification, communion of the Spirit, adoption, eternal life. What else do you want? Signs? But they were abolished.” Don't look for what is not there, use what is there. (Conversation on the Acts of the Apostles 40).
More, in fact. All wonderful gifts cannot replace one virtue; on the contrary, one virtue is strong enough to reward all signs. "If I speak in the tongues of men and angels, - writes the Apostle Paul about himself - If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries, and have all knowledge and all faith, so that I could move mountains, but do not have love, then I am nothing.” (1 Cor. 13; 1-2). This is what one love means! They will ask us for it at the Last World Judgment, where the final reckoning will be made in the gifts of God given to us, and in what we have made of them - love, I say, they will ask each of us then, and not miracles, not signs. , - the righteous Judge Almighty will say, - (Matt. 25; 34). “Seek not miracles,” concludes St. Chrysostom, “but the salvation of the soul. If you have become merciful from a hard-hearted person, then you have healed a withered hand; if, leaving the spectacle, he went to church, then he corrected his lame leg; if he turned his eyes away from the harlot and from the beauty of another man’s wife, then he opened his blind eyes; If instead of satanic songs you learned spiritual psalms, then, being previously dumb, you began to speak. These are the greatest miracles! These are wondrous signs!” (Conversation on the Gospel of Matthew 32).
“But the ancient signs,” someone will say, “were very useful for the conversion of the infidels; and therefore there remains reason to mourn their cessation, if not for oneself, then for others.” Zeal for the good of others is commendable! Sorrow worthy of a Christian! But do you know what? If this sorrow and this jealousy did not remain in our words alone, but always expressed themselves in actions, then long ago, perhaps, there would not have been a single pagan left without miracles. “The pagans,” according to St. Chrysostom, “are converted not so much by miracles as by life.” “Those who performed signs,” he continues, “the pagans often called deceivers; But pure life they cannot reproach. We, truly we, are to blame for the fact that the pagans remain in error. They have long condemned their teaching and look at ours with respect; but our life keeps them from converting. It is easy to philosophize in words, many of them did it; but they require proof from deeds. Yes, and fair enough. After all, when a pagan sees that the one who is commanded to love even his enemies takes covetousness, robs, incites hostility and treats fellow tribesmen like wild animals, he will call our words empty nonsense. Show us, they say, faith from your works; but there is no business. On the contrary, they see that we are worse than animals in tormenting our neighbors, and therefore they call us the plague of the universe. This is what holds the pagans back and prevents them from joining us. Therefore, we will be punished for them too” (Conversation on the Gospel of John 72). It is about this, therefore, about the decline of morals among Christians, which seduces the infidels, that we should grieve; and not that we have no signs for their conversion. Let us do for their salvation what depends on us: and God will certainly do what depends on Him, and without a doubt does it, although we do not know through whom and how.
“So be it,” they will also say, “we should not grieve over the cessation of miraculous signs; but it would be foolish to rejoice at this. Is it possible to compare our poor times with that blessed time, when the Church of Christ, adorned with the gift of miracles, visibly showed the whole world that she was the chosen bride of the heavenly Bridegroom?”
Not only can it be compared, but, precisely in relation to signs, it should in some way even give an advantage to our times over the ancients. Let us impartially examine the reasons for the great sensory (material) signs in the Apostolic Church, and the truth will reveal itself.
Let us ask, firstly, why were so many miracles performed at the beginning of Christianity? – Did the perfection of the people who lived then bring them down from heaven? No, not perfection, but need. Then one of the great moral revolutions had to take place, a new faith was to be introduced among people. “Whenever,” notes St. Chrysostom, “when something special and unusual happens, or when some kind of new image life, God usually gives signs, as if as a guarantee of His power for those who must accept His laws. Thus, intending to create man, He first created the whole world, and then gave him a well-known law in paradise. So, when he wanted to give the law to Noah, he again performed great miracles, changed all creation... So he protected Abraham with many signs; granted him victory in battle, struck Pharaoh with blows, and delivered his forefather from danger. So before promulgating the law to the Jews, He showed wondrous and great miracles, and then gave the law. So here (at the time of Jesus Christ and the apostles), intending to give higher rules life and offer people (the Christian faith) something they have never heard, confirms His words with miracles. Since the kingdom proclaimed (by the apostles) was not visible, He made the invisible things visible with visible signs” (Discourse on the Gospel of Matthew 14). “All this was all the more necessary,” he argues in another place, “because at that time people who had recently fallen behind idols were more senseless; their mind was still very dull and rude; they were devoted and amazed at everything material; They did not yet have any concept of incorporeal gifts, and they did not even know what spiritual grace was and contemplated by faith alone: that is why there were signs then. Some of the spiritual gifts are invisible and are comprehended by faith alone, while others are also revealed in a sensory sign to certify the unbelievers” (First Discourse, on Pentecost)…
So, here are the true reasons for the abundance of miraculous signs that we are amazed at in the First Church: the need to prepare people to accept a new religion and a new way of life; the need to protect and strengthen the newly planted garden of faith; the need to assure sensual people that they are indeed provided with supernatural benefits. Thus, all need and some poverty were the cause of miracles and signs, and not wealth, not any kind of perfection, not merit.
What? After this, do we really regret that now the Church of Christ no longer has such needs, and therefore there are no signs? This would mean the same as if an adult, having reached the fullness of mental and moral strength, began to regret that he was deprived of some of the amenities and decorations of childhood; it’s the same as if one of the citizens began to grumble at his fate because he had to live at a time when his fatherland came into power and glory, and not at its very beginning and foundation.
On the contrary, having maturely reflected, we must thank God that He did not deign to make us witnesses of great changes in the fate of the Church, in continuation of which miracles and signs are needed, because people living during these upheavals, although they hear and see many things that does not happen in all other centuries, but due to some unfortunate fate, they rarely and little take advantage of the advantages of their time. In fact, how many of the contemporaries of Noah and Abraham turned to the path of righteousness? We don't know anyone. How many of the Jews who saw Moses' miracles remained faithful to God and entered the Promised Land? Only two people: Joshua and Caleb. Moses himself, who performed so many miracles, died outside it. How many of Jesus Christ's contemporaries took advantage of hearing the teaching and seeing His miracles? Very few. Who knows, listener, what would have happened to us if we had lived in those times of miracles that seem so enviable to us? Who can guarantee that we would have remained among the small number of Jesus’ friends who stood on Calvary, before His cross, and would not have been carried away by the stream of universal temptation to the side of His enemies and crucifiers? If even now, fully knowing who Jesus is, believing that He is our Redeemer, God and Judge, therefore, knowing more than what was known then to many of His disciples themselves; if, I say, even now, despite all this, we betray our Lord, crucify Him again with our sins: then shouldn’t we conclude with all probability from this that, if we were contemporaries of our Savior, we would belong to the number of His most stubborn enemies, maybe the very people who betrayed, condemned, crucified Him? This means that we should thank God that we do not live in times of miracles, which are times of grave temptations, that we do not see signs that, in all likelihood, would not convert us to faith, but would only make us more guilty and irresponsible.
“But I would like,” you say, “to be not among the spectators of miracles, unconverted and evil people, but among the faithful who possessed miraculous gifts.” Do you think this was not fraught with danger? We have seen that many of those who performed miracles will not be recognized by the Savior as their own and will go into torment.
Now let’s say in addition that for some, if not all of these unfortunate people, the miracles and extraordinary gifts that adorned them probably served as a stumbling block on the path to salvation (of course, not on their own, but through their fault). The proof of this sad truth is provided by the same Apostolic Church, which we want to envy. The Corinthians, as we have seen, were distinguished by many talents. What came of it? “Those who received (from miraculous gifts) more gifts,” in the words of Chrysostom, “extolled themselves over those who received less; but these mourned and were jealous of those who received more” (Commentary on First Corinthians, Discourse 29).
Envy, as usually happens, led to all mental illnesses, disagreements, disputes and disorder, so that if Paul, as an experienced and zealous doctor, had not rushed to the aid of the ailing Church and had not taught her the medicine of humility and love, then Probably more than one Corinthian wonderworker would have heard this terrible thing: "never knew you"! – The same could happen to us if we had the gift of miracles. “If without miracles,” argues St. Chrysostom, “those who possess one or another perfection, such as the gift of speech or piety, become vain, exalted, and separate from each other, then where would there be no divisions if there were also miracles? ” (Conversation on the Gospel of Matthew 32). This means, looking at the matter from this side, we should thank God that we are delivered from the temptations of having such dangerous gifts that we are not destined to carry in the depths of our sacred fire, but jealous and terrible, the flame of which could turn on ourselves.
But is that one thing we should thank God for, that we are freed from the temptation to abuse miracles? Don’t we still have many, most important advantages that did not exist at all in the first times of Christianity?
Our first advantage is to live in times of peace, to see the triumph of the Christian faith and its victory over our enemies. We only know from hearing the baptism of fire with which the disciples of Jesus were to be baptized, but the first Church experienced all the cruelty of this baptism. Glorious promises were ahead, invisible, but before their eyes was poverty and death for the name of Christ. “The believer,” says Chrysostom, “immediately had to lose his property, be expelled, withdraw from his fatherland, endure extreme misfortunes, be hated by everyone, become a common enemy both for his own and for others” (Commentary on First Corinthians, Discourse 7). This is the situation in which both faith and believers were then! Not one of the heads on which tongues of fire now rested was saved from the sword of the persecutors.
Meanwhile, not the first Christians, but we were given, in the words of Chrysostom, “to see the triumph of the Church, the conversion of the universe, the wisdom of the pagans, the change in rude morals, the advancement of piety, the fulfillment of prophecies” (Commentary on the First Epistle to the Corinthians, Conversation 6). We are given the opportunity to enjoy the peace that was purchased with the flow of blood of martyrs, the sweat and tears of ascetics, and the sighs of the entire Universal Church. We have not worked and yet we enjoy all the fruits of our labor. “God has planned something better for us” (Heb. 11:40).
Truly the best! - Over the course of eighteen centuries, how many new lights have been kindled by the Holy Spirit in the firmament of the church, which can serve as a guide for a comfortable voyage to the eternal fatherland! How many new examples of selflessness, love and all other high virtues have been given! How many spiritual experiences have been left of successful warfare against enemies visible and invisible! The formerly narrow path to the Kingdom of Heaven, one might say, has spread for us from the many who have passed along it; the thorns covering it seem to have been dulled by the feet of countless ascetics of God; The cup of temptations and sorrows, it seems, has already been completely drunk by them, and we can only touch it with our lips for our sanctification.
Finally, we are given the high privilege of faith without miracles. To believe the promises of God without seeing, to expect their fulfillment without requiring proof, constitutes the great dignity of the human spirit, and at the same time such a bliss that the apostles themselves lacked. "Blessed are you, - said the Savior Himself to the Apostle Thomas, - those who have not seen and have believed" (John 20; 29). Do you want to know what this bliss consists of? “This,” answers St. Chrysostom, “is that a believer, without signs, believes in God, without deposits, believes in His only word, and, thus, shows the purest obedience. For miracles, we ourselves remain debtors to God, but for life and deeds we are in debt to God” (Conversation on the Gospel of Matthew 24). “So,” argues the same teacher in another place, “when Christ comes and all the angels with Him; when He appears as God, and everything submits to Him, then will not the pagan believe in Him? Of course, he will worship Him and call Him God. But tell me, will this worship and recognition replace faith for a pagan? No. Why? Because it is not faith; this is a consequence of the need for a majestic spectacle; Not own solution, but the greatness of what is contemplated captivates the soul in this case. Hence, the clearer and more striking the signs, the less faith there is“, “The same thing,” concludes St. Chrysostom, “would happen if signs were performed now,” that is, our faith would lose most its price.
But in thinking this way, are we not demeaning the gift of signs and wonders? Shall we not belittle the dignity of the primal Church, which possessed this gift?
Not at all. The gift of miracles in itself is always equally important, because it comes directly from God and is given for great purposes. But in relation to people, this gift is especially important only in the case when it is acquired through their special labors, there is a reward for their faith, patience and love, or, better said, when there is, as it were, a natural (although not always revealed) consequence of restoration in them of the image of God and union with God, the action of that, in the Savior’s expression, “faith of God” (Mark 11:23), to which everything is subordinated, “and all things are possible” (Mark 9:23). In this case, the gift of miracles is extremely important, for it is one with holiness, although in this case it is important because of what it presupposes in a person, and not what comes from him.
There are cases when a person, who himself is not mature in spirit for the gift of miracles, who has not even begun to mature, suddenly receives it from above for some special purpose. Then the external miracles performed by such a person, not being a consequence of an internal miracle - the restoration of the image of God in his soul, do not give him moral perfection, but, on the contrary, can, as we have seen, from his carelessness, even turn into harm. In exactly this way, the gift of miracles was given to the majority of Christians in the Apostolic Church, given due to special circumstances and needs, without special merit on the part of those receiving it, immediately after baptism. Only in a few pure, exalted, deified souls (such as Pavlova, Petrova and other holy men), miracles were, one might say, as much the fruit of their own faith and spiritual perfections as the gift of God. But such are the few souls at all other times, as evidenced by sacred history, stood above the laws of visible nature; when they wanted and needed, they performed miracles. Only these souls are least inclined to seek the gift of miracles and show it to others.
We do not humiliate the primacy of the Church with our opinion about signs and wonders. Its inner beauty and godlikeness depended not on signs, but on the great virtues with which some of its members were adorned. Signs, as previously said, being a consequence of need, presupposing sensual people, in general, reminiscent of spiritual childhood, not only did not increase the internal perfection of the primal Church, but, one might say, served to make up for its shortcomings, to cover up its weak side. This was a certain temporary remnant of the Old Testament, which, being given to sensual and rude people, therefore almost entirely consisted of signs.
(St. Innocent of Kherson. “Words and Conversations on the Feasts of the Lord,” Word on the Day of the Descent of the Holy Spirit).
Feast of Pentecost, Trinity Day
Celebrates the Old Testament, for today is the fiftieth day, that great day on which the law was given to Israel on Mount Sinai. Today the New Testament is celebrated, for on this day the New Testament Church has been established and sanctified by the descent of the Holy Spirit; Now the first appeal of the pagans to her followed. Now faith celebrates, for now the worship of the Holy, Consubstantial and Indivisible Trinity, the most sublime object of faith, is being performed. Hope now celebrates, hoping that with tongues of fire everything on earth will be called into union and, moving forward to the last times, to the future, in the resurrection, the restoration of everything that has fallen. The invisible world celebrates our departed brethren, now accepting from the Church the holy gift of prayers for their reassurance. Visible nature itself celebrates, which is allowed today to appear together with people before the throne of grace. Truly a cathedral of holidays! Full of joy and joy!..
We celebrate Pentecost: here is the first subject of triumph and joy. What was Pentecost for the Jews? A holiday in honor and memory of the legislation of Sinai. It took place on the fiftieth day of Easter, because on this day, after the exodus from Egypt, the law was given on Mount Sinai. Since by this time the harvest in Palestine was ending, the Jews on this day, in addition to ordinary sacrifices, offered sheaves of newly harvested bread as a gift to God. Thus, already in the Jewish holiday, the spiritual - the law - met with the sensual - the fruits of the fields. Since the law of Sinai is unchangeable and has not been abolished by the coming of the Son of God, then the feast of the law of Sinai is also a triumph for the Christian: We celebrate Pentecost!
And the coming of the Spirit. Here is the second thing of joy. If the sounds of the trumpet and the smoking of the smoke of Sinai are worthy of grateful remembrance, how much more are the tongues of fire and the descent of the Holy Spirit of the Comforter; for what would have happened if the Holy Spirit had not now descended on the apostles? They would remain unable to go out into world preaching; and the world, not instructed by them, would remain with its idols and wickedness. We, like our ancestors, would have remained in the darkness of paganism. But the Comforter descended, and by His descent enlightened and revived the apostles, established the Church, brought with Him a new law, breathed storm and fire, and renewed the face of the earth. How not to celebrate such an event? We celebrate Pentecost and the coming of the Spirit. But the Holy Spirit, in addition to other benefits associated with His descent, also brought the great benefit that along with this the whole face of the Most Holy Trinity was revealed. In the Old Testament, until the very end, it was especially visible to one Father; in the New, before the Ascension of the Lord, it is the Son who acts on us primarily; from the time of the descent of the Holy Spirit, the era of the grace of the Spirit begins. At the same time, a series of revelations about the Divine ends...
For what do we remember? We remember Holy Pentecost, the day on which the law was given to Israel on Mount Sinai, and which, for this reason, constitutes the most important festival of the Old Testament. We remember the descent of the Holy Spirit, the event that ended earthly life Our Savior, and which served as the foundation of the New Testament and the Christian Church. From the past we are transported in thought to the most distant future; for we offer prayers for all our dead brothers, we pray for a shameless presence at the Last Judgment. We ascend in thought to the heavenly world, and there we worship the Trinitarian Divinity, gratefully confessing the mercies poured out on us, the fallen, in the mystery of redemption. Finally, we descend with our thoughts into the sensory world, and decorating temples with branches, we bring visible nature into participation.
Thus, the real celebration can be called global. After this, how can he not be joyful? If ever, then now the soul remembers the heavenly state, when the visible and the invisible were at the same time; if ever, then now we can anticipate the future heavenly state, when spirit and flesh will again return to their previous combination, and the world of God will be renewed along with man. This effect of the festival is partly felt by carnal people themselves; how powerfully it should be over those people who live by the spirit! But where does this combination of different elements come from in this festival? It is useful to know the source of joy in order to increase and strengthen the joy itself. Why do we now remember Pentecost of the Old Testament? Because on this day the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles. Why did he come down on the fiftieth day? Perhaps because it shows that the new law of the Spirit, brought by the Comforter, is from the same source from which the ancient law, given at Pentecost, also flowed. Why do we, on the occasion of the descent of the Holy Spirit, celebrate a festival in honor of the entire Holy Trinity? Because with the appearance of the Holy Spirit, the third and final Person, the entire Holy Trinity was revealed in all its clarity. And when is it more fitting to give thanks to the entire Trinitarian Divinity for the redemption of us who have fallen, if not after the end of the entire Divine economy, which ended with the descent of the Comforter? Why do we now commemorate the dead and raise our thoughts to the end of the world, ours, and the future resurrection and judgment? Because, having reached the end of the past, we naturally rush into the future.
(St. Innocent of Kherson. “Words and Conversations on the Feasts of the Lord”, Words on the Day of Pentecost).
Patristic sayings
Spirit of God and repentance:
“The spirit of man will not come to life unless the fire of the Spirit of God touches him, warms him with Its Divine warmth and resolves the oppressive and overwhelming elements of sin and passions that surround him. We cannot say how this saving action of the Spirit of God takes place in us; but we know when, precisely in repentance, the first decisive turning of our mind and heart to God, when the Spirit of God raises the spirit of man into a sense of complete dependence on God and its responsibility before Him, it strikes with the fear of judgment and inevitable condemnation and, drawing from the abyss of despair into himself, with the hope of salvation in the Lord the Redeemer, instills a firm determination to work for the one God with all his heart, with all his soul and with all his thoughts, with complete disgust from the previous order of life. From this moment alone, thoughts about God and another life and concern for pleasing God and salvation begin in him. But this only testifies that the spirit has come to life and awakened from sleep. That is why John the Baptist preaches repentance, the Savior began his ministry with the gospel of repentance, and the first word from the lips of the apostles when receiving the Holy Spirit was: "repent"
(Acts 2.38). Repentance opens the door to further actions of the Spirit of God in us, just as impenitence closes it. Dry soil is not fertile: and in a heart not watered by tears of repentance, spiritual fruits do not grow. Metal that is not softened by the action of fire is not capable of being formed: such is the soul that is not crushed by the fire of repentance. Submit to the Spirit, soften with contrition, and the Spirit of God will make you a vessel of honor, pure and bright, pleasing to the Master of the House
“We are in captivity: the strongest Liberator must come and bind the one who captivated us so that we can gain freedom. And He is near to all who call on Him: “if he calls to me and I hear him, I will deliver him and glorify him” (Ps.90:15). A heart contrite in repentance and humble in labors and exploits will not be despised by God“(St. Theophan the Recluse, “Collection of words for the Lord’s, Mother of God and solemn days”, chapter 27).
Passions - to eradicate:
“God created a just man, full of humility, meekness, love, fear, faith, charity, self-control and all good feelings and dispositions. When sin came and took possession of the heart, it instilled in it instead of humility pride, instead of meekness anger, instead of love, anger, instead of selflessness, covetousness, instead of fear, fearlessness, instead of faith, forgetfulness of God, instead of every other virtue, a passion contrary to it, so that this passionate, carnal and the sinful man suppressed and starved that inner, spiritual, right man and, keeping him in the unclean shackles of slavery to sin for eternal destruction, did not give him freedom to act and reveal himself. The grace of the All-Holy Spirit in repentance and conversion resolves these shackles, collects the fragmented parts of good, revives the inner spiritual man and sets him on his feet. The spirit has come to life, but sin with passions and lusts has not yet died; it still remains active in our members and opposes the law of the mind. The fighting begins. “The flesh desires what is contrary to the spirit, and the spirit desires what is contrary to the flesh.”
(Gal.5.17). Previously, the passions acted in all members of the soul and body,"to bear fruit of death"
; now it is necessary to take them away from the passions and make them useful instruments of all the Truth of God for the renewal of life (See Rom. 7:5-6); it is necessary to purge passions and plant dispositions contrary to them in the heart, purge pride and plant humility, pluck out stinginess and plant mercy, pluck out carnality and plant abstinence, etc., and thus cleanse oneself from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit” (St. Theophan the Recluse, “Collection of words for the Lord’s, Mother of God and solemn days”, chapter 27).
Resistance to passion and grace:
« All that we can and must do is to resist evil within our power, but zealously, and force ourselves to do good, with a prayer for help to our powerless forces: “Come and dwell in us and cleanse us from all filth, create a pure heart and renew a right spirit.”. And this is with every attack of passion, with every good intention. We are not free from labor and deeds to cleanse the heart from bad thoughts and movements, we are not free from caring about decorating it with all kindness, but on our own we will not achieve anything unless help from above comes in time. We fight; but passion goes away and is replaced by a good feeling only when the grace of the Spirit overshadows“(St. Theophan the Recluse, “Collection of words for the Lord’s, Mother of God and solemn days”, chapter 27).
Good deed, feelings and inner doing:
“We do some good deed, but the heart is carried away either by vanity, or by man-pleasing, or by some selfish calculation and defiles our good deed, takes away its value and turns away the face of God from it. Our heart at this time is like a place that emits a stench from which everyone runs. Will the grace of God abide in such a heart?! Apparently, we lack observation of the movements of the heart, the readiness to reject all wrong feelings and dedicate all deeds to the glory of God, we lack the fear of God, the memory of His omnipresence and walking before His face" (St. Theophan the Recluse, "Collection of words on the Lord's, Theotokos and solemn days”, chapter 28).
“It’s not enough to have to deal with; It is also necessary to have good thoughts and feelings when doing things, to have the art of controlling the movements of your heart, which the Holy Fathers call attention, sobriety, and inner activity. It concentrates all our forces together and is therefore the most powerful means for kindling in us the grace of the Spirit of God. The scattered rays of the sun do not light up by themselves; but when they are gathered into one point by means of a burning glass, they quickly ignite any flammable substance. The same thing happens in us. When we do not pay attention to ourselves, our thoughts and feelings are scattered, and when we pay attention, they gather together, and then warmth is kindled in our heart from the thought of the Lord, who is omnipresent and fills everything" (St. Theophan the Recluse, "Collection of words on the Lord's, Mother of God and solemn days”, chapter 28).
Bliss and enjoyment of external beauties:
“The spirit, combined with the body, after the various beauties of the creatures of the visible world have been revealed to it, must have its bliss in God alone, and, contemplating visible beauties, not dwell on them, but penetrate through them to the beauty of God and taste it, Thus, with all the multitude of external beauties promising bliss, to remain in one unchanging Bliss of God - from tasting God directly and indirectly. But, having fallen, he lost this ability to Taste God, and even the taste for the Divine, and began to seek pleasure in creatures instead of ascending through them to God’s pleasure. It was impossible not to notice that this was not the case, and since the memory of the Bliss remained in him, then, guided by it, he creates a new world around himself, artificial, and collects possible beauties in it, hoping to replace with this what he remembers, but which it doesn't have. But that’s not it either. All these pleasures, pleasures, artificial beauties only fuel thirst, and do not give what the spirit is looking for. Instead of the pleasure of the one God, which pleases, he is characterized by the pleasure of many, which languishes and does not give peace, and further confirms him in alienation from God’s pleasure. This is the price of all natural and artificial pleasures of the fallen” (St. Theophan the Recluse, “Collection of words for the Lord’s, Mother of God and solemn days”, ch. 29).
“Whoever tastes bliss in the one God and enjoys all created things only insofar as it not only does not interfere with, but also contributes to God’s pleasure, he lives by the Spirit. Whoever finds taste in mere pleasures of creatures and suffers from a lack of taste for the Divine, no matter how refined his taste he may have, does not have the Spirit” (St. Theophan the Recluse, “Collection of words for the Lord’s, Mother of God and solemn days”, ch. 29).
Christian and Christianity:
« Not having the Holy Spirit with him is the same as not being a Christian.“If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.”(Rom. 8; 9),he, according to St. Paul, is not a Christian
“The whole essence of active Christianity, according to the Holy Scriptures, consists in being born of the Spirit, in filling oneself with the Spirit, in walking in the Spirit, in kindling the Spirit in oneself and others” (St. Innocent of Kherson. “Words and Conversations on the Feasts of the Lord”, Word on the 50th day).
« Without the Holy Spirit it is impossible to be a Christian"(St. Innocent of Kherson. "Words and Conversations on the Feasts of the Lord", Homily on the 50th day).
About the descent of the Holy Spirit, the actions of God:
« The Holy Spirit, like God, is omnipresent; He has nowhere to descend and nowhere to come; He is already everywhere and fills everything. Only limited beings, not God, can go and come. All these expressions, as St. Chrysostom notes, are used about God out of necessity, for in human language there are no words to express Divine actions as they are in themselves; and all these expressions mean nothing more than a new manifestation of the power of God, a special revelation of His presence. Where the power of God is revealed, where He tangibly reveals His presence: there, according to our weak concept and even weaker expression, God seems to come.
So, the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles, strictly speaking, is not the descent of God the Spirit to them, but the manifestation of His power in them, the revelation of His special presence in them"(St. Innocent of Kherson. "Words and Conversations on the Feasts of the Lord", Homily on the 50th day).
“When we say that the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles and began to act in them; then one should not think that He did not act before in the human race. The Holy Spirit, as the Church wisely sings, “has always been, is and will be.” He was in the Old Testament patriarchs - Adam, Noah, Abraham and others; was among the prophets; was pure in every soul; every righteous man had Him; without Him, not a single truly good deed has ever been accomplished” (St. Innocent of Kherson. “Words and Conversations on the Feasts of the Lord,” Homily on the 50th day).
About miracles at the beginning of Christianity and about virtue:
“According to St. Chrysostom, one should not grieve and complain that the visible and tangible miraculous signs of the Holy Spirit are no longer in the Church; One can even rejoice that they have stopped, and consider it an honor for the Church. “One should not grieve” because the miraculous gifts that existed in ancient times did not bring salvation to people, but a good life saved and can always save without them. “We can rejoice” because the existence of visible sensory signs was, among other things, a consequence of the weakness and spiritual childhood of many first-converted Christians; and their cessation is a sign of the strength and spiritual maturity of the Church of Christ, and provides its members with an opportunity for great merit in the faith
“Did the matter of salvation depend in any way on sensory (obviously visible) miraculous signs, on prophecies, on visions, on healings, on the knowledge of languages? Not at all” (St. Innocent of Kherson. “Words and Conversations on the Feasts of the Lord”, Word on the Day of the Descent of the Holy Spirit).
“And, firstly, as St. Chrysostom notes, there were great saints who did not do anything miraculous, at least they became great righteous people before they began to be miracle workers. “What sign,” he asks, “did John do, drawing many cities to himself? That he did not work miracles, listen to the evangelist who says: “That John did no miracle” (John 10:41). Why did Elijah become wonderful? Is it not from boldness before the king? Is it not out of zeal for God? Is it not from poverty, is it not from mercy, the cave and the mountains? Miracles were created by him after all these feats. Was it by some miracle that Job amazed the devil? He did not perform any miracles, but showed a brilliant life and patience, harder than adamant. What sign did David do while still in his youth, when God said about him: “I have found a man after My heart, David the son of Jesse” (Acts 13:22)? And Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob raised anyone from the dead? Has anyone been cleansed of leprosy? It was not signs that made all of these wonderful, but the disdain of wealth, the contempt of glory, the freedom from worldly cares. If they did not have this, but remained slaves of passions, then even if they resurrected the darkness of the dead, not only would they not bring any benefit, but they would also be considered deceivers” (St. Innocent of Kherson. “Words and Conversations on the Feasts of the Lord ", Word on the day of the descent of the Holy Spirit).
“If there were great saints who did not possess the gift of miracles, and if some of those who possessed this gift perished, if it was sometimes given to the wicked and unfaithful, then is it not clear, brethren, that our salvation does not at all depend on the possession of miraculous gifts? “You have faith, hope, love that endures; look for them; they are greater than signs""(St. Innocent of Kherson. "Words and Conversations on the Feasts of the Lord", Word on the Day of the Descent of the Holy Spirit).
“All wonderful gifts cannot replace one virtue; on the contrary, one virtue is strong enough to reward all signs” (St. Innocent of Kherson. “Words and Conversations on the Feasts of the Lord,” Word on the Day of the Descent of the Holy Spirit).
« "Come, ye blessed of my Father , - the righteous Judge Almighty will say, -inherit the kingdom prepared for you"(Matt. 25; 34). For what? Was it because they raised the dead, cast out demons, prophesied, and worked miracles? No, but because, seeing their Savior in need in the person of his younger brothers, they served Him: they fed the hungry, clothed the naked, visited the sick, brought the strange into the house. Not a word about miracles, but all about deeds, about life, about love. “Seek not miracles,” concludes St. Chrysostom, “but the salvation of the soul.”"(St. Innocent of Kherson. "Words and Conversations on the Feasts of the Lord", Word on the Day of the Descent of the Holy Spirit).
“Let us ask, firstly, why were so many miracles performed at the beginning of Christianity? – Did the perfection of the people who lived then bring them down from heaven? No, not perfection, but need. Then one of the great moral revolutions had to take place, a new faith was to be introduced among people. “Whenever,” notes St. Chrysostom, “when something special and unusual happens, or when some new way of life is introduced, God usually gives signs, as if as a guarantee of His power for those who must accept His laws. Thus, intending to create man, He first created the whole world, and then gave him a well-known law in paradise. So, when he wanted to give the law to Noah, he again performed great miracles, changed all creation... So he protected Abraham with many signs; granted him victory in battle, struck Pharaoh with blows, and delivered his forefather from danger. So before promulgating the law to the Jews, He showed wondrous and great miracles, and then gave the law. So here (at the time of Jesus Christ and the apostles), intending to give the highest rules of life and offer people (the Christian faith) something that they had never heard, He confirms His words with miracles. Since the kingdom proclaimed (by the apostles) was not visible, He made the invisible things visible with visible signs” (Discourse on the Gospel of Matthew 14). “All this was all the more necessary,” he argues in another place, “because at that time people who had recently fallen behind idols were more senseless; their mind was still very dull and rude; they were devoted and amazed at everything material; They did not yet have any concept of incorporeal gifts, and they did not even know what spiritual grace was and contemplated by faith alone: that is why there were signs then. Some of the spiritual gifts are invisible and comprehended by faith alone, while others are also revealed in a sensory sign to certify the unbelievers” (First Discourse, on Pentecost)” (St. Innocent of Kherson. “Words and Discourses on the Feasts of the Lord”, Homily on the Day of the Descent of the Holy One Spirit).
“These are the true reasons for the abundance of miraculous signs that we are amazed at in the First Church: the need to prepare people to accept a new religion and a new way of life; the need to protect and strengthen the newly planted garden of faith; the need to assure sensual people that they are indeed provided with supernatural benefits. Thus, all need and some poverty were the cause of miracles and signs, and not wealth, not any kind of perfection, not merit” (St. Innocent of Kherson. “Words and Conversations on the Feasts of the Lord,” Word on the Day of the Descent of the Holy Spirit).