Nikolai Velimirovich: “The Love of God is Shed Abroad in Our Hearts by the Holy Spirit” Wednesday, May 15 2013

“The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given to us” (Romans 5:5).

Love is joy and love anoints the heart of man with joy. Brethren, love is power and love anoints the heart of man with power.

Love is peace and love anoints the heart of man with peace. And from joy, power and peace, courage is born and love anoints the heart of man with courage.

The love of God, as a fragrant oil, is shed abroad in our hearts by no other than the Holy Spirit, the All-gentle and All-powerful Spirit.

Completely undeserved by us, the Spirit of God is shed abroad in us: the love of God in our hearts in the Mystery of Chrismation.

However, in time we neglect this love and by sin we alienate ourselves from God and fall into the disease of spiritual paralysis.

And the Holy Spirit unwilling to abide in an impure vessel, distances Itself from our heart.

When the Holy Spirit distances Itself from us, then joy, power, peace and courage also departs from us immediately.

We become sorrowful, weakened, disturbed and fearful. But the All-good Spirit of God only distances Itself from us but does not abandon us completely.

He does not abandon us but He offers to us who are sick, remedies through the Mystery of Repentance and the Mystery of Holy Communion.

When we again cleanse ourselves through the Mysteries of Repentance and Communion then He, the Holy Spirit of God, again abides in us and the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts.

We fall, we rise, we fall and we rise! When we fall, the Spirit of God stands by us and raises us if we desire to be raised.

However, when we are raised, the Spirit of God stands within us all until we, by sin and foolishness, do not desire to fall.

Thus, we in this life interchangeably become a fertile field and a wilderness, sons of repentance and prodigal sons, fullness and emptiness, light and darkness.

O All-good Holy Spirit of God, do not depart from us either when we want You and when we do not want You.

Be with us all the time until our death and save us for life eternal.

Nikolai Velimirovich (1880-1956; Orthodox Church): Prologue from Ohrid, May 24th.

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Gregory Palamas: “Thou Hast Ascended On High, Thou Hast Led Captivity Captive” Sunday, May 5 2013

The Logos [Word] of God was made flesh and dwelt among us, appearing on earth and living with men.

He took upon Himself our human flesh, which was subject to suffering and death, even though it was completely pure, and He used it in His divine wisdom as a bait to hook the serpent, the originator of evil, through the Cross, and set free the whole human race which he had enslaved.

When a tyrant falls, all those he tyrannized are liberated. This is what the Lord Himself said in the Gospels, that the strong man was bound and his goods spoiled (cf Matthew 12.29).

His possessions were taken as spoil by Christ, and were set free, justified, filled with light and endowed with divine gifts.

As David sings, “Thou hast ascended on high,” up on to the Cross, or, if you wish, up to heaven, “thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast given gifts to men” (Ephesians 4.8; cf Psalm 67/68:18).

Christ overturned the devil through suffering and His flesh which He offered as a sacrifice to God the Father, as a pure and altogether holy victim—how great is His gift!—and reconciled God to our human race.

He underwent the passion according to the Father’s will and became for us, who were destroyed through disobedience and saved through obedience, an example of how obedient we should be.

He showed that death was far more precious than the devil’s immortality, because it procured life that was truly immortal, life that will not be subject to the second and eternal death, but stays with Christ in the heavenly dwellings.

When Christ had risen from the dead on the third day and had shown Himself alive to His disciples, He ascended into heaven.

He remained immortal and bestowed on us, with complete assurance, resurrection, immortality and truly blessed, eternal, incorruptible life in heaven.

By means of the one death and resurrection of His flesh, He healed our twofold death and freed us from our double captivity of soul and body.

The Lord has given us rebirth through divine baptism and sealed us with the grace of the Holy Spirit for the day of redemption (cf Ephesians 4.30), but He has allowed us still to have a body which is mortal and passible.

Although He has cast out the teacher of evil from the treasure houses of our soul, yet He allows him to attack from without.

This is so that anybody who has been renewed in accordance with the new covenant, that is to say, the gospel of Christ, who lives in good works and repentance, despises the delights of this life, endures suffering and is trained in the enemy’s assaults, can be made ready to receive immortality and the incorruptible good things to come in the new age.

Gregory Palamas (1296-1359): Homily on Great and Holy Saturday, from Saint Gregory Palamas: The Homilies (Mount Thabor Publishing, 2009) @Kandylaki (fuller version).

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Angela of Foligno: My Love for Thee was no Deceit Friday, Mar 29 2013

I heard the divine voice saying within my soul, “My love for thee was no deceit.”

This word was as a shock of mortal pain unto my soul, for the eyes of my mind were instantly opened, and I saw that what He said was very true.

I saw the working and effect of that delight; I saw all that the Son of God had done for the sake of this love, and I saw what Christ Crucified had borne in life and in death for the sake of this deep and unspeakable love.

Wherefore did I understand that it was indeed true that His love for me had been no deceit or jest, but love most perfect and profound.

Then did I perceive just the opposite in myself, that is to say, I knew that I loved Him deceitfully and not truly.

[...] Then were other words spoken unto me… : “My love for thee was no deceit, My service of thee was not feigned….”

Then cried my soul, saying, “Oh Master, that which Thou sayest is not in Thee, is wholly in me; for never have I loved Thee saving deceitfully. I have served Thee with lies and I have never desired to draw nigh unto Thee in very truth for fear lest I might feel those burdens which Thou didst feel and bear for my sake. Wherefore have I never served Thee sincerely and for Thine own sake, but with negligence and duplicity.”

Now when I perceived how that He had loved me sincerely, how that He bore in Him all the signs of true love, and how that He had drawn nigh unto me to such a degree that He was become Man in order that He might more completely bear and feel in Himself all our sufferings, I did feel such exceeding great anguish that…I thought mine heart would burst asunder.

[...] After this He spake certain words unto me which did manifest and show forth His boundless love, saying: “If there were any person who desired to feel Me in his mind, I would not withdraw Myself from him; and unto whomsoever did desire to behold Me would I willingly show Myself, and with whomsoever did desire to speak unto Me would I joyfully converse.”

These words did arouse in me the desire never to feel or say or do aught which should offend God. And this is what God desireth and especially seeketh in His sons and His elect; for He hath called and chosen them in order that they may think, see, and speak according unto His will, and that they may take heed to do nothing contrary thereunto.

Angela of Foligno (1248-1309): Book of Divine Consolation, pp. 207-209.

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Silouan the Athonite: Adam Wept: “What Hinders Him from Dwelling in Me?” Sunday, Mar 24 2013

Adam knew great grief when he was banished from paradise, but when he saw his son Abel slain by Cain his brother, Adam’s grief was even heavier. His soul was heavy, and he lamented and thought:

Peoples and nations will descend from me, and multiply, and suffering will be their lot, and they will live in enmity and seek to slay one another.

And his sorrow stretched wide as the sea, and only the soul that has come to know the Lord and the magnitude of His love for us can understand.

I, too, have lost grace and call with Adam:

Be merciful unto me, O Lord! Bestow on me the spirit of humility and love.

 

O love of the Lord! He who has known Thee seeks Thee, tireless, day and night, crying with a loud voice:

I pine for Thee, O Lord, and seek Thee in tears.

How should I not seek Thee?

Thou didst give me to know Thee by the Holy Spirit,

And in her knowing of God my soul is drawn to seek Thee in tears.

 

Adam wept:

The desert cannot pleasure me; nor the high mountains, nor meadow nor forest, nor the singing of birds.

I have no pleasure in any thing.

My soul sorrows with a great sorrow:

I have grieved God.

And were the Lord to set me down in paradise again,

There, too, would I sorrow and weep – ‘O why did I grieve my beloved God?’

 

The soul of Adam fell sick when he was exiled from paradise, and many were the tears he shed in his distress. Likewise every soul that has known the Lord yearns for Him, and cries:

Where art Thou, O Lord? Where art Thou, my Light?

Why hast Thou hidden Thy face from me?

Long is it since my soul beheld Thee,

And she wearies after Thee and seeks Thee in tears.

Where is my Lord?

Why is it that my soul sees Him not?

What hinders Him from dwelling in me?

This hinders Him: Christ-like humility and love for my enemies art not in me.

God is love insaturable, love impossible to describe.

 

Adam walked the earth, weeping from his heart’s manifold ills, while the thoughts of his mind were on God; and when his body grew faint, and he could no longer shed tears, still his spirit burned with longing for God, for he could not forget paradise and the beauty thereof; but even more was it the power of His love which caused the soul of Adam to reach out towards God.

Silouan the Athonite (1866-1938; Eastern Orthodox): Adam’s Lament (extract), from St. Silouan the Athonite, by Archimandrite Sophrony @ Mystagogy.

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Symeon the New Theologian: God’s Compassion and Adam’s Foolishness Saturday, Mar 23 2013

“And God said to Adam [after he disobeyed], Adam where are you?” (Gen. 3:9).

Why did the omnipotent Creator ask this? Certainly desiring to help him understand his mistake and lead him to repentance.

“Adam, where are you?” It is as if He was saying: Examine yourself; take a look at your nakedness! Consider the cloak and the glory of which you have been deprived.

“Adam, where are you?” It is as if He was pleading with him and urging: Please, come to your senses, you poor man. Please, come out of your hiding spot. Do you think you can hide from Me?

Say, “I have sinned!” Unfortunately, Adam said no such thing. Instead, he said, “I heard You walking in Paradise, and I realized that I am naked and I hid.”

How did God reply? “Who told you that you are naked? Did you perhaps eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

Do you see, beloved reader, God’s patience? When He asked, “Adam, where are you?” Adam did not confess his sin straightaway, but said, “I heard Your voice Lord, and I realized that I am naked and I hid.”

Even with such a dishonest response, God did not become mad, He did not immediately and definitively turn away from him; on the contrary, He gave him a second chance to admit his fault.

“Who told you that you are naked? Did you perhaps eat from the only tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

Take note of the depth of God’s wisdom and words. “Why are you announcing your nakedness, but concealing your sin?”

He says to Adam. “Do you think that I am able to see only your body but unable to see your heart and thoughts as well?”

Adam…was hoping that God would remain unaware of his sin, and he thought…:

“If I say that I am naked, since God is unaware, He will ask me why I am naked? Then I will tell him, ‘I have no idea.’ Thus, I will elude Him and I will enjoy my original garment once again. Even if He doesn’t give me another garment, at least He will not expel me; at least He will not exile me!”

[...] God, however, did not want him to become any more blameworthy, so He asked, “How did you realize that you are naked. Did you perhaps eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

It is as if he was saying: Do you really believe that you can hide from Me? Do you think I am unaware of what you did? You don’t want to say, “I have sinned”?

You poor man! Say, “Yes, Lord. Indeed I have transgressed Your commandment…. Have mercy on me!”

Symeon the New Theologian (949–1022 AD); fuller version @ Discerning Thoughts and St Nektarios Monastery.

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Dorotheus of Gaza: By Compunction of Heart, Peace of Mind Returns to You Saturday, Mar 23 2013

If from the beginning man had humbled himself and listened to God and obeyed his command, there would have been no fall.

Again, after Adam had done wrong, God have him a chance to repent and be forgiven and yet he kept on being stiff-necked and unrepentant.

For God came to him and said, “Adam, where are you?” (Gen 3:12) instead of saying, “From what glory are you come to this? Are you not ashamed? Why did you sin? Why did you go astray?”—as if urging him sharply to say, “Forgive me!”

But there was no sign of humility. There was no change of heart but rather the contrary.

He replied, “the wife that you gave me”—mark you, not “my wife”—”deceived me”; “the wife that you gave me,” (Gen 3:13) as if to say, “this disaster you placed upon my head”.

So it is, my brethren, when a man has not the guts to accuse himself, he does not scruple to accuse God Himself.

Then God came to Eve and said to her, “Why did you not keep the command I gave you?” as if saying, “If you would only say, ‘Forgive me’, to humble your soul and be forgiven.”

And again, not a word! No “forgive me”. She only answered, “the Serpent deceived me!”—as if to say, if the serpent did wrong, what concern is that to me?

What are you doing, you wretches? Kneel in repentance, acknowledge your fault, take pity on your nakedness. But neither the one nor the other stooped to self-accusation, no trace of humility was found in either of them.

And now look and consider how this was only an anticipation of our own state! See how many and great the evils it has brought on us—this self-justification, this holding fast to our own will, this obstinacy in being our own guide.

All this was the product of that hateful arrogance towards God. Whereas the products of humility are self-accusation, distrust of our own sentiments, hatred of our own will.

By these one is made worthy of being redeemed, of having his human nature restored to its proper state, through the cleansing operation of Christ’s holy precepts.

Without humility it is impossible to obey the Commandments or at any time to go towards anything good. As Abba Mark says: without a contrite heart it is impossible to be free from wickedness or to acquire virtue.

Therefore, by compunction of heart you get a grip on the Commandments, are free from evil, gain virtue and, what is more, peace of mind returns to you.

Dorotheos of Gaza (505-565 or 620: Conference on Renunciation @ Fr Luke Dysinger, OSB.

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Silouan the Athonite: Adam Pined on Earth, and Wept Bitterly, and was Heartsick for God Wednesday, Mar 20 2013

Adam, father of all mankind, in paradise knew the sweetness of the love of God; and so when for his sin he was driven forth from the garden of Eden, and was widowed of the love of God, he suffered grievously and lamented with a great moan.

And the whole desert rang with his lamentations, for his soul was racked as he thought, ’I have distressed my beloved God’.

He sorrowed less after paradise and the beauty thereof; for he sorrowed that he was bereft of the love of God, which insatiably, at every instant, draws the soul to Him.

In the same way the soul which has known God through the Holy Spirit, but has afterwards lost grace experiences the torment that Adam suffered.

There is an aching and a deep regret in the soul that has grieved the beloved Lord.

Adam pined on earth, and wept bitterly, and the earth was not pleasing to him. He was heartsick for God, and this was his cry:

My soul wearies for the Lord, 
and I seek Him in tears.

How should I not seek Him?

When I was with Him my soul was glad and at rest, 
and the enemy could not come nigh me;

But now the spirit of evil has gained power over me, 
harassing and oppressing my soul,

So that I weary for the Lord even unto death,

And my spirit strains to God, 
and there is naught on earth can make me glad,

Nor can my soul take comfort in any thing, 
but longs once more to see the Lord, 
that her hunger may be appeased.

 

I cannot forget Him for a single moment, 
and my soul languishes after Him,

and from the multitude of my afflictions I lift up my voice and cry:

‘Have mercy upon me, O God. Have mercy on Thy fallen creature.’

 

Thus did Adam lament, and the tears steamed down his face on to his beard, on to the ground beneath his feet, and the whole desert heard the sound of his moaning.

The beasts and the birds were hushed in grief; while Adam wept because peace and love were lost to all men on account of his sin.

Silouan the Athonite (1866-1938; Eastern Orthodox): Adam’s Lament (extract), from St. Silouan the Athonite, by Archimandrite Sophrony @ Mystagogy.

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Bede the Venerable: Christ Dwells in the Hearts of His Chosen Ones through the Grace of His Love Friday, Mar 15 2013

(The Latin phrase “miserando atque eligendo” used by Bede to describe the way in which Jesus looked on Matthew is the episcopal motto of Pope Francis.)

Jesus saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax office, and he said to him: Follow me. Jesus saw Matthew  more with the interior gaze of his love than with corporal eyes.

He saw the tax collector and, because he saw him through the eyes of mercy and chose him (miserando atque eligendo), he said to him: Follow me.

This following meant imitating the pattern of his life – not just walking after him. St. John tells us: Whoever says he abides in Christ ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

And he rose and followed him. There is no reason for surprise that the tax collector abandoned earthly wealth as soon as the Lord commanded him.

Nor should one be amazed that neglecting his wealth, he joined a band of men whose leader had, on Matthew’s assessment, no riches at all.

Our Lord summoned Matthew by speaking to him in words. By an invisible, interior impulse flooding his mind with the light of grace, he instructed him to walk in his footsteps.

In this way Matthew could understand that Christ, who was summoning him away from earthly possessions, had incorruptible treasures of heaven in his gift.

As he sat at table in the house, behold many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and his disciples.

This conversion of one tax collector gave many men, those from his own profession and other sinners, an example of repentance and pardon.

[...] To see a deeper understanding of the great celebration Matthew held at his house, we must realise that he not only gave a banquet for the Lord at his earthly residence, but far more pleasing was the banquet set in his own heart which he provided through faith and love.

Our Savior attests to this: Behold I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

On hearing Christ’s voice, we open the door to receive him, as it were, when we freely assent to his promptings and when we give ourselves over to doing what must be done.

Christ, since he dwells in the hearts of his chosen ones through the grace of his love, enters so that he might eat with us and we with him.

He ever refreshes us by the light of his presence insofar as we progress in our devotion to and longing for the things of heaven. He himself is delighted by such a pleasing banquet.

The Venerable Bede (672/4-735): Homily on the Call of Saint Matthew, the Tax Collector, (Hom. 21: CCL 122, 149-151) from the Office of Readings for the Feast of St. Matthew, apostle and evangelist on September 21 @ Crossroads Initiative (slightly adapted).

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Pope Francis: The Fruit of a Torn Heart, Reconciled by a Love that Overwhelms Us Thursday, Mar 14 2013

Yes, it is possible that all is made new and different because God remains “rich in kindness and mercy, always willing to forgive” and He encourages us to begin anew time and again.

[...] Today, the words of the prophet Joel are strong and challenging: Rend your heart, not your clothing: be converted to the Lord, your God.  These words are an invitation to all people, nobody is excluded.

Rend your heart, not the clothing of artificial penance without [an eternal] future.

Rend your heart, not the clothing of technical fasting of compliance that [only serves to keep us] satisfied.

Rend your heart, not the clothing of egotistical and superficial prayer that does not reach the inmost part of [your] life to allow it to be touched by God.

Rend your heart, that we may say with the Psalmist:  “We have sinned.”

“The wound of the soul is sin: Oh, poor wounded one, recognize your Doctor!  Show him the wounds of your faults.  And, since from Him our most secret thoughts cannot hide themselves, make the cry of your heart felt [to Him]. 

“Move him to compassion with your tears, with your insistence ¡beg him!  Let Him hear your sighs, that your pain reaches Him so that, at the end, He can tell you:  The Lord has forgiven your sins” (St. Gregory the Great).

[...] This is not a matter of discrediting one’s self-worth but of penetrating, to its fullest depth, our heart and to take charge of the mystery of suffering and pain that had tied us down for centuries, for thousands of years, in fact, forever.

Rend your hearts so that through this opening we can truly see.

Rend your hearts, open your hearts, because only with such a heart can we allow the entry of the merciful love of the Father, who loves us and heals us.

Rend your hearts the prophet says, and Paul asks us – almost on his knees – “be reconciled with God.”

Changing our way of living is both a sign and fruit of a torn heart, reconciled by a love that overwhelms us.

This is [God’s] invitation, juxtaposed against so many injuries that wound us and can tempt us temptation to be hardened:  Rend your hearts to experience, in serene and silent prayer, the gentle tenderness of God.

Rend your hearts to hear the echo of so many torn lives, that indifference [to suffering] does not paralyze us.

Rend your hearts to be able to love with the love with which we are beloved, to console with the consolation with which we are consoled and to share what we have received.

Pope Francis (b. 1936): Cardinal Bergoglio’s Lenten Letter, 2013 (extract); translation of full text here @ Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam.

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Gregory Palamas: The Prayer of the Publican: “God Be Merciful to Me a Sinner” Tuesday, Mar 5 2013

And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner (Luke 18:13).

See the extent of his humility, faith and self-reproach. See the utter abasement of his thoughts and feelings, and, at the same time, contrition of heart mingled with this publican’s prayer.

When he went up into the Temple to pray for the remission of his sins, he brought with him good advocates before God: unashamed faith, un-condemned self-reproach, contrition of heart that is not despised and humility that exalts.

[...] Without any other intention or thought he paid attention only to himself and God, turning over and repeating the supplication of a single thought,’ the most effective of all prayers.

“And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven” (Luke 18:13).

As he stood he bowed down, and his bearing was not only that of a lowly servant, but also of a condemned man. It also proclaims a soul delivered from sin.

Although still far from God, without the boldness towards Him that comes from good works, it hopes to draw near to him because it has already renounced evil and is intent on good.

[...] He saw himself as unworthy either of heaven or of the earthly Temple, so he stood on the threshold of the Temple, not daring even to turn his gaze towards heaven, still less towards the God of heaven.

In his intense contrition he smote upon his breast to show he was worthy of punishment. He sighed in deepest mourning, bowing his head like a condemned man, calling himself a sinner and begging with faith for forgiveness, saying, “God be merciful to me a sinner”.

For he believed Him Who said, “Turn ye unto me, and I will turn unto you” (Zech. 1:3), and the Prophet who bore witness, “I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord, and thou forgavest the iniquity of my heart” (cf. Ps. 32:5).

What happened then? “This man”, says the Lord, “went down to his house justified rather than the other, for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted” (Luke 18:14).

[...] Humility is the chariot by which we ascend to God, like those clouds which are to carry up to God those who would dwell for endless ages with Him…

Humility is the same as such a cloud. It is formed by repentance, releases streams of tears; brings out the worthy from among the unworthy and leads them up to unite them with God, justified by His free gift for the gratitude of their free disposition.

Gregory Palamas (1296-1359): Homily on the Publican and the Pharisee, 13-15, from Saint Gregory Palamas: The Homilies (Mount Thabor Publishing, 2009) @ Kandylaki.

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