My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE. Ο ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΕΝ ΤΩ ΜΕΣΩ ΗΜΩΝ! ΚΑΙ ΗΝ ΚΑΙ ΕΣΤΙ ΚΑΙ ΕΣΤΑΙ.
AN INTRODUCTION TO ORTHODOX SPIRITUALITY
By George C. Papademetriou
Illumination
God's act is pure Light, and when the Lord appears to us, He always appears as Light. In Holy Scripture, we read: "In Your Light, we shall see light." Only in the state of illumination does Divine grace makes possible the contemplation of the Divine Light. The hidden truths of Holy Scripture are not revealed to everyone since illumination comes through the special Divine gift of revelation. For this reason in the early Church, the Holy Bible was read only in the church and only by a charismatic person. In the Orthodox Church, we have never experienced "bibliolatry" or "worship of the book," as in some sects. The Church holds fast to the unadulterated spirit of the Holy Bible as it was delivered to the Saints, and through them, to us.
Spiritual Warfare
We are saved by Christ and in Christ, yet we are still subject to temptation and to sin. Therefore, it is important to mention the fact that to acquire spirituality or moral perfection, we must wage war against the "enemy," that is, sin and the Devil. Saint Makarios said: "I have not yet seen a perfect Christian man, one completely free (from the devil and sin)." And "although one is at rest in grace and enters into mysteries and revelations and into the sweetness of grace, still sin is yet present within." Consequently, as long as we live, we must be ready to fight against the dark powers of the devil. And "Satan is never quiet from warring. As long as ever a man lives in this world and wears the flesh, he has to war." The Holy Bible is the most necessary means of spiritual warfare against the devil; it is also the chief means of acquiring knowledge of the Divine will. The purpose of man is to achieve moral perfection through the acquisition of the Holy Spirit. In the teachings of Saint Seraphim of Sarov, the Holy Spirit leads the individual through the steps outlined mentioned to attain union with the Spirit of Truth.
Monasteries are Spiritual Centers of Orthodox Christian Spirituality
The spirituality of the Orthodox Church is best exemplified to its spiritual centers, the monasteries. The monk is a "martyr" or "witness" to Christ, the Son of the Living God. Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov is an excellent example of this spiritual model in the person of Father Zossima. This monastic model eloquently portrays the spirituality of the Orthodox Church. Dostoyevsky distinguishes between worldly freedom and the spiritual person. He says that the worldly or secular people "maintain that the world is getting more and more united, more and more bound together in brotherly community, as it overcomes distance and sets thoughts flying through the air." But in reality, the opposite is true, as is evident in international conflicts and wars. This famous Orthodox novelist expressed eloquently the Orthodox Christian view that in spiritual subjugation, that is, in absolute obedience to Christ, one finds limitless freedom. This is especially exemplified in Orthodox Christian Monasteries where spirituality is nurtured.
The Divine Energies
One of the most important aspects of Orthodox Christian spirituality is participation in the Divine energies. Briefly stated, this is an Orthodox Doctrine of fundamental importance and very often ignored. In Orthodox Christian Theology, a distinction is made between the "essence" and "energies" of God. Those who attain perfection do so by uniting with the Divine uncreated energies, and not with the Divine essence. The Holy Fathers of the Church speak of God, emphasize the unknowability of God's essence and stress the vision of the Divine energies, especially the Divine Uncreated Light. Orthodox spiritual tradition emphasizes the Divine Logos/Word indwelling in the world and our ability to attain a spiritual life and mystical union with the Holy Spirit in this world.
Christian contemplation is not "ecstatic." That is, outside ourselves, but it takes place within the Christian person who is the "temple of the Holy Spirit." The Divine energies are "within everything and outside everything." All creation is the manifestation of God's energies. The Orthodox theologian Vladimir Lossky says in the Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church: "These Divine rays penetrate the whole created universe and are the cause of its existence." The Uncreated Light and the knowledge of God in Orthodox Holy Tradition "illuminates every man that cometh into this world." It is the same Light that the Holy Apostles saw on Mount Tabor.
Philosophy and Divine Knowledge
The important Orthodox Doctrine of the Incarnation, that is, the Divine Logos/Word Who became flesh, rendered philosophy and metaphysics irrelevant to our deeper knowledge of the Divine Truth. Christianity offers access to Divine grace for the salvation of mankind through the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We cannot speculate about the Logos/Word after the coming of Christ, Who is the Divine Logos/Word in the flesh, and Who sent the Holy Spirit to the world and "teaches us all things." The Mystical experience spoke of by the classical Greeks is abstract and conceptual. That is, in ancient Greek philosophic contemplation, the soul or spirit goes outside the body to be liberated. Philosophy plays only a linguistic role in Orthodoxy, lending the use of its terminology after the terms have been transformed and purified of their secular meanings. "Christianized" philosophy and culture, as Father Georges Florovsky (Russian Orthodox theologian) used to say. A master of spirituality, a monk of Mount Athos (Holy Mountain), describes this point in the following manner: "Many of the Greeks tried to philosophize, but only the monks found and learned the True Philosophy." The Logos/Word became flesh and revealed to humanity the Divine revelation. He is the Truth and through Him, we can attain knowledge of the Divine will. The metaphysical patterns of the philosophic speculation of the Christian revelation distort the Divine mission of the Incarnate Logos/Word. (Source: An Introduction to Orthodox Spirituality by George C. Papademetriou)
(To be continued)
________________________
"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!"--Saint John Chrysostom
+++
With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+Father George