ST. GREGORY OF SINAI - On How to Discover the Energy of the Holy Spirit
-- The energy of the Holy Spirit, which we have already mystically
received in baptism, is realized in two ways. First, to generalize, this
gift is revealed, as St. Mark tells us (e.g., St. Mark the Ascetic in
"On Baptism"), through arduous and protracted practice of the
commandments: to the degree to which we effectively practice the
commandments its radiance is increasingly manifested in us. Secondly, it
is manifested to those under guidance through the continuous invocation
of the Lord Jesus, repeated with conscious awareness, that is, through
mindfulness of god. In the first way, it is revealed more slowly, in the
second more rapidly, if one diligently and persistently learns how to
dig the ground and locate the gold. Thus if we want to realize and know
the truth and not to be led astray, let us seek to possess only the
heart-engrafted energy in a way that is totally without shape or form,
not trying to contemplate in our imagination what we take to be the
figure or similitude of things holy or to see any colors or lights. For
in the nature of things the spirit of delusion deceives the intellect
through such spurious fantasies, especially at the early stages, in
those who are still inexperienced. On the contrary, let our aim be to
make the energy of prayer alone active in our hearts, for it brings
warmth and joy to the intellect, and sets the heart alight with an
ineffable love for God and man. It is on account of this that humility
and contrition flow richly from prayer. For prayer in beginners is the
unceasing noetic activity of the Holy Spirit. To start with it rises
like a fire of joy from the heart; in the end it is like light made
fragrant by divine energy.
-- There are several signs that the energy of the Holy Spirit is
beginning to be active in those who genuinely aspire for this to happen
and are not just putting God to the test -- for, according to the Wisdom
of Solomon, "It is found by those who do not put it to the test, and
manifests itself to those who do not distrust it" (Wisdom 1:2). In some
it appears as awe arising in the heart, in others as a tremulous sense
of jubilation, in others as joy mingled with awe, or as tremulousness
mingled with joy, and sometimes it manifests itself as tears and awe.
For the soul is joyous at God's visitation and mercy, but at the same
time is in awe and trepidation at His presence because it is guilty of
so many sins. Again, in some the soul at the outset experiences an
unutterable sense of contrition and an indescribable pain, like the
woman in Scripture who labors to give birth (Revolution 12:2). For the
living and active Logos - - that is to say, Jesus -- penetrates, as the
apostle says, to the point at which soul separates from body, joints
from marrow (Hebrews 4:12), so as to expel by force every trace of
passion from both soul and body. In others it is manifest as an
unconquerable love and peace, shown towards all, or as a joyousness that
the fathers have often called exultation -- a spiritual force and an
impulsion of the living heart that is also described as a vibration and
sighing of the Spirit who makes wordless intercession for us to God
(Romans 8:26). Isaiah has also called the "waves" of God's righteousness
(Isaiah 48:18), while the great Ephrem calls it "spurring." The Lord
Himself describes it as a "spring of water welling up for eternal life"
(John 4:14) -- He refers to the Spirit as water -- a source that leaps
up in the heart and erupts through the ebullience of its power.
-- You should know that there are two kinds of exultation or joyousness:
the calm variety (called a vibration or sighing or intercession of the
Spirit), and the great exultation of the heart -- a leap, bound or jump,
the soaring flight of the living heart towards the sphere of the
divine. For when the soul has been raised on the wings of divine love by
the Holy Spirit and has been freed from the bonds of the passions, it
strives to fly to that higher realm even before death, seeking to
separate itself from its burden. This is also known as a stirring of the
spirit -- that is to say, an eruption or impulsion -- as in the text,
"Jesus was stirred in spirit and, deeply moved, He said, 'Where have you
laid him?'" (John 11:34). David the Psalmist indicates the difference
between the greater and the lesser exultation when he declares that the
mountains leap like rams and the little hills like lambs (Psalm 114:6).
He is referring of course to those who are perfect and to beginners, for
physical mountains and hills, lacking animal life, do not actually leap
about.
-- Divine awe has nothing to do with trepidation -- by which I mean, not
the tremulousness induced by joy, but the trepidation induced by wrath
or chastisement or the feeling of desertion by God. On the contrary,
divine awe is accompanied by a tremulous sense of jubilation from the
prayer of fire that we offer when filled with awe. This awe is not the
fear provoked by wrath or punishment, but it is inspired by wisdom, and
is also described as "the beginning of wisdom" (Psalms 111:10). Awe may
be divided into three kinds, even though the fathers speak only of two:
the awe of beginners, that of the perfect, and that provoked by wrath,
which should properly be called trepidation, agitation or contrition.
-- There are several kinds of trembling. That of wrath is one, that of
joy is another, and that of the soul's incensive power, when the heart's
blood is over-heated, is another, that of old age is another, that of
sin or delusion is another, and that of the curse which was laid on the
human race because of Cain is another (Genesis 4:11-15). In the early
stages of spiritual warfare, however, it sometimes but not always
happens that the trembling induced by joy and that induced by sin
contend with one another. The first is the tremulous sense of
jubilation, when grace refreshes the soul with great joyfulness
accompanied by tears; the second is characterized by a disordered
fervor, stupor and obduracy that consume the sol, inflame the sexual
organs, and impel one to assent through the imagination to erotic
physical obscenities.
from The Philokalia: Volume IV, edited and translated by G. E. H.
Palmer, Philip Sherrard, and Bishop Kallistos Ware, (London: Faber and
Faber, 1995), pp. 259 - 261.
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