The soul
that reaches the state of purity receives the Lily announcing Christ's birth.
At this time the unfolding of gifts received through Holy Chrism occurs. Now
the soul must pass against its will through tribulations not dependent on it
though ordained by God, completing what was missing from the soul's
understanding of things in its life on earth. Throughout this time, the power
of Holy Spirit continues working within the ascetic. Let us not forget: the
Holy Spirit acted only after the ascetic disengaged all of his soul's powers
from working against nature and set them to work for their originally intended
purpose: in accordance with nature. Once this conversion and inner harmony of
powers is obtained in us, then comes the work of the things above human nature,
assisting the growth and development of the Holy Spirit is gifts ordained by
God for each of us.
A new
child has been born in the flesh, bringing it into a state of purity. Then the
child grew up and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favour of God was
upon Him."He is the morning star which arises in the hearts of the
believers," as Peter says. He is God -as- Light - our light - the one
covered by the darkness of ignorance from the time of passions, which will rise
like the dawn and will speed your healing.' And thy old waste desert places
shall be built up, and thy foundations shall last through all
generations:" Jesus Christ. The Light of the world and your light will
glow more brightly. The child Jesus became perfect man in the army of perfected
men and comes, bowing his head under the hand of dust of His creation, showing
His humility in receiving Baptism.
Christ,
the Spirit of God, the true light which enlightens everyone, came into the
world" to help the soul find its identity reported to the holiness of God.
In the light of eternal truth, it sees its multitude of sins, the robbers'
blows, the cutting wounds of transgressions, and the delay in its healing. As
the divine light of self-knowledge increases in men, it sees how much damage it
has caused in its time spent in ignorance. So it happens that under the holy
work of Grace the ascetic sees himself as the worst sinner, because inside him
Someone holy is showing his sins to him. Here are the words of St. Mark the
Ascetic: "Insofar as you advance in virtue today, to that same extent you
will be rebuked as a debtor for what you have failed to do as you demonstrate
the abilities that nature has given you. It has been shown through daily
progress that yesterday's deficiency is not because of nature but because of
will."
Therefore,
the saints are convinced of their sins. Judging themselves as worthy of serving
in Hades, they receive from God the Heaven and redemption as a gift.
Those
deceived by the devil see not their sins, but their virtues. Whilst the saints
are those "sinners" convinced of their sins because the sanctifying
power of Christ is in them, and by admitting their helplessness, the gift is
served. Instead, the deceived are sinners locked in ignorance, convinced of their
"redemption:' Darkness grows in them and they consider themselves above
the Church and the saints. They are the indifferent ones who came to have a
high opinion of themselves. Seeing the gift of God but considering it as their
own, they broke the wings of their mind.
Those in
a state of perfection feel not only the thorns of their sins but find
themselves muttering all the sins of mankind. God's holiness is reflected in
their perfection as in a mirror, and again all mankind feels in them its pain
and sinfulness.
God
allows war with the devil only to those in a state of perfection who set the
devil on fire with the sword of the Holy Spirit. Their gaze is fixed, not on
evil but upon God, and when their entire being is absorbed by Holy Grace, they
turn into divine fire ignited by the love of God, a fire sword burning the
devil in their hearts.
This
unexpected feeling of man's helplessness, in which the gift of Christ is
perfected, makes us understand the translation from this life to the life
beyond of a Pious Father as follows:
«As
the time for his passing from this life drew near and sitting the Fathers were
sitting around him, Abba Anthony's face shone like the sun. And he told him:
«Behold Abba Anthony has arrived». And after a while he said: «Behold the army
of the prophets has arrived». And again his face shone intensely. And he said:
«Behold the army of the Apostles has arrived». And his face bent in glitter.
And it seemed like he was talking to someone, and the elders prayed to him
saying: «To whom do you speak, Father»? ,«Behold the angels have arrived to
take me and I pray to be allowed to repent a little more:And the elders told
him: «You do not need to repent, Father!». And the old man told them: «I truly
do not know myself to have started (repenting)». «And the Fathers knew that
perfection had arrived. And again his face became like the sun, and all of them
were afraid. And he told them: «See, the Lord has come, and he says: Bring me
the cruse of desolation! »
«And
immediately he passed away, turned into lightning and filled the place with a
sweet -smelling scent."
With
these words, the ascetic who reached a state of perfection passes in the depths
of humility to the world beyond.
St.
Isaac of Syria called perfection a precipice of humility; but he could have
said the same thing about love, binding it by the name of perfection. For love
has descended from God in Heaven to become a human being, and there is no
greater humility than the loving acceptance of God that he may abide in us.
These are the signs of those in whom God dwells: a never-ending love and a
precipice of humbleness. For:
"He
that said he abided in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as he
walked."
And the
love in the Spirit of Christ may be recognized in three stages:
1-In
loving your neighbour as yourself;
2-In
loving your enemies more than you love yourself
3- In
love meant as sacrifice for other people.
All
Christians who are planning on redemption must come to love their enemies; very
few people reach the third age of love.
Those in
a state of perfection are a mixture of God and human being. They are reflected
in God, and God is reflected in them with the clearest transparency; as
consequence, they suffer the pains and sins of other at an unimaginable, divine
level. For this reason those who have reached a state of perfection want to
sacrifice themselves for humanity; they want to be condemned in other people's
stead, that their "brothers" may receive forgiveness. Such was the
case of St. Paul the Apostle.
These
children of the Father come into the world to face the same fate as the One
Born of God, the Son of God. They all want to follow His path.
"Jesus,
love made Him die, love gave Him the victory over death.
Love is
the only power capable of defeating death. The force that flows through our
body and makes us decide to give Him our entire life is not His word, but His
sacrifice."
This is
perfect love, love as sacrifice: the fire that enkindles the world is
convulsing the gates of Hell, and moves against all the hate, or the second
temptation, the temptation through pain. The person who loves in this way
remains in a tranquil state above human nature because: "his mind joined
to God for long periods through prayer and love becomes wise, good, powerful,
compassionate, merciful, long-suffering; in short, it includes within itself almost
all the divine qualities."For this reason he does not lose his temper if
his friends leave him--this applies even to people in his own house--in his
time of need, will stand against him, and treat him like a deceiver. Having
reached simplicity, his mind and whole being, will be able to pass the toughest
test when, in the storm of his enemies' hatred, even God wil11eave him, showing
him a taste of Hell, abandoning him in the hands of sinners so as to
demonstrate that not even the evil in its wrath will be able to separate him
from the love of God!
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| Portrait Painting of Father Arsenie Boca. |
This is
the fire of the highest state of ascesis for people who desire to reach
perfection, God hiding from them, floods of hate coming, looking to swallow
them whole. At this point, nothing can separate them from the love of
God:" neither death, or life, or angels, or principalities, or powers, or
the present things or the things to come, or height, or depth. For at this
moment the perfection of love has no limits.
This
glorious path remains under the Church's care, as something that gave us a
second birth from Heaven. None of those returning Home will become lost again
from the Church. For we were born as children of God through the Church, and
now we have Christ shared in us, according to our ordained gifts. We have the
Whole Christ only in the Church, in ills visible and invisible community, and
from His resurrection until the renewal of all things; Christ will be in all,
His perfection knowing no limits.
People
are born into the Church from above, are raised on the earth and, being
victorious in spiritual warfare, progress beyond nature, becoming gods by grace!.
Reference:
Path to
the Kingdom. Father Arseni Boca.(2014)