Fall and its effects in EO:
78. We are made in the image of
God concerning the noetic movement of the soul, while the body serves as the
house of the soul. With Adam’s transgression, not only were the lines of the
image within the soul tainted, but the body also fell into corruption. Therefore,
the holy Word of God incarnated and became man, offering us the water of holy
Baptism as God, so that we may be reborn. This rebirth happens through water by
the action of the Holy and Life-giving Spirit; immediately, we are cleansed
both in soul and body, provided we approach God with our whole heart. Then, the
Holy Spirit dwells within us, while sin is expelled. It is impossible, since
the soul is singular and simple by nature, for two presences to exist within
it, as some have thought. When divine grace lovingly aligns itself with the
lines of “the image” as a foretaste of likeness to God, where can the presence
of Satan fit? Especially since there is no communion between light and darkness
(2 Corinthians 6:14). Therefore, we, who run the sacred race of virtue, believe
that through the Baptism of incorruption, the multifacted serpent, Satan, is
driven out from the depths of the mind. And let us not marvel that after
baptism we still think both good and evil thoughts. This happens because the
Baptism of holiness removes the impurity of sin, but it does not change the
dual nature of our will immediately; nor does it prevent demons from attacking
us or whispering deceitful words. Therefore, what we did not guard when we were
natural men (Jude 19), that is, without the Spirit of God, we must now guard
with God’s strength and the weapons of righteousness (2 Corinthians 6:7) which we
received in baptism. (Saint Diadochos of Photiki, “Ascetic Discourse Divided
into 100 Practical Chapters of Spiritual Knowledge and Discernment,” in The Philokalia
of the Holy Neptic Fathers, 5 vols. [trans. Nun Christina; Virgin Mary of
Australia and Oceania, 2024], 1:78)
Christification:
What was the Lord and what did He
become for us? From what bright heights of divinity was He revealed according
to the power of the heavenly beings, glorified by every rational nature,
Angels, Archangels, Thrones, Dominions, Principalities, Authorities, Cherubim,
and Seraphim, and whatever unknown intellectual forces (whose names did not
reach us, as hinted by the Apostle Paul [Ephesians 1:12]), to what depth of humility
of humans did He descend due to His unspeakable goodness, becoming in
everything like us, who sat in despair in the darkness of deception and
ungodliness and in the shadow of sin and death (Isaiah 9:2; Matthew 4:16; Luke
1:79), who by Adam’s transgression became captives, and the enemy rules us
through the energy of passions. In such a dreadful and wild captivity, we were,
having been conquered by the invisible and bitter death, yet the Lord of all
visible and invisible creation was not ashamed but humbled Himself and, taking
on human form, condemned under the passions of dishonor and desire by the royal
decree, became man like us in all things except sin (Hebrews 4:15), that is,
without the passions of dishonor. For the punishments imposed by the royal
decree for the sin of transgression on humans, the punishment of death, toil,
hunger, thirst, and others, the Lord Jesus took them all upon Himself, becoming
what we are so that we might become what He is. The Word became flesh (John
1:14) so that the flesh might become the Word. He was rich but became poor for
us so that through His poverty we might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9). He
became like us out of great philanthropy so that we might become like Him through
every virtue. For since Christ came, the man who was made in His image and
likeness is indeed renewed by the grace and power of the Holy Spirit and
reaches the measures of perfect love, which casts out fear (1 John 4:18) and
never fails, for “love never fails” (1 Corinthians 13:8). Love, as John says,
is God, and whoever abides in love abides in God (1 John 4:16). To this measure
were the Apostles and those who practiced virtue like the Apostles and
presented themselves perfect to the Lord, following Christ with perfect desire
throughout their lives. (Saint Mark the Ascetic, “Letter to the monk Nicholas,”
in The Philokalia of the Holy Neptic Fathers, 5 vols. [trans. Nun
Christina; Virgin Mary of Australia and Oceania, 2024], 1:91)
90. One good word made that
previously impure thief clean and holy, placing him in Paradise (Luke
23:42-43). And one improper word barred Moses from the promised land (Numbers
20:12). Let us not consider idle talk a small sickness; for those who are
slanderers and idle talkers exclude themselves from the kingdom of Heaven. A
man with an evil tongue, evne if he prospers in this life, will not prosper
there but will stumble and be captured as pray by evil punishments and
destroyed (Psalm 139:12). It was rightly said by a wise man that it is better
to fall from a high place to the ground than from a tongue (Sirach 20:18).
Therefore, we should believe the Apostle James, who writes: “Every man should
be quick to hear, slow to speak” (James 1:10). (Saint John of Karpathos, “100 Consolatory
Chapters to the Monks of India,” in The Philokalia of the Holy Neptic
Fathers, 5 vols. [trans. Nun Christina; Virgin Mary of Australia and
Oceania, 2024], 1:157)
The Image of God in the Soul
50. Just as a newborn baby is the
image of a perfect man, so the soul is the image of God who created it. Just as
the child grows, so it knows its father, and when it reaches maturity, the
characteristics of the father are clearly seen in the son and of the son in the
father, and the paternal inheritance is revealed to him. Similarly, the soul, before
disobedience, was meant to progress and reach the perfect man (Ephesians 4:13).
However, due to disobedience, it sank into a sea of forgetfulness and a put of
deception and dwelled at the gates of Hades. After the soul distanced itself so
far from God, it could no longer approach and rightly know the Creator. But God
called it to return to Him and led it to His knowledge, initially through the
Prophets, the Creator. But God called it to return to Him and led it to His knowledge,
initially through the Prophets, and ultimately by coming Himself. He then
removed the forgetfulness and deception. After breaking the gates of Hades, He
entered the deceived soul, giving it Himself as an example through which it can
reach the full maturity and perfection of the Spirit. The Word of God undergoes
temptation by the evil one (Matthew 4:1) by divine economy. He then endures revilements,
humiliations, insults, and slaps from those insolent, and finally accepts even
crucifixion (Matthew 27:26-30), to show us what disposition we should have
toward those who revile, humiliate, or seek even our death. Thus, a man should
become deaf and mute before them, not opening his mouth (Psalm 38:14), so that,
seeing the action and skill of wickedness, and as if nailed to the cross, he
may cry out with a very loud voice to Him who can save him from death (Hebrews
5:7), saying: “Cleanse me from hidden faults; keep back your servant also from
presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me” (Psalm 19:12-13). Then,
having become blameless, he finds Him who commanded all things to be under his authority
(Psalm 8:6) and reigns and rests with Christ (2 Timothy 2:12). Due to disobedience,
material and impure thoughts have swallowed the soul and made it as if it were
irrational. Therefore, much effort is required to rise above this heap, to
understand well the skill of wickedness, and escaping it, to be united with the
eternal mind. (“Paraphrased Works of Saint Macarius the Egyptian into 150
Chapters,” in The Philokalia of the Holy Neptic Fathers, 5 vols. [trans.
Nun Christina; Virgin Mary of Australia and Oceania, 2024], 3:443)
On the amount of prostrations
to be done every day.
39. As for the amount of
prostrations (γονυλισιαι) to
be done, the Father have prescribed that we do three hundred every twenty-four
hours of the five weekdays, since on Saturdays and Sundays and other
established (εξ
εθους σεσημειωμεναις) days, and even some
weeks, we are ordered to take a break from prostrations for some mystical and
untold reasons (κατα τινας μυστικους και απορρητους λογους). But
there are some who exceed this number, while others do less, each according to
their strength and will (προαιρεσεως).
You too should do them according to your strength. But of course truly blessed
is he, and indeed many times blessed, who always exerts himself (εκβιαζων εαυτον) in all the works of God, For
the kingdom of heaven is taken by force (βιαστη), and the forceful (βιασται) seize it (Mt. 11:12). (Saints Kallistos and Ignatios
Xanthopoulos, “An Exact Rule and Method for Hesychasts,” in The Philokalia
of the Holy Neptic Fathers, 5 vols. [trans. Nun Christina; Virgin Mary of
Australia and Oceania, 2024], 5:653)
On the manner in which the
prophets beheld vision.
67. However, if some people suppose
that the visions and shapes and revelations of the prophets came about through
their imagination and the natural order, let them know that they are far from
the truth or any proper understanding of these matters. For the prophets, like
the divine mystics of the present time, did not see or imagine according to the
natural order and laws of nature, neither divine and supernatural manner
through the ineffable power and grace of the Holy Spirit, as Basil the Great
says: “For through some inexpressible power those who have kept their intellect
pure and undistracted have received revelations, and have the word of God
resounding within them.” And again, “The prophets beheld visions when their
commanding faculty (ηγεμονικον)
was among the angelic and heavenly powers,” and then, “Later He was active
among the patriarchs and the prophets, among whom the former saw (εφαντασθησαν) God or came to know Him,
while the latter foresaw the future, since their commanding faculty was formed
by the Spirit, and thus they knew the things to come as through they were
present.” (Saints Kallistos and Ignatios Xanthopoulos, “An Exact Rule and
Method for Hesychasts,” in The Philokalia of the Holy Neptic Fathers, 5
vols. [trans. Nun Christina; Virgin Mary of Australia and Oceania, 2024], 5:669)
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