Words, Words, Words...

Too often we place our hopes in words and human thinking.  But, can human thought or words ever gain for us what we seek?

St Gregory Palamas says,

If someone attempts to touch the stars with his hand, even though he is tall and stretched his arm further than the rest, he is almost as far away from those ethereal heights as men of much shorter stature, the difference not being worth mentioning. In the same way, on subjects transcending words, eminent speakers are not significantly better at saying something than anyone else. Who can attempt to treat of matters which utterly defy all words without being seen to give  away beneath the weight of these topics, like those reputed to have boasted they could counterbalance the weight of the universe, or those in the myth who attempted to make their way up to heaven? Men who make such an attempt are as far from the truth as their aims are beyond the grasp of human minds and speech, being outside the spree of this world, based far above the earth and its surroundings, and reckoned among things holy and divine.

Saint Gregory goes on to offers as an example the Mother of God. What were her words? How was she prepared for the incredible task God gave to her?

Words can be helpful in our early stages of our spiritual development to point us in the right direction, but then comes the need to go beyond all words to know Truth.  We need a healing of our soul so we can be in continual communion with God and do His will. Then all of life, no matter how difficult the situation, becomes bearable.  To gain this communion with God we cannot simply read and read, expound and expound with words.  We need to take action to purify our passions from dominating our soul and then learn to follow what it commands of us. This is a state of love which comes not from words but from our heart.  

The path of the Orthodox Life is one that is focused not on words or doctrines, surly it is grounded by sound doctrine, but is focused on a life of repentance. Beginning with faith in the Good News of the Gospel, coupled with a recognition of our sinful state, our condition that is less than what God has intended for us, we must focus on our perfection with the help of God's saving grace.

How?  Do we need to have exalted words?  No. We need to be joined with Christ in His Church, to give our best effort to follow His commandments, and to participate in His sacraments for our healing.  We need to pray daily, participate in the prescribed fasts, and follow the guidance of a spiritual father who knows the path to unity with God.

Let's not get too engaged in the meaning of words, or even in the analysis of Scripture.  With faith, let's seek to heal our souls through the healing sacraments, prayer and fasting. Our souls are crying for healing and liberation from our passions and our dedication to the things of this world. Let's allow ourselves to be lifted above all words and receive what cannot be put into words. This is the path to unity with God and our salvation.

Truly Christ is Risen!

Reference: Mary the Mother of God: Sermons by Gregory Palamas, p16

Is Baptism Sufficient? A teaching of Saint Gregory Palamas

Observe All Things
Christ died and was resurrected showing that death is no longer the end. He told His disciples that he would come again to judge the whole world. He said he would take up to heaven and bestow the kingdom of heaven on those who are justified. Christ then instructed His disciples to baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and go and make disciples of all nations. (Matthew 28:19, 20). There was more than Baptism. Jesus expected those who were baptized to teach others and also to do what He commanded, "Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:20). Apostle James tells us, "whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offended in one point, he is guilty of all" (James 2:10). So we are not at liberty to choose what is virtue. We are to do everything He commanded. A little bit, or even most of what He asks us to do is not enough. We must "do everything He commanded."


Always Strive to Keep Our Freedom
St. Gregory Palamas tells us "if we do not strive through blameless deeds and words to guard our freedom to the end, or when it slips away, to summon it back through repentance, we shall be condemned by that liberating law itself for failing to keep the freedom given to us." The freedom we must guard is that which we gain through Baptism, where we are freed of the law of sin and death. With this freedom we now live in hope of eternal life in God's kingdom. But, we have much work to do.


When we do fall short of the mark (sin), and we undoubtably will, then we must immediately repent. This is obtained through the power of the Sacraments of His Church. While it is only God who saves us, this also requires our effort. When we are striving for our salvation continually with continual repentance, we find we have a merciful God who gives us His grace abundantly to aid us in our struggle.


Even Paul Struggled
Emphasizing that Baptism is not enough but our works are necessary, Saint Gregory points out that Apostle Paul is well aware that to "strive through blameless deeds" is a great undertaking and hard work. He communicates this to us by sharing how Paul, although an Apostle, always struggled. He basis this on what Saint Paul says about Himself: "Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainly. Thus I fight I, not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body, and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified." (1Cor 9:26-27). Paul fights and struggles to gain the "imperishable crown" of salvation. He suffers sickness, imprisonment, persecution, and temptations of the flesh.


Demands Our Full Effort
Paul encourages his followers to maintain their zeal for Christ and to give their full effort to do as He Himself does and to follow Christ's example. He says, "Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receives the prize?" (1Cor 9:24) He does not mean that only one person will win the race and achieve salvation, but to be like those who make an all out effort like a runner who tries to win a race. The winners are those who win the prize of salvation. We must strive to be perfect as Christ with the intention that we will give our full effort to perfect ourselves. Saint Gregory points out that Paul also tells us the "prize of the high calling" is inexhaustible and sufficient to be shared with everyone without diminishing. There is not a single winner, but we can all win this race.


Paul shows us how to run this race. he says, Everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. (1Cor 9:25).


Lessons From the Ancients
Paul then draws on the experience of the ancients, those who followed Moses. Gregory Palamas uses this to show that it is not by faith alone that we are saved but by our works. Paul was making the same point with the Corinthians who had been baptized and regularly partook of the Divine Gifts of the Blood and Body of Christ.
Paul writes:
"Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness." (1Cor 10:1-5)


Moses was under the cloud of the Holy Spirit. His followers were baptized in their crossing of the Red Sea. Like the Corinthians they ate of Spiritual manna given by God. They also had spiritual water that came from the Rock like the Corinthians drank from the Cup. The rock is like Christ who endlessly provides us with spiritual food. Like the Corinthians the followers of Moses were disobedient and "were scattered in the wilderness."
Saint Gregory Palamas explains it this way:
"What he [Paul] is saying is that once they had gone astray after evil Desiree's, the symbols of the mysteries which had been granted to them we're of no benefit to them, and did not exempt them from being abandoned by God... If we choose to live sinfully, holy baptism and the divine sacraments that follow it will not save us from eternal condemnation, but we will lose the heavenly inheritance just as they [Moses's followers] lost the promised land, with our impertinent behavior and disobedience to God's commandments. That is why Paul goes on to say to us, " Let us not be disobedient, brethren, nor let us harden our heart, as they did in the day of temptation in the wilderness (Heb 3:8).
We Cannot be Complacent
Do we not see the same issue today? Those who have been Baptized and participate in the Holy Sacraments are frequent sinners and think they are saved. We live in a world filled with greed and self gratification and we tend to fit in with the predominant culture unawares of our true unbelief in the teachings of Christ and our disobedience in following what He has commanded us to do.


Saint Gregory concludes,
"Let us not do evil, that evil may not befall us, but let us learn to do good. And let us throw off our vices through confession and appropriate repentance. If we are unable to to take full possession of the virtues, then, by being humble towards God, sharing what we have plenty of with the poor, and having a forbearing attitude towards those who fall, let us win forgiveness from on high, and fill up what is lacking in our good works with God's love for mankind, that the Lord may be constantly with us, according to His promise (Matt 28:20)."


Reference: Saint Gregory Palamas The Homilies edited and trans. By Christopher Veniamin, Homily 38, pp 301 - 304

True Knowledge of God

"When a person rises from bodily knowledge to the soul’s knowledge and from that to spiritual knowledge, then he sees God and possesses knowledge of God, which is his salvation." - Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos

It is common in today's world to forget the mission we as Orthodox Christians have to work on ourselves so we can become worthy to receive God's grace.  We also forget that this is essential for our salvation which is a union with God. We may be too comfortable with regular church attendance and periodic participation in the sacraments.  It's like we think salvation will be handed to us on a silver platter as long as we adhere to a few of the Orthodox Traditions. This is reinforced by our US culture which is basically Protestant where it is common to think, I believe, therefore I am saved.  Of course we must believe, but this is only the beginning according to the Church Fathers.  


Christ told us, "those who are pure of heart will see God".  So in addition to belief, which is bodily knowledge, we have to lift ourselves to spiritual knowledge.  This is a spiritual experience with God that is beyond any bodily knowledge.


Metropolitan Hierotheos says,

Knowledge of God... is not intellectual, but existential. That is, one’s whole being is filled with this knowledge of God. But in order to attain it, one’s heart must have been purified, that is, the soul, nous (intellect) and heart must have been healed.

Saint Gregory Palamas gave us this teaching very clearly and was affirmed in an important council. He taught us that deification, theosis, is not something abstract but the actual union of man with God.  In this union we behold the uncreated light of God like the Apostles Peter, James and John saw at His Transfiguration.  This "light" will be seen not with our physical eyes but with inner spiritual eyes.  This vision is knowledge of God that is beyond all human knowledge and our senses.


Our challenge is to ask ourselves, Do we aspire to this spiritual knowledge?  Or, are we satisfied with the mundane intellectual knowledge of this world?  With the right desire we will be lifted to the higher plain and find the true union and knowledge of God.  This is salvation from an Orthodox perspective.


In conclusion I offer the following quote from Saint Gregory Palamas in his Triads,

“One who has cleared his soul of all connection with things of this world, who has detached himself from everything by keeping the commandments and by the dispassion that this brings, and who has passed beyond all cognitive activity through continuous, sincere and immaterial prayer, and who has been abundantly illuminated by the inaccessible light in an inconceivable union, he alone, becoming light, contemplating by the light and beholding the light, in the vision and enjoyment of this light recognizes truly that God is transcendently radiant and beyond comprehension; he glorifies God not only beyond his nous’s human power of understanding, for many created things are beyond that, but even beyond that marvelous union which is the only means by which the nous is united with what is beyond intelligible things, “imitating divinely the supra-celestial minds” (2,3,57)

Is Continual Prayer Possible for Everyone?

Saint Gregory Palamas says,

Let no one think, my brother Christians, that it is the duty only of priests and monks to pray without ceasing, and not of laymen. No, no; it is the duty of all of us Christians to remain always in prayer.

How is it that we can remain always at prayer if we do not live a monastic life?  Saint Gregory answers this in this way, 

"How it is possible to pray without ceasing, namely by praying in the mind. And this we can always do if we so wish."  

This is so true.  No matter what we are doing physically we can pray in our mind.  Of course there are certain activities like driving when we want to have our full attention on the task.  But we can learn to have a prayer going on in our mind even when we are driving of course this is not for those beginning in prayer).  After all, many have no problem talking on a cell phone or talking with another person while driving.  Even when we are talking with another person we can still be praying in the mind.  We have the capacity to hear more than one conversation at a time.  So we surely can have a prayer in our mind and hear others speaking.  All of us have the potential to pray continually and this does not require us to stop all our activities to do so.

Saint Gregory says,

Let us work with the body and pray with the soul. Let our outer man perform his bodily tasks, and let the inner man be entirely dedicated to the service of God, never abandoning this spiritual practice of mental prayer, as Jesus, God and Man, commanded us...

Now getting to this stage where we can pray continually in our mind is not easy and takes a lot of work. 

Saint Gregory advises.

At first it may appear very difficult to you, but be assured, as it were from Almighty God, that this very name of our Lord Jesus Christ, constantly invoked by you, will help you to overcome all difficulties, and in the course of time you will become used to this practice and will taste how sweet is the name of the Lord. Then you will learn by experience that this practice is not impossible and not difficult, but both possible and easy. This is why St. Paul, who knew better than we the great good which such prayer would bring, commanded us to pray without ceasing. He would not have imposed this obligation upon us if it were extremely difficult and impossible, for he knew beforehand that in such case, having no possibility of fulfilling it, we would inevitably prove to be disobedient and would transgress his commandment, thus incurring blame and condemnation. The Apostle could have had no such intention.

More on Jesus Prayer

Source

Why Does Humility Lead Us to Righteousness?

This last Sunday's Gospel lesson, the story of the Pharisee and the Publican, emphasized humility as a key attitude for repentance. To repent we must not boast of our spiritual feats, but humble ourselves like the Publican who longs for a change of mind. We are called to learn this secret of the inward poverty of the Publican rather than the self-righteousness of the Pharisee who is convinced of his perfectness and not open to change because of his pride. 


Saint Gregory Palamas answers the question, Why does Humility lead us to righteousness?

Why does humility lead up to the heights of righteousness, whereas self-conceit leads down to the depths of sin? Because anybody who thinks he is something great, even before God, is rightly abandoned by God, as one who thinks that he does not need His help. Anybody who despises himself, on the other hand, relies on mercy from above, wins God's sympathy, help and grace. As it says, “The Lord resists the proud: but he gives grace to the lowly” (Proverbs 3:34 Lxx).

When we compare ourselves to the calling of God, being made in His image, we can be no other than humble. Unless we think this way, why do we need God's help?  We will remain stuck in our own ego-centeredness, condemned to the heights of our own making. Our end when it comes will also be of our own making.  We will die with only our own thoughts to comfort us.  Humility is the key to knowing and becoming united with God so we can live in His grace. All we need is a little bit of humility and God will widen our perspective little by little until we find His full glory. As we prepare for this Lenten period, let us all seek to find one new limitation we have that keeps us from a full union with our God.


Reference: Saint Gregory Palamas: The Homilies, pp 6-7

What John the Baptist Taught About Repentance

Today we celebrate Saint John the Baptist, the Forerunner.  His message is  one that is fundamental to Christian way of Life.  It is not by chance that the Forerunner was one who taught repentance as the way to  Heaven.  

He said, 

"Repent ye, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand" (Matt 3:2). 

John was followed then by Christ whose first teaching was also repentance: "Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." (Matt 4:17). 


Saint Gregory Palamas explains the significance of this act.
He says,

Repentance means hating sin and loving virtue, turning away from evil and during good  (Ps 34:14, 1 Pet 3:11). These acts are preceded, however, by condemning ourselves for our faults, being penitent before God, fleeing to  Him for refuge with a contrite heart, and casting ourselves into the ocean of His mercy, considering ourselves unworthy to be counted among His sons. As the prodigal son said when he repented, “Lord, I am not worthy to be called Thy son: make me as one of Thy hired servants” (Luke 15:19).

John was direct in his preaching.  He pointedly warned the Pharisees and Sadducees who came to Him to change their ways.  


He told them firmly,

Bear fruits worthy of repentance. (Matt 3:8)

Repentance has always meant making a change of mind and becoming a new way of being.  When we repent we admit the error of our way, feel sorry for our failing and then commit to change and take on a new way of life.  The aim is to bear the fruit of repentance. Its the fruit that counts.


Saint John goes further warning,

Every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. (Matt 3:10)

Gregory Palamas says commenting on this harsh passage,

Being hewn down is God's sentence on those who justify themselves and sin without repenting, and, in accordance with this decision, once they have been cut off from the present and future life, they are sent away to dark, unquenchable hell-fire. That is why the Baptist, too, warns that after such people have been cut down, inextinguishable fire receives them, making known in this way the awfullness of God's wrath and that eternal punishment, in order to bring to their senses that insensitive race and men like them who came later.

Repentance is not a light matter in the eyes of John the Baptist.  One must be motivated to change or else be condemned for fire.  John was not timid in guiding seekers to do more than simply avoid evil things or actions.  He taught that a change in way of being that would bear good fruits was required to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.


Here is how Saint Gregory summarizes what John looked for.

 What are these? Firstly confession, as practiced by those who came to him at that time. “Then they went out”, it says, “and they were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins” (Matthew 3:5-6). Next, he looked for righteousness, almsgiving, moderation, love, truthfulness, telling them, “Exact no more than that which is appointed you”, “Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely” (Luke 3:13, 14), and “He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise” (Luke 3:11). “For every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low” (Luke 3:5). What is the hidden meaning of valleys being filled in and mountains being brought low? Exactly what the Lord says plainly, “Everyone that exalted himself shall be abased; and he that humble us himself shall be exalted” (Luke 18:14). The Baptist who says, “the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God” (Luke 3:5-6). Lying, deceit and slander are crooked, and the rough paths are anger, hatred, envy and remembrance of wrongs, all of which are made straight and level when transformed by the works of repentance. And so “all flesh”, that is, every person of every nation and race who straightens and smooths himself out through repentance, “shall see the salvation of God” (Luke 3:6).

 This should lead us to deep thought about our own condition and what it means to repent.  It seems that to day many of these concepts have been watered down to mere politeness.  But what John and then Jesus taught was serious business, meant to guide people to a new way of life where they could see Heaven.


Jesus added power to this act by infusing it with the Holy spirit.  This is what is available to us to this Day in the confines of the Church through the sacraments.  Jesus told His disciples "John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit" (Acts 1:5).


Reference: Saint Gregory Palamas the Homilies, On Baptism and Repentance

Journey to Bethlehem

When Joseph and Mary departed to Bethlehem to register for the payment of their taxes, Mary was about to give birth to The Son of God.  Can you imagine this adventure.  The Son of God making such a journey?

The Hymn by Saint Ephraim proclaims:

Blessed art thou, bethlehem, that the towns envy thee––and the fortified cities!

This journey was not a easy one.  An average trip in those days would involve only about 15 miles per day.  

There is an icon of their trip in the Monastery of Chora in Constantinople (Istanbul).  In it we see Joseph with a slight stoop and a gate of an elderly man.  He was generally thought to be about 80 years of age at this time.  His eyes are turned toward Mary who has her head turned towards him.  One of Joseph's sons is leading with his mantle flowing and carrying a bundle of provisions for the trip.

In the Hymn from the ninth hour on the eve of the Nativity we hear the following dialogue,

"O virgin, when Joseph went up to Bethlehem sounded by sorrow, thou didst cry to him: 'Why art thou downcast and troubled, seeing me great with child? Why art thou wholly ignorant of the fearful mystery that comes to pass in me?  Henceforth, cast every fear aside and understand this strange marvel: for in my womb God now descends upon the earth for mercy's sake, and He has taken flesh.  thou shalt see Him according to His good pleasure, when He is born; and fill with joy thou shalt worship Him as Thy Creator, Whom the angels praise without ceasing in song and glorify with the father and the Holy Spirit.'"

For this three day journey, they would have carried with them only a few necessities common with a poor family of this time.  The surroundings of His birth was total poverty.  But this is part of His message and inconsistent with His divine nature.  Earthly splendor would not have been fitting for He who came to save the common man from sin and call every person to be renewed and become reunited with God.

In this next icon from the Monastery of Chora we see depicted the scene of registration for their taxes  In it we see Quirinius, the governor of Syria, with a fully armed military guard.  there is a scribe holding an unfurled scroll which has a record of the names.  Mary is see standing tall in a graceful poise with he head bowed with humility toward the officers.  She draws he maphorion modestly around her shoulder.  Joseph is shown with his four sons assisting her.

So, what kind of place did God arrange for this miraculous birth? There was no room for them to stay and they had to find a cave shared with animals, hardly a clean place for the birth of a child. It was in fact the lowest place for a birth yet fitting as a place for the Lord of All to be born.

The Apolytikion of the forefeast is as follows,

"Mary once, with aged Joseph, went to be taxed in Bethlehem, for they were of the linage of David; and she bore in her womb the Fruit that had not been sown.  The time of the birth was at hand and there was no room in the inn; but the cave proved a fair palace for the Queen. Christ is born, that He may raise again the image that before was fallen."

A Hymn by Saint John of Damascus From the canon of the forefeast, Ode six.

"How shall a small cave receive thee, for Whom the world cannot find a room. O thou Whom none can comprehend! O Thou, Who with the Father are without beginning, how shalt thou appear as a small child?

This humble beginning is a clear message for all of us.  We too must become humble if we are to follow Him.

Saint Gregory Palamas says,

The way to be exaulted and to resemble Him is not arrogance but humility.  Because of this, men are easily set right, as they recognize humility as the road by which they are recalled...

He who defines all things and is limited by none is contained in a small, makeshift manger. He who holds the universe and grasps it in the hollow of his hand, is wrapped in narrow swaddling bands and fastened into ordinary clothes. He who possess the riches fo inehaustable treasures submits Himself voluntarily to such great poverty that He does not even havre aplace at the inn; and so He enters into a cave at the time of His birth, who was brought forth by God tielessly and impassibly and without beginning.  And––how great a wonder!__ not only does He who shares the nature of the Father on high put on our fallen nature through His birth, nor is He subject merely to the utter poverty of being born in a wretched cave, but right fromt he very start, while still in the womb, He accepts the final condemnation of our nature.

From His first days on earth Jesus showed us that the path to union with God was based on humility and detachment from earthly pleasures.

Why Peace and Good Will?

Why is it that at the birth of Jesus Christ the three wise men bring gifts from a distant land guided by a super-natural star and we see the shepherds glorifying Him surrounded by the radiance of the angles.  The angels teach them a heavenly song of praise - “ Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace...” (Luke 2:14)  The angels told the shepherds, "I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people" (Luke 2:10). So what is the reason and meaning of this joy and what is this peace that is spoken of? 

Now He who dwells on high and reigns over the celestial heights has the earth as His throne, and is glorified on earth as much as there by His saints and His angels alike.

Saint Gregory Palamas tell us the following,

Listen to the Gospel song to the end and you will understand. "Peace, it says, "good will toward men" (Luke 2:14)  For God, who was angry with the human race and subjected it to terrible curses, has come in the flesh, granting His peace and reconciling them to the heavenly Father. Behold, says the hymn, He has not been born for us angels, though now that we see Him on earth we extol Him as we do in heaven, but for you men, that is to say, for your sake and in accordance with your nature a savior is born, Christ the Lord, in the city of David.

Why is peace linked with good will?
Saint Gregory says,

Good will refers to that which is in and of itself well-pleasing, the original and perfect will of God. It was not the original and perfect will of God that He granted benefits, and not even perfect ones, to certain men or to on nation only. That is why, just as God called many people His sons, but there is only one in whom He was well pleased, so He gave His peace on many occasions, but only once accompanied by His good pleasure, which He grants, perfect and unchanging, through the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ to every race and to as many as desire it.

It is our responsibility to develop this same peace within ourselves though our participation in His Church.  This is the benefit He gave to us through the Incarnation.  It is is ours to "preserve within ourselves."

Nativity as Renewal of Mankind

God, having formed man with His own hands in His own image He in his love allowed man free will to follow his own initiative.  Because of the deceit of the devil man was not strong enough to withstand his temptations and separated himself from God.  God then through the incarnation set about to recreate man anew.

Saint Gregory Palamas puts it this way,

So now God not only forms human nature anew by His own hand in a mysterious way, but also keeps it near Him.  Not only does He assume this nature and rase it up from the fall, but He inexpressibly clothes Himself in it an unites Himself inseparable with it and born as both God and man: from a woman, in the first instance, that He might take upon Himself the same nature which He formed in our forefathers; and from a woman who was a virgin, in the second, so that He might make man anew.

The Incarnation is an integral part of God's plan for mankind.  With free will so man could mature in His likeness to love God with his whole heart and mind just as God loved man, mankind was lost, separated from God and unable on His own power to reunite himself with God.  Through the Incarnation God renewed mankind.

Saint Gregory tells us,

If He had been born from seed, He would not have been a new man and, being part of the old stock, and inheriting that fall, He would not have been able to receive the fullness of the incorruptible Godhead in Himself and become an inexhaustible source of hallowing.  And so, not only would He not have been able to cleanse,  with abundance of power, our forefathers defilement caused by sin, but neither would He have been sufficient to sanctify those who came later....

God in His incarnation gave us more than a one time event.  His renewal of Mankind established an eternal spring of healing water by training the Apostles who with the power of the Holy Spirit established the Church as an unending source of His healing power for mankind to be renewed from ages to ages.

Saint Gregory says,

But creation needed a well containing it own spring, that those who drew near it and drank their full might remain undefeated by the attacks of weaknesses and deprivations inherent in the created world.... Building now the new Jerusalem, raising up a temple for Himself with living stones and gathering us into a holy and world wide Church, He sets in its foundation, which is Christ, the ever-flowing fount of grace.

Today we have this "ever-flowing fount of Grace in His presence in His Church.  The incarnation calls all of us to be partakers of this grace through our way of life.  Through our daily prayer, repentance, participation in the Sacraments we are filled with the Holy Spirit  to live the virtuous life He taught us in His life as fully man here on earth. We can think of the Nativity as much more than the birth of a chid in a manger.  It is also the birth of His Church though which we participate to this day to come in unity with Him learning to live the virtuous way of life he showed us to be possible once we were renewed by becoming part of Him in His Church.

What is meant by Orthodox Spirituality?

"Our mind goes outside itself and so unites with God; it becomes more than mind."  Saint Gregory Palamas

Spirituality is a most difficult term because it is used in many ways, often in ways that denigrate true Christian spirituality.  Often, when one does not have any real faith they say, "I don't believe in any religion but I am spiritual."  The term spiritual generally refers to an undefined inner spirit of man.  So, those who do not have any firm religious belief have some sense of this inner spirit, but no clear path or intent to develop it.  For Orthodox Christians there is a very very clear notion of this inner sense of spirit and a clear path exists to respond to it. 


Orthodox spirituality involves a journey towards a mystical union with God through living the Gospel teachings in the context of the Church and participating in her sacraments and Holy Traditions.  Dumitru Staniloae speaks to this in His book, Orthodox Spirituality.

He says Orthodox Christian spirituality

"presents the process of a Christian progress on the road to perfection in Christ, by the cleansing of the passions and the winning of the virtues, a process which  takes place in a certain order.  In other words, it describes the manner in which the Christian can go forward from the cleansing of one passion to the cleansing of another, and at the same time acquiring of the different virtues."

We need to ask ourselves: "Do we know this process? What are the steps along this path?" 
In the next few posts I will be sharing with you some of the thoughts of this great Orthodox Theologian about these and other questions on Orthodox Spirituality.


reference: Orthodox Spirituality, p 21

Who was the first to know of Christ's Resurrection?

Here is what Saint Gregory Palamas says:

There is something which the evangelists tell us in a veiled way, but which I shall reveal to your charity. As was right and just, the Mother of God was the first person to receive from the Lord the Good News of the Resurrection, and she saw Him risen and had the joy of His divine words before anyone else. She not only beheld Him with her eyes and heard Him with her ears, but was the first and only person to touch with her hands His most pure feet. If the evangelists do not say all this openly, it is because they do not want to put forward His Mother as a witness, lest they give unbelievers grounds for suspicion. As we are now, however, by the grace of the Resurrection, addressing believers, and the subject of today's feast obliges us to clarify everything that concerns the myrrhbearers, this too shall be revealed, with leave from Him who said, "Nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest" (Luke 8:17).

Who were the Myrrbearers?
These are the women who followed the Lord along with His Mother and stayed with her during the time of the Passion of our Lord.  They were the ones who wrapped Christ's body in linen cloths with glue-like spices, and put it in the sepulcher.  


When there was an earthquake and the tomb was opened, the Theotokos was there. She did not fear as others ran and the angel came saying "Fear not ye: do ye seek Jesus which was crucified? He is risen. Come, see the place where the Lord Lay" (Matt 28:5-6). They then departed with "great joy" (Matt 28:8). Later others came to the tomb, some rejoining the Theotokos and went to the place e they aw and heard Him speak to them.


For complete description of the most significant event see the Eighteenth Homily by Saint Gregory Palamas, "On the Sunday of the Myrrhbearers," in Saint Gregory Palamas: The Homilies pp 144 - 151.

Truth of the Uncreated Light of God

On this second Sunday of Lent we celebrate Saint Gregory Palamas who was a defender of a principle mystical teaching of Orthodoxy that we can experience God's Divine Energies even though we can never know His essence. He explained that when the Apostles witnessed the Transfiguration of Jesus Christ on Mount Tabor, that they were seeing the actual uncreated light of God. This was not some created experience. He also taught that it is possible for others to be blessed to see that same uncreated light of God by repentance, spiritual discipline and the practice of the Jesus Prayer. Saint Gregory cautions those of a rational mind to be open to the incredible mystery that is available to those who are pure of heart.

"There are people in our own times...who completely disobey spiritual men in matters of the Spirit, and choose to oppose them. When they hear that the light of the Lord's transfiguration on the mountain was seen by the eyes of the apostles, they immediately reduce it to visible, created light. They drag down that immaterial, never-setting, pre-eternal light, which surpasses not only our senses but also our minds, because they themselves are at a low level, and are incapable of conceiving of anything higher than earthly things. Nevertheless, He who shone with this light proved in advance that it was uncreated by referring to it as the kingdom of God. God's kingdom is not subservient or created, but uniquely unsubduable and invincible. It is beyond the bounds of both time and aeon, and cannot be said to have had a beginning or to have been overtaken by time or age. We believe this kingdom to be the inheritance of those who are being saved. 

Given that when He was transfigured the Lord shone and displayed glory, splendor and light, and will come again as He was seen by His disciples on the mountain, does this mean He somehow took this light to Himself, and will have for ever something He did not have before? Perish the blasphemous thought! ...He possessed the splendor of the divine nature hidden under His flesh. This light, then, is the light of the Godhead, and it is uncreated. According to the theologians, when Christ was transfigured He neither received anything different, nor was changed into anything different, but was revealed to His disciples as He was, opening their eyes and giving sight to the blind. Take note that eyes with natural vision are blind to that light. It is invisible, and those who behold it do so not simply with their bodily eyes, but with eyes transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit." (Homily 34)

This uncreated light seen by the Apostles is clearly not physical. Saint Gregory says it is available to all of us. But He cautions that we can never assume to know the essence of God. This is unknowable to us. We should pursue our own purification to experience the wonder of His uncreated light as this only comes to those who are pure of heart as were Peter John and James, the only ones He took with Him to Mount Tabor. This is why we are reminded of His teaching at this time in our fast. Our fast is to help us build the self-disciplne to enable to attack our sinfulness so we too can become pure in heart and be one with god and bask in His uncreated light.

Thus is this light measured out and distributed, while remaining entire, and is received more by some, less by others. It is known partly now, partly later, so Paul says, "We know in part, and we prophesy in part" (I Cor. 13:9). By contrast, God's essence is absolutely indivisible and incomprehensible, and no other being can receive it, either to a greater or lesser extent. Only the accursed Messalians think otherwise, supposing that God's essence can be seen by those among them who are worthy We, however, turn aside from heretics of earlier ages and our own and believe, as we were taught that the divine kingdom, glory, splendor, ineffable light, and divine grace can be seen and shared by the saints, but not God's essence. So let us make our way towards the radiance of the light of grace, that we may acknowledge and venerate the threefold Godhead, who shines with a single indescribable radiance from one nature in three persons. Let us lift up the eyes of our understanding to the Word who now sits, with His body, above the vaults of heaven. And He who sits in divine splendor on the right hand of majesty, utters these words to us as if from afar, "If anyone wants to stand in the presence of this glory, let him imitate Me as far as he can, and follow the way and the manner of life I taught on earth". 

Let us look with our inner eyes at this great spectacle, our nature, which dwells for all eternity with the immaterial fire of the divinity. And let us take off the coats of skins (cf Gen. 3:21), the earthy and carnal ways of thinking, in which we were clothed because of our transgression, and stand on holy ground (cf Exod. 3:5), each one of us hallowing our own ground by means of virtue and reaching up to God. In this way we shall have boldness when God comes in light, and as we run to Him we shall be enlightened, and, once illumined, shall live for ever to the glory of the one brightness in three Suns, now and for ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen. (Homily 35)

Keep up the fast, double your prayers, participate in the additional services, and help those in need during this Lenten period.


Read both the Homilies by Saint Gregory: Homily 34 & Homily 35

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Self-Control is Important in Fasting

The challenge of a spiritual life is to gain self-control.  This is one of the requirements of fasting, so by participating in the fast we learn this all important skill for an Orthodox Way of LIfe.

Saint Gregory Palamas reminds this that this issue goes all the way back to Adam and Eve. 

Lack of self-control is actually an evil both ancient and modern, though it did not precede its antidote, fasting. By means of our forefathers' self-indulgence in paradise and their contempt for the fast already in existence there, death entered the world. Sin reigned and brought in the condemnation of our nature from Adam until Christ. 

 A lack of self-control led to the Great Flood, the destruction of Sodom, Esau's plight, and the death of Eli's sons.  Saint Gregory says,

The flood covered the whole earth because of the self-indulgence of Adam’s descendants in this world of ours and their disdain for the chastity which came before. In those days God said to Noah, "My Spirit shall not abide in these men, for they are flesh" (cf. Gen. 6:3 LXX). The deeds of those who are flesh are none other than unlimited eating, drunkenness, sensual pleasure and the evils that spring from them. Because of the abominable depravity and self-indulgence among the men of Sodom, fire fell on them from heaven (Gen. 19:24). "Behold", says the prophet Ezekiel, "this was the iniquity of the men of Sodom, in fulness of bread they committed abomination" (cf. Ezek. 16:49-50). By means of this abomination, ignoring human nature they fell into unnatural unions. What deprived Esau, Isaac's firstborn, of his birthright and his father's blessing? Of course it was lasciviousness and an unreasonable demand for food (Gen. 25:25-34; 26:34-35, Heb. 12:16). Why were Eli's sons condemned to death, and why did he meet a violent death at the news of the death of his children, whom he had not disciplined with proper care? Surely it was because they took the meat from the cauldrons before the time and used it (1 Sam. 2:12-17; 4:11, 17-18). Also, the whole Hebrew nation, while Moses was fasting on the mountain for their sake, were indulging themselves to their own detriment. They ate and drank and rose up to play, as the Scripture says (Exod. 32:6), and their sport was worshipping an idol, for it was then that the incidents surrounding the fashioning of the calf took place among them. 

The benefit of fasting is greater self0control which leads us to greater virtue.

Sensual pleasure causes ungodliness as well as sin, but fasting and self-control result in the fear of God as well as virtue. Fasting must be accompanied by self-control. Why? Because eating our fill, even of humble foods, is a hindrance to the purifying mourning, godly sorrow and contrition in our souls, which bring about unswerving repentance leading to salvation. For without a contrite heart we cannot really lay hold of repentance. It is the restriction of self-indulgence, sleep and the senses according to God's will that crushes our hearts and makes us mourn for our sins. 

When that rich man in the Gospel said to himself, "Eat, drink and be merry" (Luke 12:19), the wretch made himself fit for the eternal flames and unfit for this present life.

Saint Gregory gives us this final encouragement:

Let us, on the contrary, brethren, tell ourselves to be temperate, to fast, to keep watch, to be restrained, to be humble and to suffer hardship for our salvation. Then we shall finish this present life in a good way pleasing to God and inherit the blessed life without end. 

May we all attain to this by the grace and love towards mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom belong glory, might, honor and worship, together with I lis Father without beginning and the life-giving Spirit, now and for ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

From Homily Six - To Encourage Fasting  - Saint Gregory Palamas: The Homilies, trans. Christopher Veniamin, Mount Thabor Publishing, Waymart PA, 2009 


More on fasting and the complete homily

Moses & Elijah as Examples on Fasting

Saint Gregory Palamas gives us the examples of Moses and Elijah as examples to motivate us in our fasting.  

Moses fasted for many days. Awaken your minds, I entreat You, and lift them up at this opportune time, in company with Moses when he went up the mountain towards God. In this way may you start off afresh on your ascent, and be lifted up together with Christ, who did not merely go up a mountain but up to heaven, taking us with Him. Moses fasted for forty days on the mountain and according to the Scriptures he saw God, not darkly but face to face (Exod. 24:18). He talked to Him as someone would speak to his friend (Exod. 33:11, Deut. 34:10). He learnt from God and taught everyone about Him: that He is He Who eternally Is (Exod. 3:14) and will never cease to be, that He summoned what did not exist into existence, brought all things out of non-being and will not let them fall back into non-existence. In the beginning He brought the whole visible creation out of nothing all at once, just by a nod and His will. "In the beginning", it says, "God created the heaven and the earth" (Gen. 1:1), not empty of course, nor without all that lies between them. The earth was interspersed with water, and both were full of air, animals and plants of various kinds, whereas the heavens were full of the various lights and fires, from which the universe is formed. 

....

Elijah, when he too had fasted forty days (I Kgs. 19:8), saw the Lord on the mountain, not in fire, as the elders of Israel had earlier (Exod. 24:9-10, Deut. 5:23), but passing beyond the fiery vision by his God-pleasing fast, he saw the Lord in the sound of a light passing breeze (I Kgs. 19:12 LXX). He had approached more closely to our Lord's words, "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24). For the sound prefigured the Truth and the preaching of Him who is Truth Itself, which rang out round all the ends of the earth, and the passing breeze prefigured the Spirit and grace. 

From this vision while fasting Elijah also received power to anoint a prophet in his stead and bestow upon him a double portion of the grace he possessed, and to mount up above the earth in mid-air (2 Kgs. 2:9-11). This pointed clearly towards Christ's ascension from earth to heaven which was to happen later (Acts 1:9-11). While Christ Himself was fasting in the wilderness, He defeated our tempter by force and took away his power against mankind (Matt. 4:1-11, Mark 1:13, cf. Luke 4:1-13). Having at last put down his tyranny, he set our nature free and handed him over for sport to all those willing to live according to His Gospel. In this way He fulfilled the words of the prophets and by His works inscribed grace and truth upon the symbolic events which took place in ancient times.

You see the benefits of fasting, and how it has made us worthy of so many great gifts? 

From Homily Six - To Encourage Fasting  - Saint Gregory Palamas: The Homilies, trans. Christopher Veniamin, Mount Thabor Publishing, Waymart PA, 2009

More on fasting and the complete homily

St. Gregory Palamas on fasting

Saint Gregory Palamas offers us insights about  fasting. The following are excerpts from Homily Six "To encourage Fasting."

THE INVISIBLE SERPENT, the originator of evil, is inventive, versatile and extremely skillful in contriving wickedness. He has means to hinder our good purposes and actions as soon as they begin... 

But we, brethren, should rise above this trap by our soul's courage, eagerness and faith. We should bear in mind the fact that just as the earth cannot yield worthwhile fruit without labor, so the soul cannot acquire anything which pleases God or leads to salvation without spiritual struggles. But while it is possible to find earth which is unsuitable for cultivation, every human soul is naturally suited to virtue. As we are all unavoidably condemned, however, by the judgment given against our forefather, to live by labor and toil, let us turn necessity into an honor and willingly offer to God what is ours not by our own will. Let us give up transitory things in exchange for things that endure, and receive what is beneficial in exchange for what is harmful, transforming short-lived toil into a means to gain eternal ease. If we labor here for the sake of virtue we shall certainly attain to the rest promised in the age to come… 

When we remember this and eagerly apply ourselves to virtuous actions, the evil one, knowing that nothing can be good unless it is done in a good way, strives to persuade us not to accomplish any good work with the object of pleasing God or of winning His approval, but to look for other people's approval… 

Even after suffering this defeat, the originator of evil undermined us with pride, the last and worst abyss... 

...Fasting was of no benefit to that Pharisee in the Gospel, even though he always fasted two days a Week, because he had adulterated it with pride and condemnation of his neighbor (Luke 18:11-12). Not that this means fasting is unprofitable. Moses, Elijah and the Lord Himself showed how beneficial it is for those who fast properly in a way pleasing to God.

Fasting is a way to develop our soul but must be done with the "right" spirit.  We must be aware that pride is something than can make all our good intentioned efforts useless. Beware of all the temptations to give up the fast or to show off our exemplary behavior.


More on fasting including the complete homily

Mother of God's Time in the Holy Of Holies

Saint Gregory Palamas gives us incredible insight into the mystical life of The Most Holy Mary. He tells us why she spent her early years in the inner sanctuary of the Great temple. He lifts the reader up to appreciate the holiness of the Panagia and the purpose of silence in spiritual development. Here are some excerpts:

Prior to all these events… there were pronouncements by inspired prophets, miracles which obscurely preshadowed the great miracle to come, spiritual ordinances which prefigured in various ways the truth that was to be, changes affecting nations and history which opened the way for the new mystery to be accomplished, the promise of which God made and kept to Joachim and Anna that they would have a child in old age, although they had been childless since their youth, and this admirable couple's vow to God that they would give back the gift of their daughter to the giver. In accordance with this truly worthy and most righteous vow, they went up to the holy Temple with their promised child, and the heavenly Queen made her extraordinary entry ion the Holy of Holies, the place reserved solely for God, where He once a year received the current high priests when they went in, and where the Virgin Mother entered at three years of age, and stayed for our sake.

The holy Maid took as her home for several years the place assigned to God alone, which was consecrated as His dwelling, and out of which He gave audience at infrequent intervals to Moses, Aaron and those of their successors who were equally worthy, and where He was also believed to reside continuously between those encounters.  In this way she made it clear, and declared in advance to as many as have understanding, that she was to be the true shrine and resting-place of God…

The Holy of Holies was out of sight of almost everyone, shut off from everybody, and protected by encircling walls and curtains, with veils and hangings before the entrances, which were never opened for anyone except the high priest according to the law, and only once a year for him, when he entered to gain God's mercy for himself and those outside…. how could this virginal treasure be kept anywhere else but in this innermost sanctuary, passing her life invisible to all?

The fruit of her righteous parents' vow and supplication… the Virgin was brought by her parents to the giver, like a beloved votive offering… She was brought, like a most holy shoot sprung from a holy root… to produce Him by whose word alone everything natural and supernatural sprang to life.

The Mother of God was led up to God by her parents, not as a young girl, nor as a child, nor just slightly younger than that, but as a three-year-old who had been weaned and taken from her mother's breast only a day or two before… When they were already near the outer doors of the temple, while noble young women, dressed in a fashion worthy of their race, were surrounding her with torches in their hands and eagerly escorting her in dignified procession, she demonstrated that she was more aware than anyone else of what was happening to her and what was gong to take place. Solemn, graceful and admired, she was making her orderly way among the others, with a wonderfully calm bearing, manner and purpose defying description. Then tempering decorum with eagerness and gently quickening her pace, she left behind the choir of virgins encircling her, taking the lead in front of them all, that it might become obvious that those words of the Psalm refer to her: "The virgins that follow her shall be brought unto the king. Her companions shall be brought with gladness and rejoicing: hay shall be led into the kings temple" (Ps 45:14-15 Lxx).

As soon as the priest came out to meet her, and surely spoke that prophetic verse to her, "Hearken, O daughter, and consider, incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and they father's house; so shall the king greatly desire they beauty" (Ps 45:10-11), she topped reverently for a moment, then, on hearing these words, she rose up again. Immediately…she separated herself from the assembled company and went forward to the high priest, absolutely alone and full of joy….

How can these events fail to inspire amazement: the three-year-old puts herself into the hands of him who can direct her course in accordance with higher providence…. She chooses God instead of her mother and father's embrace, and prefers God's temple and its high priest to being cosseted at home… valuing God and everything pertaining to Him above all else, she ran gladly towards his temple.

When God's high priest saw that the Virgin had dwelling within her from infancy such graces as hardly enter other people's souls in the fullest prime of life….he led her into the Holy of Holies and persuaded all those present to accept what had come to pass with God's assistance and by His most righteous decision.

She who is eternally the Holy of Holies entered the temporary Holy of Holies. The tabernacle, not made with hands, of the Word, the living human ark of the bread of life truly sent down to us from heaven, came into the place of the man-made ark, which consisted of morning dew transformed by God's creative will into a type of food…

Almost the whole Temple was covered in gold and that inviolable ark was overlaid with pure gold, and shone brilliantly on every side. Surely, therefore, the virgin's beauty must have been brighter still, as God HImself desired it… But angels themselves, not statues, surrounded this true ark, and what is more, they did not just keep watch but ministered to her, and served her with food… An angel came every day with the Virgin's food, as it was potent, full of mystery, proper to angels and akin to himself, and, naturally, as far superior to manna as angels are more excellent than any. The bringer of the Virgins's food is therefore a clear sign of her angelic way of life at this age...

The Virgin entered the Holy of Holies. At once she looked around and, when she saw that it pleased her, she felt it was a suitable place for her to stay. Through the beauty of what she saw, she immediately cast her mind's eye to unseen beauties, and no longer counted anything on earth delightful…. This holy Maid, alone of mankind, utterly despised all these delights while still an infant, and as a reward was rightly brought food from heaven by an angel, by which she was physically strengthened, and which served as a testimony that her way of life was worthy of heaven...

She lived as though in paradise, in a place removed from the earth, or rather, as though in the courts of heaven, for that sanctuary was a symbol of those courts. Thus she led an unencumbered life without cares or occupation, free from sorrow, with no share in base passions, above that pleasure which is inseparable from pain. She lived for God alone and was sustained and preserved only by Him who was to pitch His tent among us through her. Obviously she saw only God, making God her delight and continually waiting on Him.

With profound understanding she listened to the writings of Moses and the revelations of the other prophets when, every Saturday, all the people gathered outside, as the law ordained. She learnt about Adam and Eve and everything that happened to them; how they were brought out of non-being, settled in paradise, and given a commandment there; about the evil one's ruinous counsel, and the resulting theft; about their expulsion from paradise on that account, the loss of immortality, and the change to this way of life of pain. In addition, she saw that as time passed, life continued under the inherited curse and grew ever worse, God's creature made in His image was estranged from the Creator and become more and more closely associated with the one who had evilly schemed to crush him… When the Holy Virgin Maid heard and understood this, she was filled with pity for humanity…. She took it upon herself to represent, to constrain Him who is above compulsion, and quickly draw Him towards us, that He might remove the curse from among us, halt the advance of the fire burning men's souls, weaken our enemies, answer our prayers, shine upon us with light that never sets and, having healed our sickness, unite His creature with Himself.

The Virgin full of grace interceded for all humanity in an amazing way defying description… She eagerly examined every type of virtue, those proclaimed in the law and those discovered by reason… She considered every aspect of each, of the principal branches of learning as though they were impressions left by a seal, her intention being to discover which was most akin to God… she invented, put into practice, and handed down to those who came after her, a practice higher than any vision and a vision as far superior to that which was formerly so highly acclaimed as the truth is superior to imagination.

The goodness she practiced while shut away encompassed every kind of virtue: all those which had been discovered before her and were openly bestowed on those men we have mentioned, and adorned their characters…

It is absolutely impossible, however, to truly encounter God unless, in addition to being cleansed, we go outside, or rather, beyond ourselves, leaving behind everything perceptible to our ensues, to gather with our ability to perceive, and being lifted up above thoughts, reason, and every kind of knowledge, above even the mind itself, and wholly given over to the energy of spiritual perception, which Solomon calls divine awareness, we attain to that unknowing which lies beyond knowledge, that is to say, above every kind of much-daunted philosophy...

The Virgin found that holy stillness was her guide: stillness, in which the mind and the world stand still, forgetfulness of things below, initiation into the things above, the laying aside of ideas for something better. This is true activity, a means of approaching contemplation or, to state it more aptly, the vision of God, which is the only proof of a soul in good health… Contemplation is the fruit of a healthy soul; it aims to achieve a certain end and is of a kind that deifies; for it is through contemplation that a person is made divine, not by speculate analogies on the basis of skillful reasoning and observations – perish the thought (for that would be something base and human) – but under the guidance of stillness…

The immediate proof of this is the Virgin, who, having kept company with quietness form the earliest age, brings the greatest benefits to us, and commends to God those in need as no one else can. She alone lived in holy quiet form such early childhood in a manner surpassing nature, and who alone of the human race bore the Word, who is the God-man, without knowing man.

Once you've lifted your minds above the material concerns and resolved to meditate on the Mother of God's divine way of life in the holy sanctuary, eager to understand something of what happened there and to emulate her as far as possible, then perhaps you'll soon receive that blessed gift of those purified in heart, and indivisibly observe the honors proper to the immortal world.

She prudently understood what the apostle, too, said later: "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God" (1 Cor 2:14). She therefore looked for something higher, a truly spiritual life unadulterated with earthly concerns, and, in a way which goes beyond the limitations of created nature, she longed for God and heavenly union with Him.

She found that the purest thing in us, the holy perfect and indivisible essence that we have, is precisely intended by nature for this holy and divine love… Although the mind can come down to the level of human reasoning... it indubitably has another, superior mode of operation, which is capable of putting into action itself… It is enabled, by means of diligence, and assisted by divine grace, to leave behind this varied, complex and lowly way of living… If the mind did not wholly revolve without ceasing around base concerns, it should be given over to superior, more exalted activity, namely, that which is popper to it, and which is the sole means by which it can enter into union with God. This is , however, far more difficult, because it is by nature intertwined with the body, and entangled with material knowledge and all the different ties that bind this life to earthly matters, and are hard to lay aside.

The all-pure Virgin threw off those ties from the very beginning of her life, and withdrew from people.  She escaped from a blameworthy way of life, and chose to live in solitude out of sight of all, inside the sanctuary… She united her mind with its turning towards itself and attention, and with unceasing prayer… Intent upon this silence, she flew high above all created things, saw God's glory more clearly than Moses, and beheld divine grace, which is not at all within the capacity of men's senses, but is a gracious and holy sight for spotless souls and minds. Partaking of this vision, she became, according to the sacred hymnographers, a radiant cloud of the truly living water, the dawn of the mystical day, and the fiery chariot of the Word.

The Virgin, the Queen of the truly pious, lifted up her mind in the Holy of Holies, utterly withdrawn from everything below or, more accurately, never having been attached to such things at all, and, saying to God, "I beseech You with this mind, which nothing earthly has ever entered", made the whole world heaven.

More of Life of Theotokos

Above Exerpts taken from "Homily on the Entry into the Holy of Holies of our exceedingly Pure Lady Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary"(Homily 53) in Saint Gregory Palamas: The Homilies, Mount Thabor Publishing, Homily 53, pp. 414-444