Ὁμιλία Ζʹ

The Heavenly Invitation

God invites the lowly human soul to taste the glories of the age to come, binding it to Himself through love.

Think of someone entering a royal palace, seeing its beauty and the treasures stored within, sitting down with the king to enjoy the finest food and drink, and finding complete rest among such splendor—only to be suddenly torn away and dragged into a foul-smelling place. Or think of a beautiful, wise, and wealthy woman who takes a poor, lowly, ragged husband, strips him of his filthy clothes, dresses him in royal robes, crowns him, and makes him her companion. That poor man would be struck with awe, asking, 'Has such a companion really been given to someone as wretched, poor, and ordinary as me?' God has done exactly this for the wretched and lowly human being.¹² God let him taste another age and a different, sweetest kind of food; he showed him royal, heavenly glories that cannot be described. When the person compares those spiritual things to the things of this world, he sets everything else aside—whether it’s kings, rulers, or the wise—and keeps his eyes fixed on the heavenly treasure.^✦ For since God is love, he received the heavenly and divine fire of Christ and found rest and rejoiced, and there he is bound fast.^✦³

The Purity of the Divine

God remains uncircumscribed and undefiled by evil, even while present in a world where Satan operates.

Question: Does Satan dwell together with God, whether in the air or in human beings? Answer: Consider the sun; it is a created thing, yet it shines down on filthy places—what harm does it suffer? How much more, then, is the divine presence neither soiled nor defiled when it exists alongside Satan; rather, God has allowed evil to exist for the training of human beings.^✦⁴ Still, evil has been darkened and blinded and cannot see what is pure and fine in God.⁵ But if someone says that Satan has a place of his own and God a place of his own, he makes God himself circumscribed to that place where the evil one dwells. And how can we say that the Good is uncircumscribed and incomprehensible, that all things are in him, and that the Good is not defiled by evil? Surely not—just because heaven, the sun, and the mountains are in God himself and are held together by him, does that mean they become God? Created things are fixed in their own order, and the Creator, who is present with his creatures, is God.^✦⁶

Discernment of Grace

True grace is marked by love and truth, distinguishing it from the deceptive imitations of the enemy.

Question: Since sin 'transforms itself into an angel of light' and mimics grace, how is a person to understand the devil's schemes, and how will he receive and discern what belongs to grace? Answer: What belongs to grace brings joy, peace, and love; it possesses truth. Truth itself drives a person to seek the truth.^✦^✦ But the forms belonging to sin are troubled; they lack love and joy toward God. Just as endive is like lettuce—one is sweet and the other bitter, even though they look similar—so within grace itself there are things that resemble the truth, while grace is the very substance of the truth.⁷⁸ It's like a sunbeam compared to the sun's disk itself: the beam shines one way, and the light held within the disk shines another. There is a lamp burning in a house: the glow that shines everywhere is one thing, and the light in the lamp itself—brighter and more radiant—is another. So it is with certain workings of grace: a person sees some visions from a distance and rejoices in those visions; and there is another case, when the power of God enters into him, takes hold of his limbs and his heart, and captivates the mind into the love of God. When they seized Peter and threw him into prison, while he was shut up, an angel came, broke his bonds, and led him out, and he himself, as if in a trance, thought it was a vision.

The Danger of Pride

Even those moved by grace must guard against the subtle temptation of self-righteousness and pride.

Question: And how do those who are being moved by the grace of God fall? Answer: The pure thoughts themselves, in their own nature, slip and fall.⁹ For a person begins to be lifted up, to condemn, to say, 'You are a sinner,' and to regard himself as righteous. Don't you know what Paul says? "A thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to buffet me, so that I would not be lifted up beyond myself." For pure nature has in it the tendency to exalt itself.

Visions and the Inner Person

The soul possesses an inner form and faculties, and the illuminated mind serves as the eye to perceive divine mysteries.

Question: Can someone see his own soul by means of light? For some reject revelation and say that vision comes through knowledge and perception. Answer: There is perception, and there is vision, and there is illumination.¹⁰ And the one who has the illumination is greater than the one who has the perception. For his mind has been illuminated, so that he received a greater share than the one who has perception, since he saw within himself a certain full assurance of visions.¹¹ But revelation is something else: it is when great realities and mysteries of God are revealed to the soul. Question: Does someone see the soul through revelation and divine light? Answer: Just as these eyes see the sun, so those who have been illuminated see the image of the soul—but few Christians see these things. Question: Does the soul have a form? Answer: It has an image and a form resembling the angel. Just as the angels have an image and a form, and just as the outer person has an image, so too the inner person has an image like the angel's, and a form like the outer person's. Question: Is the mind one thing and the soul another? Answer: Just as the members of the body, though many, are still called one human being, so the soul also has many members—mind, conscience, will, and thoughts that accuse and defend. Yet all of these are bound into one faculty of thought; they are members of the soul, but the soul itself is one: the inner person.^✦ And just as the outer eyes spot thorns, cliffs, and pits from far off, so the mind too, being more alert, foresees the schemes and devices of the opposing power and secures the soul in advance, since it is the eye of the soul.¹²

Doxology

A concluding prayer of glory to the Trinity.

Let us offer glory to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, forever and ever. Amen.

Read the original Latin

Ὥσπερ ἐάν τις εἰσέλθῃ εἰς οἴκους βασιλικοὺς καὶ ἴδῃ τὰς ἐκεῖ ἱστορίας καὶ τὰ κάλλη, ἀλλαχοῦ θησαυροὺς ἀποκειμένους, καὶ ἀνακλιθῇ μετὰ τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ παρατεθῇ αὐτῷ ἐδέσματα καὶ πόματα ἡδύτατα καὶ ἀναπαῇ παντοίως εἰς τὰς θεωρίας καὶ τὰ κάλλη, μετὰ ταῦτα δὲ ἀποσπασθῇ ἐκεῖθεν καὶ εὑρεθῇ εἰς δυσώδεις τόπους ἀπαχθείς· ἢ ὥσπερ ἐὰν ᾖ τις ὡραία κόρη καὶ σοφωτέρα καὶ πλουσιωτέρα ὑπὲρ πάσας, λάβῃ δὲ ἄνδρα πενιχρόν, ταπεινόν, δυσειδῆ, ἐνδεδυμένον ῥάκη καὶ ἀποδύσῃ αὐτὸν τὰ ῥυπαρὰ ἐνδύματα καὶ ἐνδύσῃ βασιλικὴν ἐσθῆτα καὶ ἐπιθῇ αὐτῷ διάδημα καὶ γένηται αὐτῷ κοινωνική, λοιπὸν ἄρχεται ὁ πτωχὸς ἐκεῖνος πτοεῖσθαι καὶ λέγειν· ἐμοὶ τῷ ταλαιπώρῳ καὶ πτωχῷ καὶ μετρίῳ καὶ ταπεινῷ τοιαύτη κοινωνικὴ ἐδόθη; οὕτως καὶ ὁ θεὸς τῷ ταλαιπώρῳ καὶ ταπεινῷ ἀνθρώπῳ ἐποίησεν. ἔγευσεν αὐτὸν ἄλλου αἰῶνος, ἄλλης τροφῆς ἡδυτάτης, ἔδειξεν αὐτῷ δόξας καὶ κάλλη βασιλικά, ἄρρητα, ἐπουράνια, καὶ λοιπὸν συγκρίνων ἐκεῖνα τὰ πνευματικὰ τοῖς τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου πάντα ἀποβάλλει, εἴτε βασιλέα βλέπει εἴτε δυνάστας εἴτε σοφούς, θησαυρὸν τὸν οὐράνιον ἀποβλέπων. ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ὁ θεὸς ἀγάπη ἐστίν, ἐδέξατο τὸ οὐράνιον καὶ θεῖον πῦρ τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ ἀνεπάη καὶ ἐχάρη, καὶ ἐκεῖ ἐστιν ἀποδεδεμένος. 20Ἐρώτησις:20 εἰ σύνεστιν ὁ σατανᾶς τῷ θεῷ εἴτε ἐν τῷ ἀέρι εἴτε ἐν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις; 20Ἀπόκρισις:20 ὁ ἥλιος οὗτος, κτίσμα ὢν καὶ καταλάμπων εἰς τόπους βορβορώδεις, τί βλάπτεται; πόσῳ μᾶλλον τὸ θεῖον συνὸν τῷ σατανᾷ οὔτε ῥυποῦται οὔτε μιαίνεται· ἐπέτρεψε δὲ εἶναι τὸ κακὸν εἰς γυμνασίαν τῶν ἀνθρώπων. πλὴν τὸ κακὸν ἐσκότωται καὶ τετύφλωται καὶ οὐ δύναται ἰδεῖν τὸ καθαρὸν καὶ λεπτὸν τοῦ θεοῦ. εἰ δὲ λέγει τις ἴδιον τόπον ἔχειν τὸν σατανᾶν καὶ ἴδιον τὸν θεόν, ποιεῖ αὐτὸν καὶ περίγραπτον εἰς ἐκεῖνον τὸν τόπον ἔνθα κατοικεῖ ὁ πονηρός. πῶς δὲ λέγομεν τὸ ἀγαθὸν ἀπερίγραπτον εἶναι καὶ ἀκατάληπτον καὶ τὰ πάντα ἐν αὐτῷ εἶναι καὶ μὴ μιαίνεσθαι τὸ ἀγαθὸν ὑπὸ τοῦ κακοῦ; μὴ γάρ, ἐπειδὴ ὁ οὐρανὸς καὶ ὁ ἥλιος καὶ τὰ ὄρη ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ θεῷ εἰσι καὶ δι' αὐτοῦ συνέστηκε, μὴ καὶ αὐτὰ θεὸς ἐγένετο; τὰ δημιουργήματα εἰς τὴν ἰδίαν τάξιν πέπηκται, καὶ ὁ δημιουργὸς συνὼν τοῖς κτίσμασι θεός ἐστιν. 20Ἐρώτησις:20 ἐπειδὴ ἡ ἁμαρτία «μεταμορφοῦται εἰς ἄγγελον φωτός» καὶ παρομοία τῆς χάριτός ἐστι, πῶς ἵνα νοήσῃ ἄνθρωπος τὰς μεθοδείας τοῦ διαβόλου, καὶ πῶς δέξεται καὶ διακρινεῖ τὰ τῆς χάριτος; 20Ἀπόκρισις:20 τὰ τῆς χάριτος χαρὰν ἔχει, εἰρήνην, ἀγάπην ἔχει, ἀλήθειαν ἔχει· αὐτὴ ἡ ἀλήθεια ἀναγκάζει τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἀλήθειαν ἐπιζητεῖν.

τὰ δὲ τῆς ἁμαρτίας εἴδη ἐστὶ τεταραγμένα, οὐκ ἔχει ἀγάπην καὶ χαρὰν πρὸς τὸν θεόν. ὥσπερ ἐστὶν ἡ πικρὶς ὁμοία τῆς θρίδακος (τὸ μὲν ἓν γλυκύ, τὸ δὲ ἓν πικρόν, εἰ καὶ παρόμοια), καὶ ἐν αὐτῇ δὲ τῇ χάριτί ἐστιν ὅμοια ἀληθείας καὶ ἔστιν αὐτὴ ἡ ὑπόστασις τῆς ἀληθείας. οἷόν ἐστιν αὐγὴ τοῦ ἡλίου καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ κύκλος· ἄλλως ἡ αὐγὴ φαίνει καὶ ἄλλως τὸ φῶς τὸ ἀποκείμενον ἐν τῷ κύκλῳ. ἔστι λύχνος ἅπτων εἰς οἶκον· ἄλλη ἐστὶν ἡ αὐγὴ ἡ πανταχοῦ λάμπουσα καὶ ἄλλο ἐστὶ τὸ φῶς τὸ ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ λύχνῳ λαμπρότερον καὶ φαιδρότερον. οὕτως ἐστί τινα τῆς χάριτος, ὅτι μακρόθεν αὐτοῦ ὡς ὁράσεις τινὰς βλέπει ὁ ἄνθρωπος καὶ χαίρεται εἰς αὐτὰς τὰς ὁράσεις· καὶ ἔστιν ἄλλος, ὅτι εἰσέρχεται εἰς αὐτὸν ἡ δύναμις τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ κατέχει αὐτοῦ τὰ μέλη καὶ τὴν καρδίαν καὶ αἰχμαλωτίζει τὸν νοῦν εἰς ἀγάπην θεοῦ. ὅτε τὸν Πέτρον ἐκράτησαν καὶ ἔβαλον εἰς φυλακήν, ὡς ἦν ἐγκεκλεισμένος, ἦλθεν ἄγγελος καὶ ἔρρηξε τὰ δεσμὰ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐξέβαλεν αὐτόν, καὶ αὐτὸς ὥσπερ ἐν ἐκστάσει ὢν ἐνόμιζεν ὅραμα εἶναι. 20Ἐρώτησις:20 καὶ πῶς πίπτουσιν οἱ ἐνεργούμενοι ὑπὸ χάριτος θεοῦ; 20Ἀπόκρισις:20 αὐτοὶ οἱ λογισμοὶ οἱ καθαροὶ ἐν τῇ ἰδίᾳ φύσει ὀλισθαίνουσι καὶ πίπτουσιν. ἄρχεται γὰρ ἐπαίρεσθαι, κατακρίνειν, λέγειν· σὺ ἁμαρτωλὸς εἶ, ἔχειν ἑαυτὸν δίκαιον.

οὐκ οἶδας τί λέγει Παῦλος· ἐδόθη μοι σκόλοψ τῇ σαρκί, ἄγγελος σατᾶν, ἵνα με κολαφίζῃ, ἵνα μὴ ὑπεραίρωμαι; ἔχει γὰρ ἡ καθαρὰ φύσις τὸ ὑπεραίρεσθαι. 20Ἐρώτησις:20 εἰ δύναταί τις διὰ φωτὸς ἰδεῖν τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ψυχήν, ἐπειδή τινες τὴν ἀποκάλυψιν ἀναιροῦσι καὶ λέγουσι διὰ γνώσεως καὶ αἰσθήσεως εἶναι τὴν ὅρασιν; 20Ἀπόκρισις:20 ἔστιν αἴσθησις καὶ ἔστιν ὅρασις καὶ ἔστι φωτισμός. καὶ οὗτος ὁ ἔχων τὸν φωτισμὸν μειζότερός ἐστι τοῦ ἔχοντος τὴν αἴσθησιν. ἐφωτίσθη γὰρ ὁ νοῦς αὐτοῦ, ὡς ὅτι μερίδα τινὰ μειζοτέραν ἔλαβε παρὰ τὸν τὴν αἴσθησιν ἔχοντα, ἐπειδὴ εἶδεν ἐν ἑαυτῷ τινα πληροφορίαν ὁράσεων. πλὴν ἄλλο ἐστὶν ἀποκάλυψις· ὅτι πράγματα μεγάλα καὶ μυστήρια θεοῦ ἀποκαλύπτεται τῇ ψυχῇ. 20Ἐρώτησις:20 εἰ βλέπει τις δι' ἀποκαλύψεως καὶ φωτὸς θεϊκοῦ τὴν ψυχήν; 20Ἀπόκρισις:20 ὥσπερ οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ οὗτοι βλέπουσι τὸν ἥλιον, οὕτω καὶ οἱ φωτισθέντες βλέπουσι τὴν εἰκόνα τῆς ψυχῆς, ἀλλὰ ταῦτα ὀλίγοι ὁρῶσι Χριστιανοί. 20Ἐρώτησις:20 εἰ ἔχει μορφὴν ἡ ψυχή; 20Ἀπόκρισις:20 ἔχει εἰκόνα καὶ μορφὴν ὁμοιάζουσαν τῷ ἀγγέλῳ. ὥσπερ οἱ ἄγγελοι ἔχουσιν εἰκόνα καὶ μορφὴν καὶ ὥσπερ ὁ ἔξω ἄνθρωπος ἔχει εἰκόνα, οὕτως καὶ ὁ ἔσω εἰκόνα ἔχει ὁμοίαν τῷ ἀγγέλῳ καὶ τῷ ἔξω ἀνθρώπῳ μορφήν.

20Ἐρώτησις:20 εἰ ἄλλος ἐστὶν ὁ νοῦς καὶ ἄλλο ἡ ψυχή; 20Ἀπόκρισις:20 ὥσπερ τὰ μέλη τοῦ σώματος πολλὰ ὄντα εἷς ἄνθρωπος λέγεται, οὕτως καὶ μέλη ψυχῆς εἰσι πολλά, νοῦς, συνείδησις, θέλημα, λογισμοὶ κατηγοροῦντες καὶ ἀπολογούμενοι, ἀλλὰ ταῦτα πάντα εἰς ἕνα λογισμόν εἰσιν ἀποδεδεμένα· μέλη δέ ἐστι ψυχῆς, μία δέ ἐστι ψυχὴ ὁ ἔσω ἄνθρωπος. ὥσπερ δὲ οἱ ἔξωθεν ὀφθαλμοὶ προβλέπουσι μακρόθεν τὰς ἀκάνθας καὶ τοὺς κρημνοὺς καὶ τοὺς βόθρους, οὕτω καὶ ὁ νοῦς προβλέπει, γοργότερος ὤν, τῆς ἀντικειμένης δυνάμεως τὰς τέχνας καὶ τὰς ἐπισκευὰς καὶ προασφαλίζεται τὴν ψυχήν, ὡς ὀφθαλμὸς ὢν τῆς ψυχῆς. δόξαν ἀναπέμψωμεν πατρὶ καὶ υἱῷ καὶ ἁγίῳ πνεύματι εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. ἀμήν.

Scripture echoes

↩Col.2.3 — in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
↩1John.4.8 — The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
↩Eph.2.2 — in which you once walked according to the age of this world, according to the ruler of the authority of the air, the spirit now working in the sons of disobedience;
↩Col.1.17 — And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
↩2Cor.11.14 — And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
↩Eph.6.11 — Put on the full armor of God, so that you are able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
↩Rom.2.15 — who show the work of the law written on their hearts, their conscience bearing witness with them, and their thoughts among themselves accusing or even defending them

Notes

1 ↩ἱστορίας in a royal setting may mean painted wall-scenes/histories rather than narrative 'histories'; rendered as 'scenes'.
2 ↩κοινωνική here is the bridal partner/consort figure in the parable, not Eucharistic Communion.
3 ↩ἀποδεδεμένος: bound/fastened/committed; rendered 'bound fast' for the sense of being held fixed in that joy, not merely 'appointed'.
4 ↩εἰς γυμνασίαν: training/exercise/discipline of souls; not athletic 'gymnasium' imagery alone.
5 ↩τὸ καθαρὸν καὶ λεπτὸν τοῦ θεοῦ: the pure and subtle/fine (nature or quality) of God; 'fine' keeps λεπτόν without over-philosophizing as 'immaterial'.
6 ↩τὸ ἀγαθόν as abstract 'the Good' (divine goodness/God named as Good) kept capital-G to preserve Macarian philosophical-devotional diction without turning creatures into deity.
7 ↩πικρίς / θρίδαξ: bitter endive (or chicory) versus lettuce; the analogy is outward likeness with opposite taste (sweet vs. bitter).
8 ↩ὑπόστασις τῆς ἀληθείας rendered as 'substance of the truth' (underlying reality), not 'person' in a Trinitarian technical sense.
9 ↩ἐνεργούμενοι ὑπὸ χάριτος: those being acted on / worked upon by grace; 'moved by' keeps the passive divine-energy sense without modern psychological overtones.
10 ↩αἴσθησις is rendered "perception" (not bare physical "sensation") as the first grade in Macarius's interior scale of perception / vision / illumination / revelation.
11 ↩πληροφορίαν ὁράσεων rendered "full assurance of visions" (certainty/fullness of visionary experience), not mere "information."
12 ↩ἀντικειμένης δυνάμεως rendered as 'the opposing power' (the adversarial spiritual force); γοργότερος as 'more alert' (also 'swifter/keener').

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