How and when is manifested the Grace of the Holy Spirit
The grace of the Holy Spirit which is given mystically to every Christian when he is baptized acts and is manifested in proportion to our obedience to the commandments of the Lord. That is, if a Christian obeys the commandments of the Lord more, grace acts with him more, while if he obeys them less, grace acts within him less. Just as a spark, when covered in the ashes of fire becomes increasingly manifest as one removes the ashes, and the more fire wood you put the more the fire burns, so the grace that has been given to every Christian through Holy Baptism is hidden in the heart and covered up by the passions and sins, and the more a man acts in accordance with the commandments of Christ, the more he is cleansed of the passions and the more the fire of Divine grace lights in his heart, illumines and deifies him.
Based on Saint Nikodimos the Athonite
Fathers chanting in the Chapel of Saint Minas
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RiffRaffWL111
‘That is, if a Christian obeys the commandments of the Lord more, grace acts with him more, while if he obeys them less, grace acts within him less.’ This line is so important. – Lord, may I obey you more! – Another favorite passage of mine from St. Silouan the Athonite, page 420: ‘Rare are they who know the mystery of obedience. The obedient man is great in the sight of God. He follows in the footsteps of Christ, Who in Himself gave us the pattern of obedience. The Lord loves the obedient soul and affords her His peace, and then all is well and the soul feels love towards all men. The obedient man has put his whole trust in God, wherefore his soul dwells continually in God, and the Lord gives him His grace; and this grace instructs him in every good thing, and gives him the strength to abide in goodness. He sees evil but evil does not approach his soul, for the grace of the Holy Spirit is with him, which preserves him from all sin, and he is at peace, and prays to God unburdened. The obedient soul is beloved of the Holy Spirit, and soon knows the Lord and receives the gift of prayer of the heart.’ Short story: So we have a dog, and she wants to be the ‘alpha’ dog of us, that is, she wants to be in charge! We are told, that a dog is not at peace when they are the ‘alpha dog’ of a family. Only when she has a master, who is the ‘alpha dog’ does she then live with peace. So it is with God and us, He needs to be Alpha, and we need to learn to ‘sit, stay, and obey’!
Ioan Toma
🙂 Somewhat like this. We have to fight against our anarchic tendencies. Indeed very few know what is the real obedience. That’s why we have such a unhappy civilization today.
RiffRaffWL111
Thank you. 🙂
RiffRaffWL111
This reminds me of a favorite passage from St. Silouan concerning God’s will (to obey His will is obedience: ‘It is a great good to give oneself over to the Devine will. Then the Lord alone occupies the soul. No thought can enter in, and the soul, undistracted, prays to God, and is full of love for God even thought the body be suffering. When the soul is entirely given over to the will of God, the Lord Himself takes her in hand, and the soul learns directly from God; whereas, before, she turned to teachers and the Scriptures for instruction. But it rarely happens that the soul’s Teacher is the Lord Himself through the grace of the Holy Spirit, and few there be that know of this, save only those who live according to God’s will.’ St. Siouan the Athonite, pg 333
Ioan Toma
No comments on this one. Just that it will be the quote of a new post here! 🙂
Stay tuned, share & Thanks a lot! 🙂