The Holy Spirit

A chapter of the Treatise on First Principles is devoted to the Holy Spirit. Its first concern is to affirm against Marcion and Valentinus. He specifically mentions that there is only one Holy Spirit who inspired both the Testaments, just as there is only one Father and one Son. While in the Old Testament the Spirit was only given to the prophets, now, after the coming of the Savior, He is poured out abundantly over the whole Church and teaches how to read the Scriptures in their spiritual sense. This Holy Spirit distributes the charisms, that is graces attached to an act or to a function.

Origen confirms the Personality of the Holy Spirit. The apostle, after enumerating the gifts of the Spirit, proceeds thus, "And all these things come from the activity of the one same Spirit, distributing to each individually as He wills." (I Cor. 12:11) if He "wills" and "is active" and "distributes," He is not a force or energy of God, but an active personal substance. Origen uses the words of the book of Acts to prove the same idea: "It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us" (Acts 15:21). "The Holy Spirit said" 13:2; "This is what the Holy Spirit says" 21:10. He acknowledges that the Spirit operates in creation, and describes Him as chief in rank of all things originated by the Father through Christ.

In (John 3:8) the Spirit is an Essence. He is not, as some suppose, a Divine Energy, having (as they pretend) no distinctive personal existence.

He (the Holy Spirit) is an entity, and an entity is not (merely) an energy, though it has a capacity for energy.

THE DIVINITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

Origen asserts the divinity of the Holy Spirit, "The Spirit Himself is in the Law and in the Gospel; He is ever with the Father and the Son; like the Father and the Son He always is and was and will be."

The divinity of Christ is evident not only from the wonders which He produced and from the prophecies which He fulfilled, but also from the power of the Holy Spirit operating in Christians:

And there are still preserved among Christians traces of that Holy Spirit which appeared in the form of a dove. They expel evil spirits and perform many cures and foresee certain events, according to the will of the Logos. And although Celsus or the Jews whom he has introduced may treat with mockery what I am going to say, I shall say it nevertheless - that many have been converted to Christianity as if against their will, some sort of spirit having suddenly transformed their minds from a hatred of the doctrine to a readiness to die in its defense.

The Holy Spirit is the same rank as the Son, exercising the ministry of eternal life, without any dependence other than that which unites Him to the Father as to His origin. He has no need of being instructed by the Logos. He knows the Father and is one of the Trinity, and it is impossible to suppose that there is in Him either acquisition of new knowledge or progressive advancement in the knowledge He eternally has.

We must not suppose, however, that the Spirit knows God as we do, through the revelation of the Son. For if the Holy Spirit knows the Father by this means, He passes from ignorance to knowledge; and it is certainly as impious as it is foolish to confess that He is the Holy Spirit and then to ascribe ignorance to Him. For even if we grant that something else existed before the Holy Spirit, yet it was not by a process of development that He came to be the Holy Spirit; as if one should dare to say that at the time when He was not yet the Holy Spirit He did not know the Father, but that after He had gained this knowledge He became the Holy Spirit. That could not be, for the Holy Spirit would never have been included in the unity of the Trinity, that is, along with God the unchangeable Father and with his Son, unless He had always been the Holy Spirit.

He is mentioned after the Father and the Son because He completes the work and because, in the life of religion, perfection comes only at the end. Origen also says, "The Savior was made less than the Spirit through the divine plan of the Incarnation."

 

 

THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

1. The grace of the Father applies to all creation; the grace of the Son to all rational beings; but the grace of the Holy Spirit is restricted to believers.

I think it is the Holy Spirit, in whom is contained every kind of gift. For on some is bestowed by the Spirit, the word of wisdom, on others the word of knowledge, on others faith; and so to each individual of those who are capable of receiving Him, is the Spirit Himself who made that quality, or understood to be that which is needed by the individual who has deserved to participate.

Thus, therefore, the working of the power of God the Father and God the Son is spread indiscriminately over all created beings, but a share in the Holy Spirit is possessed, we find, by the saints alone. Accordingly it is said, "No man can say that Jesus is the Lord except in the Holy Spirit" (1 Cor. 12:3). Even the apostles themselves are scarcely worthy at the last count of hearing the words, "You shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit is come upon you" (Acts 1:8). It follows logically from this, I think, that "he who has sinned against the Son of Man is worthy of forgiveness" because he who is a sharer in the Word or Reason seems, if he ceases to live according to reason, to have fallen into ignorance of folly and so to deserve forgiveness; whereas he who has once been counted worthy to share in the Holy Spirit and then turns back again is by this very act and deed said to have blasphemed against the Holy Spirit...

What we have been describing is the peculiar grace and work of the Holy Spirit.

This grace must thus be deserved; the recipients must be (for example) :

I. Those who thirst after God.

The Holy Spirit, from whom those who thirst after and long for God obtain "spiritual graces" (Rom. 1:11) and heavenly gifts .

II. Those who merit it through faith in Christ or through thirsting after and longing for God.

The grace of the Holy Spirit... is given to the faithful.

III. Those cleansed by the Law, who have known and fulfilled the commandments of God.

You, who wish to receive holy baptism and to earn the grace of the Spirit, must first submit to the cleansing of the Law; must hear the word of God, cut out your innate vices and lay aside... your barbarous habits, that in gentleness and humility you may be able to receive in addition the grace of the Holy Spirit.

IV. Those who are faithful, gentle, humble, pure in heart, whose lives are praiseworthy for their good deeds, their virtues, their love.

"Not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel" (Rom. 9:6), nor are all who have been washed with water straightway washed with the Holy Spirit, just as not all who are enrolled as catechumens are outside the sphere of the Spirit. Cornelius was a catechumen, and before he came to the waters he deserved to be granted the Holy Spirit. Simon had received baptism, but because he was insincere in seeking this grace he was denied the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 8) .

(‘The Spirit rested on them and they all prophesied’):‘We read that the Spirit rests not on all men whatsoever but on the holy and blessed; For the Spirit of God rests on the "pure in heart" (Matt. 5:8) and on those who purify their souls from sin, just as He does not dwell in a body given over to sins, even if He has dwelt in it in the past; for the Holy Spirit cannot tolerate the partnership and company of an evil spirit. For there is no doubt that when we sin an evil spirit comes and makes play in our heart, whosoever we be... Hence our sin "grieves the Holy Spirit" (Eph. 4:30), but our righteous and holy deeds prepare Him a "resting-place" in us. Hence (in Numbers 11)... to say that the Spirit rested on the seventy elders is to declare the praise, worthiness and goodness of their lives.

In each generation the wisdom of God enters souls which she finds holy and makes them friends of God and prophets. Indeed one could find in the sacred books men in each generation who were holy, and receptive of the divine Spirit.

The Holy Spirit comes only to the virtuous and stays far from bad men... Apart from and alien to the bad, it fills those who have faith and love.

2. We are in need of the Holy Spirit to grant us unity with the Father through the Son. Truly, our Lord Jesus Christ is the only Way that leads us to this unity, for He offered His sacred blood as a price for it, but it is realized by His Spirit. Through Him we become partakers of the Father and the Son.

It is impossible to become partakers of the Father, or of the Son, without partaking of the Holy Spirit.

It is God's work to dwell invisible, by His Spirit and by the Spirit of Christ, in those in whom He judges them worthy to dwell.

It is also through the Father's grace, or His Self-giving that we are granted His own Spirit to dwell in us.

God is always giving a share of His own Spirit to those who are able to partake of Him.

At the same time it is the Spirit's grace that grants us, by His dwelling within us, the adoption to the Father so that we might find a place in the Father’s bosom and become able to participate in His nature and in His eternal glories.

3. We need the Holy Spirit to live within us, to reveal to us "God" who is Love (1 John 4:8); not through mere words and theoretical thoughts, but by the presence of "Love" Himself within us.

We must realize how many things ought to be said about (this) love, and also what great things need to be said about God, since He Himself is. "Love." For "as no one knows the Father except the Son, and he to whom the Son wills to reveal Him" (Matt. 11:27), so also no one knows Love except the Son. In the same way, no one knows the Son, Who is Love Himself, except the Father. Moreover, in like manner, because He is called Love, it is the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father, who alone knows what is in God; just as the spirit of man knows what is in man (l Cor. 2: 11). Here then the Paraclete, the Spirit of Truth, who proceeds from the Father (John 15:26), ranges, searching for souls worthy and able to receive the greatness of this love, that is of God, which He desires to reveal to them.

4. The Holy Spirit has His role in our prayers, if we recognize our insufficiencies. He guides our souls even beyond the heavens.

The Spirit that cries in the hearts of the blessed, "Abba, Father"... makes intercession for us to God with groanings beyond utterance (Rom. 8:26), taking on Himself our groanings because of His great love and pity for men.

In whatever part of the world he (the Christian) prays, but he rises above the universe, "shutting the eyes of sense, and raising upwards the eyes of the soul." However he stops not at the vault of heaven; but passing in through beyond the heavens, under the guidance of the Spirit of God.

5. The Holy Spirit grants us the word of God, and divine knowledge.

(The Scriptures) were composed, and have come down to us, from the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, by the will of the supreme Father, through Jesus Christ.

"The Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God" 1 Cor. 2:10... The soul of man cannot search "everything," and a greater Spirit was necessary within us... That we, by the mingling of this Spirit with us might search along with Him "everything, even..."

6. The Holy Spirit reveals the mystery of the Holy Trinity.

The Gospel shows (the Holy Spirit) to be of such power and majesty that it says the apostles could not yet receive those things which the Savior wished to teach them until the Holy spirit should have come, who could pour Himself into their souls and enlighten them concerning the nature and faith of the Trinity.

7. The Holy Spirit helps us in witnessing to the Gospel and teaching others the truth.

If a man teaches the same things in the same way that Jesus taught, he speaks not "from his own heart" but by the Holy Spirit.

8. Allegorism or the spiritual understanding of the Scripture is a grace of the Holy Spirit, granted to perfect believers to enter the chamber of eternal marriage between Christ and their soul to enjoy the divine wisdom and its mysteries. He is the Giver of knowledge and wisdom. Origen received this thought from his teacher St. Clement, who stated that the understanding of the Holy Scriptures belongs not to all, but to the Gnostics who are guided by the Holy Spirit, the Giver of knowledge.

(Send me Your light): That is, the light sent out from (the Father) into the mind of those who are called to redemption, the understanding through the Spirit, which leads those who are thus enlightened to God.

(Quotes Psalm 18:11 "God made darkness His hiding-place"): "By this it is made clear that the ideas about God which are open to human understanding on its own merits are without clarity or certainty, since God hides Himself as if in darkness from those who cannot see Him-partly because of the impurity of the mind that is bound to a human "body of humiliation" (Phil 3:21), partly because of its limited power to comprehend God... That the prophet may show the profundity of the doctrines about God, which is beyond the same Spirit which "locked" (Isa. 22:22) and "sealed" (Isa 29:11) the writings of Isaiah. If the Spirit has not "opened" the words of the prophets, the imprisoned truths cannot be opened.

The sacred Scriptures were not composed by any human words, but were written by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and were also delivered and entrusted to us by the will of God the Father through His Only Begotten Son Jesus Christ...

No soul can attain the perfection of knowledge in any other way than by becoming inspired by the truth of divine wisdom.

We pray that the light which comes from the knowledge of the glory of God may shine in our hearts (2 Cor. 4:6 ) through the Spirit of God, who is dwelling within us and makes us able to imagine and understand the things of God. "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God" Rom. 8: 14.

If anyone meditates on the Law of the Lord day and night (Ps. 1:2), if anyone is like the mouth of the righteous that mediates on wisdom (Ps. 37:30), he will be able to investigate and discover these things more clearly, providing that he is seeking through the right way, knocking the door of God's wisdom and asking that it be opened for him so he may be worthy to receive and understand the words of knowledge and wisdom through the Holy Spirit; and to be worthy to partake of that Wisdom Who says, "I stretched out my words and you did not hear" Prov. 1:24; Col. 4:3.

It is the Holy Spirit who tells the deeds of which we read...

For whence could Moses tell of what has been done since the beginning of the world or what was in store at its end, unless through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit?

Whence could he prophesy of Christ, unless the Holy Spirit told him?...

The meaning of the narrative [in Numbers] and the real truth hidden under this veil, can only be known in full clarity, as I hold, by the Holy Spirit, who inspired the words, and by our Lord Jesus Christ, who said of Moses "he wrote of Me" (John 5:46), and by the Almighty God, whose venerable counsel is revealed to mankind not by open disclosure but under the veil of letters.

All the knowledge of the Father has been revealed by the Son and is gained by the Holy Spirit... We must know that as the Son, who alone knows the Father, reveals Himself to whom He wills (Matt. 11 :27) so also the Holy Spirit, who alone "searches the deep things of God," 1 Cor. 2: 10, reveals God to whom He wills.

"Let us have (suffer) pains to avoid being found unworthy of so great and sublime an understanding [viz. the mystical interpretation of Leviticus 24:1], but rather that our soul should first become a "holy place" in which we may receive the holy mysteries by the grace of the Holy Spirit from whom everything that is holy has received its sanctity.

("I opened my mouth and panted [drew breath] because I longed for your commandments"): "He who through his actions has opened his heart, draws in the Holy Spirit who reveals to him the mysteries of God. The "mouth" of my soul is my understanding. Closing this to evil thoughts, I opened it to good ones, and drew in the Spirit of understanding, grace and wisdom. The cost of the grace of the Spirit is the recital and execution of the commandments of God: no sooner is our mouth opened that the Spirit is drawn from heaven.

9. The dignity of the Holy Ghost appears in a number of passages of the New Testament where He is associated with the Father and the Son in the sanctification of souls. An outstanding example is the baptismal formula.

Before the incarnation of the Logos, the Holy Spirit was working in man's life for its sanctification. There were saints even more before Christ, who lived in the hope of His redeeming action. But now, the Holy Spirit - who is the Spirit of Christ - descended upon Him, on His baptism, on our behalf, so that He might dwell in us, and grant us adoption to the Father through baptism. Therefore, our Lord asks us to call God, "Our Father who art in heaven." St. Paul says: "For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the spirit of adoption by whom we cry out: "Abba, Father. "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God; and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified," Rom. 8:15-17. St. John says, "But to all who received Him, He gave power to become children of God," John 1:12.

The record in the Acts of the Apostles tells about the manifestation of the Spirit that lives in the baptized, when the water prepares the way for those who approach with sincerity. Baptism is called the "bath of rebirth," Tit. 3:5, which takes place with the renewal of the spirit."

Because through the sacrament of Baptism the defilement of birth are laid aside, therefore even little ones are baptized; for "except one be reborn of water and Spirit he will not be able to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven."

The Savior interprets how it is possible to be born from above, saying that since entrance into God's Kingdom is set before us, but it is impossible for anyone to attain this without having been born of water and Spirit, it follows that to be born from above is by being born of water and Spirit. But he is born of(the)Spirit, who is made ;according to it, becoming from it holy and spiritual. Then, since he who enters into the Kingdom of God is born not of the Spirit alone, but also of water, it follows that we should search out from the Scriptures something also about water. And consider whether it does not differ from the Spirit merely in conception and not in substance (See John vii. 38-39). For if it is said of the Spirit that living water flows like rivers from the believer, the water will differ from the Spirit only in conception. As then anyone who is born of the Savior would be wise from Wisdom, so also of the - Spirit he is born holy and spiritual, and of the water he is born cleansed, and each man watered for fruit-bearing is born of water and Spirit.

Another will say that "water" means here the teaching which cleans the soul, which itself contributes to being born from above. Of this cleansing by divine education the Psalmist said to God, "You shall wash me and I shall be whiter than snow" (Cf. Jer. 4:14). Then since not only the soul is called to salvation, but also the very body, which it uses as an instrument for its own operations; naturally this too must be sanctified through what is called in the divine teaching "washing of regeneration," which is also named divine Baptism, no longer mere water, for it is sanctified by some mystic invocation; cf. Matt. 27:l9f.... How can it be any more mere water which has partaken as far as possible of the power of the Holy Trinity and is associated with moral and intellectual virtue? Consider too its greatness by considering why it is received. For if it is in order to enter the Kingdom of heaven, and this is of surpassing excellence; how is the cause of entrance into it not a great thing? The Kingdom of God means the constitution of those who live according to His Laws. But this has its abode in a proper place, I mean in heaven. Since it is here called "Kingdom of God," but in Matthew "Kingdom of Heaven," we must say that Matthew has named it from its subjects, or the places in which they are; while John and Luke have named it from its King, even God; as when we, speaking of the Kingdom of the Romans, designate it through its subjects, signifying it also from the place on the earth or the world.

The Church has received a tradition from the apostles to give baptism even to little ones. For since the secrets of divine mysteries had been entrusted to them, they knew that there are in a11 people genuine defilements of sin, which ought to be washed away through water and Spirit.

As we received this divine grace we must call our God, "Our Father," not only by our lips but through our whole saintly life, that declares our true adoption to God.

Because of the "Spirit of sonship" we have learned, in the general letter of John concerning those born of God, that "no one born of God commits sin, for His seed remains in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God," 1 John 3:9..., they may not say "Our Father" only half way. Such people add to their works their hearts, which are the fountain and origin of good works which lead to righteousness, while the mouth joins in harmony and confesses to achieve salvation (Cf. Rom. 10:10).

 

THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

There is one and the same Holy Spirit in the Law and the Gospels.

The Jewish prophets, illuminated by the divine Spirit as far as was serviceable to their prophesying, were the first to enjoy the visitation of the superior Spirit to them. Because of what I may term the touch of what we call the "Holy" Spirit upon their soul they gained clearer mental perception and brighter radiance of the soul and even of the body, which no longer warred against the life-according-to-virtue, because it was mortified in respect of the "mind of the flesh" (Rom. 8:6ff). For we are persuaded that the "deeds of the body" and the enmities arising from the "mind of the flesh" which is opposed to God, are done to death by the divine Spirit.

Of the Jewish prophets some were wise before they received the gift of prophecy and divine inspiration, others became wise through the mental illumination that the actual gift of prophecy bestowed. These were chosen by Providence to be entrusted with the Divine Spirit... on the ground of the unexampled and finely-toned freedom of their lives-such a quality as would face danger and death without fear.

 

THE HOLY SPIRIT AND GOD’S DWELLING IN OUR HEARTS

God is always giving a share of His own Spirit to those who are able to partake of Him.

The Holy Spirit had been able to find a place within (Anna) because of her holiness and purity.

The Holy Spirit comes only to the virtuous and stays far from bad men.

THE RENEWAL OF OUR NATURE THROUGH BAPTISM

As we have seen, the Fathers of the Church do not separate between adoption to God and the renewal of our nature, for they are two aspects of the same grace.

In the fountain of baptism our inner man is created and our nature is renewed by the Holy Spirit, so that we might live as sons of God who attain a new life in Christ.

(Baptism) is named "the washing of generation," being accompanied by the renewing of the Spirit, who still broods over the water.

The Holy Spirit creates for Himself a new people and renews the face of the earth; when through the grace of the Spirit, men" put off the old man with his doings," Col. 3:9, and begin to "walk in newness of life" (Rom. 6:4).

 

THE SPIRIT OF SANCTIFICATION

The grace of the Holy Spirit is added so that those creatures which are not holy by virtue of their own being may be made Holy by participation in the Spirit. Thus they derive existence from God the Father, rationality from the Word and sanctity from the Holy Spirit. Again when they have once been sanctified through the Holy Spirit they are made capable of receiving Christ, in respect that He is the "Righteousness of God" (1 Cor. 1:30) and those who have deserved to advance to this stage through the sanctification of the Holy Spirit will go on to attain the gift of wisdom through the power of the Spirit of God and His operation in them.

His special work is that of sanctification. The Father gives being to all that exists; the Son imparts reason, Logos, to all capable of it; the Holy Ghost works life in those that believe. Hence though all men may be said to participate in the First and Second Persons, not all men share in the Third. It is He that creates in man the capacity to receive Christ, first as Justice, then as Wisdom, and so on in ever deepening affinity, till at last the gift of being becomes worthy of the Giver.

But just as a person receives the adoption of sons by participation in the Son of God and is made wise by participation in God’s Wisdom, so also he is made holy and spiritual by participation in the Holy Spirit. For it is one and the same thing to receive participation in the Holy Spirit as to receive it in the Father and the Son, since, of course, the nature of the Trinity is one and incorporeal. And what we have said about the participation of the soul must be understood to apply to angels and heavenly powers, just as it does to souls, since every rational creature requires participation in the Trinity.

St. Clement of Alexandria declares the unceasing divine work in our life, saying, [the Instructor created man from dust, renews him by water and nurses him by the Spirit]. What does St. Clement mean by the words. "The Instructor nurses man by the Spirit"? The Divine Instructor, Jesus Christ, sent His spirit in the Church not only to grant us adoption to God, but to nurse us continuously by the divine life, or by "holiness in Jesus Christ" that we might become holy as our God is Holy [Lev. 11:44, 45, 1 Pet. 1:16].

In the Old Testament, especially in Leviticus, God repeatedly called man to practice "holiness," giving him His commandments, accepting animal sacrifice and the laws of purification, but man was weak and unable to practice this. He felt that" holiness" is a burden that he could never bear, for it meant less pleasure for him.

Now as the Lord grants us His Holy Spirit dwelling within us, holiness becomes the delightful law that the children of God enjoy. This kind of life brings some changes - in our opinion - from simple pleasure to real delight which we enjoy through the communion of the Holy One.

Holiness is a natural life to the spiritual man, in whom the Holy Spirit dwells and acts, sanctifying his soul, mind, heart, senses and all the members of his body. St. Anthony, the Great, presents in his letters a beautiful speech concerning the sanctification of a believer’s life especially his soul - by the Holy Spirit who guides man towards a saintly life .

(Rational beings) first obtain their existence from God the Father, then their rationality from the Word, and thirdly their sanctification from the holy Spirit. They are made capable of receiving Christ in His capacity of Righteousness, because they have now been sanctified through the Holy Spirit; and those who have deserved to achieve this degree of progress through the sanctification of the Holy Spirit obtain just as surely the gift of wisdom through the power of the working of the Spirit of God, and His operation in them ...

That this may come to pass, and that those who were made by God may be present unceasingly and inseparably with Him. It is the work of wisdom to instruct and educate them and lead them to perfection, by the strengthening and the unceasing sanctification of the Holy Spirit, through such sanctification alone they can attain to God.

(The Holy Spirit ) is manifestly a sanctifying power, which we all can have a share of so as to be sanctified by His grace.

As by participation in the Son of God, man is adopted into the rank of the sons of God... so also by participation in the Holy Spirit, man is made holy and spiritual.

He is called the "Spirit of holiness" for He offers holiness to all.

The "good tree" is the Holy Spirit, the "bad tree" is the devil and his servants. He who has the Holy Spirit shows His fruits, which the apostle enumerates (Gal 5:22). He who has the opposite power bears the fruits of "dishonorable passions" (Rom. 1:26), "thorns and thistles" (Heb. 6:8) .

(The Holy Spirit) is a sanctifying power, a share of which all are said to have who have deserved to be sanctified through His grace.

The Holy Spirit is so holy as to be above "sanctification"; for His holiness comes not from some outside source, thus making Him holy-He was always holy... But every creature will be "sanctified unto holiness", either through the Holy Spirit who deems it fitting to make him so, or through his own merits.

He is called the Spirit of holiness because he offers holiness to all.

 

THE HOLY SPIRIT AND VICTORY

The Spirit wrestles with the flesh, and that man’s spirit which the Spirit strengthens wins victory.

 

THE HOLY SPIRIT IS OUR ADVOCATE

The Alexandrians considered "prayers" - both liturgical and private - not as some formalities or duties to be fulfilled,, but as a great task that needs the grace of the Holy Spirit which acts in the life of the Church and within every soul. By praying, the Church (or the soul ) is lifted up in the presence of the Holy Trinity, practices her dialogue with God openly and expresses her love towards Him and towards all creatures. 'The Lord promised His disciples that He would sent them the "Advocate," His own Spirit (John 16:7f), who alone has the power to raise up our minds and illuminate our souls to enjoy close communication with the Father through His Only-Begotten Son. This is what St. Paul means by the intercession of the Spirit for the saints according to the will of God ( Rom. 8:26,27).

Prayer is the action of the Holy Trinity in our life, for the Father sheds light upon it, the Son teaches it and the Holy Spirit works within us to enable us to understand and speak rightly of such a great subject, as Origen states.

The Holy Spirit grants our barren minds fruitfulness, and makes them spiritual, so that we can pray and sing with the Spirit (I Cor. 14:15).

David says: "To you I have lifted up my eyes, You who dwell in heaven, "Ps. 123:1; "To You, O God, have I lifted up my soul" Ps. 25:1... How? The soul is lifted up and follows the Spirit... It even comes to be in Him.

Indeed, St. Paul says, "the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts, knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God," Rom 8:26,27. The Spirit cries, "Abba, Father," in the hearts of the blessed people and He knows by careful attention our sighs in this tabernacle, sighs suitable of weighing those who have fallen or have transgressed. He intercedes on our behalf, taking on Himself our groanings because of His great love and pity for men.

By His wisdom he sees that our souls have been humbled to dust (Ps. 44:45)... and so He "makes intercession with God" not by using any "groanings" but those "which cannot be uttered.

And this Spirit, not content with making intercession to God, intensifies His intercession and "More than making intercession" in the case, I believe, of those who are "more than conquerors," Rom. 8:37...

I will pray with the Spirit, and I will also pray with understanding. I will sing with the Spirit and I will also sing with understanding." 1 Cor. 14:15...For neither can our mind pray unless the Spirit prays first for it.. so that we can not even sing and say hymns to the Father in Christ with proper rhythm, melody, measure, and harmony unless the Spirit Who searches everything, even the depth of God (1 Cor. 2:10), first praises and sings hymns to Him...

I believe that it was a result of seeing the human weakness that is incapable of praying as one ought to pray, and realizing this, that one of the Lord’s disciples when he herd the wise and mighty words spoken by Him in His prayer to the Father, said to the Lord when he had finished praying: "Lord, teach us to pray" Luke 11:1...

Prayer is such a great task that it requires the Father to shed light upon it, His "first born word" to teach it, and the spirit to work within us to enable us to understand and speak rightly of so great a subject.

But meanwhile Moses cries out to the Lord. How does he cry out? No sound of his cry is heard and yet God says to him. "Why do you cry out to me? Exod 14:15. I should like to know how the saints cry out to God without a sound. The apostle teaches, "God has given the Spirit of his Son in our hearts crying: "Abba, Father! Gal. 4:6. And he adds, "The Spirit himself intercedes for us with indescribable groans." And again, "He who searches the heart knows what the Spirit desires because he pleads for the saints according to God." So, therefore, when the Holy Spirit intercedes with God, the cry of the saints is heard through silence.

He prays for those who pray and appeals along with those who appeal. But, He does not pray for servants who do not pray continuously through Him, nor will He be the Advocate with God for His own if they are not obedient to His instructions that they "always ought to pray and not lose heart" Luke 18:1.

 

 

GRACE AND PRAISING GOD

It is easy for any person to praise God by his lips, but we are in need of the Gift of the Spirit that grants us inner joy (Gal. 5: 22 ), to praise Him by our whole inner man, our minds, hearts and senses. By this divine gift we enjoy the pledge of heavenly life, which is a delightful life of singing and praising God.

If the mind is not filled with the grace of God, it cannot sing the praises of His glory.

Since we have been brought by a heavenly power (1 Cor. 2:4), indeed by a more than heavenly one, to faith and belief we should worship God, the Creator of all, as ours.

 

THE HOLY SPIRIT, SOURCE OF JOY

For if anyone has deserved to participate in the Holy Spirit by the knowledge of His ineffable mysteries, he undoubtedly obtains comfort and joy of heart. For since he comes by the teaching of the Spirit to the knowledge of the reasons of all things which happen - how and why they do occur - his soul can in no aspect be troubled, or admit any feeling of sorrow.

THE HOLY SPIRIT OUR COMFORTER THROUGH TRIBULATIONS

For it is not to all, but to Paul and those like him, that this present tribulation is said to be momentary and light, because they have the perfect charity of God in Christ Jesus poured out in their hearts by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:5).

 

LOVE AS THE FIRST "FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT"

Jesus "was hungry," i.e. constantly seeking to share in the fruits of the holy Spirit in the life of the righteous; His food, if one may put it so, the "figs" that He eats in His hunger, is the love growing in the life of him who bears it - that love which is the first "fruit of the Spirit" - and joy, peace, long-suffering, etc.(Gal. 5:22) .

THE HOLY SPIRIT AND SACRAMENT OF PENANCE

In this sacrament of penance and confession the believer attains second baptism, for he receives a kind of spiritual renewal to his inner man.

"That the thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed,"(Luke 2:35).

There were evil thoughts in men, and they were revealed for this reason, that being brought to the surface they might be destroyed, slain, put to death, and He Who died for us might kill them. For while these thoughts were hidden and not brought into the open they could not be utterly done to death. Hence, if we have sinned we also ought to say," I have made my sin known to You, and I have not hidden my wickedness. I have said I will declare my unrighteousness to the Lord against myself" (Ps. 32:5). For if we do this and reveal our sins not only to God but also to those who can heal our wounds and sins, our wickedness will be wiped out by Him who says," I will wipe out your wickedness like a cloud," Isa. 44:2.

Certainly, the Christian should be under strict discipline (more than those men of Old Testament times), because Christ died for him... Now listen to all the ways of remission of sins in the Gospels:

First, we are baptized for the remission of sins.

Second, there is the remission in the suffering of martyrdom.

Third, the remission given in return for works of mercy (Luke 11:44)..

Fourth, the forgiveness through our forgiveness of others, (Matt. 5:14)...

Fifth, the forgiveness bestowed when a man "has converted a sinner from the error of his ways," James 5:20.

Sixth. sins are remitted through abundance of love (Luke 7:4).

In addition, there is also a seventh way of forgiveness, hard and painful, namely the remission of sins through penitence when "the sinner washes his bed with tears, and tears are his bread by day and night,' Ps. 6:6; 42:3; and when he does not hold back in shame from declaring his sin to the priest of the Lord and asking for medicine ( James 5: 14)..

 

THE HOLY SPIRIT AND MARRIAGE

Since God has joined together (a man and woman in marriage), for this reason there is a grace-gift for those joined together by God. Paul knew this, and declares that equally with the purity of the unmarried state is a marriage according to the word of God a grace-gift (Origen quotes 1 Cor 7: 7). Those who are joined together by God obey in thought and deed the command "husbands, love your wives...." (Eph 5:25).

 

TO BE FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT

Thus therefore, to those converted from sin, purification is indeed given through all that which we said above, but the gift of the grace of the Spirit is designated through the image of "oil" that this one who is covered from sin, not only can attain cleansing but also be filled with the Holy Spirit by whom he can receive the best "robe and ring" and, having been reconciled with the Father, can be restored to the place of a son, through our Lord Jesus Christ himself, "to whom is glory and power forever and ever, Amen.

 

STRONG IN SPIRIT

(‘grew and became strong in spirit’): ‘To grow and to become strong are different things.

Human nature is weak, and if it is to become strong, it needs the help of a strengthener. Whose help? The Spirit’s.

This means that he who would be truly strong must "become strong in Spirit."

The majority become strong in and according to the flesh, but the athletes of God (2 Tim. 2:3ff) become strong in spirit, and because of this become valiant against the "carnal mind that is set on the flesh" (Rom. 8:7). For the Spirit wrestles with the flesh, and man’s spirit which that Spirit strengthens wins victory.

 

QUENCH NOT THE SPIRIT

Because the divine fire can be from time to time extinguished even in the saints and the faithful, hear the apostle Paul prescribing for those who have deserved to receive the gifts and graces of the Spirit "Quench not the Spirit" (1 Thess. 5:19) .

 

TAKE THE MINA FROM HIM

"Take the mina from him" (Luke 19:11ff.), that is, the grace of the Holy Spirit since while he is in possession of it he cannot be punished.

 

JESUS CHRIST AND THE HOLY SPIRIT

Because Jesus is the only one who never sinned, in Him alone the Holy Spirit "remained.