(+) Archimandrite Daniel Gouvalis (1940-2009)
COME, LET US GO UP
TO THE MOUNTAIN OF THE LORD
(Isaiah 2:3)
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob.” We were not created for the depths of evil, but for the heights of virtues. We were not created for the darkness of the abyss, but for the illumination of Tabor. So come, let us ascend.
The great and loud-voiced prophet Isaiah perceived many mysteries of the New Testament, although he lived eight centuries before Christ. He saw them with his prophetic vision and at the same time proclaimed them with majestic language. Among his many revelations is the mountain of the Lord, meaning Zion, Jerusalem with the temple of God. Paradoxically, however, he saw it very high, exceedingly high, “above the mountains.” And consequently, he saw the temple “on the farthest mountains.” Many nations, he said, will start from everywhere and will head toward it. And the words of the devout will be encouraging to ascend:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob.”
Of course, this is symbolic. The “mountain of the Lord” is the Church of Christ. Unshakable like the mountains. Firmly established like the immovable hills. High. With spiritual height. And the Christian life resembles mountaineering. “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord.” Come, let us ascend the Holy Mountain. It would not be strange to say that true Christians form a mountaineering club.
Heights always attract. Ascents to high mountains are beautiful. Even more important are ascents to spiritual summits. Wonderful is the feeling of one who has reached the top of Pindus or Olympus or much more the Alps or the Himalayas. His eye sees the world broad and great. Unprecedented feelings flow within him. Even more wonderful is the feeling of one who has conquered spiritual summits and whose eye has seen the horizons of the spirit widen. His experiences are inexpressible; therefore, he urges everyone to long for the heights. “Set your minds on things above… Seek the things that are above” (Colossians 3:1-2), shouts the Apostle Paul, that great “mountaineer.”
Certainly, it is not easy for everyone to reach the mountain’s peak. But it is easy to look toward it and gradually climb. And if one cannot reach it, let him reach a little lower, let him reach halfway, let him even go lower. There are gradations on this upward path, just as there are on the downward one.
Let us present this truth with a striking example: Someone vile and foul-mouthed insults five people badly and disgracefully, though they have done him no harm. Their reactions: The first insults him back similarly, and after hours, thinks of more insults he could have thrown at him. The second reacts more mildly, protests, and asks for explanations about the verbal abuse. The third does not speak at all, restrains himself; however, inside he feels sorrow and turmoil. The fourth does not speak and moreover feels calm internally. The fifth likewise does not speak, feels peace of mind, yet feels some sadness because the person who insulted him committed a sin. The first is at the level of sinfulness, while the fifth is at the level of holiness. The other three are in intermediate states.
The parable of the sower speaks of spiritual levels when it says that some ground yielded thirty, some sixty, and some a hundred (Mark 4:8). The hundred naturally implies perfection.
He who reached thirty resembles a clear night with starlight. The sixty corresponds to a night lit by the full moon. And the hundred corresponds to a sunny day. The sky is beautiful when the stars shine in it. More beautiful, however, when the silver moon scatters light. And brighter and more beautiful when the sun shines on its blue expanses.
Characteristic is also the word of the Apostle Paul. He takes the example from the physical body. Some have weak stomachs and must be fed with milk, others are better and use vegetables, and others have strong stomachs and can eat meat. “I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it” (1 Corinthians 3:2). “One believes he may eat all things, another who is weak eats only vegetables” (Romans 14:2). “Those who feed on milk are inexperienced in the word of righteousness, for they are infants; solid food is for the mature, for those whose faculties have been trained by practice to discern good and evil” (Hebrews 5:13-14).
He who is at a lower spiritual level resembles, according to Apostle Paul, an infant. He who reached perfection resembles a man. Similar concepts are found also in Apostle Peter: “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation” (1 Peter 2:2). The growth of the body symbolizes spiritual growth.
The concept of growth is also emphasized in the baptismal prayers: “May he keep the gift of the Holy Spirit and increase the deposit of Grace…”
The holy Fathers of the Church speak of three stages of spiritual ascent: purification, illumination, and perfection. The last is also called “mystical union.” The Venerable Nikitas Stithatos, spiritual heir of the great Orthodox mystic Symeon the New Theologian, notes: “There are three ranks in those who progress towards perfection: the purificatory, the illuminative, and the mystical which is also perfecting. The first is for beginners, the second for intermediates, and the third for the perfect.”
In the first rank, purification, struggles occur to cleanse the soul of passions. It is like removing weeds, wild plants, and thorns from a field. By thorns we mean avarice, anger, egoism, vanity, jealousy, resentment, hatred, judgment, sloth, melancholy, cowardice, complaining, curiosity, greed, gluttony, pleasure-seeking, etc.
Just as a housewife scrubs the pot with a wire to remove rust and blackness, so exactly acts the spiritual struggler. And gradually the vessel is cleansed and shines.
The various passions imprison the person who feels like a prisoner. As he fights and weakens them, it is like opening the prison doors. Relatedly, David exclaimed to God, “Deliver my soul from prison” (Psalm 142:8).
There are some scientists – technicians called image restorers. They manage to reveal the beauty of an image that, over time, with dust, smoke, and many other factors, has become darkened and unrecognizable. Something similar happens to a person who struggles for spiritual purification. When meekness replaces anger, love replaces jealousy, and humility replaces selfishness, it is as if the darkened image regains its original radiance.
The second stage is the illuminating one. In this stage, the darkness of passions has been removed, and the light of virtues shines visibly. Προηγούμενοly, various passions caused distress and turmoil in the soul. Before, if someone wronged you, you tried to show yourself as free from resentment, but you did so with inner pain, “with groaning and anguish of soul.” Now, however, you are in a state of resentment-free peace without pain. Now calmness prevails throughout the expanse of your inner world. Προηγούμενοly, when praised, you felt great joy, and when criticized, sadness. Now you calmly face both cases, with detachment; neither praise lifts you up nor accusations drag you down.
This inner peace has beneficial effects on the mind. The mind can now discern correctly. It is like looking into the bed of a river. When its waters are turbulent and rushing, you cannot see what is on the riverbed. When it calms, the situation changes. It understands things it could not previously comprehend. Observing various creatures—flowers, trees, insects, birds, heavenly bodies, cycles of seasons, etc.—it strongly senses the wisdom of the Creator. It also more clearly discerns the spiritual state of its fellow human beings. It can tell whether a person approaching it has good or evil intentions. It also evaluates itself more accurately, discovering aspects it previously ignored. Self-knowledge has reached an advanced stage.
In this state, the person seeks some quiet hours to concentrate, to meditate on the greatness of God, to study spiritual books, to read the magnificent psalms of David. In these things, he now finds joy. He feels as if he is in the antechamber of joy. God from time to time shows him spiritual signs, gives him brief visits that fill him with indescribable delight. This is called the “preparatory grace.” To use an image, God throws him some wonderfully tasty chocolates to sweeten him but also to make him aware that entire storerooms of such chocolates exist. Thus, the spiritual struggler understands that he is like a fiancé and that this is not considered complete and that marriage must follow.
At this stage, the illuminating one, a gentle light predominates within him. This light affects his whole being; it even changes the state of his sleep. His dreams now are pure and bright. Προηγούμενοly, when captive to the passion of anger, he saw quarrels and fights even in sleep. Now he encounters nothing like that. Everything bears the seal of peace. Προηγούμενοly, prone to carnal passions, he saw immoral dreams. Now all is pure and clean. Προηγούμενοly, bound by greed, he dreamed that he won the first lottery and became rich, or that some tried to rob him and make him poor. Now he is free from these.
In the introductory psalm of Vespers, the following is noted:
“You have set darkness and it has become night. At this time all the beasts of the forest will roam. Young lions will roar, seeking from God to seize food. The sun rose, and they gathered and will lie down in their dens” (103:20-22). This last phrase, “the sun rose and they gathered and looked into their dens,” very successfully depicts the illuminating state. The sun of virtues, the sun of divine grace, enlightens the spiritual regions and drives away the wild beasts of passions.
The illuminating stage is also called the “first apathy.” The passions have retreated, they have fallen asleep, but they have not died. If they had died, we would speak of “second apathy.” Caution and vigilance are needed so that the sun may shine within us and the beasts remain asleep. If we are careless and allow the sun of divine grace to withdraw, the beasts are ready to appear with wild and predatory intentions.
“When an unclean spirit,” says the Lord, “goes out of a man, it passes through dry and barren places seeking rest but finds none. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds it empty, swept, and decorated. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first” (Matt. 12:43-45). Similarly, the Apostle says: “Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:12).
Among the collaborators of the Apostle Paul was Demas. “Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, and so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers” (Philemon 1:24). “Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas greet you” (Colossians 4:14). To work with the Apostle on such a high mission, Demas certainly was at some spiritual height. However, he did not remain vigilant; he was overcome by the spirit of selfishness, fearing imprisonment like Paul—his first imprisonment in Rome had already occurred—and he surrendered to worldly life. “Make every effort to come to me quickly,” the Apostle wrote to Timothy, “for Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has gone to Thessalonica” (2 Timothy 4:9-10).
The third stage is perfection: the “perfecting order” or “mystical order”—meaning the mystical union with God. Now you are no longer at the foothills or in the middle but at the summit of the mountain. The view from there is vast and enchanting. The peace within you is inexpressible, “surpassing all understanding” (Philippians 4:7)—that is, no human mind can grasp its quality and magnitude.
The peace is immense because the passions, the sources of every turmoil, have been completely conquered. Now we have definitive apathy. Apathy in the sense used in the Patristic texts—that is, complete liberation from vices and passions. The attainment of apathy equals entrance into paradise. In the Ladder, apathy is called the “earthly heaven,” paradise on earth. Apathy is the first resurrection of which the New Testament speaks. Passions are a fall, a slide downward. In passions lies the seed of spiritual death. In apathy lies resurrection. Hence the Ladder states, “some define apathy as the resurrection of the soul before the body.” In this state, the mind dominates over the senses. The passionate thoughts that once troubled the surface of the sea have vanished. There is “intellectual stillness of thoughts.” According to the great theologian and spiritual teacher Maximus the Confessor—7th century AD—the mind becomes unblemished and cleansed completely even from the slightest imagined sinful movement—”and complete cleansing even from this slightest imaginary thought.”
One tortured by the passion of greed always wants to gather more money. One who has reached apathy is in a position, if the situation requires it, to sacrifice all his money and possessions, even his own life.
The passionate person feels differently among beautiful young people and differently among ugly and old ones. For the apathetic, according to St. Maximus again, there is no distinction “between yours and someone else’s, or your wife and a stranger’s, or believer and unbeliever, or slave and free, or male and female… He sees everyone the same and treats all alike.”
The apathetic is not disturbed if the person beside him insults and slanders him. His inner joy does not depend on the possible good or bad attitude of the other, but on the grace of God, the grace of the apathetic God.
St. Anthony the Great had a disciple named Ammonas, who succeeded him in the spiritual guidance of the monks of Pispir—south of Cairo—and was ordained bishop by St. Athanasius. There is a beautiful anecdote about the relationship between St. Anthony and Ammonas: Once, St. Anthony took his disciple outside the cell and showed him a stone. He told him to insult it and hit it. He did so. Then the Elder asked, “Did the stone make a sound? Did it protest?” “No,” answered Ammonas. Then the Saint, with the prophetic grace he had, remarked, “And you will reach this measure.” He was not mistaken.
When Ammonas was practicing asceticism in the Skete, in the desert of Nitria, he struggled to subdue the passion of anger, “praying to God night and day.” It took fourteen years of struggle before he could overcome it. And he became so filled with virtues that he no longer understood what evil and passion were — “as if from great goodness no longer knowing evil.”
For the passionless, the Apostle said: “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Gal. 5:24). The passionless, according to the Theologian, are children of God. “No one born of God commits sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot sin because he has been born of God” (1 John 3:9).
The absence of sin and passions fills existence with joy. At the stage of perfection, there is supreme happiness. “Inexpressible and glorious joy,” according to the expression of the Chief (1 Peter 1:8); full and complete joy; joy “fulfilled,” according to the Lord’s word (John 16:24); joy that cannot be taken away — “and no one can take your joy from you” (John 16:22).
This joy and peace affect one’s entire behavior accordingly and naturally produce certain impressions on the people around. When the Apostles Paul and Silas were locked in the prison of Philippi, their feet bound to a wooden block, instead of groaning and complaining, they praised God. “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them” (Acts 16:25). “These prisoners are very strange,” the others would say. “Instead of crying over their fate, they are singing!”
King Agrippa Herod, grandson of Herod the Great, decided to execute the Apostle Peter. He chained him and locked him in prison. The day he was to present him to the people proposing his death was approaching. On the eve of that day, Peter should have been anxious, unable to sleep at night. However, this was not the case. “Peter, bound with two chains, was sleeping between two soldiers” (Acts 12:6). Surely the soldiers must have said: “Tomorrow they will kill him here! How does he find the courage to sleep so peacefully?”
In this spiritual state, the person becomes a flame of love. His heart burns with love for God, for people, for the good, for the evil, for friends, for enemies, even for demons! Such love did the God-seer Moses have when he said to God about the sinful Israelites: “If you forgive their sin, forgive them; if not, then erase me from your book” (Exodus 32:32). Such love did David have when he ordered his generals not to kill his rebellious son Absalom, the one who committed dreadful and incomprehensible acts against him. “Be kind to the young Absalom for my sake” (2 Sam. 18:5). Such love did the Protomartyr Stephen have when he prayed to God for his murderers. “Kneeling down, he cried out with a loud voice: ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them’” (Acts 7:60). “He cried out with a loud voice!” Indeed, this is perfect love.
Therefore, whoever feels coldness inside toward others, jealousy, hostility, who does not rejoice in their joy and does not grieve in their sorrow, let him know that he is very low, far below the summit of the Holy mountain.
In the order of perfection, one attains the heights of love. “The limit of love,” writes Saint Diadochos of Photiki, “is to increase your friendship toward those who insult you.” Others take a hostile stance against you, and you a friendly one; the more hostile they are, the more friendly you are. They raise you on the cross, and you say, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34).
When a person is full of peace, full of joy, and full of love, then his soul shines, and this is reflected on his face. How beautifully Saint Athanasius describes the life of Saint Anthony the Great. Among other things, he notes: “When Anthony was with the other monks, and someone who did not know him wanted to see him, as soon as he approached, he would pass the other monks and head toward Anthony, as if drawn by his face — ‘as if drawn by his countenance.’”
There are not few cases of people of the “order of perfection” whose faces have been suffused with divine glory. When the Jews put Saint Stephen on trial before the council and began to cast false accusations against him, “all those sitting in the council fixed their eyes on him and saw his face as the face of an angel” (Acts 6:15). Saint Cyril of Jerusalem comments, “He was radiating angelic light,” scattering angelic splendor around him. And Moses, the second time he came down from Mount Sinai, shone in the face. “The skin of his face shone because he had been talking with the Lord” (Exodus 34:29).
All this happens according to the model of Christ, who in his Transfiguration on Mount Tabor “his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light” (Matt. 17:2).
In general, we can say that the “order of perfection” has Christ as its model. The Apostle notes: “… until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13). “To the measure of the fullness of Christ.” Christ is the measure of perfection.
At this spiritual height, the person becomes a true theologian. His mind penetrates the mysteries hidden in the Old and New Testament. He can easily develop theological topics, even if he is greatly lacking in education. Let us not forget that Saint John the Theologian was a fisherman from Galilee. I will mention something personal. Many times I have read in the Scriptures the account of the war of the Israelites against the Amalekites. There it is said: “When Moses held up his hands, Israel prevailed, and when he lowered them, Amalek prevailed” (Exodus 17:11). What exactly was happening with Moses’ posture, especially with the raising of his hands, I had not understood in depth. And I understood it by discussing with a holy man who was, from the point of worldly education, at the lowest point. He had not even finished elementary school.
The holy Simeon the New Theologian rightly says: “You will theologically study theological issues of the New and the Old Testament, and you will correctly understand all theologies that have already been examined and written, and you will become like a musical instrument that emits beautiful melodic sounds and tones, superior to any music.”
The holy Nikitas Stethatos also expresses this very vividly: “A mind that has been purified from all filth becomes a sky full of stars, that is, bright and luminous thoughts; and the sun of righteousness shines upon it and scatters bright rays of theology into the world.”
Every Christian, as a member of the militant Church, has visible and invisible enemies. These enemies usually devise deceitful plans against him. And most often these plans are so camouflaged that no one can discern them. However, those who have reached the stage of perfection receive news of them and protect those who are in danger.
Now a story about the prophet Elisha comes to mind. There was then a war between Syria and Israel. The Syrian army often set an ambush somewhere against the Israelites. No one knew this except Elisha, who had reached perfection. And he would warn the king of Israel about it: “Be careful! Do not pass through such a place, for there the Syrian army is hidden.” “There Syria is hidden” (4 Kings 6:9). The purity of mind and prayer give the ability to see where the demons’ deceptions are hidden.
In very broad strokes, we have described the stages of spiritual ascent. What we must emphasize now is the contribution of the divine factor. This entire upward journey to the summit of the Lord’s mountain is inconceivable without the active support and help of God. The wild beasts of the passions are not subdued by human effort alone. How was the prophet Daniel saved from the hungry lions? By his own power? Certainly not. Scripture says: “And God shut the mouths of the lions, and they did not harm Daniel” (Daniel 6:18).
Divine power, divine energy, divine grace must help us by their direct presence. But how can we attract it? One primary means is prayer. Without prayer, the power from above does not come within us.
Casting a glance over the space of Holy History, we discern numerous imposing figures—Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, Teachers of the Church. From this entire choir, we single out two. They are Saint John the Forerunner and the prophet Elijah. They were chosen by God for some great mission. The first opened the way for the First Coming of Christ, and the second, the prophet Elijah, will prepare us for the Second Coming. Regarding this, the prophet Malachi prophesies: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the Tishbite before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes…” (4:4). The great and terrible day of the Lord is certainly the Second Coming. And the Lord Himself proclaimed after His Transfiguration on Mount Tabor, “Elijah truly shall first come and restore all things” (Matthew 17:11).
These two holy men reached the stage of perfection. They ascended the highest peaks. They acquired great spiritual power, and thus were entrusted with such a great mission. Both send us a message—not with words, but with their lives. Both withdrew to quiet desert places, one to the deserts of Judea and the other to the caves of Mount Carmel, cultivating prayer. It is as if their entire life became prayer.
Therefore, it is necessary for each of us to steal some time and find a quiet place to devote ourselves to prayer. It would not be bold to suggest rising at midnight in the stillness of the night and working for half an hour or an hour in prayer. As David did: “At midnight I rise to give thanks to You because of Your righteous judgments” (Psalm 119:62). I recall a blessed elderly priest who simply and charmingly said, “Seven prayers during the day are worth as much as one prayer at night.”
Reading carefully the book of the prophet Daniel, we realize that all his wisdom and his God-given illumination owed to the cultivation of nocturnal prayer. And sometimes during these sacred hours he beheld visions of world-historical significance or interpreted dreams and visions of kings that no one else could. We quote fragmentarily some phrases from his book: “Then Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed at night…” (2:19). “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven stirred up the great sea…” (7:2). “I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like a son of man came with the clouds of heaven…” (7:13).
To restore the divine power that will raise us spiritually, prayer is necessary. The Apostle Paul, who was caught up to the third heaven, recommends persistence in prayer. In the Epistle to the Romans there is the phrase, “Continue steadfastly in prayer” (12:12). “Continue steadfastly” means to endure patiently and persistently. Thus, persistence and endurance in prayer. And in the First Epistle to the Thessalonians, he recommends “pray without ceasing” (5:17). That is, to pray continuously and unceasingly, without interruption or breaks. If we leave our mind without prayer, the enemy may sow some weeds at that time. When the fire of prayer burns incessantly, the mosquitoes and flies of the devil do not approach because they know they will be burned. And when prayer is very strong, our entire psychic world becomes a flame of fire. This is also testified by the experience of the praying saints of our Church. The Ladder, in the discourse on prayer, notes: “Some, when they come out of prayer, are as if coming out of a fiery furnace.”
The great thing about prayer is that it not only helps us ascend toward God but also shows us at what point in the ascent we find ourselves. This is expressed in the Ladder as follows: “Prayer is… a mirror of progress, a measure of manifestation.” Prayer, that is, is a mirror that shows you what progress you have made; prayer reveals at what spiritual level you are. When someone easily repels the enemy’s attacks at the time of prayer, it means they have somewhat advanced. When they pray without distraction, without losing the meaning, and without their mind wandering, it means they have progressed further. When they strongly feel the presence of Grace within them and experience ineffable thrills and unprecedented emotions, it means they have risen high.
Through endurance in prayer and the continuous remembrance and invocation of Christ, a person can tangibly feel within themselves the grace of the Holy Spirit. They may feel a fire kindled in their chest that burns without consuming. This is the grace of the Holy Spirit received on the day of baptism. This is also emphasized by a great teacher of prayer, Saint Gregory of Sinai, who taught in the early 14th century to the monks of Mount Athos the so-called Jesus Prayer, saying: “Prayer is the revelation of baptism.”
In many Patristic texts, we see mention of this mystical fire, which they call “heart’s warmth” or “cordial fire,” “divine warmth,” “warmth of grace,” “spiritual fire,” “heavenly invisible fire,” “divine and immaterial fire.” Saint Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain calls it “a supernatural warmth from the grace of the Holy Spirit.” It is exactly what the two disciples felt in their hearts when they were walking with the Risen Christ toward Emmaus. What did they say? “Did not our heart burn within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:32).
However, there is also a higher spiritual state. In this, the grace of the Holy Spirit during prayer appears as divine light, as celestial immaterial light.
Saint Gregory of Sinai, mentioned above, observes: “Prayer for beginners is like a joyful fire emitting from the heart, whereas for the perfect it is a light that spreads fragrance.”
Prayer is therefore a great matter. Depending on the spiritual state it creates within you, it shows at which step you are.
And when someone does not desire to pray or prays very little and that only with difficulty, it shows their spiritual poverty and misery, not to mention their spiritual withering and death.
For the ascent on the mountain of the Lord, besides prayer, there are other means that must be used. Let us see those as well.
The Lord said: “I am the true vine… As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it remains in the vine, so you cannot unless you remain in me” (John 15:1,4). From the vine flow the life-giving sap into the branches, making them fruitful. Invisible, mystical sap. These secret saps symbolize the mystical grace offered by the sacraments of the Church: baptism, chrismation, confession, Holy Communion, etc.
In the First Epistle to the Corinthians, the Apostles are called “stewards of the mysteries of God” (4:1). Steward means manager. In the Epistle to Titus, the elders of the Church are called “stewards of God.” “A bishop must be blameless as a steward of God…” (1:7). Since the mystical grace of God is found near the clergy who perform the sacraments and manage the riches of the house of God, and since strengthening by this mystical grace is necessary for the ascent, we conclude that our upward progress becomes impossible without the help of the shepherds of the Church.
For someone to climb to the heights, they must be alive. The dead cannot do such a thing. For spiritual heights, a person must be spiritually alive. This life is secured by some nourishment. How can one live without feeding? And this nourishment is found on the “table of the Lord” (1 Cor. 10:21). The Lord said categorically: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you” (John 6:53). This means the branches must be nourished by the vine with vital sap.
Spiritual nourishment is also found in the study of Scripture. Beneath the words and concepts of Holy Scripture lies tremendous spiritual power which, when absorbed into the soul, greatly strengthens us for our ascent to the heights. “Are not my words like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” (Jeremiah 23:29). The words of Scripture are the words of God, and the words of God can create the universe, destroy it, and create it anew. “He spoke, and it was done” (Psalm 148:5). “Behold, I make all things new” (Revelation 21:5).
For one to climb the mountain of the Lord, will and zeal are required. One must love the heights. This is helped by association with those who have already ascended there. One who associates with mountaineers will surely desire somewhat to climb to the mountain peaks.
There are also certain books written by eagles of the Spirit, where high flights are recorded. Some spiritual experiences are described which proclaim that from this life one can taste paradise. In the talks of Saint Macarius of Egypt, for example, we encounter such testimonies:
Those who have Christ dwelling in their soul and are guided by the Spirit sometimes feel as if they are at a royal banquet, rejoicing and exulting with indescribable joy and delight. At other times, they are like a bride resting with the bridegroom in divine repose. Sometimes they become like bodiless angels. Although they have a body, they feel so gentle and light. At other times, they seem to be celebrating with intoxicating drink. They become drunk with the Holy Spirit in divine drunkenness and spiritual mysteries. Sometimes they find themselves in tears and lamentations for the human race. They pray for all of Adam and burn with love for all humanity, receiving mourning and tears from the love of the Spirit. Other times, with excessive joy, they are kindled by the Spirit and burn in love, so that, if possible, they would put every person in their bosom without discerning good or evil. Sometimes they are seized by the humble mindset of the Spirit and descend below every person, considering themselves the lowest and smallest of all… At other times, they resemble a vigorous man who donned royal armor and descended to fight the enemies, meeting them successfully with victory… Sometimes the soul rests in excessive quiet and peace, feeling indescribable spiritual delight, rest, and well-being. At other times, it receives from divine grace an indescribable prudence and wisdom and a spiritual knowledge that cannot be described by human language. And other times it becomes like an ordinary person. In these many varied ways, Grace visits the soul and works within it; and in these many ways it guides it (Homily 18).
Other times Grace causes the entire inner world and heart to feel peace, so that the soul, from so much joy, seems like an innocent child. Then the person judges no one, whether idolater, Jew, sinner, or worldly, but within has a clear eye, and through it sees all as pure and feels joy for the whole world, wanting to worship and love everyone, idolaters, Jews.
Other times, one feels as if wearing a garment of light, one that is not found in this world and cannot be made by human hands (like the garments of the Lord on the mountain where the Lord ascended with John and Peter and made them shine), and wearing it feels astonishment and wonder.
Other times, one becomes bold before the Son of God like a son of a king before his father, entering the palace into many chambers, and as one advances, new chambers open; as if entering a hundred rooms of the palace, and another hundred open. One becomes rich, and as one grows richer, even more wondrous new things are shown. One feels entrusted by the heavenly King, as to His son and heir, things that cannot be told by man or expressed in human language.
Other times one feels that a divine light illuminates the heart, opening deeper within and revealing new light previously hidden, so that the person is swallowed up by that sweetness and vision and the hidden mysteries, feeling at those hours that he is freed and has reached perfection, becoming pure and free from sin (Homily 8).
Oh, what marvelous experiences! With what abundant reward is the spiritual struggle recompensed! Indeed, “no eye has seen, no ear heard, no human heart conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Cor. 2:9).
Many times when I visited Mount Athos and associated with struggling monks, I learned of many of their spiritual experiences. It would require a special book to record them all. But in 1979, in Thessaloniki, a book by an unknown Athonite ascetic was published, where one finds abundant sacred experiences. Its title is “Neptic Theology.” A book richly recording spiritual flights.
There it is said that whoever prays “unceasingly” to Christ reaches the point of seeing within himself and personally living and understanding in an ineffable way what is written in the Holy Scriptures but could not be handed down to us in writing by the Church teachers because these were difficult and lofty matters. Also, he reaches the point of seeing like in a mirror by divine revelation the beauty and divine nobility of his soul. Also, Christ, who is “unceasingly” contemplated in the mental prayer, reveals in a secret way the heavenly Father. Sometimes it also happens that he feels the hand of Christ blessing him from heaven, and this heavenly blessing enters into his being. “This blessing pours invisibly upon his soul so quietly—quietly, like snow falling from the heights of the ether when there is no wind at all. With the difference that snow, although falling quietly, is very cold, while the blessing falling from the holy hand of Christ is white like snow and even whiter (“I will be whiter than snow,” says Scripture), but not cold. On the contrary, it is full of consolation, most sweet, gracious, and soul-warming, resulting in exceedingly strengthening the soul in service and the will of Christ. ‘They shall go from strength to strength,’ says the Psalm. So the soul will advance from spiritual strength to spiritual strength.”
According to “Neptic Theology,” there are cases when God shows the spiritual struggler some vision. Certainly, great care and discernment are strongly advised, because many visions come from delusion. But the existence of counterfeit coins cannot annul the genuine ones.
The anonymous author of this book writes extensively about mental prayer with vivid language and original images. Regarding this matter, he once saw a magnificent vision: around him flew doves as white as snow, countless as the sand of the sea. He stretched out his hand and caught a few that flew near him. He was sorry he could not catch more. Some flew close all around him, but as he reached to catch them, they rose and flew away. Nearby was a river seeming to flow from the center of the earth, running slowly, peacefully, and majestically. Some doves flew and beat their wings on the water as if playing joyfully.
As explained later in another vision, the numerous doves symbolized meanings concerning mental prayer. What he wrote in the book was illustrated by the ones he caught with his hands. The river symbolized the compunction springing from God-loving hearts. The doves’ playful motions on the water revealed the joy of grace in the compunctious heart.
About the grace of compunction, the same author notes: “Sometimes tears flow in torrents, and not only the person’s face but also his garments and the ground are wet. Sometimes only the eyes are wet with tears. And sometimes the mind and heart are internally cooled as the earth is cooled on spring nights by the dew of heaven.” And this manifold compunction is renewed by “the vision of the intellect.” That is, “being the intellect from compunction most pure, most radiant, and most exalted, it extends to heavenly beauties, to incorruptible creatures, to the intelligible ranks, to the glorification of God, to the worship of the Creator, to marveling at His works, to amazement at His greatness, and to the incomprehensible divinity. Studying these with some liveliness, the most pure and undefiled intellect is sweetened ineffably and indescribably. And this sweetness renews the compunction in the heart and causes tears to flow, no less than the first… With the shedding of tears, the soul’s insensibility departs… negligence is lost, the heart’s little faith is dissolved, and the intellect becomes clear as the sky after the rain has ceased.”
Dedication to prayer and compunction leads to acquiring wisdom. “Rivers of living water flow from the heart,” notes the same author, “that is, spiritual meanings and torrents of holy wisdom… A didactic word is born and flows, a saving word, a fruitful word, a wise word, a holy word, a good word… And the tongue cannot keep up to present the meanings the heart gives birth to.”
Let us then study these wonderful books that describe, so to speak, Moses’ ascent to the holy summit of Sinai, the vision of divine glory.
Let us study the lives of the Fathers, the martyrs, the ascetics. All these texts are manuals of mountaineering art. All these figures are spiritual eagles. Let us zealously admire them. They all urge us to leave dark places and go to the light; to leave behind places of stench and ascend to fragrant places; to leave sinful and idolatrous Egypt and journey like Moses to Mount Sinai.
They all speak to us through the mouth of the Venerable John, author of the Ladder: “Ascend, ascend, brothers, with eager hearts set upon ascending.” And they ask through the mouth of Saint Gregory the Theologian: “Who, starting to bear fruit at thirty, advanced to sixty and finished at one hundred? Let him act so as to advance and become great like Isaac and to walk from strength to strength, singing the hymns of the Steps and deciding in his heart to ascend” (26th Homily). Let us also respond and say decisively: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob.” We were not created for the depths of evil, but for the heights of virtues. We were not created for the darkness of the abyss, but for the radiance of Tabor. So come, let us ascend.
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord.”
https://www.entaksis.gr/come-let-us-go-up-to-the-mountain-of-the-lord/
