Lecture by metropolitan Elpidophoros of Bursa

In a homily addressing those who delay their Baptism, St. Gregory of Nyssa notes that our love for God is reflected in the good disposition we manifest toward our brothers; this love is our salvation and the cultivation of the virtues. In order to follow the upward and the narrow way of Orthodox spirituality, we must thoroughly study the Sacred Scriptures as well as its true interpreters, the holy Fathers; we also need to be genuine, courageous, patient and above all humble. Moreover, we must abandon ourselves entirely to the grace and mercy of the all-benevolent God. We must surrender to the one who loved us to the utmost extreme, long before we did. Any love we reserve for God is demonstrated practically through our love for others, through actions of charity. Then, we can speak about Orthodox spirituality and about love as the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

The goal of Orthodox spirituality is sanctification and holiness. We must be careful not to overlook or abandon this goal, assuming a myriad of other activities that are foreign to the true nature and purpose of spirituality. A deep sense of gratitude and consolation, thanksgiving and praise reflect our spiritual nobility, the magnificence of what in Greek we might call philotimon – namely, a sense of love and honor, a sense of dignity and nobility that distinguishes an adopted son. When criticized for not being able clearly to see the tangible presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of our Church, it is not sufficient simply to enumerate the names of contemporary saints; we must also include our own personal experiences of the Holy Spirit. All of these things are not exclusive prerogatives of clergy and ascetic monks, but of all persons baptized in the name of the Holy Trinity. St. Maximus the Confessor claims that those who regulate their life according to the divine laws are received by God in a mystical way as members of His own family.

We must also remember that Orthodox Hesychasm is inspired by Sacred Scripture, just as it is strengthened and supported by the sacramental life of the Church. This is how the human person is united to God. This spiritual unity transcends all knowledge; it is what directs spiritual perfection into existence. During the hesychastic controversies of the 14th century, the conflict of scholasticism and rationalism with Orthodoxy and orthopraxy was in fact an encounter of humanity with God through the divine and uncreated energies. Orthodox theological thought reveals to a sublime degree how Orthodox spirituality is profoundly connected with divine worship, an authentic.

Sometimes we must also fearlessly welcome self-criticism. The Church contains the fullness of the truth. Yet, we cannot always prove this truth. The task of the Church is to maintain and proclaim without adulteration the revealed truth by presenting a synthesis of the Orthodox doctrine and the Christian ethos in all their authenticity, and to offer a witness to love, hope and conviction. Father Dumitru Staniloae writes: “The task of theology in our time is to give to humanity a supreme light for all the aspects of human life, an ultimate consolation, a steadfast conviction that their activities have indeed an essential meaning. Its purpose is to motivate people to participate full heatedly in these activities, with the conviction that they are working to carry out the plan of God, who calls the totality of creation toward its ultimate destiny”(25). The contribution of theology to humanity today and tomorrow is to help people acquire a new spirituality characterized by a radically Orthodox content.