"Darkness is passing away, and true light is already shining"

, as St. John the Theologian says about it (1 John 2:8).

Divine light appears here on earth, in time. It is revealed in history, but it is not of this world, it is eternal and marks the exit from historical existence. This is the mystery of the "eighth day," the mystery of true knowledge, the perfection of gnosis, the fullness of which cannot be contained in this world before its end. This is the beginning of the parousia, the second coming in the souls of the saints, the beginning of the final revelation, when God will appear to all in His unapproachable light. That is why, according to St. Symeon the New Theologian, for those "who have become children of light and sons of the day to come, and can always walk gracefully as in days, the day of the Lord will never come for them, because they are always with it and in it. For the day of the Lord will not appear for those who are already illumined by the Divine light; but it will suddenly be revealed to those who are in the darkness of passions, who live in the world in a worldly way, and who love the goods of this world; for them it will appear suddenly, suddenly, and will seem to them terrible, like an unbearable and unbearable fire" [380].

Divine light becomes the basis of our consciousness: in it we know God and know ourselves. It penetrates into the depths of our being, which enters into unity with God, it becomes for him God's judgment until the Last Judgment. For, according to St. Simeon, there are two judgments: one is performed here on earth — this is the judgment that has salvation in mind; the other, at the end of the world, is judgment in condemnation: "In the present life, when, through repentance, we freely and voluntarily enter into the Divine light, we find ourselves accused and condemned; however, by Divine love and mercy, this accusation and this judgment take place in secret, in the depths of our souls, for our cleansing and for the forgiveness of sins. Only God and we ourselves then see the hidden depths of our hearts. Those who are subjected to such judgment in this life need not fear another trial. For those who do not yet wish to enter into the light here on earth in order to be accused and judged, for those who hate the light, the second coming of Christ will reveal the light that is now hidden, and will reveal all that has hitherto remained secret. Everything that we hide today, not wishing to reveal in repentance the depths of our hearts, will then be revealed in the light before the face of God, before the whole universe, and what we really are will become manifest" (381).

Full consciousness will appear in all in the Divine light, at the second coming of Christ. But this will not be a consciousness freely revealed in grace, in accordance with the will of God; it will be a consciousness that comes, so to speak, from outside, revealed in the personality against its will, a light that unites with human beings in an external way, that is, according to St. Maximus the Confessor, "outside of grace" [382]. Divine love will become an unbearable torment for those who have not acquired it within themselves. According to St. Isaac the Syrian, "those who are tormented in hell are struck by the scourge of love. And how bitter and cruel is this torment of love! For those who feel that they have sinned against love endure torment, which is the worst of all that causes them to be tormented; The sorrow that strikes the heart for a sin against love is more terrible than any possible punishment. It is inappropriate for anyone to think that sinners in hell are deprived of God's love... But love, by its power, acts in two ways: it torments sinners... and rejoices with himself those who have kept their duty" [383].

The very resurrection from the dead will be a revelation of the inner state of human beings, for the secrets of souls will shine through the bodies. In his eschatological providence, St. Macarius of Egypt expresses this idea in the following way: "That heavenly fire of the Godhead, which Christians even now, in this age, receive within themselves, in the heart, acting within their hearts, when the body is destroyed, it will begin to act together, and will again unite the members, will accomplish the resurrection of the destroyed members" [384]. Then everything that the soul has collected in its inner treasury will appear outside, in the body. Everything will become light, everything will be permeated with uncreated light. The bodies of the saints will become similar to the most glorious body of the Savior, as it appeared to the apostles on the Day of the Transfiguration. God will be "all in all," and the grace of God, the light of the Holy Trinity, will shine forth in the multitude of human hypostases, in all those who have acquired it and who, like new suns in the Kingdom of the Father, will become like the Son, transfigured by the Holy Spirit, the Giver of Light. "The grace of His Most Holy Spirit," says St. Symeon the New Theologian, "will shine as a luminary over the righteous, and among them Thou shalt shine, Thou art the unapproachable Sun. Then they will all be enlightened according to the measure of their faith and their works, their hope and their love, to the extent of their purification and illumination by Thy Spirit, O God, infinite in His goodness" (385).

At the Second Coming and the final accomplishment of time, the totality of the universe will enter into full union with God. This unity will be realized, or rather, will be manifested differently in each of the human beings who have acquired the grace of the Holy Spirit in the Church. But where the boundaries of the Church lie on the other side of death, and what is the possibility of salvation for those who have not known the light in this life, remains for us the mystery of Divine mercy, which we do not dare to count on, but which we also cannot limit to our human measures.

Chapter XII. CONCLUSION. THE FEAST OF THE KINGDOM

In the introduction to our book, we emphasized the inner and indissoluble connection between theology and mysticism, between dogmatic teaching and spiritual life. We can consider the spiritual life only in the light of dogmas, because dogmas are its outward expression, the only objective evidence of experience confirmed by the Church. By virtue of the catholicity of the Christian tradition, the experience of individuals and the general experience of the Church are identical. And the Christian tradition is not only the totality of dogmas, sacred institutions and rites preserved by the Church, but, first of all, that which is expressed in these external forms; it is a living tradition, it is an unceasing revelation of the Holy Spirit in the Church, a life to which each of its members can partake in his own measure. To be in tradition means to participate experientially in the revealed mysteries of the Church. Dogmatic tradition is the landmarks established by the Church on the path and knowledge of God, while mystical tradition is the acquired experience of the mysteries of faith; they cannot be separated from each other or opposed to each other. We cannot understand dogma outside of experience, we cannot have the fullness of experience outside of true teaching. That is why we wanted to present in these pages the tradition of the Eastern Church as a mystical theology, as a teaching and experience that condition each other.

We have consistently examined the basic principles of Orthodox theology, never losing sight of the ultimate goal – our union with God. Directed towards this goal, always deliberately soteriological, this dogmatic tradition appeared to us completely homogeneous, despite the richness and diversity of its experience, despite the diversity of the epochs and cultures it embraced. It is a single spiritual family, in which we can easily recognize the kinship of its members, although they are separated from each other both in time and space. Bearing witness to one and the same spiritual vision, we could refer to Dionysius the Areopagite and St. Gregory Palamas, to St. Macarius of Egypt and St. Seraphim of Sarov, to St. Gregory of Nyssa and Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow, to St. Maximus the Confessor and contemporary Russian theologians, and passing from one epoch to another, we did not feel a change in the "spiritual climate." For the Church, in which human persons fulfill their calling, in which their union with God takes place, is always the same, despite the fact that her "oikonomia" in relation to the external world must change according to the different epochs and different environments in which the Church carries out her mission. The Fathers and Teachers of the Church, who at different historical moments had to defend and formulate different dogmas, nevertheless belong to the same Tradition, for they are witnesses to the same experience. This tradition remained common to the East and to the West as long as the Church bore clear witness to the truths pertaining to the Incarnation. But the dogmas that seem to be more hidden, as if more mysterious, those that relate to Pentecost, to the teaching about the Holy Spirit, about grace, about the Church, are no longer common to the Church of Rome and the Churches of the East. Here two separate traditions are opposed to each other. And even that which up to a certain moment was common in retrospect acquires a different bias, now appears in a different light, as the spiritual realities of different spiritual experiences. Now St. Basil the Great, for example, or Blessed Augustine are interpreted in different ways, depending on whether they are viewed in the light of Roman Catholic tradition or Orthodox tradition. This is inevitable, for we can recognize the authority of some ecclesiastical author only in the spirit of the tradition to which we ourselves belong. In our essay we have tried to emphasize aspects characteristic of the tradition of the Orthodox Church, based exclusively on the testimony of the Eastern Fathers, in order to avoid any possible confusion or misunderstanding.

In the course of our study of the mystical theology of the Eastern Church, we have repeatedly had to state the apophatic position inherent in this religious way of thinking. As we have seen, the negations that point to God's unknowability do not forbid knowledge; Apophaticism, far from being a limitation, forces us to transcend all concepts, every field of philosophical speculation. It is an aspiration to an ever-increasing fullness, which transforms knowledge into ignorance, conceptual theology into contemplation, and dogmas into the experience of ineffable mysteries. It is also an existential theology, involving the whole man, placing him on the path of union with God, forcing him to change, to transform his nature in order to reach the true "gnosis" – the contemplation of the Most Holy Trinity. However, "change of mind," μετανοια, means repentance. The apophatic path of Eastern theology is the repentance of the human person before the Face of the Living God. This is the incessant change of the human being, striving towards the fullness of his revelation, towards union with God, accomplished by the Divine grace and freedom of man. But the fullness of the Godhead, the final completion to which created persons aspire, is revealed in the Holy Spirit. He is the Mystery Guide on the apophatic path, where the negations indicate the presence of the Ineffable, the Unlimited, the Absolute Fullness. He is the secret tradition in the manifest tradition and "preached on the housetops." It is a mystery hidden in the teaching of the Church, although it imparts to it its certainty, inner certainty, life, warmth, and light, which are inherent in Christian truth.