In another place, St. Simeon speaks of persons "who have such love for God that at the very hearing of the name of Christ they are immediately kindled by desire and shed tears" [776]. Christ is the only Sovereign and the Unapproachable Light: "For He is the Lord of all, the judge of all, the king of all, the creator of light and life, the Lord. He is an ineffable, unapproachable light, the only one that exists. He will make invisible in His appearance from His presence His enemies and those who have not done His commandments, in the same way as the rising sun drives away the darkness of the night. And the Lord our God will be incomprehensible in the incomprehensible, and incomprehensible in the incomprehensible, being the only worthy to the extent of faith in Him" [777]. The resurrected Christ deifies the perishable body which He bore on earth: "First (Christ) quickened the soul which He had received, and having made it incorruptible, He deified it, and though He deified His most pure and Divine body, He still bore it perishable and material. For that which eats and drinks, that which labours and sheds perspiration, that which is bound and scourged, that which is lifted up and nailed to the cross (the body) is obviously perishable and material, for all these are properties of the material body. That is why He died and was laid dead in the tomb. After the resurrection, incorruptible, He resurrected the body itself with Himself spiritual, completely divine and immaterial. That is why He did not break the seals when He came out of the tomb, but even when the doors were closed, He went in and out without hindrance" [778]. This is the Christ of the Second Coming, the sweetest King: "Then will come with much glory and power our longed-for and sweetest King, Jesus Christ, and God and God will judge the world and reward each one according to his deeds" [779]. This is the New Adam, life and knowledge: "O paradise, now planted by Christ and God! Oh, a new mystery and terrible miracles! There Adam and Eve were admittedly sensual and visible trees, there was the tree of knowledge itself, as well as the tree of life, other than this. Here, however, the New Adam is made faithful to all at once, both by sweetness and by knowledge, which does not kill and repels from the tree of life, but teaches" [780]. Christ is the light in which His faithful servants are clothed, and the splendor of which they cannot endure: "First of all, they are filled with ineffable joy, since they have acquired in themselves not the world, nor the things that are in the world, but the Creator of all things, and the Lord and Master. Then they clothe themselves in the light, in Christ Himself and God, with their whole body, and see themselves adorned with ineffable glory and shining with divine garments, and cover their eyes, impatient to see the incomprehensible and unbearable brightness of their garments, so that they seek a place where to hide, in order to be there and repel the great weight of glory" [781]. Christ is their food, which He gives to His children: "Further," writes St. Simeon, "the Lord Himself becomes for them constant and immortal food and drink: some, who are still infants according to Christ and are not yet able to partake of solid food, he is seen as a luminous nipple (φωτοειδής μαζός), which is placed in the mouths of their minds, and we let them suck it, which it becomes both food and drink, causing such sweetness in them that they do not want, or rather cannot completely tear themselves away from it. And to those who have already ceased to feed on milk, He relates as a father who loves children, instructing and educating them" [782]. This is Christ the teacher.

Ave. Simeon insists that those who love Christ also see Him: "In order that you may know that Christ is also seen by those who love Him and keep His commandments, listen to the Lord Himself, who says: 'He who has My commandments and keeps them is he who loves Me. But he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and appear to him Myself" [783]. This is a favorite quote from St. Simeon, expressing the root of his spirituality. When Christ comes, He becomes all things to us, and is called by many names according to His actions. "As darkness does not flee," says St. Simeon, "if the light does not come, so the sickness of the soul does not turn to flight, unless the one who takes upon himself our infirmities comes and unites with us.

Oh miracle! Thus, therefore, He becomes everything to us, Who is above all" (784). This is a very important passage where St. Simeon, speaking in apophatic language, says that Christ is above all light, as well as all His other names. Then Christ enters into a conversation with St. Simeon. Here the monk uses the image of a life-giving spring: "If you still feel thirsty," he says, "then you have not yet drunk from that water... For I have heard a certain person (here St. Simeon speaks of himself as a third person), "that since the humane Lord gave him to drink to his heart's content from this water, if he happened to forget, and if he did not drink again, it would be given to him to drink from it, then it, that is, the water that he drank, jumped inside his heart and jumped like a stream of light, and he saw her at once. And it was as if she were conversing through the trembling in him and saying: "Do you not see me, that I am here with you? And whence do you ask that I should be with you, or that I should come? Do you not know that I am always co-existent with those to whom I will one day give me to drink, and I become an immortal source in them" [785].

Since Christ is the light of the world, it is natural that believers see Him (786). He who does not see Him is dead. "If you have not been vouchsafed at all," says St. Simeon, "to see Christ Himself, why do you imagine that you live? What do you think that you serve Him, Whom you have never seen?" [787] It is impossible to know Christ through the Scriptures alone if we are not able to see Him. However, in the same Moral Discourse, St. Simeon somewhat softens this strict judgment and admits that it is possible to serve Christ even if one has not seen Him, as servants serve a king who have not seen Him. Therefore, it is necessary to seek [788] Christ and serve Him in humility, in order to find Him at the moment of death. On the other hand, there are many steps on the path to Christ: humility, repentance, the fulfillment of the commandments, and, above all, tears [789]. Proceeding from the words of the Apostle Paul, "My children, for whom I am again in the pangs of childbirth, until Christ is formed in you," St. Simeon speaks at length, with his usual realism, about the process of the formation of Christ in us. He describes it in obviously contradictory terms, since for him it is the only way to comprehend the incomprehensible. "Where, then," he asks, interpreting Ap. Paul, as he says, or in what place and part of our body is He formed, whether on the forehead, on the face, or on the chest, do you think (that it happens)? By no means, but inside, in our hearts. And you don't suppose that He is formed bodily? Let it not be, but He will be formed, it is true, but incorporeally, and as befits God. However, just as a woman knows clearly when she is pregnant, since the child moves in her womb, and she will never be ignorant that she has it within her, so he who (Christ) imagines in herself knows His movements, that is, illumination, and His surging, that is, lightning, does not know at all, and the imagination sees Him in herself. For example: the light of the lamp inside is shown in a mirror, but (the light of Christ) not in a ghost devoid of reality, like that light, but is shown in the person and essentially (ένυποοτάτως καϊ ουσιωδώς), visible and incomprehensible in an ugly form and in a formless form" [790]. In eternal life, when all the images and symbols of the minutes are all, we will enjoy the contemplation of Christ, "seeing Christ and seeing Him" (791). This is Christ contemplated in eternity.

In the Hymns, the appearance of Christ to St. Simeon and the feelings evoked by them are described especially concretely. For him, one thing is certain: Christ appeared to him, as He once appeared to the first martyr Stephen. This fills St. Simeon with horror. "What is this new mystery," he asks himself in bewilderment, "which is still taking place? Does God even now want to be visible to sinners, He, Who once ascended on high and sat on a throne in the father's heaven and dwells hidden?" [792] Meanwhile, according to popular belief, although it is not confirmed by the Church, after the Ascension Christ appeared only to Stephen. However, St. Simeon cannot question the authenticity of his own visions. He therefore asks himself: "But now, what does this strange thing that is happening in me want, what could this terrible and astounding thing that is now being done be?" [793] It can be assumed that the opponents of St. Simeon questioned his visions. But he asserts: "In the very night and in the very darkness I see Christ terribly opening the heavens to me together with the Father and the Spirit" (794). He continues: "I was blind, believe me, and did not see, and therefore the miracle strikes me more when He somehow opens the eye of my mind and somehow allows me to see, and we are seen Himself. He appears to those who see as a light in the light, and those who see again in the light see Him" (795). This means the vision of light: "Even now, as it is said, this is happening in me, and I somehow understand the incomprehensible, and now I see from afar an invisible beauty, strongly struck by the inaccessibility of the light, the intolerability of glory, and I am trembling" (796). However, no matter how weak it may be, the vision reveals Christ Himself to him, like an ocean drop, like the hem of a garment itself, or like the claw of a lion. "I found Him Himself, whom I had seen from afar, whom Stephen had seen when the heavens were opened, and Paul, seeing him again later, was blinded, all indeed, like a fire in the midst of my heart" (797). However, the fact that he sees Christ from afar and is not scorched by Him comforts him, as he himself says: "I had a little consolation in my mind that I was not scorched, that I was not burned like wax from fire... because I was far from the impregnable fire and stood in the midst of darkness, and hid in it, from where, as from a small hole, I looked, losing consciousness" [798]. It should be noted that in these visions, for all their personal character, Christ never appears with visible human features, but as a light or fire in the heart of St. Simeon, or, at most, as an "image without an image" or as a "formless appearance."

Ave. Simeon often returns to the fact that Christ sometimes seems to withdraw and become unapproachable, but he sees in this distance, moreover, a temporary one, the condescension of God, Whom he glorifies: "When I said these things to Thee, the Creator of the world, Who formerly appeared on high, and who once hid Himself from me, and afterwards surrounded me with rays, I suddenly see all Thee in me, in the height of what had previously appeared, but was again hidden by a cloud, like the sun completely without rays" [799]. And just as it becomes easier for our eyes to look at the sun, "so You also become accessible, hidden within me, O unapproachable, to my intelligent eyes, as you know, gradually growing, appearing brighter, shining more brightly. Another time Thou art again inaccessible to me in all things. That is why I magnify Thy incomprehensibility and preach Thy goodness, crying out to Thee: "Glory to Him who has so glorified our essence" [800]. In another place, St. Simeon speaks of the appearance of Christ and union with sinful man. "Human nature cannot bear to see you all clearly, my Christ, even if we believe that we receive you all from the Spirit whom you give, O my God" (801). The thought that the Word dwells in our hearts causes horror in the monk: "When I think this, wretched, O miracle, I find Thee in me, moving, speaking, and then making me voiceless, struck with unapproachable glory. Horror contains me and perplexity, because I see the contents in my heart containing all the hands. But what is the strangeness of Thy mercy, O my Christ, what is Thy boundless condescension, O Word? That Thou hast come to my poverty, and how hast Thou entered into a polluted house that dwelleth in unapproachable light, O my God?" [802] The feeling of unworthiness increases this horror even more: "I am trembling and falling into a frenzy, rejoicing, and becoming speechless, and greatly relaxed, since God was given to me, the Creator of the world, a very bad man and disgusting to all" [803].

In his love for Christ, St. Simeon wants to kiss His hands and feet, even His face: "Grant me, O Christ, to kiss Thy feet, let me embrace Thy hands, the hands that brought me (into being) by word, the hands that created everything without difficulty! Let me be filled with them unquenchably, let me see Thy face, the Word, and enjoy Thy ineffable beauty, and comprehend and delight in Thy vision, the ineffable vision, the invisible vision, the terrible vision" [804]. However, every vision of Christ in this life is partial, which grieves the saints as long as they are burdened with the body: "Now they are deprived of these (miraculous) gifts only because they are restrained and covered, alas, like prisoners in prison, who see the sun and its rays penetrating through the opening, and are unable to understand it all, either to see it all when they come out of prison, or to lean out and see clearly in the air. And this is what torments them, that they do not see the whole of Christ, although they see Him all, and do not have the power to go out of the body, even if they have freed themselves from passions and all addiction" [805]. Christ is God's Wisdom [806]. In moments of despondency and temptation, in the struggle with doubts about salvation, St. Simeon resorts to Christ, his only hope. "I, You know, the Lord. — he says, — that I have never entrusted the salvation of my soul to deeds or actions, but to Thee, O Lover of mankind, I have recourse to mercy, having the boldness that Thou wilt save me freely, as once the harlot and the prodigal son, who said: 'I have sinned!' The vision of Christ wounds his heart: "For when I see You, I am wounded within my heart, and I have not the power to see You, and I cannot bear not to see. Unapproachable is Thy beauty, inimitable in appearance, incomparable is Thy glory, and who can see Thee all, my God?" [808] Speaking of his conversion from secular life to the ways of salvation, St. Simeon says that Christ carried him on His shoulders in this difficult time: "I have not labored, I have not done the works of righteousness, I have never kept any of Thy commandments... however, Thou didst not despise me Thyself, but, seeking me, found me wandering, turned me back from the path of error, but lifted me up on Thy most pure shoulders by the light of Thy grace, O Christ, carried me, O merciful one, and did not allow me to feel weary at all, but rest as in a chariot. Thou hast made it easy for me to walk the steep roads, until Thou hast restored Thy sheep to the fence, until Thou hast united and numbered Thy servants" [809]. For St. Simeon, Christ was truly everything: "Thou knowest that I have Thee alone, life and word, and knowledge and wisdom, the Saviour of God and protector in life, and the breath of my humble soul, I am a stranger and humble in words. Thou art my hope, Thou art my protector, Thou art my protection, Thou art my refuge. Thou art my praise, my riches, my glory" [810].

It is quite obvious how much the Christological piety of St. Simeon, based on his personal experience of the vision of Christ, and therefore simple and indivisible in its origins, expressing love for the Savior, is at the same time rich in theological content, diverse in manifestations and emotional coloring. Christ, the object of St. Simeon's contemplations, is one. He is, St. Simeon repeats it many times, the Divine Logos, the Creator of the world, consubstantial with the Father, and He remains so in His kenosis, His incarnation, in His sufferings, His death and resurrection. For St. Simeon, these are not abstract formulas, but the reality of faith and vision. God and man are never separated from each other in the mysticism of St. Simeon. And when he speaks of the imitation of Christ, of participation in His sufferings, of His cross which we must bear – all this constitutes a very important part of the Christocentric spirituality of St. Simeon – he is not speaking of a simple man whom he calls us to follow, but of God, "unproud and loving to mankind," who truly became man in order to save us. Seeing Him in the light, He Himself is the ineffable light, His glory and His grace are Divine light, and so He appears to St. Simeon. Christ will shine with all the splendor of His Divinity at the Second Coming, and now He illuminates St. Simeon like a distant star, which, however, draws near to him and enters his heart. As Christ now draws near to him and then moves away to draw nearer again, St. Simeon describes these changes using the bold image of Christ slowing down His steps in order to allow Himself to be reached. Or it is a dog — evidently St. Simeon himself — chasing a hare. Christ withdraws, and Fr. Simeon holds Him by the hem of His garment. These abrupt changes are vividly reflected in the soul of St. Simeon: sorrow, sorrow when Christ is withdrawn, inexpressible joy and incomparable sweetness when He is near. Christ is the source that quenches all thirst, or, on the contrary, He intensifies it, because the fullness of His vision cannot be attained in this life. But in order to see the King-Christ, the Good Shepherd, in eternity, one must see Him while still here, or, in any case, ardently desire to attain in this life the vision of Him Who is incomparable beauty. Those who love Christ and keep His commandments will be loved by Him, and He will appear to them with the Father and the Holy Spirit according to the promise of the Gospel, which Fr. Simeon always understands in the most precise sense. This is the basis of all his spirituality.

3. THE HOLY SPIRIT

Ave. Symeon was not a systematic theologian, so it is in vain to look in his writings for a complete, within the framework of the Trinitarian doctrine, dogmatic teaching about the Holy Spirit. But in everything he wrote, especially in the Hymns, Theological and Moral Words, one can find quite a lot of references to the fact that there is a Holy Spirit in the Holy Spirit. The Trinity in general and what is His manifestation in spiritual life in particular. Ave. Simeon speaks first of all about the procession of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is from the Father in inseparable unity with the Father and the Son, so that it cannot even be said that in the Trinity there is a first, second, and third: "Neither the Father is the first, although He is the cause of the Son, nor the Second Son, although He is from the Father, nor the Holy Spirit the Third, although He proceeds from the Father (έκτου Πατρός έκπορεΰηται)" (811). Or in another place: "The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father, being co-natural and united, consubstantial with the Father and the Son, as being worshipped and glorified with Them with every breath" [812]. The procession of the Holy Spirit must always be contemplated together with the birth of the Son: "(The Father) begets the timeless and eternally consubstantial Son, who is in no way separated from Him, together with Whom proceeds (συνεκ–πορεύεται) and the Divine Spirit, consubstantial with the Son from the consubstantial Father" (813). "Confess therefore with me," says St. Simeon in another place, "the Father who begets but does not pre-exist, the Son who is not later begotten or begotten, the Holy Spirit, who proceeds, but is co-eternal and consubstantial with the Son to the Father Himself" (814).

The consubstantiality of the Holy Spirit with the Father and the Son and His direct procession from the Father are especially emphasized. However, proceeding from the Father, the Holy Spirit is sent by the Son to people: "The Holy Spirit, inexpressibly proceeding from the Father, and through the Son (δι Ύίοΰ) coming to us who are the faithful" (815). Or: "The Holy Spirit, since it proceeds from the Father and through the Son (δια toΰ Υίοΰ), is given to us unworthy, not so much as it is sent or given unwillingly, but as fulfilling what is pleasing to the Father, as its own will, through the One of the Trinity, the Son Himself" (816). As has already been noted [817], St. Symeon expounds here the traditional teaching of the Greek Fathers about the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father and that He is sent through the Son into the world, as grace. In another place, speaking of the sending down of divine grace, which comes from the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit, St. Simeon writes: "This grace of the Spirit is distributed to the saints by the Son of God... from the nature and essence of His co-eternal Father... that is, the Divinity" [818]. In the same sense and in the same threefold context, St. Simeon calls the Holy Spirit "the mouth of the Lord": "This is what," he says, "the Father has spoken through the Son, and the Spirit has spoken, Who is the mouth of the Lord" (819).

However, Fr. Simeon speaks especially insistently about the action of the Holy Spirit in us and in the world. Without this action, our soul would be dead and our virtues would have no value. The Holy Spirit gives them life. Ave. Simeon speaks at length about this, inspired by the vision that the prophet Ezekiel had, that is, the vision of bones and joints in which there was no life: "As if a man, having folded dead bone to bone and joint to joint, which can be applied to deeds and the acquisition of virtue, achieves nothing, if there is no one who is able to weave meat and nerves over them. But if he does this too, and binds the joints to the nerves, and dresses these dead bones with flesh and skin, and makes a body out of them, he will achieve nothing, since it is devoid of the life-giving and moving spirit, that is, it has no soul. In the same way, think about the dead soul and transfer your mind to its inner members, and look at all the collected actions, fasting, I say, and vigil, lying down and drying, non-acquisitiveness and unwashing, and the accompanying ones, as at dead bones, folded together and one after the other and united, and as if in some way forming the whole body of the soul. What is the use if it lies soulless and devoid of spirit, since there is no Holy Spirit in it? Only He, having come and dwelt in us, like members torn apart from one another, so binds dead virtuous actions with veins of spiritual power and unites us with love with God, and then makes us new from the old and alive from the dead. Otherwise, it is impossible for the soul to come to life" [820].

The Holy Spirit accomplishes the real resurrection of a dead soul to life in Christ: "Think of yourself mentally dead," says St. Simeon, "tell me, therefore, how could you truly be made alive without being united with true life, that is, with the Holy Spirit, through Whom every believer is reborn and revived in Christ?" [821] And in general, without the Holy Spirit, a person is incapable of doing any good work. Ave. Simeon thanks Christ for giving him His Spirit, which he calls the tree of life: "Blessed art thou, O Lord, blessed art thou, the only ... who gave in my heart the light of Thy commandments, and planted in me the tree of Thy life, and showed me another paradise... mental among sensible things, sensuously mental. Because Thou hast united with the soul another of Thy Divine Spirits, which Thou hast infused into my inwards. He alone is truly the tree of life, which, no matter what earth he is planted in, that is, in the soul of man, and takes root in the heart, immediately shows it as the brightest paradise, adorned with all plants, beautiful trees and various fruits... This is humility, joy, peace, meekness... rains of tears and strange delight in them, the radiance of Thy grace, which shines upon all who are in paradise. Thou art the cup that pours out the waters of life for me, Thou givest me abundantly the words of divine knowledge. But when You do not want and take them away, I become insane, insensitive, like a stone. The trumpet will never sound without the spirit, so I am soulless without You. It is impossible for the body to act without the soul, just as the soul cannot move without Thy Spirit and keep Thy commandments, O Saviour. It cannot see Thee, nor stand before Thee, nor sing Thy glory intelligently, O my God" [822]. In this prayer, addressed now to Christ, now to the Holy Spirit, and it is impossible to clearly distinguish when he passes from one to the other, so inseparable is their action, St. Simeon speaks in detail about the fruits of the Spirit, which he contrasts with human efforts.

In the Catechetical Homilies, the monk again uses the image of a musical instrument and a breath, this time to explain that what he is saying is inspired by the Spirit and that His action is irresistible: "Brothers and fathers," he addresses his monks,