Behold, again I want to speak of those who say that they have the Holy Spirit without any consciousness of it, and think that they have received Him into themselves from divine Baptism, wherefore they assert that they have in themselves the treasure of grace, although, knowing themselves, they cannot but see that they are empty of it.

They usually say: "If you are baptized into Christ, put on Christ," says the Apostle. Since we have been baptized into Christ, it is evident that we have also put on Christ. But I say to them, Since you have put on Christ, tell me, what is Christ? He is, of course, the true God, Who was made man at the end in order to make us gods. But he who puts on God feels, of course, what he has put on. Just as a naked person, when he puts on a garment, feels it and sees what kind of garment it is, so he who is naked in soul, when he puts on God, feels it and knows it. If he who puts on God does not feel that there is what he has put on, then it follows that he is not alive, for only the dead do not feel when they are clothed. Wherefore I am afraid that those who speak thus are not dead and naked.

Then they offer the following saying of the Apostle Paul: "Quench not the Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19). But in saying this, they do not understand the purpose for which it is said. They reason; Whoever says to another to whom, "Do not extinguish the lamps," does not say this, of course, about a lamp that does not burn, but about one that is kindled and shines with its proper light. To this we say to them: The Spirit, of whom you say that He is kindled in you and shines with His light, do you see clearly kindled and shining in your souls, as this should be of itself? But not only do they not answer this, but immediately change their face and turn it in the other direction, as if they hear some kind of blasphemy, intolerable to them. Then, assuming a more meek appearance, they answer, saying, "And who then will dare to say that he sees, or has ever seen, the Holy Spirit?" Cease blasphemy, and do not say this, for the Divine Scripture says that God is nowhere to be seen (John 1:18). "Oh, blindness and insensibility! Tell me, human, who said this? "The Only-begotten," he says, "the Son of God is in the bosom of the Father, He said this." Thou speakest the truth, and verily is thy testimony, but it goes against thee. For if I prove that this same Son of God and God the Word says that this is possible, then what have you to say? Hearken therefore to what Christ says: "He who has seen Me is in the sight of the Father" (John 14:9). And He said this not to him who looked at the body of Christ, but to him who beheld His Divinity. For if we think that Christ the Lord said this to him who looked at His body, then it follows that those who crucified Christ saw the Father, because they saw Christ in the body, and after this there will be no distinction between the faithful and the unfaithful, and no advantage for the former over the latter, but all equally received the desired blessedness, all saw God. But it is not so in practice, not so, as the same Christ said again when He spoke to the Jews: "If they knew Me, they knew My Father also" (John 8:19).

And that it is possible for us to see God, as far as it is possible for men to see Him, listen to what Christ Himself says: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" (Matt. 5:8). What do you say to this? But I know in advance what you will say. You will say: yes, the pure in heart will definitely see God, but not here, but in the age to come. Since you do not believe in the blessings that God gives us in the present life, and do not have a zealous desire to receive them for yourself, then you resort to the thought of the future age. But tell me, beloved, who hope to see God in the age to come, how is it possible for that of which you speak? If Christ said that with a pure heart we shall see God, then it certainly follows that at all times, as soon as a man purifies his heart, he will also see God. You yourself, if you ever purify your heart, will surely see God and know the truth of my words. But since you never thought in your mind to do this (purify your heart), and did not believe that it truly happens (that the pure in heart see God), you have neglected the purification of your heart and are not vouchsafed to behold God. Tell me, is it possible for a heart to become pure in this life? If it is possible, then it follows that everyone who is pure in heart sees God in the present life. If you say that God is seen only after death, then you must say that purity of heart comes only after death. In this way, it may happen to you that you will not see God either in the present or in the next age. For after death you will no longer be able to do God-pleasing deeds, so that by means of them you will make your heart pure. But what does the Lord say to us? If you have my commandments and keep them, that is to say, you will love Me... and I will love him, and I will appear to him Myself (John 14:21). When is this manifestation of Christ the Lord promised, in the present life or in the life to come? Obviously, in real life. For where the commandments of God are carefully fulfilled, there also is the appearance of our Saviour Jesus Christ. After this appearance of the Saviour, perfect love also comes. For if Christ does not appear in us, then we can neither believe in Him nor love Him as we should.

It is written: Thou shalt not love thy brother, whom thou hast seen, God, whom thou hast not seen, how can thou love? (1 John 4:20). Whoever cannot love God certainly cannot believe in Him. Listen to what the Apostle Paul says: "Now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but there is love more than these (1 Corinthians 13:13). Therefore, since faith is combined with hope, and hope accompanies love, it is evident that he who does not have love does not have hope, and he who does not have hope does not have faith, that is, he who does not have faith does not hope, and he who does not hope does not love. For how is it possible for love to exist when there are no causes that produce it, that is, faith and hope? Just as it is impossible for a roof to hold without a building on which it would rest, so it is impossible for the love of God to be found in the soul of a person when there is no faith and hope in it. And he who does not have love will not receive any benefit from the other virtues, as the same Paul asserts.

As for what it is possible and how it is possible to behold God in the present life, listen again to the divine Paul, who says: "We see now, as a mirror in divination, then face to face; now I understand in part, then I will know, as I am also known (1 Corinthians 13:12). But as soon as they hear this, they say, "It was Paul." And I say to them, Was not Paul also a man who was obsequious to us in all things? They again answered: O proud and presumptuous man! Who ever appeared like Paul? And you dare to compare us sinners with Paul! - Answering them to this, it is not I, but the Apostle Paul himself who calls out with a loud voice and says: Christ has come into the world, - listen! to save sinners, of whom I am the first (1 Timothy 1:15). Thus, he is the first of the sinners to be saved; become the second, become the third, become the fourth, become the tenth, become one of the thousands and myriads of those who are being saved, and you will count yourself with the Apostle Paul, and thus you will honor Paul, as he himself says: "Be ye imitators of me, as I am also of Christ" (1 Corinthians 11:1), and in another place: "I will, that all men may be as I also" (1 Corinthians 7:7).

2. Therefore, if you want to praise or honor Paul, you must imitate him and become like him in faith. That is when you will truly honor him! And he will receive you, and will boast of you, counting to himself glory that you bowed to his words, and followed him, and became like him. If, however, saying that it would have been a disgrace for Paul, to think that someone else can become like him, you despise your salvation and neglect it, then know that as much as you deceive yourself in this way, so much does St. Paul turn away from you and displeasure you. Do you want me to prove to you that you will honor him much more, and make him happy, and glorify, if you try to make yourself greater and closer to God than he is? Listen to what Paul himself says: "I prayed that I myself be excommunicated from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh" (Romans 9:3). You see? He prefers to be excommunicated from Christ himself, so that only you may be saved, and you say that he will consider it a disgrace for himself if I want to become jealous like him? No, my brother, not so. There is no envy among the saints of God. They do not seek precedence and greater honor and glory than others. They, all these friends and lovers of God from the beginning to the end of the ages, have one precedence, one preference, one glory, delight, and repose, to see God. Those who see God are devoid of all curiosity; they cannot turn away from the sight of God, in order to look at anything of this world, or at any person, or to think of anything that is inconsistent with their constitution, but they are completely free from all curiosity, and their minds do not wander away to anything else, which is why, as long as they are so, they remain unfalling and do not return again to evil.

3. But I beg you to tell me: Those who have written about what was said before this, how did they know it? Likewise, he who now writes about this, how does he know this? Tell me, whose is all this? "Of course, you say, this is a human thing, the work of a man is the essence of these words. "But by saying so, you show that you know the inner state of the other person's soul. And what does St. Paul say? "Who is the message of man, which is in man, the spirit of man that dwelleth in him?" (1 Corinthians 2:11). But if it is difficult for a man to know with certainty the inner man as a man, then how is it possible for him to know what is divine in someone, that is, those changes and states that occur in the saints under the influence of the contemplation of God? On the other hand, if those words are, as you say, the work of a man as a man, then it is evident that the thoughts contained in those words are also the work of man. But what is contained in those words should not be called thoughts (νοηματα, something speculative), but the contemplation of what truly exists, for we speak of it by contemplation. For this reason what is said should be called rather a narration of what is contemplated, and not a thought (νοημα). Thought should be called thinking that is born in the mind about some desire or deed that has not yet been done, that is, thinking about how to do some good or evil that has not yet been done, which then passes from thinking into action, so that thought is the beginning of a deed that is to be done by us, as Gregory the Theologian says about God: "In the first place, God invents the powers of heaven, and thought has become a deed."

Who can say what is of himself about any object that he has not seen before? And where could he get to say something about something that he had not seen at all? And it is utter senselessness and ignorance to speak of what one has not seen and does not know. If in this way no one can say anything true about visible and earthly things without seeing it with his own eyes, then how can one say and announce anything about God, about divine things, and about the saints of God, that is, what communion with God the saints are vouchsafed to have, and what kind of knowledge of God is this, which occurs within them and which produces in their hearts inexplicable effects? - How can anything be said about this to one who is not enlightened beforehand by the light of knowledge?

But when you hear of the light of knowledge, do not think that this is only knowledge without light, for this is not called a story or a word of knowledge, but the light of knowledge, or the light of knowledge, because this light gives birth to knowledge in us, for it is impossible for anyone to know God in any other way than by contemplating the light sent from this very light (that is, God).

But he who hears from the Divine Scriptures about those who have seen God by the grace of the Holy Spirit and speak of God, learns only that he sees it written in the Scriptures, and therefore cannot say about himself, so that he may know God through hearing what is written. For how can you know him whom you do not see? If we cannot know the man we see through one vision, then how is it possible for us to know God through one hearing? Light is God, and the contemplation of Him is like light, which is why through the sight of light there is the first knowledge by which it is known what God is.

As in the case of a man of whom one first hears, and then sees him, it happens that he who hears only when he sees him knows that he is the same man of whom he has heard, or even in this way he cannot be convinced of what is said, because no matter how much someone tells you about another, you cannot when you see him, you can know and be convinced by this one hearing that this is the same person of whom you have heard, but you hesitate and ask either him himself or someone else who knows him, and then you are convinced that this is the same one; so it also happens in relation to God, that when a man sees God appearing to him, he sees a light, and when he sees him, he is amazed, but he does not immediately know who is he who appeared to him, and does not dare to question him, for how can he ask him, when he cannot lift up his eyes to see better what it is, but looks with great fear at his feet? Who has appeared, knowing only that there is someone who has appeared to him? But if he is close to him who previously told him that he had seen God, he goes to him and says: O father! I saw what you told me. He asked him, "What have you seen, my child?" "I saw, father, a certain sweetest light, but what kind of sweetness it was, I cannot express. When he says this, his heart trembles with joy and rejoices, and burns with love for Him Who appeared to him.

He answered and said to him, "This is the One of Whom I have spoken to you; - and with this word he immediately sees Him again. - From this time he is purified more and more, and, being purified, he accepts boldness and asks Him Who has appeared, saying: Are you my God? He answers: I am God, who was made man for you, that I might make you also a god, and now, as you see, I have done and will do it. If in this way he continues in weeping and tears, and in humble adhesion to God, then little by little he begins to come to know more what is the essence of God, and, having achieved this, to understand the will of God, holy, pleasing and perfect. For if one does not see God, he cannot know Him, and if he does not know Him, he cannot know His holy will.

4.