It was not only in the above-mentioned two events that the subtle substance of paradise, by the command of God, was condensed and made tangible to our bodily senses. When they led the holy Martyress Dorothea from the praetor to the place of execution, in order to behead her at the behest of the torturer for confessing our Lord Jesus Christ, a certain scholar, named Theophilus, the hegemon's counsellor, cried out to her in mockery: "Listen, bride of Christ! Send me apples and roses from paradise, from your Bridegroom." St. Dorothea said: "Truly I will fulfill this." Arriving at the place of the cut, she begged the executioner to allow her to pray to her God for a while. When she had finished her prayer, an angel of the Lord appeared to her in the form of a youth of extraordinary beauty; He brought her three beautiful apples and three red roses in a clean handkerchief. The saint said to the angel: "I beseech thee: take them to Theophilus and tell him: this is for thee what thou hast asked." Having said this, she bowed her head under the sword and was beheaded. Meanwhile, Theophilus, mocking the promise of the Saint, told his friends and peers about it. "Now," he said, "when they led Dorothea to execution, who called herself the bride of Christ and boasted that she would ascend to His paradise, I asked her to send me apples and roses from there. And she promised me to fulfill this without fail!" Conveying this to his friends, Theophilus laughed immensely, when suddenly an angel appeared to him with three apples and three flowers, saying to him: "This the holy virgin Dorothea sends you, as she promised, from the paradise of her Bridegroom." Theophilus, seeing the apples and flowers and taking them in his hands, exclaimed in a loud voice: "The true God is Christ, and there is no unrighteousness in Him." His friends said to him: "Theophilus! You're either crazy or you're laughing." Theophilus answered them: "I have not gone mad and do not laugh, but sound reason demands of me that I believe that Jesus Christ is the True God." They asked him: "Why have you changed so suddenly?" Theophilus answered: "Tell me, what month is it?" Theophilus: "Now it's winter. The whole of Cappadocia is covered with snow and ice, and there is not a single tree or plant that adorns itself with its leaves; whence do you think these flowers and apples with their twigs and leaves?" Seeing them, touching them, being amazed at their special incense, they said in amazement: "We have not seen such fruits and flowers even in their usual time." Theophilus turned from a persecutor into a preacher of the Christian faith. Immediately the hegemon made known about him, who subjected Theophilus first to seductions and exhortations, and then to torments, and Theophilus sealed his confession of Christ with his blood [1465].

The model of the condensation of the heavenly substance was accomplished at the Dormition of the Mother of God. A few days before this holy dormition, the Archangel Gabriel appeared to the MostHoly Virgin with a shining date branch from paradise [1466] and announced to Her the blessed resettlement in the heavenly abodes. At the burial of the Virgin, the Paradise branch was carried by the holy Apostle John before the tomb of the Mother of God [1467]. Such are the concepts, such, so to speak, are the hints given by Divine Revelation to mankind, wandering and suffering on earth, about the land of rest and eternal bliss prepared for it from the foundation of the world [1468]. Because of our sinfulness, because of our darkness, because of our fall, we know and contemplate only the smallest particle of God's miracles: with the most fervent prayers from a contrite and humble heart, and by living according to the commandments of the Gospel, let us beseech our Lord that He reveal to us His glory, which His elect will see and will always see, which no servant of sin will ever see.

Introduction to Paradise and the Perfection of the Primordial

Having created the body of man on earth and from the earth, having breathed into it a living soul, a soul animated by the Holy Spirit, the Almighty Creator will land man above the earth, into paradise; The Lord God took man, whom he created, says the Scriptures, and brought him into the paradise of sweetness [1469]. What a chain of great blessings, of which the following is always higher than the preceding! But even in Paradise Adam was granted prosperity: he was given the opportunity to cultivate Paradise and to preserve it [1470]. In our state of falling it is difficult to understand with clarity what the cultivation and preservation of paradise consisted in; but in no way should these words be understood in the carnal sense, as if about cultivating and preserving the garden for its decoration and cleansing from defects. Paradise was planted by the hand of God; there are no shortcomings in it: the presence and fragrance of God's grace abound in it; it brings its inhabitants into unceasing spiritual delight, leads them to the contemplation of the greatness and goodness of the Creator, depicted in the splendor of paradise, as in a vast and purest mirror. He proclaims abundantly and eloquently about God and preaches God, the paradise of sweetness. In the attention of this preaching, in the study of God, consisted the main work of paradise; The study of the grace of creatures was a secondary task. Perfect as Adam was, he was perfect in relation to the limited nature of man: the study of the All-perfect and Infinite God was for him, by natural necessity, an activity worthy of all his attention. This work was a field of endless success! This work is associated with the highest spiritual pleasure! This work is a priceless gift, worthy of the infinitely Perfect and infinitely Good God! The pure mind of man, stretched out over the boundless Divinity, exhausts all its natural power of movement and stands in a sacred ecstasy before the incomprehensible Divinity, beyond and above all contemplation, like the Seraphim, quenching with abundant praise the abundance of pleasure and insatiably satiating himself with the vision of the Invisible, reverently and wisely closing his eyes before the object that surpasses vision. The commandment to preserve paradise becomes intelligible to us when we consider that it was possible for a fallen angel, who had not yet fulfilled the measure of his sins [1472], to enter paradise, that man was capable of open conversation with spirits, that he was not established in the state of holiness, as the angels of Light were established in him. Although he did not know sin, he could receive this knowledge, which was unbearable and disastrous for him.

The fall of the primordial

In the midst of paradise was the tree of life; by eating its fruit, the immortality of the human body was maintained. There was another tree in the middle of paradise, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The Lord, having brought the first-created into paradise, commanded Adam: "From every tree that goes to paradise, bring food." But from the tree, if you understand good and evil, do not take away from it: but if you take away the stench from it, you will die of death [1473]. This commandment explains many things. It is obvious that the fruits of the trees of paradise, as we have seen above, are much more subtle and stronger than the fruits of the earth, they affect not only the body, but also the mind and soul. One tree was the tree of life, and the other tree was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This knowledge was preserved, postponed, perhaps, for those who had been perfected by the work and preservation of paradise, for the newly created it was premature and deadly. We borrow such a judgment from the experimental teaching of the great monks. They bequeath to the novice ascetics to immediately reject any evil thought, as soon as it appears to the mind: because the mind of the novice is still weak and inexperienced, has not yet destroyed enmity with sin, and, having entered into conversation with it, is unfailingly carried away and overthrown by it. The Fathers bequeath to successful ascetics not to immediately reject evil thoughts, but first to examine, torture, denounce, and only then to reject them: in this way of action special experience is gained in the invisible struggle with the spirits of evil, their deceit, their intrigues, the power of faith, humility and prayer are studied [1474]. There is a deadly knowledge of evil, which a person can develop in himself: it is deadly, because then man's natural goodness is poisoned by the accepted malice, like fine food by poison, and itself turns into malice. There is also the most spiritually beneficial knowledge of evil, granted by the Holy Spirit to His chosen vessels, in which a pure and strong mind examines everything, even the most subtle convolutions of sin, denounces them, not mixing with sin, and protects oneself and one's neighbors from evil. Thus, led by the Holy Spirit, the holy Apostle Peter said to Simon the sorcerer: "In the gall of sorrow and the union of iniquity I see thee being" [1475].

While our forefathers were enjoying in paradise, the fallen prince of the heavenly powers with a multitude of dark angels, already cast down from heaven, wandered in the heavens. By the inscrutable fate of God, he was allowed to enter paradise, as a not yet completely desperate villain. This goodness of God, which attracted the erring to the consciousness of sin and to repentance of it, Satan used to commit a new crime, to incurably seal himself in enmity towards God. The devil, having entered paradise, proclaimed paradise with blasphemy, intertwined with lies, and marked his presence in paradise with the destruction of the first-created people, just as he had previously marked his presence in heaven with the destruction of an innumerable multitude of angels. He approached his wife as if she were a weaker creature, and, pretending to ignorance of the commandment given by God, he asked a sly question: "What is it that God says, Let not ye eat of every tree of paradise? [1476] He presents the All-Good God as insufficiently good, and the holy and beneficent commandment of God as cruel and heavy! Seeing that his wife entered into a conversation with him with a certain credulity, and in refutation of him she expressed the exact words of the commandment: "From the fruit of the tree, which is in the midst of paradise, God said, "Do not eat of it, touch it below, lest you die" — the evildoer begins to directly dispute and deny the justice of God's commandment. It is terrible to repeat his impudent and blasphemous words! You will not die, he said. For God knows, if you take away the stench of the day from him, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil [1478]. In spite of the obvious venom of the serpent's words, as the Scriptures call the fallen angel, the woman stopped at them; forgetting both the commandment and the threat of God, she began to consider the tree under the guidance of her own reason, which was inclined under the influence of the devil's lies and deception. The fruit of the tree seemed good to her, and the knowledge of good and evil seemed to her to be curious. She ate of the tree and persuaded her husband to eat. It is amazing with what ease the fall of the forefather took place! Was it not prepared by their inner disposition? Have they not abandoned the contemplation of the Creator in paradise, have they not given themselves over to the contemplation of creation and their own grace? Beautiful is the contemplation of oneself and the creature, but in God and out of God; with the removal of God, it is disastrous, leading to arrogance and self-conceit. The Scriptures lead to such reasoning when it tells us that the woman, having heard the words of the devil, saw that the tree was good for food, and that it pleased her eyes to see, and that it was beautiful to understand, and took poison from its fruit, and gave it to her husband, and poison [1479].

It is obvious that the forefathers, having disobeyed God and bowed down in obedience to the devil, made themselves strangers to God, made themselves slaves of the devil. The death promised to them for the transgression of the commandment immediately seized them: the Holy Spirit, who dwelt in them, departed from them. They were left to their own nature, infected with sinful poison. This poison was imparted to human nature by the devil from his corrupt nature, full of sin and death. The first sinful sensation of the forefathers was the feeling of shame, in which there is an involuntary and sorrowful consciousness within the living sin, which replaced in them the former inhabitant – the Holy Spirit. They realized that they were naked, and immediately made themselves girdles of fig leaves, in order to cover the unseemly ouds of the body, in which they did not see any ugliness before the fall, just as infants, who are strangers to sinful lust, do not see it now. "Adam's soul was put to death," says St. Gregory Palamas, "having been separated from God by disobedience: for in body he lived after that (after his fall) until nine hundred and thirty years. But death, which has befallen the soul through disobedience, not only makes the soul useless and brings a curse upon man, but also the body itself, having subjected it to many infirmities, many infirmities and corruption, finally puts it to death" [1480]. "Adam," says Blessed Theophylact of Bulgaria, "being alive, was also dead: he died from the hour in which he ate (of the forbidden tree)" [1481].

Omnipresent naturally to God. He was also present in paradise at the time of the transgression of the forefather; but he discovered this presence by walking in paradise at noon, when the forefathers had already committed a crime. Probably, around noon, they ate the forbidden fruit: for at that hour the God-Man stretched out His hands on the Tree of the Cross, atonement, by nailing His hands to the Tree, the daring outstretching of hands by the forefathers to the fruit of the forbidden Tree. The forefathers were honored with freedom; in freedom, the Spirit of Divine wisdom was given to them as a guide: justice demanded that freedom be allowed to express itself at will. She expressed suicide. Scarcely had the forefathers inflicted an ulcer on themselves, when the merciful Lord appeared to them to heal the plague: Adam and Eve heard the voice of the Lord God, walking in paradise at noon [1482]. Hiding from each other with fig leaves, the forefathers tried to hide from God in the thicket of the trees of paradise: so they were suddenly darkened! The Lord called Adam with the words: "Adam, where art thou? [1483] According to the explanation of the Holy Fathers [1484], these words are words of the greatest mercy and condolences. They mean: "What a calamity you have fallen into! What a deep and miserable fall has befallen you; Adam, where art thou? The darkened sinner does not understand the voice that calls him to the recognition of sin and to repentance of it. He tries to justify himself, and by justification he stipulates: "I have heard the voice," he says, "walking in paradise, and I am afraid, for I am naked, and I have hid myself" [1485]. Being caught, he again does not confess, does not repent, and with boldness says to God: "Woman, whom you have given with me, she has given me from the tree, and I have poisoned" [1486]. These words, as a certain Holy Father remarked, have the following meaning: "The misfortune that has befallen me has been brought upon me by Thee: woman, whom Thou hast given with me!" [1487] From the hardened Adam the Lord passes to his wife, and with mercy says to her: "What have you done this? [1488] But the wife does not repent, does not ask for mercy, tries to justify herself by accusing the serpent. Deeply damaged by the knowledge of evil, which penetrated like lightning into the mind, into the heart, into the soul, into the body, not confessing their sin, proudly and boldly justifying themselves, the forefathers were subjected to the judgment and punishment of God. God's judgment fell, first, on the serpent, as the instigator and head of the crime; then he punishes the wife as the first transgressor of the commandment and the culprit of her husband's death; finally, he strikes the husband as having rejected obedience to God in order to obey his wife. The serpent-devil is finally rejected [1489]: he is completely left to his malice; the grace of God renounced touching him with any good thought, worthy of heaven. Thou shalt walk on thy forehead and belly, God hath declared unto him, and thou shalt tear down the earth all the days of thy life [1490]. Enmity has been established between the devil and the woman, between the seed of the devil and the seed of the woman, that is, on the one hand, between the devil and his seed, the angels dragged by him into destruction, between the devil and his seed, sin, and on the other hand, between the woman and the seed of the woman, that is, the God-man, Who according to mankind is exclusively the seed of the woman, and the people who believe in Him, clothed in the whole armor of God. At the establishment of this enmity and warfare, it is proclaimed that the Seed of the woman – the God-Man – will blot out the head of the serpent; when establishing this enmity and battle, the followers of the God-Man are commanded to guard the head of the serpent, that is, to recognize and reject all the undertakings of the devil in their very original thought [1491]; the devil is allowed, as one who has acquired the right to voluntarily subjugate people to him, to slander the Seed of the woman during his earthly pilgrimage, to keep his heel. And the devil watches over this heel of every righteous man in Christ, from Abel the righteous to the righteous of the most recent times; he did not stop, darkened by unbridled malice and insolence, to slander the God-man. Many illnesses are entrusted to the wife, and mainly the diseases of childbearing; she is enslaved to her husband; Adam is entrusted with the labors of obtaining food, the earth is cursed for his sake. The field for these sufferings is assigned to the entire earthly life, and their end is bodily death. After the pronouncement of the sentence, Adam and Eve were expelled and cast down from paradise to earth [1492].

Death of the soul

But the essential punishment of fallen man consisted in spiritual death, which struck him immediately after transgressing the commandment. Then man was deprived of the Holy Spirit that dwelt in him, which constituted, as it were, the soul of the whole human being, and was left to his own nature, infected with sin and entering into communion with the nature of demons. From subjection to death and sin, the constituent parts of man have become separated, they have begun to act against one another: the body opposes the soul; the soul is in a struggle with itself; its forces are at odds; The person is in the fullness of the disorder. The power of desire has painfully turned into a sensation of insatiable lusts; the power of courage and energy has been transformed into various kinds of anger, from frenzied rage to refined rancor; the power of literature, alienated from God, lost the ability to control the power of will and the power of energy and to direct them correctly. This is not enough: the soul itself has become enslaved to sin, offering it unceasing sacrifices through deceit, hypocrisy, lies, and self-conceit; it struggles and disputes within itself, with itself, agitating the whole being of man with various wrong and unbridled thoughts, arousing the most painful sensations, vainly denounced by the consciousness of the spirit or conscience, devoid of both power and truth. The image and likeness of God in man, after his fall, changed.

The similarity, which consisted in the complete alienation of evil from the qualities of man, by the knowledge of evil and its communication to these qualities, was destroyed; with the destruction of the likeness, the image was distorted, became useless, but was not completely destroyed. "Let us know," says St. Demetrius of Rostov, "that the image of God is also in the unfaithful man's soul, and the likeness is only in the virtuous Christian: and when a Christian sins mortally, then he is deprived of the likeness of God, and not of the image: and if he be condemned to eternal punishment, the image of God is in him forever, and the likeness can no longer exist." And the Church sings: "I am the ineffable image of Thy glory, though I bear the wounds of sins, but raise me to the likeness of the ancient goodness" [1494].

Man's Subjection to the Devil