Deification is accomplished through repentance and communion of the deified Body of Christ.1189 The deification of the whole person, body and soul, which takes place in an ineffable way during communion of the Body and Blood of Christ.1190 In this case, man is completely changed and, immersed in light, acquires a divine mind.1191 The Holy Spirit, making us incorruptible, adores us if we imitate Christ: "Then the Creator... He will send the Divine Spirit, I do not tell you, another soul than the one you had,1192 but the Spirit, I tell you, is from God, and He will inspire, and dwell, and essentially dwell, and enlighten, and illumine, and refine all things, and make corruptible things incorruptible, and renew the worn-out house, I speak of the house of your soul... Together with it, He will make the whole body incorruptible, and He will make you a god by grace, like the Prototype."1193

Since deification is a consequence of the incarnation, it is clear that it could not be realized before the coming of Christ. "For who from eternity," says St. Simeon, having told of those who, through communion with the Heavenly Bread, became heavenly and incorruptible, "became such, I tell you about the sons of Adam, before the Lord of all things in heaven and on earth came down from heaven? This one took on our flesh and gave us the Divine Spirit... and He gives us all these things as God".1194 What happened in the Old Testament was only a symbol and a type, like Enoch and Elijah. "Thus those (Old Testament events) are only a symbol and image of these (New Testament), possessing incomparable superiority and glory, in so far as the uncreated surpasses in nature the created."1195 The reality of the Incarnation and the fact that we have put on Christ at baptism is a guarantee of the reality of man's deification. This state is conscious, but manifest only to God and to the one who is deified, but invisible to others. "But if (the Word)," says St. Simeon, "really became the Son of Man, then He undoubtedly truly makes you the son of God; if He has not become a body in the imagination, then we are not in any way in thought (only) a spirit... for when I was baptized, I put on Christ, not sensually, but at any rate intelligently. And if not God by grace and position, by feeling, knowledge and contemplation, he who has clothed himself with the Son of God? If in ignorance God the Word became man, then in ignorance (should) I also become God... For just as God was born without change as a man in the body and appeared to all, so He ineffably gives birth to me and makes me, who have remained a man, a god. And just as He, visible in the flesh, was not recognized by the multitude of people that He is God, so we, in that in which we were men, all of us, O miracle! are visible, and in what they have become by the grace of God, they are usually not visible to the majority. Only to those who possess the purified eye of the soul do we appear as in a spyglass, and for the impure neither God nor we are invisible, and we are never believed to have become such."1196

The deified see their Father, God: "For He, supersubstantial, previously uncreated, took on flesh and appeared to me created, Himself deifying me all that was strangely perceived... Now, if God, having become man... deified me, the accepted man, then I, having become a god by position, see God by nature, Him Whom no man has ever been able to see. Consequently, those who have accepted God by works of faith and become gods, born of the Spirit, see Him Himself, their Father, ever living in an unapproachable light. They have Him living constantly in themselves, and they themselves live in Him, who is utterly unapproachable."1197

In conclusion, it can be said that deification is a state of complete transformation of a person, accomplished by the Holy Spirit, when a person follows the path of God's commandments, acquires the Gospel virtues and becomes a participant in the sufferings of Christ. The Holy Spirit then grants man divine intellect and incorruptibility. Man does not receive a new soul, but the Holy Spirit essentially unites with the whole man, soul and body, makes him the son of God, a god by position, but man does not cease to be a man and a creature, even if he sees the Father clearly. He can be called a god and a man at the same time. Incarnation is the basis of deification, being also its goal. Deification became possible when the Word became flesh, took on our humanity and gave us His Divinity, and when man put on Christ in baptism. Deification is accomplished first of all by communion of the divine Body and Blood of Christ, and the ministers of the Eucharist are especially adored. Being a conscious spiritual state, clearly felt by those who experience it, deification forever remains a terrible mystery, surpassing human reason and unnoticed by most people. Those who attain it are extremely rare, although all those who are baptized are called to it. It is their fault if they deprive themselves of deification.

The sudden and radical transformation of man, internal and spiritual in character, but embracing the whole person, is called by St. Simeon by various names: spiritual birth, mystical resurrection, baptism of the Spirit, deification, and finally, it is impossible to clearly define in what ways these states differ from each other.

Deification, however, seems to be the strongest and last concept, referring to ontological change in man rather than to a purely spiritual one, although it does not imply the assertion that man loses his nature as a created being by becoming a god by adoption. In addition, St. Simeon distinguishes three stages of deification – during earthly life – on which St. Simeon especially insists – after death, in the afterlife, and in the general resurrection. The latter is an endless ascent to fullness, which is never attained. In general, deification is a part of God's saving Work, its goal, and it is difficult to speak of it without touching upon other manifestations of God's saving Works.

Conclusion