Слово на день Святой Пятидесятницы (О Святом Духе). Святого Григория, епископа Нисского

David makes the subject of every holiday brighter, always tuning his multi-stringed zither according to the need. So, may the same Prophet illuminate the great holiday of Pentecost for us, striking the strings of wisdom with the jingle of the spirit and proclaiming a song. Let him utter from that Divine hymn these words, befitting true grace: Come, let us rejoice in the Lord (Ps. 94:1). First you need to know grace, what it consists of, and then apply the corresponding words from prophecy to its content; allow me, as much as possible, to explain in order everything that concerns this subject. From the beginning, humanity fell into error regarding the knowledge of God - and, leaving the Lord to the creatures, some, in deception, began to serve the elements of the world, while others began to revere the nature of demons, and to many, even hand-made images of idols seemed to be Divinity, and to serve these false gods, they built altars, and churches, and dedications, and sacrifices, and sacred groves, and churches. But the Lord of creation looked at the damage to human nature with the eye of humanity, and gradually again elevates human life from error to the knowledge of truth. Just as those who, with some knowledge of the art of medicine, restore the strength of those exhausted by long-term hunger, do not suddenly allow them to be satisfied, sparing their weakness; but when, through proportionate consumption of food, they gain strength, then they allow themselves to be filled with food as much as they like: in the same way, when human nature was exhausted by a terrible famine, the economy (of God) established a gradual approach to the mysterious food, so that people, always ascending to perfection in a certain sequential order, thus reached the limit of perfection. That which saves us is the life-giving Power, in which we believe under the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. But those who are incapable of fully perceiving this truth, due to the weakness that has befallen them from spiritual hunger, first of all, distracted from polytheism by the prophets and the law, are accustomed to look at the one Divinity, and in the one Divinity they understand the only power of the Father, being incapable, as I said, of perfect food. Then, for those who have become more perfect through the law, the Only Begotten Son is revealed through the Gospel; after this, we are offered perfect food for our nature - the Holy Spirit, in whom is life. Here is the subject of the holiday; Therefore, it is fitting for us, who have gathered to celebrate the Spirit, to obey the leader of this spiritual celebration, David, who says: Come, let us rejoice in the Lord. The Lord is the Spirit, as the Apostle says (2 Cor. 3:17). Now, at the end, after the annual reversal of time, of Pentecost, at this very hour (if now it is the third hour of the day) inexhaustible grace has been granted. The Spirit, who had previously distanced himself from our nature, because man became flesh, again communicated Himself to people (Gen. 6:3). And when by this stormy breath the spiritual forces of evil and all the bad demons were expelled from the air and scattered, then by the descent of the Spirit in the form of fire all those who were in the upper room were filled with Divine power (Acts 1:13): since it is impossible to become a partaker of the Holy Spirit otherwise than by dwelling at the height of this life. Participate in the Holy Spirit only those who philosophize on high, having left their dwelling from earth to heaven, and live in the upper room of a high lifestyle: for, according to the testimony of the book of Acts, when they gathered in the upper room, this pure and immaterial fire is divided in the form of tongues, according to the number of disciples. But they talked with the Parthians, Medes and Elamites and other peoples, freely adapting their speech to each national dialect; but I, as the Apostle says, in church I want to speak five words with my mind, and I use others than ten words with my tongue (1 Cor. 14:19). Then it was useful to speak in the same speech with foreigners, so that the sermon would not be ineffective for the ignorant, encountering an obstacle in the language of those preaching; now, when we all (here) speak in one language, we need to look for the fiery language of the Spirit to enlighten those darkened by deception. So, in this too, may David guide us, taking the Apostle as a companion: for this psalm, the beginning of which gives us joy in the Lord, in the words: Come, let us rejoice in the Lord, not only leads us to the glorification of the Holy Spirit, but much more, in what follows, it teaches us about His Divinity. I will tell you the very words of the Prophet, with which the great Apostle agrees; His saying is this: today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as in anger, in the days of temptation in the wilderness: in the same way your fathers tempted me (Ps. 95:7-9). Referring to these words, the inspired Apostle speaks like this: in the same way the Holy Spirit speaks (Heb. 3:7), and, having said this, he quotes the very words of the Prophet, attributing them to the person of the Spirit. Who is He whom their fathers tempted in the wilderness? Who is the One Who Was Angered? Find out this from the Prophet himself, who says that he has tempted the Most High God (Ps. 77:56). And the Apostle also, pointing to the person of the Holy Spirit, attribute to Him these very sayings: in the same way as the Holy Spirit says...: in the days of temptation in the wilderness, where your fathers tempted Me (Heb. 3:8-9)... So, since the Holy Spirit says: your fathers tempted Me in the wilderness, and the Prophet testifies that He whom they tempted in the wilderness is the Highest God, then let the Doukhobors stop their mouths from speaking untruths about God, when both the Apostle and the Prophet clearly proclaim the Divinity of the Spirit with what is said. For the Prophet says: I have tempted the Most High God and, as if on the person of God, he pronounces these words to the Israelites: in the desert your fathers tempted Me; and the great Paul attributes these words to the Holy Spirit, so that through this it is proven that the Holy Spirit is the Most High God. After this, will the enemies of the glory of the Spirit agree to see the fiery tongue of Divine words illuminating the hidden, or will they laugh (at us) as at those who have drunk sweet wine (Acts 2:13)? Even if they said this about us, I advise you, brothers, not to be afraid of the censure of such people and not to lose heart from their ridicule. Oh, if only they had ever had sweet wine, this newly pressed wine poured out from the winepress, which the Lord trampled through the Gospel, in order to give you the blood of his own grape to drink (Isa. 63:2,3)! Oh, that they too would be filled with this new wine, which they called sweet, which the merchants had not yet spoiled with an admixture of heretical water! Then, of course, they would be filled with the Spirit, with the help of which all those who are seething with the Spirit, like foam, throw off the coarseness and impurity of unbelief. But they cannot accept this sweet wine, because they still wear old wineskins, which, being unable to contain such wine, are heretically torn apart. We, brothers, come, let us rejoice in the Lord, - as the Prophet says, drinking and sweet drinks of piety, as Ezra commands (2 Ezra 9:51), - and, celebrating brightly with the faces of the Apostles and Prophets, come, by the gift of the Holy Spirit, let us rejoice and be glad on this day, which the Lord has created in Christ Jesus, the Lord ours, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen 104. Curs. Compl. Patrolog. Migne, Tom. XLVI, col. 695–702; Creation St. Grieg. Nissk., in Russian. translation Moscow. 1871, part VIII, pp. 98–104. You might be interested in: