Слово 62

(1) The theological third is that what the Father is, the same is the Son, and what the Son is, the same is the Holy Spirit, and that these three are one Spirit, one-honoured, one-essence and one-throne. 1. God, ever-sung and glorified, that is, the beginningless Father, the co-originating Son of the Father and the Holy Spirit, co-essential and consubstantial with the Father and the Son, is one nature and glory, a consubstantial Trinity, one Divinity, an equal and trinitarian essence, the beginning of all things, and an omnipotent (all-creating - Ed.) power, one-throne and monoglot, all-powerful Dominion and Kingdom. This one God, when contemplated and believed in the unity of nature, is singular and worshiped by us, as one God; when it is confessed by the Trinity, it is trinitarian and sung from us, that is, in three separate persons, as we were taught by our Lord Jesus Christ, one of the persons of the Trinitarian Divinity, Who commands His Apostles to baptize in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, which shows that another person of the Most Holy Trinity is the Father, another is the Son, another is the Holy Spirit. And again, when in another place in the Gospel He says: My sick Father is not Me (John 14:28), or: I do nothing for myself (John 8:28), then he shows that there is another person, the Father, and another Son. When he also says: I will pray my Father, and he will give you another Comforter (John 14:16)... the Spirit of truth, which proceeds from the Father (John 15:26), then he shows that the Holy Spirit, like another Comforter, is another person from the Father and the Son. But with the same words of the Lord, His grace allows us to understand the entire unity of the trinitarian and consubstantial Divinity and the Kingdom, the triumph of ever-essential life and the indivisible unity of the three hypostases, so that where the Father is sung, there is also the Son with the Holy Spirit; where the Son is named, there is also the Father with the Holy Spirit; and where the Holy Spirit is glorified, there are also the Father and the Son. Being thus enlightened by the grace of the Holy Spirit, that the three persons of the Most Holy Trinity are of the same essence and equal in honor, that is, that their hypostases are unfused and inseparably abiding together in the Divine nature and the one being for all of them, we, when we lift up our minds to God the Father, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, who delights us with grief through the Son, God the Word, and stretch out our hands and eyes to Him, we say: Our Father, who art in heaven! And again, when we begin to offer prayers to the Only Begotten Son of the Father, by the grace of the Holy Spirit giving us knowledge and understanding, we say: The Only Begotten Son, the co-eternal Word of God and the Father, the one Son from the one Father, God from God, the Beginningless from the Beginningless, the Ever-essential from the Ever-Eternal, the Eternal from the Eternal, Light from Light, Life from Life, Unapproachable from Unapproachable, Incomprehensible from the Incomprehensible, Ineffable from the Ineffable, Unchangeable from the Unchangeable, Unthinkable from the Unthinkable, cleanse our sins! Also, when we call on the Holy Spirit, we say: to the Holy Soul, ineffably proceeding from the Father and descending on us faithful through the Son, the Spirit of life and knowledge, the Spirit of holiness and perfection, the good, wise, humane, comforting, glorious Spirit, nourishing and giving drink, merciful, enlightening, strengthening, the divine Spirit of patience, the Spirit - the giver of joy, gladness, chastity, wisdom, knowledge, meekness, gentleness, care for worldly things, contemplation of heavenly blessings, the Spirit is the drive away of laziness, negligence, absent-mindedness and wickedness, the Spirit is an indicator of divine mysteries, the betrothal of the heavenly kingdom, the source of prophecy, the crater of teaching, the door of repentance, the destroyer of sins, the Spirit of love, peace, faith, abstinence - come and dwell in us, and abide with us inseparably and inseparably, sanctify, renew and enlighten our hearts, as one who is consubstantial, equal in honor and co-throne with the Son and Father, making gods by grace of those who receive You, destroying all sin and bringing with Your descent all virtue, not having from the outside what You bring, but naturally being every good, and those whom You choose into Your own abode, making essentially receptacles of all good. Thus we offer a hymn to the three persons of the Holy Trinity, not as dividing into three gods a single Divinity, which is one God, inseparable, but as worshiping together with the Father the Son and the Spirit, together with the Son - the Father and the Spirit, and together with the Spirit - the Father and the Son. Glorifying these three persons, we philosophize that the nature of the one trinitarian Deity is one, consubstantial, equal in power, one-willed, co-essential, co-originating, unmerged and indivisible. We do not share the indivisible unity of the Divinity, we do not think that there is something different in Him, and another, and another, that the Father is of a different nature, and the Son is of a different nature, and the Holy Spirit is of another, and we do not foolishly admit essences and natures that are dissimilar and alien to each other, but we believe that these three persons of the Divine are one God, Who is divided inseparably by hypostases and is unified unfused according to the unity of a single nature - all one in three hypostases, and all three in essential unity. One and the same God is three in hypostases, and one in unity of being and nature. This is how the Only Begotten Son of the Father, our Lord Jesus Christ, revealed to us, that is, that this very Son with the Father and the Spirit are of the same essence, and consubstantial and co-throne, saying: I and the Father are one, and in another place showing that the Holy Spirit is irrevocable from the same nature, when he said: The Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father. For just as the same water comes from a fountain of water, so from God the Father comes God the Spirit. It is said: The Spirit is God: and whoever worships Him is worthy to worship through the Spirit and in truth (John 4:24). So, if the Father is the Spirit, it is clear that the Son, born of Him, is the Spirit, which is why St. Paul says: But the Lord is the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:17). The Spirit is also the Holy Spirit, proceeding from the Father and through the Son given to us, the unworthy. We say: the Holy Spirit is sent and given, not in the sense that He Himself did not want it, but in the fact that the Holy Spirit through the Son, one of the persons of the Holy Trinity, does, as His own will, that which is pleasing to the Father, for the Holy Trinity is inseparable in nature, essence and will, but according to its hypostases it is personally named - Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and these three are one God, and His name is - Trinity. He, being above every named name, word and verb, exceeds the comprehension of every mind and is not something from everything that exists from Him, as if it were essentially removed from that circle. But think about how Holy Scripture says that the three are one. For it is good to say the same thing, because thinking and talking about the same thing delights the one who knows how to find divine pleasure in it, and the divine word sanctifies his spiritual feelings. The Spirit is God the Father, as our Lord says. The Spirit is also the Son, as begotten of Him. If God is Spirit, and Spirit is Lord, as the Apostle says, and the Lord in Divine Scripture is called Spirit, then one Spirit is God, cognizable in three persons, as the Son said about this, showing that the Trinitarian God is one Spirit, equal in power, one-throne, one in essence; why are these three persons called one Spirit, so that you do not think that there is any inequality between the three persons of the Holy Trinity, that one person is greater and the other less, or that there is any division in them, so that one person is outside the other. God is called Trinitarian - Father, Son and Holy Spirit, not so that you would think that there is any separation and inequality in the Holy Trinity, but to teach you with these names that there are three persons in God, or these three hypostases - and nothing more. After you know this, having been taught and enlightened how to philosophize about God, do not seek any more and do not investigate anything higher than this, but, having accepted this with faith, stand in it, holding and confessing that everything else that is higher than this is completely incomprehensible. If you want to go into reflection on what is characteristic of the Divine nature, that is, how God is, what is around God, what is from God and what is in God, listen to what I tell you. God is light, and infinite light, and what is in God is light, being united by the unity of nature and inseparably divided by persons. Dividing the inseparable, I will tell you about each of these persons separately. The Father is light, the Son is light and the Holy Spirit is light; three - one light, simple (not divisible into parts. - Ed.), uncomplicated, timeless, co-essential, equal in honor, equal in glory. Also, that which is from God is light, since it is given to us from light, namely, life is light; immortality - light; love, truth, peace, the door of the kingdom of heaven, this kingdom itself is light; the bridal chamber, paradise, the sweetness of heaven, the land of the meek, the crowns of life, the very vestments of the saints - there is light; Christ Jesus, Savior and King of all, is light; the bread of His most pure Body is light; His resurrection is light; His face is light; His hand, finger, mouth, eyes are light; His voice is light, since it comes from light; the grace of the Holy Spirit is light; Comforter - light; beads, mustard seed, true grapes, kvass, hope, faith - there is light. All this and other things that you hear from the Prophets and Apostles about the ineffable and pre-existent Divinity are essentially one beginningless Beginning, worshiped in the unity of the Trinity light. This is how you should think. For there is one God in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, being the unapproachable and eternal Light, which has many names and is called everything that we have said, and is not only named, but also effectively produces it in us, as those who have been taught it through experience have taught us. Wanting to show you other lights of God, along with those about which it has been said, I say that His goodness is light, His mercy is light, His compassion is light, His kissing is light, His kindness is light, His rod and consolation are light. Although many similar things are said about us, they speak about us as people, and about Him as about God. I will not be lazy to explain this to you with examples: God is called Father - people are also called fathers; Christ is called the Son of God - we are also called sons of men; The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of God, and our souls are also called spirits. God is life - we also have life; God is love—and many sinners have love among themselves. So what? Can you say about human love that it is God? It won't happen. And the peace that we have among ourselves, when we do not scold or quarrel over anything, can you call it a peace that surpasses the mind? No way. Likewise, if you do not say a false word to anyone, will you call it God’s truth? Of course not. Human words are fluid and empty. The Word of God is living and active. In the same way, the truth of God is more than the mind and word of man, God is immutable, present and living. Finally, this water that we have is not like this living water, and this bread, which we usually eat, is not like this animal bread. But, as we said above, all of it is light, and God is the only light, and whoever partakes of this light, along with the communion of it, also partakes of all those good things that we mentioned - he becomes meek and humble and ready for all good, because these goodnesses, together with others, are light, and whoever has received the light, has these qualities along with the light. Then God moves the soul in which He dwells to all good, and becomes all good for it, and that soul, which has God as its dweller, does not lack in any good, but is always full and overabundant with all these ineffable blessings of God, rejoicing and abiding with the orders of the heavenly powers. What blessings of God would we all be deemed worthy to richly receive, by the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and power with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. You might be interested in: