Проповедь о Божественных энергиях

The sun endlessly transmits light and warmth to those who expose their faces and hands to its rays. Similarly, the energies of God are transmitted to a person who desires communication with Him. Only those who have touched this Divine Light can become partakers of the grace that deifies man and through which man can unite with God. We are taught from the fathers that all the energies of God are uncreated. And the Name itself - God (Θεός) is the Name of energy, the Name of action. This word takes its origin either from the verb θέειν, which means “to run”, or “to manage everything”, or from the verb αίθειν, which means “to burn, scorch”. In His essence, God is above all these energies and in essence He is unapproachable to any living beings. However, according to energies one can be involved with God. Saint Basil the Great emphasizes that we talk about God, we know God thanks to His energies, but at the same time we do not claim that we are approaching His essence, which is the cause of these energies. The spiritual gift that dwells in the saints is idolizing and uncreated grace. In this experience of God's saints His existence is revealed. Those who do not accept communication with God in this spiritual way of communication will remain ignorant of the fact that He exists. The people of God, raising their souls to the Divine and immortal rays of God's energies, become like Him. The coming of the Omnipresent Holy Spirit is nothing other than His appearance in the saints, in whom He is revealed in a mysterious way. This revelation of grace and energy of the Spirit is realized only in the saints. This adoring gift of the Spirit is the Kingdom of God. This kingdom is beginningless and uncreated. When we say that a person is capable of deification, we mean precisely this – the opportunity for a person to enter the Kingdom of God. The life of people who have become partakers of this Kingdom is above all knowledge and all science. Saint Maximus the Confessor, describing the reality of eternity, says: “Everything immortal, like immortality itself, everything living, like life itself, everything holy, like holiness itself, and everything virtuous, like virtue itself, and everything that exists, like the very ability to exist, obviously originated from God. The Creator of all life and immortality, holiness and virtue is God, since He is above everything that can be said and thought.” So, everything stated here for you is the result of our legitimate duty to our spiritual fathers and respect for them. This respect and gratitude from children to their fathers is necessary. The Holy Spirit, who made our fathers saints, encourages us to be grateful and repay our debts. We give it, proclaiming to you the truth and faith in Him and in the Highest Father.”