Weekday

The Promises of Our Lord
A Discourse by Symeon the New Theologian

What then are the promises of our Lord Jesus Christ, God’s Son Himself,
on which he hangs? Listen intelligently to that which He promises us. “…there
will be joy in heaven over one sinner who repents”, and again, “Him who comes
to Me…I will by no means cast out”… Elsewhere He says, “Draw near to Me and I
will draw near to you”, and “Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I
will give you rest…And He says, “If you who are evil men know how to give good
gifts to your children, will not your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those
who ask Him?”

He who ceaselessly keeps all these things in mind, and others like them,
and occupies himself with them day and night, and thinks of them with mind and
sense and puts them zealously into practice, will gradually be separated from
memory of the world, of secular affairs, of possessions, and of his own family and
friends, and correspondingly draw nearer to spiritual things. As he daily
advances he will notice how the thoughts of the passions to which he is prone are
gradually withdrawing, then how these passions themselves diminish, and how
the heart is softened and comes to humility; then in turn how the heart gives rise
to thoughts that bring about humbleness of mind…Nevertheless he arrives at this
through many tribulations and the more he is humbled the more he feels
compunction. Humiliation brings about affliction, but affliction feels the
humility that is its source and makes it grow. This activity, which is exercised by
the fulfilling of the commandments, washes away – what a marvel! – every stain
from the soul. It expels every passion and every evil lust, by which I mean not
only those of the body but also of the world. Thus a man will be set free in soul
from every earthly desire, and that not only from physical bonds – it is as when
one puts off a garment and is completely stripped. Rightly so, for the soul is
stripped of its insensitivity, which God’s apostle calls a “veil,” that “lies on the
hearts” of the unbelieving…Then, just as he who has been physically stripped
naked sees the wounds of his body, so he who has been stripped spiritually may
clearly see the passions that cling to his soul… So he applies the commandments
to them as medicines, and trials as cautery, and is humbled and sorrowful, and
fervently seeks God’s help. He clearly sees the grace of the Holy Spirit coming to
him and tearing all these [passions] away from him one after the other and
eliminating them until it has entirely freed his soul from them all. The coming of
the Paraclete grants freedom to the soul, not merely in part, but completely and
totally…Thus it renews and restores a man both spiritually and physically, so that
such a person seems to be clothed, not with a corruptible and gross body, but
with one that is spiritual and immaterial and even now ready for the rapture…For
whenever the mind is united to the objects of intellect it finds itself entirely
beyond the realm of sense, even though it appears to be looking at sensible
objects.

Symeon The New Theologian. The Discourses. The Classics of Western Spirituality. New York: Paulist
Press, 1980. 187-189.