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SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Gregory of Nyssa
DESCRIPTION:ON PURITY OF HEART \nFrom a commentary by St Gregory of Nyssa \n◊◊◊ \nNow the divine nature\, as it is in itself\, according to its essence\, \ntranscends every act of comprehensive knowledge\, and it cannot be approached \nor attained by our speculation. Mortals have never discovered a faculty to \ncomprehend the incomprehensible; nor have we ever been able to devise an \nintellectual technique for grasping the incomprehensible. For this reason the \ngreat Apostle calls God’s ways unsearchable\, teaching us that the way that leads \nto knowledge of the divine nature is inaccessible to our reason; and hence none \nof those who have lived before us has given us the slightest hint of \ncomprehension suggesting that we might know that which in itself is above all \nknowledge. \nYet the Lord does not deceive us when he promises that the pure of heart \nshall see God; nor does Paul deceive us when he teaches that no one has seen \nGod nor can see Him. The Lord does not say that it is blessed to know something \nabout God\, but rather to possess God in oneself: Blessed are the clean of heart\, \nfor they shall see God. And this teaches us that the one who purifies his heart of \nevery creature and of every passionate impulse will see the image of the divine \nnature in his own beauty. So too in this short sentence the Word\, I think\, is \ngiving us the following advise: All you mortals who have within yourselves a \ndesire to behold the supreme Good\, when you are told that the majesty of God is \nexalted above the heavens\, that the divine glory is inexpressible\, its beauty \nindescribable\, its nature inaccessible\, do not despair at never being able to \nbehold what you desire. For you do have within your grasp that degree of the \nknowledge of God which you can attain. For\, when God made you\, Hr at once \nendowed your nature with this perfection: upon the structure of your nature He \nimprinted an imitation of the perfections of His own nature\, just as one would \nimpress upon wax the outline of an emblem. But the wickedness that has been \npoured all over this divine engraving has made your perfection useless and \nhidden it with a vicious coating. You must then wash away\, by a life of virtue\, the \ndirt that has come to cling to your heart like plaster\, and then your divine beauty \nwill once again shine forth. \nIt is just like those who look at the sun in a mirror. Even though they \ncannot look up directly at the heavens\, they do see the sun in the mirror’s \nreflection just as much as those who look directly at the sun. So it is\, says our \nLord\, with you. Even though you are not strong enough to see the light itself\, yet \nyou will find within yourselves what you are seeking\, if you would but return to \nthe grace of that image which was established within you from the beginning. \nFor the Godhead is all purity\, freedom from passion\, the absence of all evil. And \nif you possess these qualities\, God will surely be within you. When your mind is \nuntainted by any evil\, free of passion\, purified of all stain\, then will you be \nblessed because your eye is clear. Then because you have been purified you will \nperceive things that are invisible to the unpurified. The dark cloud of matter will \nbe removed from the eye of your soul\, and then you will see clearly the blessed \nvision within the pure brilliance of your own heart. And what is this vision? It is \npurity\, holiness\, simplicity\, and other such brilliant reflections of the nature of \nGod; for it is in these that God is seen.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-gregory-of-nyssa/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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