In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit!

On the second Sunday of the Great Lent the church celebrates the memory of St. Gregorius, Archbishop of Thessalonica known for his teaching about Divine Uncreated Light. “And light shines in darkness and darkness couldn’t overpower it.”(John 1, 5) Not all people can see this mysterious light. Only pure in heart shall see God (Mt.5, 8) The experience of great zealots of godliness shows that God is light and there is no darkness in Him (John 1,5). But this light is inaccessible for physical eyesight, as it is invisible. However, spiritual eyes of heart can see it because this light itself is spiritual, the source of which is God Himself.

Can one see God? This question confuses many people, as one of God’s qualities is His invisibility. When a monk Barlaam met those who saw It daily, he was also confused and indignant saying,: “Are they in spiritual deception? This light is certainly the deception of devil”. He hurried to warn everybody about this “danger”. He could agree that God could sometimes show people some visions including the vision of light and thought it to be no more than a peculiar language God “speaks” to some people, but not really existing light of God. What is the debate about? Why did St. Gregorius come out with his teaching about the veritability of this light? The opinion of Barlaam might have remained his opinion, but it had become a heretical teaching of spiritual danger. What is this danger in?

We can’t imagine our life without creative work. Whatever we do, we are creators with a small letter. Inside us there is some “standard” or image, and we try to correspond this inner image and if we don’t correspond it, the result doesn’t satisfy us. We try to do the work better, and the level of the inner image is rising higher. What is the essence of the creative process? The first thing is to see. And the second thing that is also very important is to act. If the result is poor, do it again till the result corresponds the standard. Thus, two things are important in the creative work: to see and to act.

Practically, the way of our salvation is also composed of these two elements. The Lord as if shows Himself slightly to us, we feel God’s grace and can’t calm down any longer. Our soul is aspiring to what it has seen, has suffered, and if it has seen, then it can get, reach it. But our sins deprive us grace, this Divine Light and there starts the struggle with sins. In this struggle we are rising slightly and again a new horizon is opening before us, again the Lord is attracting us by His indescribable beauty. This is creative work the model of which is in each of us: the image and likeness of God is in our soul. The likeness is in that we are trying to be like the Lord. St. Gregorius Palamas thought like this that the likeness of God is in the creative ability of man. We are creators in image of the One Who is the Creator Himself.

In inner spiritual creative work a prayer gives a lot in this plan. There are many “ways” to God, His Grace. Painters, scientists, people of art go “roundabout ways” comprehending God through His creation. And it’s good and correct; there are also many good deeds which can attract God’s grace to us, but a prayer is direct address to God. A prayer is creative work in its pure form. When we pray, we neither more, nor less fulfill our predestination; carry out the main aim of life to join God. When a person prays with pure heart, he sees God as he is, and he is Light. It’s impossible to see the essence of God, as it’s impossible to become equal God. In His essence God is infinitely far from us – He is above. But  by grace it is as much we join God’s grace as we join God Himself.

The Apostle Peter even said that we are called “to become partakers of the divine nature” (2Peter 1, 4) showing that a way to infinite God like holiness, complete and absolute joining God is opened to us.

How important it is to see light and struggle with sins. One zealot of godliness said: “Don’t think of yourself to be a man if you have no grace”. He told about great grace, but Venerable Siluan of Athos said that we all had some grace. Little grace, even little light of faith is good free gift of the Saviour given to us for nothing so that to call us to His Light. O, Lord, let this grace not be vain, unclaimed and then it will open to us new steps of ascending to the glory of God. Amen.