In the Epistle to the Hebrews, Saint Paul the Apostle urges Christians to seek ‘holiness, without which no one will see the Lord’ (Hebrews 12:14). Indeed, the whole of Holy Scripture is a call to holiness: ‘Be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy!’ (Leviticus 11:44). At the same time, it expresses the need to share in the communion of love and life between humankind and God: ‘for both the One who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from the One’ (Hebrews 2:11). Everything that appears holy or sacred in this world has its sole source in God, the Only Holy One in Himself and through Himself: ‘Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come’ (Revelation 4:8). Holy Scripture emphasises that God alone is holy par excellence (Isaiah 40:25), and that God’s holiness is reflected in His Name: “I will make My Holy Name known among My people, Israel, and I will no longer let them defile My Holy Name; but the nations shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One of Israel!” (Ezekiel 39:7).
The holiness of the Most Holy Trinity is absolute holiness in itself, as the fullness and perfection of life in love, in the communion of distinct, eternal, infinite Persons who are one within the other. It is revealed to the world through God’s descent into it, through His uncreated energies, that is, through the ‘adaptation’ of God the Creator to the capacity of creatures to receive His holiness 1. If God had not revealed and imparted this state of holiness, man would not have been able to contemplate what is characteristic of the Divine Being, since, as Saint Gregory of Nyssa emphasised, ‘the human spirit is incapable of comprehending the infinite unity of the attributes of the divine being’2.
Father Dumitru Stăniloae states that ‘holiness itself, present in the world, is proof of the existence of a transcendent order. We almost identify revealed divinity with holiness. It can be said that in holiness all the divine attributes are revealed to us in concentrated form. It is the luminous and active mystery of the divine presence’3, and is, at once, transcendent and revealed: ‘The holiness of God expresses, on the one hand, a quality of the Triune God; on the other, it manifests itself in the world and becomes a quality shared (communicated) by human beings. In the first respect, it is entirely apophatic, indefinable; in the second, it is perceived, but in a way that is difficult to define rationally’1 It is known in its manifestations, inasmuch as God reveals His holiness to the whole world (Psalm 144:9) and, in particular, to humankind, so that humankind may become holy, thereby fulfilling its vocation as a chosen race, ‘a holy nation, a people whom God has acquired for Himself, that you may proclaim the marvellous deeds of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light’ (1 Peter 2:9). That is why it says: ‘Be holy, for I am holy!’ (1 Peter 1:16). The Holy God (Leviticus 11:44–45) is the One who sanctifies people (Leviticus 20:7–8), through the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit unites man with Christ and thereby enables him to share in the holiness and infinite deification which is in the body of Christ or in His human nature. This is accomplished, of course, within the Church.
The incarnate Son of God has raised up our nature, fallen into sin, filled it with His radiance and holiness, and clothed it in the garment of holiness, provided that the human person does not turn away from Christ the Saviour, Who assures us: ‘I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him bears much fruit, for without Me you can do nothing’ (John 15:5). Holiness certainly has its source in the Holy Christ present in the Church 4. ‘Where there is a direct and intimate relationship with Christ, and through Him with other believers, there is also holiness’5). The Holy Spirit unites man with Christ and thereby enables him to share in the holiness and infinite deification which is in the body of Christ or in His human nature. This is accomplished, of course, within the Church, for it is to the Church that the grace of Christ’s holiness, bestowed through the Holy Spirit, is communicated and shared. In the priestly prayer, Christ the Lord asks God the Father: ‘Sanctify them in Your truth’ (John 17:17), so that people may attain holy communion of love with the Most Holy Trinity, and may always be the mystical and holy Body of the Lord Christ. Thus, whoever partakes of holiness shares in divine holiness (1 John 3:1–3) and becomes himself a bearer of God, a bearer of Christ, a bearer of the Spirit and a temple of the Holy Spirit.
By being filled with the holiness that comes from above, a person’s life is transformed, renewed and grows in the likeness of God 6. The deification to which man aspires—having been created in the image of God and with a view to becoming like Him—does not occur by nature, that is, naturally, but by grace, through the cultivation of virtue, as a steadfast habit of making grace effective through faith and good deeds. ‘What is supernal,’ says Father Dumitru Stăniloae, ‘enters into nature’7; grace returns to human nature, for it is originally part of the divine image within man, man being a creature of grace from the very act of his creation. In other words, it is the sharing of divine grace that restores man to his authenticity, to his original vocation of seeking adoption—or the state of being a son, by grace, of God. This essentially represents the natural state of man: to be a bearer of grace or a person with two natures, one human and the other divine. In this sense, as Saint Maximus the Confessor emphasises, all those who believe and fulfil God’s will have direct access to the reception of divine grace: ‘Do not think that anyone is deprived of this grace when you hear that Scripture says only the great Melchizedek possesses it. For God has naturally instilled in everyone the power for salvation, so that each person may, if they wish, partake of divine grace and, if they wish, not be prevented from becoming Melchizedek and Abraham and Moses and, simply, to embody all the saints within oneself, without changing their names or places, but by imitating their ways and way of life’8
The endeavour to make man like God reveals both the fruits and manifestations of holiness, leading to an existential perception, through lived experience, of a sharing in divine grace within the context of mystical experiences, which may bring to mind various biblical passages describing the experience of beholding God, in the light of His glory, by the prophets Moses and Elijah, by the Holy Apostles on Mount Tabor, Saint Stephen the Archdeacon or Saint Paul the Apostle, and various patristic passages attesting to holiness attained during one’s earthly life. In both hagiographic and liturgical writings, holiness has been praised, celebrated and desired, contributing to the development of Christian theology, which regards it as the essence of the sacred and, at the same time, the expression of everything that defines the state opposed to sin. Therefore, defining and understanding holiness (which we know manifests itself in this world, but is not of this world), cannot be a mere intellectual exercise – which, in any case, becomes arduous and incomprehensible to those who seek to plunge into the depths of God without holiness and are in a hurry to engage in theological speculation. It presupposes, above all, a profound and uplifting spiritual experience, which ‘is not merely a relationship with God, but a living and conscious presence before the Creator’9), in which man is permeated by grace, divine love and light, as an experience attained through the purification of the soul, growth in virtue towards dispassion, and through unceasing prayer, which leads to an ever-greater drawing towards holiness.
Defining and understanding holiness cannot be a mere intellectual exercise… It presupposes, above all, a profound and uplifting spiritual experience
Thus, the Holy Fathers regarded human holiness as likeness to God, attained through purification from passions and the cultivation of virtues, in an all-encompassing love, as described by Saint Nectarios of Aegina: ‘Holiness! A divine name, a divine work; your name denotes the one who has been sanctified by God, the one who is temperate and pure, the one free from every stain and every passion. Holiness is a lofty calling, revealing the perfection and meaning of all virtue. You proclaim the man who was created in the image of God and has attained likeness to Him. You reveal the one who lives in the world as a citizen of heaven. You bestow upon the mortal man the name of son of God. You present him who has emerged victorious in the struggle for virtue. You know him who yearns for the things above, the one truly enamoured of divine beauty. You are the faithful and truthful witness to the heights of divine honour and glory, bestowed by God upon mankind as a reward”10 Any formal association of holiness with mere existence is thus set aside, whilst at the same time the necessity of God’s indwelling in the soul of the ascetic is affirmed, for the fulfilment of the vocation to holiness. The human soul, created in the image of God, the source of holiness, is maintained and grows in likeness to God insofar as it is pure and is gracefully connected to the spiritual life, since ‘one cannot know God without the purification of the soul, for the soul defiled by sin is closed off and preoccupied with satisfying selfish desires, no longer being transparent to God. Evil clouds man, rendering him powerless to respond to God’s call’11’. It is necessary for the soul to grow in the Holy Spirit and to envelop the whole body, striving towards a ‘filling’ with God’s holiness, for the work of the Holy Spirit in people is precisely their sanctification, and ‘the temple of God is holy’ (1 Corinthians 3:17). This enables the saints to be enveloped in the fragrance of holiness, which is perceived first and foremost by those who are spiritually attuned, those who acquire the power to discern the light of God in the faces of the saints. Through divine grace, ‘God Himself enters wholly into those who are wholly worthy, and the saints enter wholly into the whole God’12). However, ‘the saints partake not merely of the results, but of the very divine energies; they partake of God Himself, through the immediate contemplation of the Lord’s face’13, ‘imitating the angels and their worthiness’14. This cooperation is also transmitted to the body through the soul. Father Dumitru Stăniloae speaks of “the radiant influence of the living spirit through the living body, and this occurs when the human body is no longer dominated by materiality and its spiritual attributes become transparent, unhindered by it”15. To this end, in his call to holiness, Saint Paul the Apostle says: ‘present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God’ (Romans 12:1–2) and we know that the bodies of the saints who have become partakers of the divine nature have been adorned with ineffable glory and a radiant divine garment, becoming bearers of the holiness that beautifies the age to come, for ‘God is marvellous in His saints!’ (Psalms 117:36). God’s work is brought about ‘through the communion and work of the saints. God moves through His work in the saints, and the saints move through that same work—which has become their own—in God’16
God’s grace permeates and sanctifies the material world through the human soul, which sanctifies the body, and through human life in the world.
However, it is not only the soul and the body that must receive the garment of holiness; everything must be sanctified—the whole of creation, all activity, and time itself, which becomes part of eternity, illuminated by the holiness of God. God’s grace permeates and sanctifies the material world through the human soul, which sanctifies the body, and through human life in the world. So close is the bond between man and the world, so deeply does his holiness penetrate it, that even the falling asleep of the saints in the Lord—the separation of their souls from their bodies— proves to be a process of sanctifying the world, in which their spiritualised bodies permeate the chemistry of the world and sanctify it 17.
Holiness is, therefore, the state of perfection through which we are called to become like God, which is why the Church presents the saints as the living witnesses to God’s holiness, which shines out into the world and is revealed in His care for humankind.
Holiness also reveals both its eschatological dimension and its prophetic character, in that the saints are those who will enter the heavenly Jerusalem and see God (Hebrews 12:14). In communion with God’s grace, and becoming ever more capable through this communion of receiving divine majesty, the saints will ceaselessly receive grace upon grace, the Giver being infinite and inexhaustible 18.
This vision has become possible, as a pledge of eternal life, for many saints, as a foretaste or advance glimpse of the glory of the Kingdom of the Most Holy Trinity, so that the saint ‘as he progresses and becomes ever more familiar with God, through the things God does with him, he comes to know both what God has done with all the saints who have gone before and what He will do with those who are to follow. And concerning the future crowns and rewards, he is instructed, being mystically guided by God Himself, knowing that these are beyond the mind, the word and understanding. Moreover, he clearly realises what he himself, and with him all the saints, will be like after the Resurrection’19’.
In this way, “the glory of the divine nature, the beauty of the age to come and the unchanging, beginningless and endless kingdom of God are made eternal with the saints”20.
- 1a1b
Fr. Dumitru Stăniloae, Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, E.I.B.M.B.O.R., Bucharest, 1987, vol. I, p. 256.
- 2
St Gregory of Nyssa, Against Eunomius, Book 12, quoted in St Justin Popovich, Dogmatics of the Orthodox Church, vol. 1, p. 122.
- 3
Fr. Dumitru Stăniloae, Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, E.I.B.M.B.O.R., Bucharest, 1987, vol. I, pp. 258–259.
- 4
Rev. Prof. Dr Dumitru Stăniloae, Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, Vol. II, IBMBOR, Bucharest, 2003, p. 278.
- 5
Ibid., p. 278.
- 6
“Man was created by God, out of His goodness, with soul and body, so that the rational and thinking soul bestowed upon him, being in the image of the One who created him, might, through his desire and with all his love, strive earnestly with all his might towards God and become deified through likeness…” (Saint Maximus the Confessor, Ambigua, translated by Rev. Prof. Dumitru Stăniloae, in the series ‘Church Fathers and Writers’, vol. 80, EIBMBOR, Bucharest 1980, p. 93).
- 7
Ibid., p. 139, note 161.
- 8
Ibid., p. 143.
- 9
Ion I. Bria, ‘The Mystical Perception of the Presence of Grace according to Saint Simeon the New Theologian’, in S.T., vol. VIII (1956), no. 7–8, p. 479.
- 10
Saint Nectarios of Aegina, Know Thyself: On Virtue, trans. Laura and Gabriel Mândrilă, Sophia Publishing, Metafraze, Bucharest, 2012, pp. 396–397.
- 11
Adrian Ioniță, Neo-Patristic Christology in the Thought of Father Dumitru Stăniloae, PhD thesis, University of Bucharest, ‘Justinian the Patriarch’ Faculty of Orthodox Theology, Bucharest, 2010, p. 184.
- 12
The Athonite volume, in the Philokalia, vol. VII, p. 380.
- 13
Rev. Dr Doru Costache, ‘The Experience of the Holy Spirit in the View of Saints Basil the Great and Gregory Palamas’, in the Yearbook of the Faculty of Orthodox Theology ‘Justinian the Patriarch’, University Press, Bucharest, 2002, p. 620.
- 14
Ibid., 19, in FR, vol. VII, p. 363.
- 15
Fr. Dumitru Stăniloae, Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, published by the Biblical and Missionary Institute of the Romanian Orthodox Church, Bucharest, 1996, vol. I, p. 293.
- 16
Rev. Prof. Dumitru Stăniloae, Note 643, in Philokalia, vol. VII, p. 367.
- 17
Panayotis Nellas, Man – the Deified Animal, Deisis Publishing, Sibiu, 1999.
- 18
Saint Gregory Palamas, Triad III, 2, 25, translated in J. Meyendorff, Défense des saints hésychastes, pp. 688–689.
- 19
Saint Symeon the New Theologian, ‘The Fifth Moral Discourse’, in The Philokalia, vol. VI, trans. and intro. and notes by Rev. Prof. Dumitru Stăniloae, E.I.B.M.O.R., Bucharest, 1977, p. 195.
- 20
Saint Gregory Palamas, ‘On the Holy Light’, 54, in The Philokalia, vol. VII, p. 333.