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of brightness, the eyes of the flesh, not being able to bear it, were blinded, through which all knowledge is revealed and God in truth is made known to the worthy and beloved soul.” This light is also eternal life, sent into the one who has seen God and not separated from God. Thus Paul said, “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” Thus Maximus says of Paul, that "he lived the divine and eternal life of the One who dwelt within." Thus Basil the Great said, “The life which the Spirit sends forth into the hypostasis of another is not separated from it, but just as with fire, there is the inherent heat, and there is that which it imparts to water or to some other such thing, so also It both has life in Itself and those who partake of It live in a manner worthy of God, having acquired a divine and heavenly life.” This is the life which he elsewhere called a “spiritual and eternal movement,” and which makes holy the one who partakes of it, “who was formerly earth and clay.” Where are they who say that the deifying grace of God is created and that nothing is eternal except His super-essentiality?

But will someone say that he calls this eternal life, but not light? But those who speak of an eternal illumination and visible glory surely speak of an eternal light which can be partaken of only by the saints. And that Basil the Great also knows of a light that can be partaken of by such people, an intelligible, pre-cosmic, and supra-cosmic light, you will know clearly if you take his *Hexaemeron* in your hands: “For we reckon,” he says, “that if there was anything before the constitution of this perceptible (p. 642) and corruptible world, it was clearly in light; for neither the ranks of angels nor all the heavenly hosts nor, in short, if there is anything named or unnameable of the rational natures and ministering spirits, did they live in darkness.” Therefore he also prays for us there, saying: “May the Father of the true light, who has adorned the day with heavenly light, who has brightened the night with the rays of fire, who has prepared the repose of the age to come with intelligible and unceasing light, enlighten our hearts in the knowledge of the truth.”

And that this intelligible and pre-cosmic and unceasing light is God Himself, Gregory, surnamed the Theologian, clearly stated: “For,” he says, “when God willed to constitute this world, He Himself is light to the eternal beings, and not another; for what need of another light had they who possess the greatest?” This light is also a divine and immaterial fire, suited by nature to enlighten souls. For this, to quote the great Basil again, was also at work in the apostles, when they spoke with tongues of fire, which also shone around Paul, and dimmed the sense of his sight, but enlightened the eyes of his heart; for the sight of the flesh cannot contain the power of that light. This fire appeared to Moses in the bush; this, in the form of a chariot, snatched Elijah up from the earth; seeking the energy of this fire, the blessed David said, “Examine me, O Lord, and test me; try my reins and my heart with fire.” This fire warmed the heart of Cleopas and his companion, when the Savior spoke to them after the resurrection from the dead. And the angels and the ministering spirits partake of this fire, according to what is written, “Who makes His angels spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire.” (p. 644) This fire, destroying the beam in the eye, restores the mind to purity, so that, having recovered its natural clear-sightedness, it may not see the speck in its brother’s eye, but may continually perceive the wonders of God, according to the one who says, “Uncover my eyes, and I will perceive the wonders of Your law.” This fire is a banisher of demons and a consumer of all evil, a destroyer of sin, a power of resurrection and an energy of immortality, an enlightenment of holy souls and a constitution of rational powers. For this let us also pray

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λαμπρότητος οἱ τοῖς σαρκός ὀφθαλμοί μή διηνεγκότες ἀπετυφλώθησαν, δι᾿ οὗ πᾶσά γε γνῶσις ἀποκαλύπτεται καί Θεός πρός ἀλήθειαν τῇ ἀξίᾳ και φιλουμένῃ ψυχῇ γνωρίζεται». Τοῦτο τό φῶς καί ζωή ἐστιν ἀΐδιος, ἐνιεμένη τῷ τεθεωμένῳ καί μή χωριζομένη τοῦ Θεοῦ. Οὕτως ὁ Παῦλος ἔλεγε, «ζῶ δέ οὐκέτι ἐγώ, ζῇ δέ ἐν ἐμοί Χριστός». Οὕτω περί τοῦ Παύλου Μάξιμός φησιν, ὡς «τήν ἐνοικήσαντος ἔζη θείαν καί ἀΐδιον ζωήν». Οὕτω Βασίλειος ὁ μέγας εἶπεν, «ἥν ζωήν εἰς ἑτέρου ὑπόστασιν προΐεται τό Πνεῦμα, οὐ χωρίζεται αὐτοῦ, ἀλλ᾿ ὥσπερ πυρός, τό μέν ἔστιν ἡ συνοῦσα θερμότης, τό δέ ἥν παρέχει τῷ ὕδατι ἤ ἑτέρῳ τινί τῶν τοιούτων, οὕτω καί αὐτό καί ἐν ἑαυτῷ ἔχει τήν ζωήν καί οἱ μετέχοντες αὐτοῦ ζῶσι θεοπρεπῶς, ζωήν θείαν καί οὐράνιον κεκτημένοι». Αὔτη ἐστίν ἡ ζωή ἥν οὗτος ἀλλαχοῦ «κίνησιν» προσεῖπε «πνευματικήν καί ἀΐδιον», καί τόν μετασχόντα ταύτης ἅγιον τελέσαι, «γῆν ὄντα καί πηλόν πρότερον». Ποῦ εἰσιν οἱ λέγοντες κτιστήν τήν θεουργόν χάριν τοῦ Θεοῦ καί μηδέν πλήν τῆς ὑπερουσιότητος αὐτοῦ ἀΐδιον;

Ἀλλ᾿ ἐρεῖ τις ζωήν λέγειν τοῦτον ἀΐδιον, ἀλλ᾿ οὐχί φῶς; Ἀλλ᾿ οἱ λέγοντες ἔλλαμψιν ἀΐδιον καί δόξαν ὁρατήν ἀΐδιον φῶς δήπου λέγουσιν ἀΐδιον τοῖς ἁγίοις μόνοις μεθεκτόν. Ὅτι δέ καί ὁ μέγας Βασίλειος φῶς οἶδε τοῖς τοιούτοις μεθεκτόν, νοερόν, προκόσμιόν τε καί ὑπερκόσμιον, εἴσῃ σαφῶς τήν Ἑξαήμερον αὐτοῦ μετά χεῖρας λαβών˙ «λογιζόμεθα» γάρ, φησίν, «ὅτι, εἴπερ τι ἦν πρό τῆς τοῦ αἰσθητοῦ (σελ. 642) τούτου καί φθαρτοῦ κόσμου συστάσεως, ἐν φωτί ἄν ἦν δηλονότι˙ οὔτε γάρ αἱ τῶν ἀγγέλων ἀξίαι οὔτε πᾶσαι αἱ ἐπουράνιαι στρατιαί οὔτε ὅλως, εἰ τί ἐστιν ὠνομασμένον ἤ ἀκατονόμαστον τῶν λογικῶν φύσεων καί τῶν λειτουργικῶν πνευμάτων, ἐν σκότῳ διῆγεν». ∆ιό καί ἡμῖν ὁ αὐτός ἐπεύχεται ἐκεῖ λέγων˙ «ὁ Πατήρ τοῦ ἀληθινοῦ φωτός, ὁ τήν ἡμέραν κοσμήσας τῷ οὐρανίῳ φωτί, ὁ τήν νύκτα φαιδρύνας ταῖς αὐγαῖς τοῦ πυρός, ὁ τοῦ μέλλοντος αἰῶνος τήν ἀνάπαυσιν εὐτρεπίσας τῷ νοερῷ καί ἀπαύστῳ φωτί, φωτίσειεν ἡμῶν τάς καρδίας ἐν ἐπιγνώσει τῆς ἀληθείας».

Ὅτι δέ τό νοερόν τοῦτο καί προκόσμιον καί ἄπαυστον φῶς αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ Θεός, Γρηγόριος ὁ τῆς θεολογίας ἐπώνυμος σαφῶς ἐξεῖπε˙ «βουληθείς» γάρ, φησίν, «ὁ Θεός τόνδε τόν κόσμον συστήσασθαι, τοῖς μέν ἀϊδίοις αὐτός ἐστι φῶς, οὐκ ἄλλο˙ τί γάρ ἔδει φωτός ἑτέρου τοῖς τό μέγιστον ἔχουσι;». Τοῦτο δή τό φῶς καί πῦρ ἐστι θεῖον καί ἄϋλον, ψυχάς φωτίζειν πεφυκός. Τοῦτο γάρ, κατά τόν μέγαν αὖθις φάναι Βασίλειον, κἀν τοῖς ἀποστόλοις ἐνήργησεν, ἡνίκα ἐλάλουν πυρίναις γλώσσαις, ὅ καί Παῦλον περιλάμψαν, τήν μέν αἴσθησιν τῆς ὄψεως αὐτοῦ ἠμαύρωσε, τούς δέ ὀφθαλμούς τῆς καρδίας ἐφώτισεν˙ οὐ γάρ χωρεῖ σαρκός ὅρασις ἐκείνου τοῦ φωτός τήν δύναμιν. Τοῦτο τό πῦρ ὤφθη Μωϋσῇ ἐν τῇ βάτῳ˙ τοῦτο ἐν εἴδη ὀχήματος τόν Ἠλίαν ἐκ τῆς γῆς ἀνήρπασε˙ τούτου τοῦ πυρός τήν ἐνέργειαν ζητῶν ὁ μακάριος ∆αυίδ ἔλεγε, «δοκίμασόν μέ, Κύριε, καί πείρασόν με, πύρωσον τούς νεφρούς μου καί τήν καρδίαν μου». Τοῦτο τό πῦρ τήν καρδίαν Κλεόπα καί τοῦ σύν αὐτῷ ἐθέρμανε, λαλοῦντος τοῦ σωτῆρος αὐτοῖς μετά τήν ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀνάστασιν. Καί οἱ ἄγγελοι καί τά λειτουργικά πνεύματα τούτου τοῦ πυρός μετέχουσι κατά τό γεγραμμένον, «ὁ ποιῶν τούς ἀγγέλους αὐτοῦ πνεύματα καί τούς λειτουργούς αὐτοῦ πυρός φλόγα». (σελ. 644) Τοῦτο τό πῦρ τήν ἐν τῷ ὀφθαλμῷ δοκόν κατακταῖον, καθαρόν τόν νοῦν ἀποκαθίστησιν, ἵνα τό κατά φύσιν ἀπολαβών διορατικόν μή τό ἐν τῷ ὀφθαλμῷ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ κάρφος ὁρᾷ, ἀλλά διηνεκῶς τά τοῦ Θεοῦ θαυμάσια κατανοῇ κατά τόν λέγοντα, «ἀποκάλυψον τούς ὀφθαλμούς μου καί κατανοήσω τά θαυμάσια ἐκ τοῦ νόμου σου». Τοῦτο τό πῦρ δαιμόνων ἐστί φυγαδευτήριον καί κακίας πάσης ἀναλωτικόν, ἁμαρτίας ἀναιρετικόν, ἀναστάσεως δύναμις καί ἀθανασίας ἐνέργεια, ψυχῶν ἁγίων φωτισμός καί λογικῶν δυνάμεων σύστασις. Τοῦτο καί ἡμεῖς εὐξώμεθα