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is made known.” This light is also eternal life, sent into the one who is deified and not separated from God. Thus Paul said, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” Thus Maximus says about 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 Him, but just as with fire, one part is the accompanying heat, and the other is what it imparts to water or to some other such thing, so also He both has the life in Himself and those who partake of Him live in a manner befitting God, possessing a divine and heavenly life.” This is the life that he elsewhere called a “spiritual and eternal movement,” and which perfects the one who partakes of it as a saint, “who was formerly earth and clay.” Where are those who say that the deifying grace of God is created and that nothing besides His super-essentiality is eternal?

But will someone say that he speaks of eternal life, but not of light? But those who speak of an eternal illumination and a visible glory are surely speaking of an eternal light which can be partaken of by the saints alone. And that the great Basil also knows of a light that is perceptible to such men, intelligible, pre-cosmic and super-cosmic, you will know clearly if you take his Hexaemeron in hand: “For we reckon,” he says, “that, if anything existed before the constitution of this perceptible (p. 642) and corruptible world, it was doubtless in light; for neither the ranks of angels nor all the celestial hosts, nor in general, if there is anything named or unnameable of the rational natures and ministering spirits, did it exist in darkness.” Wherefore the same man also prays for us there, saying: “The Father of the true light, who adorned the day with the celestial light, who brightened the night with the rays of fire, who has prepared the repose of the age to come with the intelligible and unceasing light, may He 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 establish this world, He Himself is light to the eternal beings, and no other; for what need was there of another light for those who have the greatest?” This very 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 vision 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; purify my reins and my heart with fire.” This fire warmed the heart of Cleopas and his companion, as 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, burning away 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 continuously 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, the power of resurrection and the energy of immortality, the enlightenment of holy souls and the constitution of rational powers. Let us also pray for this

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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