Desert wisdom turns to see, awakening light to glory that illumines as enlightened wisdom vision and resounds as enchanting wisdom song, glorification uniting light and sound. Glory is both wisdom vision and wisdom song, light and sound, visual vibration and audible reverberation. Glorification, in short, is hallowing enlightenment as luminous vision and hallowing enchantment as wisdom song. The Holy Ones, whether angels… Read more »
The Holy Name ‘I AM’ is the pinnacle of paths, as we see when Jesus transmits its glory with wisdom in the words, ‘Before Abraham was, I AM’ (John 8:58). Uncreated glory is what Hesychast tradition lives as glorification of the Name, imparting joyous union of wisdom and glory. But it is also endurance of persecution for God’s Name’s sake,… Read more »
Orthodox Hesychasm received canonical authority from the Hagioritic Tome and the Palamite Councils but its radiant spiritual authority came from from Hesychast saints such as St Symeon the New Theologian and St Gregory Palamas. Contemporary Athonite elders such as St Silouan the Athonite and St Sophrony the Hesychast each imparted this Hesychast tradition in different ways, but their witness was always… Read more »
The Name of Christ ‘chrismates’ christians in three ways, as prophets who speak in the Name of the Spirit of Truth, as priests who offer themselves in their union with Christ’s healing sacrifice of himself on the Cross and as kings who partake in Christ’s witness to God’s sovereign victory over evil, reigning with Christ in the glory of his Father’s… Read more »
God unveils his face of wisdom when he reveals the glory of his presence through his Name, the experience of glory to which prophets and apostles bear witness that should never be confused with visionary apparitions of psychic phenomena or sensual perceptions of objectified appearances (2 Cor 3:18). Glory, being the uncreated energy of God, is not something that comes… Read more »
Christ’s transfiguring heart reveals mysteries of wisdom and glory through the Name which open out to every mystery of Christ in his death, resurrection, ascension and glorification but also to his intercession for all at the heart of each of these mysteries. Wisdom discerns glory in Christ’s death and resurrection by including his baptism at the heart of his transfiguration,… Read more »
The Cherubic Hymn lays aside all worldly care in order to restore glory to the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit, glory’s consummate completeness. The Cherubicon also raises on high the anointed King of all, whose Name is ‘I AM,’ wisdom unveiling glory in the highest heaven as glory’s consummate completeness. He who is, who was and who shall always… Read more »
The Holy Name ‘I AM’ is an ineffable union of ‘I’ and ‘AM,’ wisdom’s active deifying awareness and glory’s receptive deifying presence inseparably conjoined as communion of their uncreated creative energies, radiant wisdom and resonant glory. The Name saves by unveiling deifying awareness and glorifying presence. Wisdom and glory are uncreated dynamic energies communicating the mysteries of turning or metanoia, seeing… Read more »
The revelation of the Name unveils the body of uncreated, formless light, which is ineffable in as many different ways as there are divine names colouring its colourless luminosity as a rainbow body of glory. ‘I AM’ is ineffable as formless radiance, so the body of light, too, is ineffable as a body of ineffable radiance. But the Name above all names… Read more »
Orthodox Christian Tradition teaches that wisdom unveils what God’s grace reveals whereas glory unveils how God’s grace is revealed. Both unveilings are revelations of the ineffable but wisdom is the ineffable awareness of God’s presence whereas glory is the ineffable presence of this deifying awareness. If the revelation of wisdom is what glory unveils, glory is the form of wisdom. If… Read more »