The Mystery of Pentecost
By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou
By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou
Christ, after His Ascension into heaven, according to His testimony, sent, on the fiftieth day from His Resurrection and the tenth from His Ascension, the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father.
Christ Himself had foretold to the Disciples the mission of the Holy Spirit: “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, that he may abide with you forever, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you” (John 14:16-17). And immediately after that He said: “But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and remind you of all that I have said to you” (John 14:26). And then He said: “It is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Comforter will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you” (John 16:7).
The coming of the Holy Spirit to the Disciples took place on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-13). Pentecost held an important place in the lives of the Apostles. Since they had previously undergone purification of heart and illumination – something that also existed in the Old Testament, in the Prophets and Righteous – then they saw the Risen Christ and on the day of Pentecost they became members of the risen Body of Christ. This has a special significance, because each Apostle had to have the Risen Christ within him.
At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit made the Disciples members of the divine-human Body of Christ; thus, while at the Transfiguration the Light acted on the Three Disciples from within, through theosis, but the Body of Christ was outside of them, at Pentecost the Disciples are united with Christ, become members of the divine-human Body, and as members of the Body of Christ they partake of the uncreated Light. This difference also exists between the Old Testament and Pentecost.
This point is important, because it shows that Pentecost is the birthday of the Church as the Body of Christ, and also, those who are united with the Body of Christ transcend death.
Pentecost is called the “last feast,” because it is the last phase of the incarnation of Christ. Now a great change occurs, because the deified is united in the Holy Spirit with the God-man Christ. With Pentecost, God participates undividedly in everyone in the Body of Christ. Thus, the presence of God is possible.
Also, on the day of Pentecost, the Disciples arrived at “all truth.” Christ, before His Passion, said to His Disciples: “I have yet many things to say to you, but you are not able to bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth” (John 16:12-13).
With this word of Christ, the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost is closely linked to the revelation of all truth, which the Disciples could not bear, could not accept before, without the Holy Spirit.
This “all truth” revealed on the day of Pentecost to the Apostles is the truth of the Church as the Body of Christ, that the Disciples will become members of this resurrected Body and that in the Church they will know the mysteries of the Kingdom of God in the flesh of Christ. On the day of Pentecost they knew the whole truth. Therefore, outside the Church there is no complete truth, and the Church has the truth, because it is the Body of Christ and a communion of theosis.
This truth, which the Holy Spirit revealed to the Disciples on the day of Pentecost, is that the Church is the Body of Christ and the Disciples will become members of the Body of Christ. Apart from this truth there is no other truth.
Whoever knows Christ by experience “face to face” and has within him unceasing prayer, he, reading the Old Testament, sees everywhere Christ and the Prophets having the experience of noetic prayer and the vision of the glory of the Angel of Great Council. And he is able to interpret the Old Testament.
However, in Western theology, this statement of Christ was interpreted differently, that the coming of the Holy Spirit would reveal to them “all truth.”
Another important point, connected with the mystery of Pentecost, is Christ’s prayer to the Father that the Disciples might attain unity among themselves. In His High Priestly prayer, Christ said: “That they may be one as We are” (John 17:11). Elsewhere, He says: “And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one as We are one” (John 17:22). And further down He prays: “I want them to be with Me where I am, so that they may behold My glory which You have given Me” (John 17:24). And, of course, beholding this glory they will be perfected: “That they may be perfected as one” (John 17:23). This was accomplished on the day of Pentecost. At Pentecost the Apostles saw the glory of God, as members of the Body of Christ, who were made in the Holy Spirit and received the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
The Apostles received the fiery tongues and acquired the gift of teaching. They spoke to the people and the people heard the revelatory teaching in their own language. The experience of Pentecost is the greatest theoptic experience.
Another important point connected with the mystery of Pentecost is that the experience of Pentecost, while being a one time event in the history of the Church, nevertheless people with appropriate conditions rise to the same height of the experience of Pentecost, so that the mystery of Pentecost is repeated throughout the centuries.
Because the experience of theosis-Pentecost continues throughout the ages, Pentecost is the basis of true Church history. When in every age there are saints who attain theosis, the experience of Pentecost, then that age is characterized as the “golden age” of the Church.
Therefore, the center of the revelation-Pentecost is Christ, whom the Prophets experienced in pre-incarnate and the Apostles and Fathers incarnate, and this is the essence of the Orthodox tradition.
The One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church
In the Symbol of Faith we confess that the Church is “One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic”. She is One because she is the Body of Christ; she is Holy because she is sanctified by her Head and those who are connected to her are sanctified; she is Catholic because she possesses “all truth” and the fulfilled act, but also because she is spread throughout the world; and she is Apostolic because she is based on the Apostles and those who are members of the Church have the apostolic tradition and the Clergy have the apostolic succession.
As mentioned above, the Church existed before the incarnation, but she was incorporeal, spiritual, the uncreated Kingdom and glory of the Triune God, and after the incarnation of Christ and Pentecost the Church became the Body of Christ. This uncreated glory is that which saves the faithful, who through the Mysteries are united with the Church.
The first resurrection is the participation in the uncreated Grace of God through the Holy Mysteries, while man still lives biological life and is a member of the Church, and the second resurrection is the experience of the deifying energy of God after death. The Church includes living Christians, who receive the Grace of the Holy Spirit as a betrothal, and the departed saints, who experience the spiritual marriage and are called deified. This is why there are no Churches outside the One Church, just as a member of the body cannot live when cut off from the entire body.
The saints know from experience the coexistence of the visible and invisible elements of the Church. The appearance of many saints to living deified members of the Church shows this reality. This is why those who have personal experience have true knowledge of what the Church is.
In the Papacy, a clear distinction is made between the Body of Christ, in which the Pope is the representative of Christ, and the Eucharistic Bread. However, this view is not consistent with the patristic tradition. According to the Fathers of the Church, there is an identity between the Body of the Church and the Eucharistic Bread.
The universality of the Church is expressed by each local Church. Each part is the whole. This also happens in the Mystery of the Divine Eucharist. When we commune of a “pearl”, a part of the Eucharistic Bread, then we commune of the whole Christ. The same thing happens with the Church, which is the Body of Christ.
Each local Church is the entire Church in miniature. Of course, this means that each local Church, in order to be catholic, must preserve “the whole truth” and every practice that confirms the truth and leads to its living. The dogmas, which are the formulation of the apocalyptic truth, are closely connected with the Mysteries. There is an identity between Orthodox theology and the Mysteries.
The participation of the faithful in the Body of the Church and the sharing of the uncreated Grace of God, through the Mysteries and prayer, saves them from death, the devil and sin.
Christ saves people through His Church and in any other way He knows, but we know the way in which one is saved, namely through the Mysteries of the Church and Orthodox piety, which are purification, illumination and theosis or, as it is otherwise called, praxis and theoria.
Purpose of the Church
The purpose of the Church is not social, ethical, philosophical, etc., but primarily soteriological and theological. This, among other things, is evident from the relationship between Pascha, Pentecost and the feast of All Saints. During the Paschal period, the Gospel of John is read, which is characterized as the “spiritual Gospel”, which includes the High Priestly prayer of Christ, which refers to the vision of the glory of God and to the Apostles achieving unity among themselves in the glory of God. This was accomplished on the day of Pentecost and this is also shown by the feast of All Saints, which is the fruit of Pentecost.
The purpose of the Church, which aimed at the deification-sanctification of man, is the original purpose of the creation of the First-formed. This is seen in the fact that even small children can reach holiness. At birth they have an illumined mind, noetic energy functions, but noetic energy is darkened by darkness and the conditions of the environment.
Some perceive the Church as a religion that satisfies their emotions and their everyday concerns. However, the Church is not a religion. Others believe that the purpose of the Church is simply the salvation of the soul after death. However, the Church is the Body of Christ and a “community of theosis.” Thus, the Church constitutes a citizenship within which there are other laws than those that apply in secular citizenships.
Also, there are no boundaries between the Church and the world. This means that the secular mentality can also enter into the members of the Church. Some members may not respond to the activation of the Grace of Baptism. Within this framework, we must see who are the members of the Church, who are members of the Body of Christ. Members of the Church are those who are baptized and anointed, who partake of the Body and Blood of Christ and have noetic prayer in their hearts.
Members of the Church are those who have received the Holy Spirit. This is evident from the passage of the Apostle Paul: “And God has set in the Church first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, then powers, then gifts of healings, understanding, governments, kinds of tongues” (1 Cor. 12:28). Thus, whoever does not have the Holy Spirit is not connected to Christ, does not know Christ and reaches the denial of Christ.
The basic teaching of the Fathers about the Church is that it is characterized as a healing place-hospital that heals people from their fall, which is a deep wound. The teaching that the Church is a spiritual hospital is connected to the other teaching that the Clergy are healers-physicians and practice diagnosis and treatment. Sometimes the Clergy also took on other duties, especially during the period of the Ottoman Empire, when the Bishops also exercised nationalist duties, but they knew very clearly what the work of the Clergy was.
Unfortunately, in many phases of the historical life of the Church, this therapeutic character was lost and this constitutes secularization. It is customary to consider the success of the Church in its relationship with society and the environment. This is also an aspect of the Church's struggle. The success, however, of the Church lies in the extent to which it sanctifies man.
Thus, the success of the Church is not identical with the success of the State, but has other definitions to determine its success. When we speak of the success of the Church, we mean that there are ascetics and hesychast Fathers who heal Christians.
There are clear evidences of the success of the Church, and these are the holy relics, which show the realization of the purpose of the Church. The existence of the holy relics is proof that the Church is walking correctly, responding to its purpose, which is to sanctify people. Holy relics are a reality that shows the victory over death. Because the human body is a sum of cells, which dissolve with death. When, however, in a person the body remains incorruptible, it means that there is a superior power that does not allow it to dissolve. This power is the energy of the uncreated Grace of God. Therefore, this fact must be studied from a theological perspective, but also from a biological perspective. There are entire bodies of saints that are incorruptible, such as that of Saint Spyridon. Thus, the issue of incorruptible relics is a theological fact.
Furthermore, the purpose of the Church, which is the salvation of its members, continues even after death. This is why the Church always prays for its members, because even after death there is progress in salvation, that is, there is a continuous ascent in the participation of the Grace of God, as long as the Christian finds himself, through repentance, in the perspective of purification and illumination of the nous.
Source: From the book “Ἡ πίστη τῶν ἁγίων”. Translation by John Sanidopoulos.
