By Fr. George Dorbarakis,
"By means of temperance, Father, and unwavering prayer, you have entered the acropolis of virtue, God-bearer, where the torrent of delight flows in abundance" (Ode 3, Canon to the Saint).
The above hymn by the holy hymnographer Germanos records the path followed by the Saint in order to enter the embrace of the Lord and to enjoy the delights of His Kingdom from then on. The only difference is that instead of the term “Kingdom of God” he chooses the phrase “acropolis of virtue,” because both are identical: the acropolis of virtue is love and love is God Himself. So, Saint John reached the extreme of this virtue, that is to say his heart and his entire existence became the dwelling place of the Holy Trinity, already from this life in this world, but much more so after his holy repose.
However, this path and entry into the Kingdom of God is not unconditional. The cooperation of man is required and this is expressed in the ascetic spirit of temperance and the loving attachment of man to the Lord par excellence through the struggle of prayer. Temperance and prayer are considered, in our Orthodox faith, the most “heavy” weapons of spiritual life, which are essentially and organically connected to each other. This is because no one can pray correctly, that is to say with firm and “unwavering” devotion to the Lord, if he has not made and does not make himself free from his passions through his temperance. In other words, a man who is given over to his pleasures and passions due to his intemperance, that is, he is led and carried away by his attachment to them, cannot properly address the Lord, any prayer of his is polluted by the filth of his passions.
For example, a grudge-ridden person goes to pray and instead of the face of the Lord, he constantly “sees” before him the face of the one he hates because he may have done something to him. And he may say words of prayer with his mouth, but his heart “paints” images of revenge for his supposed enemy – a “prayer” that is directed against himself and increases the number of his sins! That is why our Church, supported by the Lord and Her Holy Fathers who experienced the spiritual life, always urges us to fast, to limit every uncontrolled tendency to enjoy the pleasures of life, to moderation – it is the path so that our eyes can be turned, as we said, towards the Lord. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God," as the unfaltering mouth of our Lord revealed.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
