By Fr. George Dorbarakis
The Synaxarion of Venerable Isaac may focus exclusively on his gift of foresight, the courage of his heart, and his Orthodox faith even unto sacrifice, as seen in the incident involving the heretical emperor Valens. Yet his liturgical service does not concern itself with these matters at all. The Hymnographer of our Church prefers instead to present the foundation of the Venerable One’s stance: namely, his venerable life manifested through his ascetic struggles for the purification of his heart and, consequently, his being filled with the virtues and the radiant illuminations of the Holy Spirit.
And this is understandable. No one can possess courage of heart, an Orthodox phronema (mindset), or the gifts of foresight and spiritual discernment unless he has first made himself a fitting vessel for the indwelling of the Triune God Himself. In other words, the Hymnographer approaches the Venerable One at the most fundamental level, in order to show us that what is truly noteworthy in the life of a saint is not some miraculous event, but rather the saint’s purified heart itself. This is the constant goal set before us by our faith, according to the words of the Lord Himself: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” God always seeks from us a pure heart, not miraculous powers, which are entirely His own gift.
Thus:
“For indeed you lived venerably upon the earth, O wise one, having kept His commandments and ordinances unharmed.” (Ode 9)
This is holiness and venerability: to keep the commandments of God unwaveringly. Then the heart and the whole being of a person are opened and become a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, while the passions that darken him and make him misshapen before God depart from him.
“Having become a temple of the thrice-radiant Divinity, you erased from your soul the images of the passions.” (Ode 5)
Of course, keeping God’s commandments so that the passions may be diminished within the soul is no easy matter in a world fallen into sin. The believer must direct his will toward the will of God with iron determination, which means that he will “bleed” in this struggle. No one passes through the spiritual contest easily. Venerable Isaac confirms this:
“By all-night prayers and all-day vigils, O Venerable One, having first purified your soul, you showed it to be a house of the Trinity, O Father.” (Ode 4)
The Venerable One made the presence of God visible in his life through his remarkable virtues. Mere purification of the soul has no meaning unless the soul is also filled with the graces of the Holy Spirit. Indeed, this is precisely what it means to say that the Venerable One purified his soul and became a dwelling place of God.
What, then, are the visible signs of God’s presence? Certainly, the virtues according to Christ.
“You escaped the complete destruction of the noetic sea monster, having acquired self-control, prayer, unclouded love, mighty humility, and steadfast affection toward Christ, O Father.” (Ode 6)
In this way he was led to the heights of Christian dispassion (apatheia), that is, freedom from the tyranny of sinful passions, and he lived upon this earth as an angel.
“You were lifted up to the height of dispassion, for while in the body you imitated the angels.” (Ode 7)
For this reason he was revealed as an expeller of demons and of their instruments, the heretics.
“Having been enlightened by the radiance of the All-Holy Spirit, you drove away the mist and darkness of the heresies, O wonderworker Isaac.” (Kathisma of Matins)
“You became an expeller of unclean spirits, for you became a pure tabernacle of the Holy Spirit.” (Ode 5)
In this way Venerable Isaac demonstrates a fundamental truth of Orthodox spirituality: courage, spiritual discernment, foresight, wonderworking gifts, and the ability to combat demons and heresy are not the starting point of holiness but its fruit. The root is always purification of the heart through ascetic struggle, obedience to the commandments, prayer, humility, self-control, and love for Christ. Only when a person becomes a temple of the Holy Spirit does he become capable of manifesting the gifts and energies of God. Thus the Church directs our attention not first to the saint’s miracles, but to the hidden spiritual labor that made those miracles possible. For the true miracle is the transformation of a human being into a dwelling place of God.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
