Meditation on Pentecost

during which the Holy Spirit wrought in the Apostles 1) a change of mind, 2) a change of heart, and 3) a change of tongue. 1

by our Righteous God-bearing Father Nikodemos the Hagiorite

1. Consider, my beloved, how the All-holy Spirit filled the entire house where the divine Apostles were sitting and praying when the Holy Spirit descended into the upper room in the form of fiery tongues like a violent wind and thunder: And It filled all the house where they were sitting (Acts 2:2); and how the Holy Spirit made the house into something like a baptismal font, as Gregory of Thessaloniki says, in order to baptize the Apostles with His divine grace, concerning which baptism the Lord foretold them: Ye shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days hence (Acts 1:5). It filled the house where they were sitting, making it a spiritual font, and accomplishing the promise which the Saviour made them when He ascended, saying, For John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Even the name which He gave them proved to be true, for through this noise from heaven the Apostles actually became sons of Thunder.2 At that very time the All-holy Spirit Himself wrought three changes in the Apostles. The first was a change in the mind of the Apostles, such that their previous ideas concerning the things of this world were altered so that they began to understand clearly the lowliness and vanity of present good things, and on the other hand to understand the greatness and eternalness of the future good things. Therefore, those same Apostles who just a short while ago disputed among themselves who among them would be the first and greatest: And there was also a strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest (Lk. 22:24), after receiving the Holy Spirit considered it a great blessing to be lesser than everyone, to be despised by everyone on account of Christ, and to be looked upon as weaklings, fools, disgraces, with contempt, and as the trash and refuse of the world and men: We are fools for Christ's sake, we are weak, we are despised... we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day (1 Cor. 4:10-13). Now, my brother, think about whether this change of mind has also occurred in you through reading this spiritual exercise and what spiritual degree you have reached. For if up to now you have thought it a great thing to be honored and esteemed by men, to be in the heart of everyone and loved by all, to always be seeking out new pleasures
Translated by Fr. George Dokos, ThD. This is the Thirty-Third Meditation from St. Nikodemos book Pneumatika Gymnasmata [Spiritual Exercises] ([Thessaloniki: Regopoulos, 1999], 286-293). 2 St. Gregory Palamas, Homily Twenty-Four: On how the Holy Spirit was manifested and shared out at Pentecost, PG 151, 312B; The Homilies of Saint Gregory Palamas, Volume Two ([South Canaan: St. Tikhons Seminary Press, 2004], 25-26).
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(wasting the time on these things that was given to you in order that you might gain the eternal good things), and to live with taxes and among worldly controversies, it is apparent that up until now your mind has been directed by the spirit of the world and not by the Spirit of God. For this you should lament and repent, because Christ died, resurrected, and ascended into the heavens, not to give you the spirit of the world, but to give you His own Spirit, and you, by the evil life you have been living, have not become a recipient of His Divine Spirit: Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God (1 Cor. 2:12). However, from now on you must be resolved to change your ways completely, namely, to be guided by the teachings of the Gospel and the Holy Spirit, not to reckon any other honor but that which magnifies you before God, and not to choose any other good except that which will bring you Paradise. If you do these things it is a good sign that the grace of the Holy Spirit has begun to illumine your mind and to change you from the person you were into another person, just as it is written about Saul: The Spirit of the Lord will come upon thee, and thou shalt be turned into another man (1 Kg. [1 Sam.] 10:6). On account of this you should rejoice and thank the Lord Who illumined you with His Holy Spirit so that you might not walk any longer as an infant, but as a perfect man: When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things (1 Cor. 13:11), and so that you might not follow any longer the mindset of the flesh, which is death, but the mindset of the Spirit, which is life: To be carnally minded is death; but to have the mind of the Spirit is life and peace (Rom. 8:6). Be ashamed, then, of your past life, when you lived, not as a family member of Christ, but as an alien and foreigner, because you did not possess the Spirit of Christ, for according to the Apostle: Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His (Rom. 8:9). Humbly ask the Holy Spirit to completely reorient your mind toward His divine will, enlightening it with His grace, and not superficially, but penetratingly to the depths, so that you might not be deprived of His enlightenment and grace like David, and say with him: The light of mine eyes, even this is not with me (Ps. 37:10). And to a dim enlightenment you should add a purer and brighter enlightenment, saying: In Thy light shall we see light (Ps. 35:10). But how can you retain this enlightenment of the Holy Spirit in your mind and not let it be extinguished? Listen to what the divine Chrysostom has to say to you: Just as the light of a lamp is ignited and continues to shine because of the oil in it, but when the oil is consumed the light too is extinguished, so the grace of the Holy Spirit is ignited and illumines us when we have good works and almsgiving in our souls. But when we lack good works and almsgiving the light of the Holy Spirit departs from us. For just as the light of a lantern is fueled by oil, and when the oil burns off the light is extinguished as well; in like manner, the grace of the Spirit ignites and illumines us when we have good works and have much almsgiving and compassion for the poor in our soul. When these are 2

absent, however, then does grace also disappear and depart.3 Accordingly the Spirit of the Lord which was given to Saul departed from him because he did not have a good will and virtuous deeds: The Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul (1 Kg. [1 Sam.] 16:14). For this reason Paul commands us by writing: Quench not the Spirit (1 Th. 5:19). Basil the Great says that just as a fever permanently remains in some bodies for a long time, but in others temporarily and only for a short while, so it is with the Holy Spirit, for He remains in some people permanently on account of the firmness of their good will, as it was for Eldad and Medad (concerning whom it is written in Numbers 11:26 that they always prophesied); while in others the Holy Spirit is found only temporarily and quickly departs on account of the instability of their will, as was the case for Saul and the seventy elders who only once prophesied and then lost the charisma of prophecy: As in our bodies is health, or heat, or, generally, their variable conditions, so, very frequently is the Spirit in the soul; since He does not abide with those who, on account of the instability of their will, easily reject the grace which they have received. An instance of this is seen in Saul and the seventy elders of the children of Israel, except Eldad and Medad, with whom alone the Spirit appears to have remained, and, generally, any one similar to these in character.4 2. Consider, my beloved, the change the Holy Spirit wrought in the hearts of the Apostles, who in the beginning were so fond of life, such lovers of the flesh, and such cowards, that in order to protect their lives, one of them deserted his Teacher during His Passion and ran away naked: And there followed Him a certain young man, having a linen cloth cast about his naked body... And he left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked (Mk. 14:51-52).5 Another one denied Him, and all the rest departed: And they all forsook Him, and fled (Mk. 14:50). And because they were like frightened hares, they remained locked up in the upper room out of fear and didnt dare go outside for nearly the entire period of the fifty days after the Resurrection. But after the Holy Spirit descended upon them, He changed the weakness of their hearts into courage and bravery. Then they went outside like fearless lions and preached the crucified Jesus before all the multitudes of people with open faces, with brave chests, and with courage and boldness without flinching before either threats, or lashings, or torments and tortures, or death itself. But they longed for these things like delights and revelries and they exceedingly rejoiced upon receiving them: And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for

St. John Chrysostom, De Verbis Apostoli, Habentes Eumdem Spiritum 6, PG 51, 277. St. Basil the Great, De Spiritu Sancto 26.61, PG 32, 180D-181A; NPNF (V2-08), 38. 5 This was James the Brother of the Lord, who wore only one garment all of his life, as the sacred Theophylact says (Enarratio in Evangelium Marci, PG 123, 657C).
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His name (Acts 5:41). Then you would see Peter, who beforehand was cowardly and in love with this life, and who was not even able to listen to a single word of a simple girl without fear, standing fearlessly and boldly speaking with a loud voice before thousands of people without thinking them at all to be people, but as if they were brutes and plants or stones. And by his speaking he drew three thousand people to the faith of Christ: But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them (Acts 2:14). Then you would see those unlearned fishermen so full of knowledge and wisdom that the wise and learned would be in awe: They perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, and they marveled (Acts 4:13). And why is this? Because the Holy Spirit put a breadth of knowledge in their hearts, just as it is written about Solomon: And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart (3 Kg. [1 Kg.] 5:9); and because the Lord had touched their hearts, as it is written (1 Kg. [1 Sam.] 10:26). What grace! What power! What fire of the Holy Spirit, which, setting the heart aflame but once, makes hares into lions, the weak strong, the unwise wise. It changes that which is earth into fire, and transforms those who were once statues into perfect men. This is what God promised to give through the Prophet Micah, saying: There shall be none to hearken to them, unless I am filled with strength from the Spirit of the Lord (Mic. 3:7-8). Now you also, my brother, who are reading these things, think about this: If you have received this courage and fervor in your heart so that you do not fear flesh, the world, or the ruler of this world, this is a sign that you have been changed by the Spirit of the Lord, just as it is written: Then shall the Spirit change him and pass through him, and make an atonement; this strength belongs to my God (Hab. 1:11). And if you used to seek out with all the vehemence of your desires the goods of this world riches, glory, pleasures, and if you considered the person who had the greater amount of these goods the most blessed, know that until now your heart has been worn down, unfeeling, and hardened like a stone because of the spirit of the world and of the flesh. For this reason lament and repent, because in all the years of your life you have not become worthy to receive through the Holy Spirit a new heart, feeling and of profit to you, which God promised to give to you: And a new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh and I will put My Spirit in you (Ezek. 36:26-27). But if you now seek after the completely opposite things instead of taking pride in wealth you are humbled and rejoice in poverty and long to be dishonored and disgraced; instead of desiring delights and revelries you love frugality and self-control know that the Holy Spirit has begun to change your heart into another heart, just as it is written concerning Saul: And it was so, that when Saul had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart (1 Kg. [1 Sam.] 10:9). Therefore be glad and thank the Lord Who through the Holy Spirit has not only purified your mind but has also warmed your heart and wishes to change you from a carnal person into a spiritual 4

person, from a foolish infant into a wise man, and from a worldly gentile into a true Christian. For the Holy Spirit is accustomed to bringing about such God-befitting and strange changes, just as the great theologian Gregory theologizes: This Spirit, for He is most wise and most loving, if He takes possession of a shepherd makes him a Psalmist, subduing evil spirits by his song, and proclaims him King of Israel; if he possess a goatherd and scraper of sycamore fruit, He makes him a Prophet. Call to mind David and Amos. If He possess a goodly youth, He makes him a Judge of Elders, even beyond his years, as Daniel testifies, who conquered the lions in their den. If He takes possession of Fishermen, He makes them catch the whole world in the nets of Christ, taking them up in the meshes of the Word. Look at Peter and Andrew and the Sons of Thunder, thundering the things of the Spirit. If of Publicans, He makes gain of them for discipleship, and makes them merchants of souls; witness Matthew, yesterday a Publican, today an Evangelist. If of zealous persecutors, He changes the current of their zeal, and makes them Pauls instead of Sauls, and as full of piety as He found them of wickedness.6 Therefore be ashamed, my brother, because until now you were far from such thoughts, going about in the evil desires of your heart, not allowing any place therein for the Holy Spirit to dwell. And to put it briefly, because you have lived only like an unspiritual and worldly person, who is unable to receive the things of the Spirit: But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned (1 Cor. 2:14). Make a decision that for the rest of your life you will not grieve the Holy Spirit any longer with any improper and evil appetite of your heart, according to the commandment given you by the Apostle: And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God (Eph. 4:30). And that you will not oppose His holy will as one hard of heart, like those hardhearted Jews to whom Stephen said: Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit (Acts 7:51). Rather, you should offer your whole heart to the Holy Spirit, with all of its desires, so that He may dwell in it, just as the Spirit Himself commands you, saying: My son, give Me thine heart (Pr. 23:26). You will give your heart to the Holy Spirit if you always meditate on the Name of Jesus Christ the Son of God in your heart through unceasing prayer. For although the Holy Spirit proceeds only from the Father, He also is, and is called, the Spirit of the Son on account of being of the same essence and resting in the Son, on account of which the Spirit rejoices when the Son is named: God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father (Gal. 4:6). Through this noetic and spiritual prayer you will contemplate the Son in the Spirit, and the Father in the Son, as Basil the Great

St. Gregory the Theologian, Oratio 41.14, PG 36, 448B-448C; NPNF (V2-07), 384.

says.7 And you will be deemed worthy through this noetic exercise to find and behold noetically the grace of the Holy Spirit which you received in Holy Baptism, but which you have buried like a spark under your passions and sins. And lastly, since the All-holy Spirit the other Comforter, the completing Person of the Holy Trinity, the Giver of all spiritual gifts, the Life of the living, the Mover of things moved, and the Perfecter of all beings simply out of His philanthropy wanted to etch in your heart the first lines and initial from of His grace, entreat Him not to leave you incomplete, but to bring to completion that form and work which He began in you, granting you the charisma of abiding in and enduring perseverance in His grace, which charisma is the greatest of them all.8 And entreat the Holy Spirit through this charisma to deem you worthy, who are presently but earth and dust, to become even here and now completely spiritual, completely angelic, completely holy and a son of God, and god by grace, just as Basil the Great says: When the Holy Spirit came upon the body of man, He bestowed life, and He bestowed immortality and sanctification. He raised up that which was lying down. That work which was begun by the eternal movement of the Holy Spirit became a holy creature. And man, who once was earth and dust, received the honor to be indwelt by the Holy Spirit, to be a prophet, an apostle, and an angel of God.9 3. Consider, my beloved, the change the Holy Spirit wrought in the tongues of the Apostles. For they who at first spoke about nothing but earthly and base things, about fleeting and vain glories and honors: Grant unto us that we may sit, one on Thy right hand, and the other on Thy left hand, in Thy glory (Mk. 10:37); they who spoke lowly and unworthily of Christ: It is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for Thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias (Lk. 9:33); they who formerly even agreed with Judas to castigate that blessed Mary and get angry at her for anointing the feet of Jesus with very costly myrrh, saying with indignation: Why was this waste of the ointment made? For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her (Mk. 14:4-5). These very same Apostles, I say, after the coming of the Holy Spirit, did not speak about anything else but the wonderful things of God, about lofty and great things, the kingdom of the heavens, the theology of the Holy Trinity, the incomprehensible mystery of the Incarnate Economy, that Christ is true God. They spoke with sublime rhetoric, surpassing frankness, and in various tongues: We do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God (Acts 2:11).
Cf. St. Basil the Great, De Spiritu Sancto 26.64, PG 32, 185A; NPNF (V2-08), 40: Just as the Father is seen in the Son, so is the Son in the Spirit. 8 According to the theologians, only the charisma of abiding in the grace of the Holy Spirit begins and completes Gods purpose for each person. 9 St. Basil the Great, Adversus Eunomium 5, PG 29, 769B.
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Now, my beloved, think about the words you spoke prior to reading this exercise and the words which you should now speak in order that you too may receive this change of tongue by the grace of the Holy Spirit. God gave you a tongue, my brother, as an instrument to speak good things, and not evil things. Therefore, you must use it in the way that God intended, that is to say, to always glorify and praise God with your tongue, and to recite His divine words, as it is written: Every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Phil. 2:11). And again: My tongue shall treat of Thy righteousness, and of Thy praise all the day long (Ps. 34:32). You should not use it to speak impious words against God and to call upon His holy Name for vain things: Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain (Ex. 20:7). You should use it to criticize and reproach yourself, not praise yourself: Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips (Pr. 27:2). You should use your tongue to counsel your brother about those things that are unto his salvation and to establish him in good and virtuous things, not sharpen it like a knife against him, mocking him, criticizing him, and scornfully insulting him with anger: They have sharpened their tongues like a sword (Ps. 63:3). Neither should you use it to give bad counsel, using smooth and gentle words, sneaky and inimical, in order to do harm to your brother and injure him: Their words were smoother than oil, and yet they are darts (Ps. 54:24). In a word, you should have the wondrous things of God on your tongue, the words of the Old and New Testament, things concerning divine Providence and judgment, and the things concerning Gods goodness. All of your conversations should be about spiritual and divine matters and spiritually edifying. If you use your tongue for these things, know that the Lord has spiritually formed your tongue, just as He did for the man who was deaf and mute: And He spit, and touched his tongue... and the string of his tongue was loosed (Mk. 7:33-35). And it is a good sign that the Holy Spirit has begun to change your own tongue and speak Himself through it, as He spoke through the Apostles and David: The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and His word was in my tongue (2 Kg. [2 Sam.] 23:2). Be ashamed, then, my brother, for having until now spoken like a carnal man and as an infant, and not as a spiritual and perfect man: When I was a child, I spake as a child (1 Cor. 13:11). And be ashamed that your tongue has spoken injustice, just as Isaiah says: Your tongue mutters unrighteousness (Is. 59:3). Be resolved from now on not to allow any rotten, absurd, and vain words out of your mouth, but only edifying and salvific words unto the building up of your hearers, just as the Apostle orders you: Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers (Eph. 4:29). For, the word is the shadow of the deed,10 as a wise man has said, and evil words bring about evil deeds, just as, contrarily, good words bring about
10

Democritus, Testimonia 1.33.

good deeds. For this reason Solomon said that in the tongues control are both life and death: Death and life are in the power of the tongue (Pr. 18:21). And just as whoever wears perfumes causes both himself and others to smell like perfume, so also whoever bears a stench causes both himself and others to stink. In the same way, whoever speaks good words profits both himself and his hearers, while whoever speaks evil words injures both himself and his hearers. Lastly, entreat the Holy Spirit to strengthen that which He has begun to work in you: Strengthen, O God, this which Thou hast wrought in us (Ps. 67:29), and demonstrate a complete change in your tongue by His grace so that you never again err with your tongue by any improper word: If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man (Jam. 3:2). But rather that the Holy Spirit use your tongue like a pen and direct it with His right hand so that you speak only those things He wants. Then you will say: My tongue is the pen of a swiftly writing Scribe (Ps. 44:1). And those who see and hear you will say: This change hath been wrought by the right hand of the Most High (Ps. 76:10).