Part 1

Man, liberated from the bonds of material worship and introduced into the spiritual realm, ought by natural reason to offer to God spiritual and reasonable worship; for such worship is that which properly befits him and is fitting to offer to God; for to him, as a rational being, it is appropriate; and to God, as something proper to his nature, it is pleasing; for by nature what is proper is beloved, and spirit and reason are proper to God.

As spiritual rather than material beings, we ought to offer to God spiritual worship; and moreover we ought to do this without ceasing, continually; for we are indebted to him for the spiritual soul which he has endowed with such powers, so that the fulfillment of such a duty appears to be accomplished more naturally than by compulsion; therefore we can confidently assert that by nature man seeks communion with God, and by nature loves to worship him; for this sacred longing is an innate character of the human soul; and therefore the absence of this sacred work can be considered a condition contrary to nature.

How much then is man justified in glorifying himself! For what honor is not worthy of him through divine worship! What good things with which he is filled does he not possess in abundance! This raises him above earthly things and unites him with the angels; this sanctifies him; for it binds him with the All-Holy God; this perfects him; for through it he draws from an inexhaustible spring the grace that perfects him. But the fulfillment of this sacred duty, being as lofty and honorable as it is, requires also a lofty and pure life, full of consciousness and awareness. Therefore, whoever intends to offer to God spiritual worship ought, first, to perform this work with knowledge of its exceptional nature; second, to be moved by great and ardent love; and third, to have awareness both of himself as a human being and of the one to whom his worship is directed as the great God; for only through the concurrence of the three primary powers of the soul can the rational man be raised above earthly things, and standing apart from the world, offer to God worship that is pleasing and acceptable. From the cooperation of this threefold power of the soul in us proceeds pure and spiritual worship, which, rising like fragrant incense toward God and placed as an acceptable sacrifice upon the steps of his divine throne, draws down upon the one who worships the divine grace and the gift of the All-Holy Spirit.

Man offers spiritual worship to God in three different ways; these are glorification, thanksgiving, and supplication. In this threefold worship is concentrated every religious feeling, every disposition of the soul; for these flow from the three primary powers of the soul: the cognitive, the volitional (or appetitive), and the affective.

Glorification is prompted in us by: first, the understanding of the infinite perfections and attributes of God; second, the desire aroused in us therefrom to sing his praises and to relate the great and wonderful works which the infinite wisdom of God has wrought, and which declare his glory; and third, the affection, this mystical language of the soul, through which we are assured of those things which the intellect is unable to comprehend and speech is unable to describe; through affection we sense the majesty of God’s nature and are assured concerning the truths that transcend reason.

We are moved to thanksgiving by the lively sense of gratitude which we owe in infinite measure to the All-Good God for all the good things he has given us and continues to bestow upon us abundantly each day; for he, being in need of nothing and moved only by his divine goodness, not only created man that he might share in his divine perfection and blessedness, but also raised up the fallen, restored to life the dead, and through a new creation remade him, and showed him to be a son and heir of his heavenly kingdom.

Supplication proceeds first from our awareness of our weakness and powerlessness, second from the consciousness of God’s omnipotence and sovereignty, and third from the longing for the heavenly kingdom, which our soul desires and seeks; for we sense that this is the highest good and inexpressible joy; for we long to behold the inexpressible beauty of the divine countenance.

We ought therefore to offer this threefold worship to God as rational beings; for since it is conducted with reason and is fitting for the rational man and befits the Spiritual God. But for the precise fulfillment of this lofty duty there is required purity of intellect and clarity of spirit; for these are the distinctive characteristics that distinguish the rational being who prepares himself for the worship of the divine. But since the attainment of these qualities depends on the healthy condition of our moral life, it is necessary that we direct all our attention to our moral life and take the utmost care of it; for otherwise we miss the mark.

We need therefore moral formation so that we may truly and spiritually render true worship to God; and we achieve this if we regulate our life according to the moral law and trace out its path in accordance with the unchanging spirit of the law; for the moral law is man’s true program drawn by God, which man must fulfill to the letter throughout the duration of his earthly life; for only its strict observance provides him with the assurance that he will be pleasing to his Creator and that he himself will prove blessed and happy; for the moral law is the law suited to man, the natural guide of his course, and the one most fitting for him; and therefore its neglect is a grave moral sin; for it leads to ruin, brings dishonor and reproach, contributes to the degradation of his noble character, and renders futile all hope of improvement. You must therefore hold firmly to the moral law, so that you may walk unswerving on the straight path and with boldness may offer to God and your Father your reasonable worship as a pure spiritual being.

However, the steadfast observance of the moral law is not at all possible for man; for the original sin, which brought death to the human race, not only inflicted corruption upon the flesh but also brought weakness into the powers of the soul; therefore man became powerless and incapable of fully accomplishing his lofty duty; for it darkened the clarity of the spirit, weakened the will, and dulled the affective faculty. Therefore, because of his darkened intellect, man often finds himself in ignorance concerning his own actions, and in many things is unable to distinguish clearly truth from falsehood, good from evil. Because of the weakness of his will, he feels himself powerless always to choose good over evil, from which comes the yielding of his will to unseemly desires. Because of the dulling of his affective faculty, he has become insensitive to the disgrace of evil deeds, from which arose a tolerance of evils, since through their disgrace and shame he is unaware. Therefore he needs divine aid and assistance to strengthen and fortify the powers of his soul, to gain victory in the struggle waged in the field of the heart between good and evil, and to remain steadfast in the observance of the moral law, through which he preserves and secures the purity of his spirit and heart and his communion with God.

Man receives this divine aid through the Church, which frees him from the original sin, initiates in him a holy life, gives him strength in the powers of his soul, and guides him as by the hand toward spiritual perfection and communion with God; for the Church is God’s foundation on earth (the pillar of truth upon which man, leaning, is able to walk), the saving vessel which our Lord Jesus Christ directs through the All-Holy Spirit, and which brings us into communion with God; the Church therefore is the perfector of our moral life, the guide and director of the Christian throughout the arduous course of his life, the strength of our weakness, and the Jacob’s ladder bridging heaven and earth and carrying us to the heavenly kingdom, offering us her steps as supports for our feeble feet and as a means of ascent on high; man therefore has an inescapable need of the Church so that he may draw from her strength and power to prevail against the other law in his members, which wars against the moral law; for the dominance of the moral law will exalt man to the spiritual world and will show him to be truly a rational and spiritual being and worthy of communion, intercourse, and spiritual worship with God. This spiritual worship, being an internal life, is expressed and manifested outwardly through various sacred rites; therefore it is closely connected with external worship, which is an inseparable companion of internal worship and a fellow-worker in the work of man’s spiritual elevation. Because of this relationship between internal and external worship, I consider it necessary to demonstrate the function or purpose of external worship and the relation of the latter to the former, and finally the natural necessity of external worship.