On the Light of Christ

In order to receive and behold the light of Christ in the heart, one must withdraw from visible objects as much as possible. Having first purified the soul through repentance and good works, with sincere faith in the Crucified One, close the bodily eyes, plunge the mind into the depths of the heart, and cry out, ceaselessly calling upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Then, in proportion to the earnestness and ardor of spirit toward the Beloved, the person finds in the invoked name a sweetness that awakens the desire to seek a higher enlightenment.

When through such a practice the mind lingers in the heart, then the light of Christ shines forth, illumining the chamber of the soul with its Divine radiance, as the holy prophet Malachi says in God’s name: “And the sun of righteousness shall rise upon you who fear my name” (Mal. 4:2). This light is at once also life, according to the Gospel word: “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men” (John 1:4).

When a person contemplates inwardly the eternal light, then his mind is pure and has within it no sensory representations; but, wholly absorbed in the contemplation of uncreated beauty, he forgets all that is sensory, does not wish to look even at himself, but desires to hide in the bowels of the earth, if only he might not be deprived of this true good—God.