St. Basil Greek Orthodox Church

Monday
Eph. 5:9-19; Matt. 18:10-20

Comforting His disciples, the Lord said that it would be better for them if He ascended to heaven for, having ascended, in place of Himself He would send the Comforter-the Spirit. The Holy Spirit has descended and abides in the Church, accomplishing in each believer the work of Christ. Each Christian is a communicant of the Spirit. This is something so necessary, that in fact whoever does not have the Spirit is not of Christ. Look closely at yourself-is the Spirit of grace within you? For He does not remain in everyone; He can depart. Here are the sign of His presence: first, He finds a spirit of repentance and teaches a Christian to turn to God and correct his life; the spirit of repentance, accomplishing its work, passes the Christian on to a spirit of holiness and purity. This is succeeded, at  last, by a spirit of sonship. The characteristic of the first is work-loving zeal; the characteristic of the second is warmth and a sweet burning of the heart; the characteristic of the third is the feeling of sonship whereby the heart sighs to God: Abba, Father! (Mk. 14:36). Examine which of these levels you are on. If you are not on any of them, take care for yourself.

-From St. Theophan the Recluse