The HolyTrinity

Such is the teaching of Father John about the Holy Trinity. In the Triune Unity of God is found all the fullness of life and the life of the world. The reflection of the attributes of God is represented by the universe, the material world and in man in particular. From here, we will make a general deduction from the words of Father John: "In order to become pure images of the Holy Trinity, we must try to attain holiness in our thoughts, words, and deeds. Thought corresponds to God the Father, the word to the Son, and deeds to the Holy Spirit, the all active Creator."

"Your Lord is Love: love Him and in Him all people, as His children in Christ. Your Lord is Fire: do not be cold at heart, but burn with fire and love. Your Lord is Light: do not walk in the darkness of your mind without reason and understanding or without faith. Your Lord is a God of mercy and kindness: you should also be a source of mercy and kindness to your neighbors. If you will be so, you will attain salvation with eternal glory."

Such should our life be, for we carry within ourselves the image of God.

But actually most of the time we live in doubt, with lack of faith; in unbelief, having eyes and seeing not, having ears and hearing not, having a hardened heart. "We notice within ourselves the struggle of faith and disbelief, of good and evil, the spirit of the Church against the spirit of the world. Do you know where this comes from?" asks Father John, and he answers: "From the struggle of two opposing forces: the power of God, and the power of the devil. And I also feel within myself this struggle of two opposing forces. When I begin to pray, at times an evil force painfully depresses me and casts my heart down, that it may not be able to look up to God," writes Father John, in one of his comparatively early writings. The radiation of the evil forces of the devil is similar to poison that enters the body. The kingdom of life and the kingdom of death go together. And involuntarily the question arises: Why does the Lord allow the devil to exist, and even to act on good souls?

Father John sees in this the providential plans of God. "If you do not experience in yourself the influence of the evil spirit, you will not know and you will not value as you should the goodness shown to you by the benevolence of the Holy Spirit; not having known the spirit that destroys, you also will not know the Life-Giving Spirit. Only because of the opposites of good and evil, of life and death, can we understand the one and the other... Glory to God, the Wise and All-Good that He permits the spirit of evil and death to tempt us and cause us suffering. Otherwise, how could we begin to value the consolation of grace, the consolation of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter and Life-Giver!"

For this reason we have been given the Holy Church, Her Mysteries, and all of Her ordinances, so that we might have the opportunity to remain under the constant influence of the all-conquering grace of God.