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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Thereafter, we enter the realm of the new creation and restored nature, where the air and the climate, according to our blessed elder, are different. The proprietors of this state become sons of the new age, according to Saint Makarius, and come to develop different kind of senses. \u201cWhat is mortal is swallowed up by life\u201d (2 Corinthians 5, 4). Our senses are completely revived so that they no longer behave irrationally but only as \u201cin slavery to righteousness leading to holiness\u201d (Romans 6, 19). Let no one think, however, that this luxury comes handy and effortlessly to anyone, but only after his victory over a tough trial of being patient in the face of temptation, through which the divine grace tests and tempts the fighters. \u201cI waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on rock and gave me a firm place to stand\u201d (Psalm 40, 1-2). This saying comes from David\u2019s psalms, who wishing to declare the hyperbolic degree of something, repeats the word \u201cypomenon ypemeina\u201d( I waited patiently): I have excelled myself in the state of perseverance. This is what draws the Lord\u2019s attention. He subsequently \u201clifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire\u201d. These are the deprivations and the desperation which follow harsh temptations. Then, \u201cHe set my feet on rock and gave me a firm place to stand\u201d. \u201cThe rock\u201d on which He set his feet is the acquired state of freedom. \u201cThe firm place\u201d is the virtue of discernment. This is how the \u201cold self\u201d is being renewed. Soon, those who receive Christ with faith, conceive the hitherto strangeness of his teaching as the absolute truth. Man recognizes his worthlessness and comes towards the Father who has no beginning. He regards everything else as made of stone, as corrupted and worthless and the desire for prayer attracts him towards the personal, living God. He comes to perceive Him by His emptying of himself, since He went down to the infernal realm, down to Hades and subsequently ascended above all heaven and sat to the right of the Father in order to fulfill everything. Therefore from now on, He is the path and only through Him each one of us is able to come to the Father: \u201cNo one comes to the Father except through me\u201d (John 14,6).<\/p>\n
\u2018Practical Repentance and its Fruits\u2019<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Thereafter, we enter the realm of the new creation and restored nature, where the air and the climate, according to our blessed elder, are different. The proprietors of this state […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-modern-orthodox-elders","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9651"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9651\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9653,"href":"http:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9651\/revisions\/9653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}