Theology & Dogma
Pneumatology (Holy Spirit)
The Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Trinity, the Lord and Giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and is worshipped and glorified with the Father and the Son. The Creed says this in the words of 381, and St Basil’s treatise had prepared them. The Spirit is sent into the world through the Son, which is His mission in time; He proceeds from the Father alone, which is His eternal origin, and the Filioque confused the two. He spoke by the prophets, overshadowed the Virgin, descended at the Jordan and at Pentecost, and is given to each Christian in chrismation as the seal of the gift. He changes the gifts at the epiclesis. St Seraphim of Sarov said the acquisition of the Spirit is the whole aim of the Christian life, and almost every Orthodox service begins by asking Him to come.
Through the Holy Spirit comes our restoration to paradise, our ascension into the kingdom of heaven, our return to the adoption of sons, our liberty to call God our Father, our being made partakers of the grace of Christ, our being called children of light, our sharing in eternal glory…
The text
O Heavenly King
O Heavenly King, Comforter, Spirit of Truth, who art everywhere present and fillest all things, Treasury of blessings and Giver of life,
come and abide in us, and cleanse us from every stain, and save our souls, O Good One.
Βασιλεῦ οὐράνιε, Παράκλητε, τὸ Πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας, ὁ πανταχοῦ παρὼν καὶ τὰ πάντα πληρῶν, ὁ θησαυρὸς τῶν ἀγαθῶν καὶ ζωῆς χορηγός,
ἐλθὲ καὶ σκήνωσον ἐν ἡμῖν, καὶ καθάρισον ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ πάσης κηλῖδος, καὶ σῶσον, Ἀγαθέ, τὰς ψυχὰς ἡμῶν.
The prayer to the Holy Spirit that opens almost every Orthodox service and every rule of prayer at home. Between Pascha and Pentecost it is not said, and its return on the day of Pentecost is the moment the Church waits for.
Sources
- Gospel of John 15:26 the Greek New Testament
- Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed (381 AD) OCA
- St. Basil the Great, On the Holy Spirit NPNF
- St. Gregory the Theologian, Oration 31 the Theological Orations
- St. Photius the Great, Mystagogy of the Holy Spirit archive.org, to borrow
- St. Basil the Great, On the Holy Spirit 15.36 NPNF
Connections
- Filioque Controversy
- Holy Chrismation (Confirmation)
- On the Holy Spirit (St Basil)
- Pentecost (Feast of the Holy Trinity)
- Pentecost & the Birth of the Church
- Second Ecumenical Council: Constantinople I (381)
- St. Basil the Great (330-379)
- St. Gregory the Theologian (329-390)
- St. Photius the Great (c. 810-893)
- St. Seraphim of Sarov (1754-1833)
- St. Symeon the New Theologian (949-1022)
- The Epiclesis (Calling Down the Spirit)
- The Holy Trinity
- The Monarchy of the Father
- Theophany (Epiphany): January 6