St. Sophia’s Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church in Kiev, Ukraine
In this article I have been sharing the thoughts of the Greek Fathers about the Spirit of God in creation. It is based on a rather highly developed theology of the Holy Spirit and forms the basis for our beliefs about the work of the Spirit in creation. As I shared in the last issue, the “breath” that Genesis says God breathed into humanity, is none other than the Holy Spirit. St. Cyril says, A being taken from the earth could not be seen as an image of the Most High if it had not received the ‘breath’” of God. Thus this actual perfecting action of the Spirit is not something miraculous, but, rather, a part of the original and natural plan of God. From all eternity God has planned to fill creation with His Spirit, bringing all into existence and sustaining all in existence. In this sense, the Spirit is the very content of the Kingdom of God.
Gregory of Nyssa reports the ancient variant for the text of the Lord’s Prayer, Thy Kingdom come, as May Thy Holy Spirit come upon us and cleanse us. The Byzantine liturgical tradition, which is embraced by our Church, maintains this same tradition when it starts every single office with an invocation of the Spirit, addressing Him as Heavenly King.
The liturgical prayers of Pentecost, though centered mainly on the role of the Spirit in redemption and salvation, also glorify the Spirit as the One who rules all things, who is Lord of all, and who preserves creation from falling apart. The popular customs associated with Pentecost in our Church suggest that the outpouring of the Spirit is indeed an anticipation of cosmic transfiguration; the traditional decoration of churches with greens and flowers on that day reflects the experience of new creation. The same idea dominates the Great Blessing of Water, on the feast of Theophany. Water, the primeval cosmic compound, is sanctified by the energy of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is seen as having a truly transforming function.
The universe does not change in its empirical existence through the energy of the Spirit. The change is seen only by the eyes of faith because man has received in his heart the Spirit which cries: Abba, Father. Man is able to experience through faith the paradisaic reality of nature serving him and to recognize that this experience is not a subjective fancy, but one which reveals the ultimate truth about nature and creation as a whole. By the power of the Spirit, the true and natural relationship is restored between God, man and creation.
This is the reason why the Epiclesis is so important and special in our Divine Liturgy.