www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Scripture and Patristic Writings Hymns of Divine Love: Hymn No. 30

Hymn No. 30 (part 13)

I saw Him again inside my house,
inside my jar.
He was suddenly completely there
united with me
in an ineffable manner,
joined to me
in an unspeakable way
and immersed in me
without mixing
as the fire melds one with the iron,
and the light with the crystal.
And he made me
as though I were all fire.
And he showed me
myself as light
and I became that
which before I saw
and had contemplated
only from afar.
I do not know
how to express to you
the paradox of this manner.
For I was unable to know
and I still now do not know
how He entered,
how he united Himself
with me.
I was united with Him,
how can I tell you?
Who is He who united Himself
with me, and with whom
I was united?
I shudder and I fear lest,
if I tell you, you will doubt,
and you will fall into blasphemy
because of your ignorance
of such an experience,
and you may even
lose your soul, my brother.
Nevertheless, having become
one being, I and He
to whom I was united,
how shall I call myself?

Hymn No. 30 (part 14)

God, having two natures
is one Person;
He has made me
a double being.
Having made me double,
He has given me two names,
as you see.
But I look at the difference!
I am a man by nature,
by grace I am god.
See, what grace I refer to
is the union with Him,
made in a sensible
and intelligible manner,
essentially and spiritually.

This union, as far as
it is intelligible
I expressed to you
differently and
in various ways.
But the union as far as
it is sensible,
I speak of that
which comes in the Mysteries
(the Sacrament of Holy Communion)
for, purified by repentance
and by the torrents of tears,
I receive in Communion
the Body divinized
as being that of God.
I too become god
in this inexpressible union.
See what a mystery!
The soul then and the body
(I repeat again to you
out of the great joy that
I derive from doing so)
are one of being in two essences.

Hymn No. 30 (part 15)

Therefore these are one and two
in communion with the Christ
and drinking His blood, they
are united in two essences,
united in this way by
the essences of my God,
they become god
by participation.

They are called
by the same name
as that of Him
in whom they have participated
on a level of essence.
They say that coal is fire
and that iron is black.
Yet when the iron
is immersed in the fire
it appears as fire.
If it then appears as such,
we can also call it
by that name.
We see it as fire,
we can call it fire.

If you have never known
this in your
own experience, do not
distrust the experiences
of those who
describe them to you.

But seek with all your heart
and you will receive the pearl
(of great price)
or the drop
(of life giving water)
or like the grain of mustard
or like a divine spark
you will receive the seed.
How will you seek what
I am describing to you?
Listen and then act with energy
and you will find it quickly.

Hymn No. 30 (part 16)

Take my image
that will clarify my point,
that of stone and iron.
For there is inherent in them
truly the nature of fire;
yet no one can see it at all.
But if you continue striking them
they will give off sparks of fire
and then everyone
will at once see them.
However, they do not ignite a fire,
unless they fall on wood.
But if a single little spark
unites with the wood,
little by little
it ignites everything
and the flame stretches upward
and illumines the house
and dispels the darkness
and makes it possible
for all to see,
all who dwell in the house.

Have you seen the marvel?
Then tell me-
without being
continuously struck,
how can the stone and iron
give off sparks?
But without a spark,
how can wood ignite itself?
Before being ignited,
how can it illumine,
how can it chase away the darkness?
How can it provide you,
with the possibility of seeing?
In no way, you will simply tell me,
can this ever be done.
Then you will also be eager
to do likewise and
you will receive
-what do I tell you
that you will receive?

Hymn No. 30 (part 17)

No less than a spark
of the divine nature
which the Creator
has likened to the pearl
of great price
and the mustard seed.
What am I telling you to do?
Listen carefully, child!
In your case
substitute your soul and body
for the stone and iron.

Let your mind, since it is
the one in charge
of your passions,
meditate on virtuous deeds
and thoughts pleasing to God.

Let God take into
His spiritual hands,
your body as a stone
and your soul as
a piece of iron
and let Him draw and push them
to do the deeds with violence,
for the Kingdom of Heaven
is brought about by violence.

What are the deeds
I speak to you about?

Vigil and fasting,
ardent repentance,
outpouring of tears,
and an abiding
sense of sorrow,
the continual
remembrance of death,
uninterrupted prayer,
and the patience
bearing of all sorts
of trials that
come one�s way.

Above all silence
and profound humility
and perfect obedience
and the negation of one�s
own will.
Thus in exercising itself
in these practices
and others like them
and in doing so constantly,
the soul will bring it about
that your mind will receive
first of all illumination,
but the mind quickly
looses these because it
is not yet subtle enough
to be rapidly inflamed.

Hymn No. 30 (part 18)

But when the divine illumination
will ignite also the heart,
then it also illumines it
and completely
purifies the mind
and lifts it up
to the heights
and leads it up to Heaven
and unites it with the divine light.

But before doing these things
that I told you, how, tell me
will you be purified?

And before being purified,
how can your mind
receive divine illuminations?

But how, tell me, by what
other means and what
is that means,
can the divine fire
fall into your heart
and ignite it and
make it burn
and unite with it
and join to work together
by rendering it inseparable,
the creature with the Creator?

Absolutely in no way,
you answer me,
will this be possible
for any living human being
or anyone yet to be born!

But do not ask me
about the things above!
For if you have been
united with the light,
it itself will teach you
all things
and reveal everything.

It will make you see gradually
such things as are important
for you to learn.
For it is impossible
in any other way
for you to learn by words
these things here below.

Glory be to the Lord,
for ever and ever, Amen.

Hymn 30 is now complete.

There are several, perhaps many, people on this Forum who have expressed active Carmelite devotions or who live Carmelite vocations.

Anyone who has read St. Teresa of Avila's Way of Perfection or Interior Castle should find some very familiar elements and teachings in this hymn by St. Symeon.

I pray that it brings peace, joy and an enlivened desire for sanctity to all who take the time to read herein.

Eli

Eli,

Thanks for posting those Hymns. I think I'll do one part per day to meditate on them as well.

God Bless You,

Dr. Eric

I just thought part one was awesome for today. It just brings out the fullness of God working as fire - throughout the Old Testament with Moses to the Tongues of Fire falling on the Apostles.

How St. Symeon emphasizes the burning desire of God to draw us to himself by burning away the chaff, and only God can do it - in us, through us, and for us - if we will only cooperate with the grace and mercy he pours upon us.

Eli, brother in Christ,

Thank you from heart for posting in English the Hymn no. 30 of Saint Symeon the New Theologian.

The works of this Saint are not so known, neither those of Saint Isaac the Syrian.

I have read these hymns in Romanian and I am very glad that more souls discover these hymns.

May God bless you, Eli, and make you worthy of the Heavenly Kingdom. Amin.

In Risen Christ, Marian +

It is thrilling to my heart to see you, Pani, Dr. Eric and Marian, enjoying St. Symeon's mystically poetic teaching.

I hope you, who are reading it slowly and meditatively, will reflect on it here as you are inspired to do so, and as you have already done Pani.

There is a wealth of Trinitiarin theology there and hesychast and ascetic spritiuality and theology as well. But more than that there is demonstrated an intimate and boundless love of Love, Himself.

Christ's peace to all,

Eli

You humble me more than you can imagine, thank you. I am a sinner in truth. Please continue to pray for me, Marian.

Yes. These hymns are not well enough used where they can readily be seen by others and their lessons discovered anew.

I have to thank a tiny community of Greek Orthodox monks for my photocopies of both St. Symeon's hymns and of St. Isaac's teachings in English.

There is a tradition where St. Isaac's works are so rich and dense that a monk may only read one page per day in his cell.

I guess they don't want a housefull of bloated and imobilized monks from ingesting spriritual food that is too fattening for the soul's own good.

In time, and God willing, I will post another of St. Symeon's hymns. It has its own inherent good to sit and slowly type out the lines of the lessons, so it is no burden here.

Eli

Oh! You remind me. I should tell you that the partitioning of the hymn into sense lines and stanzas is my own and does not reflect Father George's (eternal rest) original translations.

Eli

Today is the great feast of Pentecost.

May your souls be filled by the Holy Spirit! May the Most Holy Trinity bless you all and, please, read the hymn no. 30 of Saint Symeon the New Theologian posted with love by our brother Elitoft.

https://www.byzcath.org/bboard/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=5;t=000316