On The Sacrament of Chrismation (Confirmation) Conclusion

This is the fourth and last post on a series exploring the sacrament of chrismation. Click here for Part One, here for Part Two, and here for Part Three.

St. Seraphim of Sarov famously stated that the goal of the Christian life should be the acquisition of the Holy Spirit. Now, since they are given it at their chrismation, what is there for them to attain? The answer is that they are to realize their full potential, to be open for and receive all the graces and gifts the Holy Spirit is willing to give to them thanks to their confirmation. What they should acquire, then, is not some new potential, but the opening up of that potential and living it out to the fullest, to see what it means truly to have the kingdom of God within. The Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, the Comforter with the Treasury of Blessings, has joined with them when they were anointed by the holy chrism oil, but they must make themselves open and receptive of the Spirit so that all that is contained in that treasury can truly be theirs. Emptying themselves of all the decay of sin, they can truly become enlightened and see all things and know all things in and through the Spirit of Truth, for the Spirit knows all things, and is willing to share the hidden things of God with us. Open to it, we will become aware of the truth which transcends all words; when we silence our thoughts and our self-awareness which shelters those thoughts, and let the Spirit reveal the absolute glory of the kingdom of God with us, we will find ourselves in it and with it, enjoying the bounty of God. All of this is there for us, there for our glorification, if only we cooperate with the Spirit and let it reveal the truth to us instead of trying to construct it through our own thoughts and opinions. We must cooperate with it, with the gift given to us in our confirmation, so that we can truly empty ourselves of all that holds us back from following the path of righteousness, for then we truly will find ourselves to be Spirit-borne, enlightened in ways beyond our carnal expectations:

Only the Holy Spirit can purify the intellect, for unless a greater power comes and overthrows the despoiler, what he has taken captive will never be set free (cf. Luke 11:21-22). In every way, therefore, and especially through peace of soul, we must make ourselves a dwelling-place for the Holy Spirit. Then we shall have the lamp of spiritual knowledge burning always within us; and when it is shining constantly in the inner shrine of the soul, not only will the intellect perceive all the dark and bitter attacks of the demons, but these attacks will be greatly weakened and exposed for what they are by that glorious and holy light.[1]

In the Apocalypse we can find an example of the internal spiritual warfare going on within us all; until our full reception of the eschaton and the glory of God, we will find ourselves under attack by so-called “locusts,” powers of evil which seek to destroy us from within ourselves. While Andrew of Caesarea believed the Apocalypse discussed something which would happen in the future, at times he was able to write in a more generalized fashion, and so his statement on these “mental locusts” which seek to hinder our intellect, is true now as it is for the Christians at the end of time. We who have the seal of the Spirit, those who have been chrismated, will find that through this seal, the Holy Spirit will be working in and through us, protecting us from these powers of chaos, helping to strengthen our intellect so it does not become utterly consumed. Then, with such protection, we can more to enlightenment and share the light of truth to the rest of the world:

And the mental locusts, who sting people like scorpions, show the death which is the harm of the soul hiding at the end of evil deeds, to which <death> those are subjected who had not been sealed with the divine seal on their foreheads and <who do not> shine round about with the enlightenment of Life-giving Cross through the Holy Spirit, so that according to the saying of the Master, they ‘shine their light before men for the glory of the divine name.’ [2]