by Metropolitan of Nafpaktos Hierotheos

The Prophets and the righteous of the old Testament, like the Apostles and saints of the New Testament, understood and confirmed by their own experience that, when someone is healed, that is to say, when he is freed from selfishness, acquires love for God and his fellow human beings, and receives the energies of God, a place is discovered in his heart in which he feels a burning sensation, a movement, a divine joy, an intense spiritual longing. They called this place “the heart” and the energy expressed within it “the noetic faculty” or “nous”, according to Father John Romanides. This discovery is a matter of living experience, not of philosophical musing or speculation. Within the heart, initially in the bodily organ and later in the deep or “spiritual” heart, the saints hear unceasing noetic prayer. There they perceive their encounter with God; there they sense radiance and illumination. This is the nous, also called the noetic faculty. Continue reading “The Meaning and Method of Healing in the Orthodox Church” →