Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Congratulations with the feast of the Resurrection of the Lord!

Last week we discussed in detail the process which a person follows on his or her path to repentance. We must note that it is possible to be cleansed from any sin, even the most repulsive ones. Sometimes, when people realize their own sinfulness and remember the words of the Saviour that “All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come” (Matthew 12: 31-32), they fall in spirit and lose hope in the mercy of God. Of course we can’t allow ourselves to descend into such a spiritual state..

Today, let’s discuss what a sin against the Holy Spirit is, and why it is not forgiven while sins against the Son, that is Jesus Christ are. The Holy Hierarch Athanasius the Great, as well as Sts. Maximus the Confessor and Theophylact of Bulgaria, wonderfully and clearly answer these questions. These saints also comfort and assure us that through repentance, even the most serious sin, a sin against the Spirit, is forgiven. They explain that blasphemy against the Son, like for example when people consider Him to be a simple man, a prophet, or a great teacher and not the Saviour of the world, are forgiven because Christ was the incarnate God. His divinity was as if hidden under His visible human nature. To a certain extent, it is understandable and forgivable to judge other people. Although to judge is a sin, we all judge those who surround us. This is part of the fallen nature of man, and therefore such a sin is forgiven.

Often when the Holy Spirit acts in the world, He works wonders. Therefore, a person who blasphemes the Holy Spirit is a person who sees the miraculous work of our God, but does not come to believe in Him. A blasphemer of the Holy Spirit is an ardent atheist or a person who has rejected even the idea of morality. Perhaps Lenin or Stalin and their comrades were such people. They witnessed the Holy Spirit strengthening people who, on the surface, seemed unsuited to spiritual struggle, but in reality, became unshakable pillars of the church. Is not this unshakability a clear sign of the work of the Holy Spirit, and the disregard of this sign and the continuing of fierce persecutions against not only the Church but of everyone, a blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? Ananias and Sapphira are other examples of people blasphemed the Holy Spirit. They, seeing the miracles of the Apostles and becoming members of the young Church of Jerusalem, were not afraid to try and cheat the apostles and the other members of the Church. For this deception they lost their lives (Acts, chapter 5).

These types of sinners, blasphemers of the Holy Spirit, usually don’t change, and therefore their sin is naturally not forgiven. Having said that, we must note that sometimes it happens that even such people change for the better. The best examples of such people are of course the Apostle Paul and Holy Great-Prince Vladimir. Both of them persecuted the Christian Church, and in such a way blasphemed the Holy Spirit, but through repentance became saints. St. Athanasius emphasizes that not every blasphemer of the Holy Spirit is judged to condemnation, only the unrepentant.

In such a way, we can be assured that all of our sins, even the most grievous and even those that we repeat a thousand times, are forgiven through the Mystery of Repentance, if only we truly desire this.

priest Alexis