Return to God through the Sacramental and Mystical Life

The sacramental and the mystical life – which each of us lives with the guidance of a spiritual father- these two lives becom like two antennae, two hands, with which we seize Christ and draw Him within us. They are the means of continuous communion with Christ. Here are the two wings which raise us up to God, to Him Who sits upon the cherubim and seraphim. There can be no true mystical life without the sacraments, that is, without Christ. In like manner, there can be no sacramental life isolation from a personal spiritual life, because the former exists for the sake of the latter.
…When someone wants to purify gold, he plunges it into a furnace, taking care to keep the fire burning. Likewise, let us keep the fire burning, holding forth the torches of the mystical and sacramental life, which keep the flame continually alight. (Page 34-35)
Let us also then keep our wings forever upraised, our antennai outstretched, and thw flame within us burning brightly. Then we will not even need to cry out:”My Christ, i want to return to You,” for it is He Who is returning to us. (Page 37)

In this homily, Return to God through the Sacramental and Mystical Life, the teachings of ourever-memorable Spiritual Father, Archimandrite Aimilianos, refresh and strengthen the hearts of the weary, both laymen and monastics alike. It was given by the Elder on 15 March 1987 at the holy church of the Crucified One (Aigaleo, Greece).

Through Baptism, we have all been immersed in the life-giving waters of the Holy Trinity—we have all received the “adoption as sons” (Eph 1:5)—yet, for the most part, we still live as sons and daughters of the old Adam. Having realized this truth, may the present homily kindle within us the fire of the love of God, that we may return to the sure path that leads to Him, which is the sacramental and mystical life of the Orthodox Church.