From the letter of Bishop Juvenaly of Tula and Odoevo to Holy Patriarch Tikhon the Confessor

November 6, 1920

"From my numerous talks with them [i.e. leaders of the Athonite Fathers living in exile in Moscow: Abbot David of St. Andrews Skete, monks Iriney, Peter and Manasses of St. Panteleimon’s Monastery] and having been  acquainted with them for over five months, I was fully convinced in their Orthodoxy, and I have not noticed anything heretical in their reasoning. With your blessing, I even sent monk Iriney to Your Holiness [i.e. to Patriarch Tikhon] for a personal interview, and as you told me, neither did Your Holiness find anything heretical in him."

The Athonite debate over the Name of God and its consequent fate Hegumen Andronik (Trubachev) Pravoslavnaya Beseda, #4 (2000) 39.

The Name of God in the Divine Services: Triodion

The only invisible God was seen bearing a body, and He chose you as His disciples, to proclaim His Name and super-mundane Glory unto all the world, O all-blessed divine Apostles.

Triodion, Tone 1, Canon on Thursday Morning, Ode Three

Holy Fathers on the Name of God: St. Nikodemos of the Holy Mountain

"Brethren, the reason I composed these prayers dedicated to our Lord Jesus Christ was none other than to motivate you to continuously meditate upon and repeat the salvific, most sweet, and joy-producing Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, the bringer of all good things. You should not simply repeat it with your mouth, but also with your heart and your mind, for this continual repetition of the saving Name of Jesus — in addition to the other heavenly, supernatural, and  inexpressible spiritual gifts which it will grant to you, as St. Callistos Xanthopoulos, St. Gregory of Sinai, and St. Symeon the New Theologian all speak about in the book called the Philokalia — will also raise you to the highest virtue, that of divine love, and it will fashion your heart into a temple and a dwelling place of that Holy Name, both in this life and after death."

St. Nikodemos of the Holy Mountain
Prayers to our Lord Jesus Christ

(Fr. Georgre Dokos tr. 2010)

Holy Fathers on the Name of God: St. Irenaeus of Lyons

“But ye have been washed, but ye have been sanctified, but ye have been justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God."(1 Cor. 6:11) He [the Apostle] shows in the clearest manner through what things it is that man goes to destruction, if he has continued to live after the flesh; and then, on the other hand, [he points out] through what things he is saved. Now he says that the things which save are the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Spirit of our God.

Against Heresies, Book 5, 11, 1.

(Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 1 , Philip Schaff Ed.)

Holy Fathers on the Name of God: St. Ignatius Brianchaninov

Let us remember that at God’s Judgement, we will be required to give account for every idle word. So the more fearful is to give account for the words spoken against the fundamental dogma of the Christian Faith. The teaching concerning the Divine Power of the Name of Jesus, is a fundamental dogma [of our Faith] and is numbered among its holy dogmas. Disdainful, blasphemous opinions against the Prayer of Jesus have all the symptoms of a heretical thinking.

On Prayer of Jesus, Conversation of an Elder with his Disciple,
Ascetical Experiences, Vol. II (Russian ed. Jordanville, 1985)

A Reply to the Errors of Bishop Photios of Marathon and Fr. Panagiotis Carras

By Nikolai Stromsky

Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple,

November 21 / December 4, 2011

The Divine Name controversy involved deeply complex theological issues that have as of yet not been fully resolved in conciliar manner by the Orthodox Church. It has been the subject of a small but expanding library of books and articles written by theologians, historians, and churchmen in a variety of languages and from a variety of perspectives. It is a topic about which reasonable people can disagree, inasmuch as the Church has not yet definitely resolved the issue.

What is unacceptable, however, is for people with no knowledge of either the theological complexities involved or the language in which the controversy was conducted, and with no familiarity with either the historical context or the primary sources, unilaterally to declare it a “condemned heresy” and “superstition” (in Bishop Photios' words) purely for reasons of jurisdictional rivalry (hence Bishop Photios' reference to “the parasynagogues of the deposed or un-ordained [sic]” and Fr. Panagiotis' explicit reference to Bishop Gregory of Petrograd and Gdonsk). This is all the more the case when such people display their ignorance by making a series of egregious factual mistakes.

The following is a list of factual errors made by Bishop Photios of Marathon and Fr. Panagiotis Carras with a brief response to each.

1. The “heresy” of name-glorifying was neither “lit” (Bishop Photios) nor “begun” (Fr. Panagiotis) by Schema-monk Ilarion, author of In the Mountains of the Caucasus. This book was originally blessed for publication in 1907, republished in 1910 with funds provided by the New Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna; and printed a third time in an enormous print run by the Kiev-Caves in 1912. All were printed with full ecclesiastical sanction. Nowhere, contrary to what Fr. Panagiotes writes, does Fr. Ilarion make the explicit claim that the “name of God is God Himself.”

2. Fr. Panagiotes writes concerning the name-glorifiers: “Many of them argued that, since according to the ancient Greek philosopher, Plato, the name of an object exists before the object itself does, so the name of God must pre-exist before the world was created, and that it (the Name) cannot be anything but God Himself. Among other things, this was thought to mean that knowledge of the secret name of God alone allows one to perform miracles. A similar concept exists in Jewish Kabbalah and in Buddhism.” This is false from beginning to end. Who are the “many” that argued such evident nonsense? Can Fr. Panagiotis name a single name-glorifier who cited Plato? Where is the evidence that the name-glorifiers taught that God had a “secret name”? What is Fr. Panagiotis source for this information? Has he read any of the works of Fr. Anthony (Bulatovich)? In fact, the answer is quite clear: he copied and pasted this nonsense and slander verbatim from Wikipedia, hardly a reliable source for theological discussion.1

Papism in the Orthodox Church

Michael Alexandrovich Novoselov

(future Hieromartyr and Catacomb Bishop Mark, +1937)

In May of the present year [1913], the Holy Synod published an epistle dedicated to the analysis of the teaching concerning the Name of God. This epistle must be subject to a serious and substantial discussion by Orthodox people to whose consciousness matters of faith are close. Such analyses are already appearing in print. Without touching the above-mentioned teaching, we would like to answer one question, entirely unrelated to the above-mentioned teaching, but which is being posed to us from all sides: “Do we accept the unconditional authority of the synodal epistle [i.e. the decision of May 1913 against the Athonite fathers]? Do we see in it “the voice of the Church”, which is the “Pillar and Foundation of Truth” - as the Synod demands from us? We answer decisively - no, no and no. We were shocked to read it and we reject the conclusive thought of the synodal epistle, which says: “now that the leadership of the Churches of Constantinople and Russia have expressed their position, their (that is, of Schema-monk Hilarion, Hieromonk Anthony and others) further insistence on “Name-glorifying” will equal to the opposition to the truth.” This is an unlawful infringement of the inalienable rights of the ecclesiastical body, the guardians of the faith - the Orthodox faithful.

It seems that the Holy Synod has forgotten that “the infallibility rests only in the catholicity of the Church, united in mutual love” (A. S. Khomyakov). It [i.e. the Synod] does not want to remember what was declared in 1848 to the whole Orthodox and heterodox world by the Ecumenical Patriarch, in his answer to the Roman bishop: “With us, neither patriarchs, nor councils could ever introduce anything new, because the guardian of the faith is the very body of the Church, that is, the faithful.” The spiritual collegium [i.e. the Synod] not only did not wish to invite and hear out the voice of the faithful, but to the contrary, it tried to smother it with draconian methods far surpassing even those of the Roman high-priest [i.e. the Pope].

And now, we are paying the price of such hastiness.

Published in "Religious-Philosophical Library"

Moscow, 1913, p. 4.

Holy Fathers on the Name of God: SS. Callistus and Ignatius Xanthopoulos

The gift and the advent of the Holy Spirit is given to the faithful from God the Father through Jesus Christ and His Holy Name.

Directions to Hesychasts, 12, Philokakia, Vol. 4 (tr. Palmer et al)

The Name of God in the Lives of Saints: St. Gregory the Illuminator of Armenia

One luminary is the sovereign of the day, and it is like unto the unquenchable, unfailing, inextinguishable and uninterrupted light of Thine Only-begotten Son, which will be revealed to Thy righteous ones in the age to come, where there are no days, no nights, no months and no weeks, and hours, and no periods of time, no rotation of years and ages, but there is only the Lord and only His Name.

Life of St. Gregory the Illuminator of Armenia Agathangelos, History of the Aremnians, 91.

ΨΑΛΜΟΣ 19:1

Υπό

Μητροπολίτου Βοστώνης Εφραίμ

Όταν ο Σωτήρας μας απευθύνθηκε στους Αγίους Αποστόλους με τις λέξεις: «Λάβετε Πνεύμα Άγιο», δεν εννοούσε ότι θα λάμβαναν την Ουσία ή την Υπόσταση του Αγίου Πνεύματος.

Γιατί;

Επειδή κανένα πλάσμα δεν μπορεί να λάβει ή να συμμετάσχει της Ουσίας του Θεού. Αν ήταν δυνατόν να λάβει ή να συμμετάσχει της Ουσίας του Θεού μας, θα ήτανε τότε ο ίδιος Θεός! Αλλά αυτό είναι φύσει αδύνατο για τον άνθρωπο, που είναι ένα δημιούργημα. Ο Θεός είναι αδημιούρητος, ενώ ο άνθρωπος είναι δημιούργημα. Ο Θεός είναι αιώνιος εκ φύσεως, ενώ ο άνθρωπος είναι θνητός. Ο Θεός είναι εκ φύσεως άγιος, ενώ ο άνθρωπος είναι προφανώς πεπτωκός και αμαρτωλός.

Όμως, με τη Χάρη του Θεού, τα πάντα είναι δυνατά.

Με την Χάρη του Θεού, ο άνθρωπος μπορεί να γίνει αιώνιος. Με την Χάρη ο άνθρωπος, ένα πεπτωκό πλάσμα, μπορεί να γίνει άγιος. Με την Χάρη του Θεού, οι άνθρωποι μπορούν να αποθεωθούν.

Ο Μωϋσής ο Αιθίοπας, ο κλέφτης και δολοφόνος, θα μπορούσε και με τη Χάρη του Θεού, έγινε ο πράος Άγιος Μωϋσής ο Αιθίοπας.

Η Μαρία, η έκλυτη πόρνη της Αιγύπτου, θα μπορούσε και τω όντι, με τη Χάρη του Θεού, να γίνει η Αγία Μαρία Αιγυπτία, η διορατική, η εξαιρετικά σοφός, η καθαρά νύμφη του Χριστού.

Έτσι, όταν ο πρώτος στίχος του Ψαλμού 19 μας ευλογεί με τις λέξεις:

«Επακούσε σου Κύριος εν ημέρα θλίψεως,

Υπερσπίσαι σου το Όνομα του Θεού Ιακώβ»

είναι παρόμοιες με τις λέξεις, «Λάβτετε Πνεύμα Άγιο.» Όπως αναφέραμε παραπάνω, δεν λαμβάνουμε, τω όντι, δεν είναι δυνατόν να λάβουμε την Ουσία ή την Υπόσταση του Αγίου Πνεύματος, αλλά μπορούμε να λάβουμε τη Χάρη του Αγίου Πνεύματος. Έτσι, στην πραγματικότα, ο Σωτήρας μας μας λέει εδώ: «Λάβετε τη Χάρη του Αγίου Πνεύματος.»

Ομοίως, όταν ο ψαλμωδός λέει, «Υπερσπίσαι σου το Όνομα του Θεού Ιακώβ», εννοεί «η Δύναμη, η άκτιστη Χάρη, του Θεού του Ιακώβ να σε υπερασπίσει.»

Όπως έχουμε επισημάνει και αλλού, «το Όνομα του Θεού (η κυρία σημασία και το νόημά του και όχι τα έξωτερικά γράμματα και οι ήχοι του) είναι η θεϊκώς αποκεκαλυμμένη Αλήθεια περί Αυτού του ίδιου του Θεού, και όλες οι αποκαλύψεις του Θεού περί του εαυτού Του είναι η Δύναμη, η Ενέργεια, η Χάρη Του. Σύμφωνα με τη διδασκαλία της Εκκλησίας, η Χάρη του Θεού είναι ο ίδιος ο Θεός (όχι η Ουσία Του, αλλά η Ενέργειά Του).[1] Ως εκ τούτου, με αυτή την έννοια πρέπει να εννοήσουμε το περίφημο ρητό του Αγ. Ιωάννου Κρονστάνδης ‟το Όνομα του Θεού είναι ο ίδιος ο Θεός.” Η έκφραση του Αγ. Κλήμεντος Ρώμης ότι «το Όνομα του Θεού έδωσε ύπαρξη σε όλη τη δημιουργία»[2] πρέπει επίσης να γίνεται αντιληπτή με αυτή την έννοια.

Αυτό, επίσης, είναι ακριβώς που ο προφήτης Δαβίδ λέει με τον ακόλουθο παραλληλισμό:

Και φοβηθήσονται τα έθνη το Όνομά Σου, Κύριε,

Και πάντες οι βασιλείς της γης την Δόξα Σου.

(Ψαλμός 101:15)

Το ίδιο ακριβώς, λέγει και ο Αγ. Κύριλλος Αλεξανδρείας:

[Ιωάννην 17:11: «Πάτερ Ἅγιε, τήρησον αὐτοὺς ἐν τῷ Ὀνόματί Σου ᾧ δέδωκάς Μοι».] «Λέει ότι οι μαθητές Του θα πρέπει να φυλάσσονται στο Όνομα του Πατρός, δηλαδή, στη Δόξα και την Δύναμη της Θεότητας Του, έτσι ώστε να πρέπει να είναι έξω από τη δύναμη του εχθρού.»[3]

Ως εκ τούτου, όταν προφέρουμε το Όνομα του Θεού, όταν το γράφουμε ή το διαβάζουμε όταν το αποτύπωνουμε στο νου μας, αυτό είναι η δημιουργημένη όψη, που ανήκει στην ανθρώπινη ομιλία μας. Είναι μια λέξη, μια λεκτική εικόνα, ένα σύμβολο που δημιουργήθηκε. Αλλά η Αλήθεια, που περιέχεται και εκφράζεται σ’ αυτά τα δημιουργημένα ονόματα, η Αλήθεια αυτή που απαυγάζεται και απορρέει, απ’ αυτά τα ονόματα είναι αιώνια και άκτιστη, είτε το εκφράζουμε είτε όχι. Η Αλήθεια του Θεού, αυτή η Αλήθεια περί Θεού, όπως αποκάλυψε ο ίδιος ο Θεός, είναι το άκτιστο Όνομα του Θεού, είναι η Δόξα Του, η Δύναμη Του, η Μεγαλοσύνη Του, η Χάρη Του, κλπ. Αυτό είναι το Όνομα του Θεού, και η Εκκλησία το δοξάζει και το υμνεί από καταβολής κόσμου, και θα συνεχίζει να το μεγαλύνει εις τους απεράντους αιώνες. Όπως ο Άγ. Ιωάννης του Τομπόλσκ (+1715) το εκφράζει τόσο συνοπτικά.

«Οι εκλεκτοί του Θεού επιθυμούν πολύ όπως το Όνομα του Θεού, η Σοφία Του, η Δύναμη Του, το Έλεος και η Αλήθειά Του λατρεύεται με αγιοσύνη από όλα τα έθνη και τις φυλές, ούτως ότι όλοι οι λαοί (ως πλάσματα του ενός Θεού) να ζουν με ειρήνη και ομόνοια.»[4]

Το Όνομα του Θεού δεν είναι μόνο ένα κτιστό σύμβολο, όπως λένε μερικοί (αν και είναι κι αυτό), είναι, πιο σημαντικά, η άκτιστηστη Δύναμη και Χάρης του Θεού.

«Λάβεται Πνεύμα Άγιο.»

«Υπερσπίσαι σου το Όνομα του Θεού Ιακώβ.»

---

[1] « ἑκάστη Δύναμις ἢ Ἐνέργεια Αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ Θεός ». Άγ. Γρηγόριος ο Παλαμάς, επιστολη προς τον ιωαννην γαβραν 13, στον Παναγιώτης Κ. Χρήστου, επιμελ., γρηγοριου του παλαμα συγγραματα, τόμ. 2 (Θεσσαλονίκη, 1966), σελ. 340.

[2] «τὸ ἀρχέγονον πάσης κτίσεως ὄνομά Σου.» Άγ. Κλήμης Ρώμης, επιστολη προσ κορινθιουσ αʹ 59.3.

[3] «… ἐν ὀνόματι τοῦ Πατρὸς χρῆναι λέγων τηρεῖσθαι τοὺς μαθητὰς, οἱονεὶ τὸ ἐν δόξῃ καὶ δυνάμει θεότητος, τῆς τοῦ κακοῦν ἐθέλοντος ἔξω γενέσθαι χειρὸς …». Άγ. Κύριλλος Αλεξανδρείας, εξηγησις εις το κατα ιωαννην ευαγγελιον 11.9 (επιμέλ. P.E. Pusey, Sancti patris nostri Cyrilli archiepiscopi Alexandrini: In D. Joannis evangelium: accedunt fragmenta varia necnon tractatus ad Tiberium diaconum duo (3 τόμοι, Oxonii: E Typographeo Clarendοniano, 1872), τόμ. 2, σελ. 714–715, http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hul.fig:002921833.

[4] Άγ. Ιωάννης (Μαξιμόβιτς) του Τσερνίγκοφ και του Τομπόλσκ, илиотропион, или сообразование человеческой воли с божественной волей (ηλιοτροπιον: συμφωνα με τη θεια θεληση) (1714), κεφ. 4, http://www.fatheralexander.org/booklets/russian/iliotropion.htm.

The Name of God in the Holy Scriptures: Acts of the Apostles

And Peter and John were going up at the same time to the temple, at the hour of the prayer, the ninth hour, and a certain man, being lame from the womb of his mother, was being carried, whom they were laying every day at the gate of the temple, called Beautiful, to ask a kindness from those entering into the temple, who, having seen Peter and John about to go into the temple, was begging to receive a kindness. And Peter, having looked steadfastly toward him with John, said, 'Look toward us;' and he was giving heed to them, looking to receive something from them; and Peter said, 'Silver and gold I have none, but what I have, that I give to thee; in the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and be walking.' And having seized him by the right hand, he raised him up, and presently his feet and ankles were strengthened,and springing up, he stood, and was walking, and did enter with them into the temple, walking and springing, and praising God... Peter having seen, answered unto the people, 'Men, Israelites! why wonder ye at this? or on us why look ye so earnestly, as if by our own power or piety we have made him to walk? The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, did glorify His child Jesus, whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, he having given judgment to release him, and ye the Holy and Righteous One did deny, and desired a man -- a murderer -- to be granted to you, and the Prince of the life ye did kill, whom God did raise out of the dead, of which we are witnesses; and on the faith of His Name, this one whom ye see and have known, His Name made strong, even the faith that is through Him did give to him this perfect soundness before you all.

Acts 3:1-17

Holy Fathers on the Name of God: St. John of Tobolsk

The chosen ones of God greatly desire that the Name of God, His Wisdom, Power, Mercy and Truth be venerated in holiness by all the nations and tribes, that all the peoples (as creatures of one God) should live in peace and concord.

St. John of Tobolsk, "In Accordance with the Divine Will," Chapter 4.

Letter of Holy Tsar-Martyr Nicholas to the Overseer of the Holy Synod V.K. Sabler

"On this Feast of Feasts, when the hearts of the faithful strive with love to God and to neighbor, my soul is grieved about the Athonite monastics, who have been deprived of the joy of communing the Holy Mysteries and of the consolation of attending the Church [services]. Let us forget the quarrel: it is not for us to judge about the Greatest of Holies – the Name of God, and by doing so to incur the wrath of the Lord on the Motherland; the trial must be cancelled, all monastics must be settled in different monasteries, they must receive back (following the example of metropolitan Flavian) their monastic habit and they should be allowed to serve [the divine services]."

Pascha, April 15, 1914

The Name of God in the Holy Scriptures: Prophet Ezekiel

And they went in among the nations, among which they went, and they profaned my holy Name, while it was said of them, These are the people of the Lord, and they came forth out of his land. But I spared them for the sake of my holy Name, which the house of Israel profaned among the nations, among whom they went. Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord; I do not this, O house of Israel, for your sakes, but because of my holy Name, which ye have profaned among the nations, among whom ye went. And I will sanctify my great Name, which was profaned among the nations, which ye profaned in the midst of them; and the nations shall know that I am the Lord, when I am sanctified among you before their eyes.

Ezekiel, 36:20-23

Holy Fathers on the Name of God: St. Cyril of Alexandria

By the holy prophets therefore the Saviour and Lord of all is called, "He that cometh." For the prophet David in a psalm declares: "Blessed be He That cometh in the Name of the Lord." And what means that expression "in the Name of the Lord?" it means in Godlike glory, and lordship, and all transcending majesty. And this again he has signified in what follows: "The Lord is God, and hath shone forth upon us." For Moses indeed came, and appeared in his season, and by his instrumentality the law was spoken to the Israelites: and then after him Jesus the son of Navi commanded the host, and then in order the blessed prophets. And they were indeed holy men, honourable beyond comparison, and endowed with a spiritual and all-excelling splendour: but no one of them shone forth upon the inhabitants of earth in the Name of the Lord, in the glory that is of Godhead and dominion. But the only-begotten Word of God shone forth upon us as being in His nature and verily God and Lord.

Commentary on the Gospel of St. Luke, Homily 37

(Robert Payne-Smith ed. 1859)

Holy Fathers on the Name of God: St. Ignatius Brianchaninov

"The Name of the Lord is above every name. It is the fountain of sweetness, fountain of joy, fountain of life; it is spirit; it vivifies, transforms, refines, deifies."

On the Prayer of Jesus, Ascetical Experiences, Vol. II, p 252 (Russian ed. Jordanville, 1985)

Holy Fathers on the Name of God: St. John of Damascus

Either do away with the veneration and worship due to all these things [i.e Holy Places, Holy Gospel, etc.], or submit to the tradition of the Church and allow the worship of icons, which are sanctified by the Name of God and of His friends, and for this reason are overshadowed by the grace of the Holy Spirit.

St. John of Damascus,
Against those who decry the veneration

of the Holy Icons, Book I, XVI.

The Name of God in the Divine Services: Matins

“Jesus, Thine is the Name that saveth!”

Aposticha of the Praises

Matins of Monday of Fifth Week of the Lent

Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi on the Name of God

"The Name of our Lord is not a mere word. His Name is power, energy, resurrection and life."

Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi Athonite Conversations
St. Petersburg, 2004, p. 139 
(Russian edition)

Holy Fathers on the Name of God: St. Hesychius the Presbyter

We write of what we know; and for those who want to understand what we say, we bear witness to all that we have seen as we journeyed on our path. He Himself has declared: ‘If a man not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch; and men gather it, and cast it into the fire, and it is burned. If he abides in Me, I abide in him (cf. John 15:5-6). The sun cannot shine without light; nor can the heart be cleansed of the stain of destructive thoughts without invoking in prayer the Name of Jesus. This being the case, we should use that Name as we do our own breath. For that Name is light, while the evil thoughts are darkness, it is God and Master, while evil thoughts are slaves and demons.

St. Hesychius  the Presbyter, On Watchfulness and Holiness, 170. (The Philokalia, Vol. I, trans. Palmer, et al)

Holy Fathers on the Name of God: St. John Chrysostom

For we have, we surely have, spiritual charms, even the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Power of the Cross. This charm will not only bring the serpent out of his lurking places, and cast him into the fire (Acts 28:5), but even wounds it healeth. But if some that have said this Name have not been healed, it came of their own little faith, and was not owing to any weakness in what they said. For some did throng Jesus and press Him (Luke 8:44-45), and got no good therefrom. But the woman with an issue, without even touching His Body, but merely the hem of His garment, stanched a flux of blood of so long standing. This Name is fearful alike to devils, and to passions, and to diseases. In this then let us find a pleasure, herewith let us fortify ourselves. It was thus Paul waxed great, and yet he was of the like nature with ourselves, so the whole choir of the disciples.

Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans, Homily VIII
(Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Vol. XI)

The Name of God in the Holy Scriptures: Wisdom of Sirach

I will thank Thee, O Lord and King, and praise thee, O God my Saviour. I do give praise unto Thy Name. For Thou art my defender and helper, and has preserved my body from destruction, and from the snare of the slanderous tongue, and from the lips that forge lies, and has been mine helper against mine adversaries. And hast delivered me, according to the multitude of Thy mercies and greatness of Thy Name, from the teeth of them that were ready to devour me, and out of the hands of such as sought after my life, and from the manifold afflictions which I had; From the choking of fire on every side, and from the midst of the fire which I kindled not; From the depth of the belly of Hades, from an unclean tongue, and from lying words. By an accusation to the king from an unrighteous tongue my soul drew near even unto death, my life was near to the Hades beneath. They compassed me on every side, and there was no man to help me: I looked for the succour of men, but there was none. Then thought I upon Thy mercy, O Lord, and upon Thy acts of old, how thou deliveredst such as wait for Thee, and savedst them out of the hands of the enemies. Then lifted I up my supplications from the earth, and prayed for deliverance from death. I called upon the Lord, the Father of my Lord, that he would not leave me in the days of my trouble, and in the time of the proud, when there was no help. I will praise Thy Name continually, and will sing praises with thanksgiving; and so my prayer was heard. For thou savedst me from destruction, and deliveredst me from the evil time. Therefore will I give thanks, and praise Thee, and bless Thy Name, O Lord.

Wisdom of Sirach 51:1–12

PSALM 19:1

By Metropolitan Ephraim of Boston (Holy Orthodox Church in North America) When our Saviour addressed the Holy Apostles with the words: “Receive ye the Holy Spirit,” He did not mean that they should receive the Essence or the Hypostasis of the Holy Spirit. Why? Because no creature can receive or partake of God’s Essence. If he were able to receive or partake of our God’s Essence, he would then be God Himself! But this is impossible for man, a creature. God is uncreated, whereas man is created. God is eternal by nature, whereas man is very much temporal. God is holy by nature, whereas man is obviously fallen and sinful.

But, by God’s Grace, all things are possible. By God’s Grace, man too can become eternal. By Grace, man, a fallen creature, can and does become holy. By God’s Grace, men can become deified.

Moses the Ethiopian, the thief and murderer, could and did, by God’s Grace, become the meek Saint Moses the Ethiopian.

Mary the dissolute prostitute of Egypt, could and did, by God’s Grace, become Saint Mary of Egypt, the clairvoyant, the supremely-wise, the pure bride of Christ.

So, when the first verse of Psalm 19 blesses us with the words:

The Lord hear thee in the day of affliction;

the Name of the God of Jacob defend thee

it is similar to the words, “Receive ye the Holy Spirit.” As we mentioned above, we do not—indeed, we cannot—receive the Essence or the Hypostasis of the Holy Spirit, but we can and do receive the Grace of the Holy Spirit. So that is what our Saviour is actually saying here: “Receive ye the Grace of the Holy Spirit.”

Likewise, when the Psalmist says, “The Name of the God of Jacob defend thee,” he means “the Power, the uncreated Grace, of the God of Jacob defend thee.”

As we have pointed out elsewhere, “the Name of God (its inner significance and meaning and not its outward letters and sounds) is the divinely-revealed Truth about God Himself; like all revelation of God about Himself, it is His Power, His Energy, His Grace. According to the teaching of the Church, the Grace of God is God Himself (not His Essence, but His Energy). Hence, it is in this sense that St. John of Kronstadt’s famous saying ‘The Name of God is God Himself’ should be understood.” St. Clement of Rome’s statement that “the Name of God gave existence to all creation” must likewise be understood in this sense.

This, too, is precisely what the Prophet David says when he makes the following parallel:

And the heathen shall fear Thy Name, O Lord,

And all the kings of the earth Thy Glory.

(Psalm 101:15)

This, exactly, is what St. Cyril of Alexandria also says:

[John 17:11: “Keep them in Thy Name which Thou hast given Me.”] He says that His disciples ought to be kept in the Name of the Father, that is to say, in the Glory and Power of His Godhead, so that they should be out of the power of the enemy.

(Commentary on the Gospel of St. John 11.9 [John 17:16–17])

Therefore, when we pronounce the Name of God, when we write or read it, when we imprint it in our minds, that is the created aspect, which belongs to our human speech. It is a word, a verbal icon, a created symbol. But the Truth that these created names contain and express, the Truth that shines and flows from them, this Truth is both eternal and uncreated, and it exists whether we articulate it or not. This Truth of God, this Truth about God, as revealed by God Himself, is the uncreated Name of God; it is His Glory, Power, Majesty, Grace, etc. This is the Name of God that the Church has been glorifying and praising from the very foundation of the world, and which she will continue to magnify unto endless ages. As St. John of Tobolsk (+1715) puts it so concisely:

The chosen ones of God greatly desire that the Name of God, His Wisdom, Power, Mercy, and Truth be venerated in holiness by all the nations and tribes, that all the peoples (as creatures of one God) should live in peace and concord.

In Accordance with the Divine Will, Chapter 4

The Name of God is not just a created symbol, as some say (although it is that too); it is, more importantly, God’s uncreated Power and Grace.

“Receive ye the Holy Spirit.”

“The Name of the God of Jacob defend thee.”