Chapter Three

SACRAMENTAL METAMORPHOSIS AS PNEUMATIZATION

Introduction
We do not intend to make an extensive study of the pneumatology of Eastern theology.
Our main concern in this chapter is a systematic exploration of the dynamism of the
pneumatological experience of the microcosmic and macrocosmic metamorphosis in
sacramental theology. In order to achieve our goal, we shall divide the chapter mainly into
two sections. The first part of our discussion will be mainly focussed on the particular
fulfilling/transforming mission of the Holy Spirit because of sacramental metamorphosis.
The mutual relationship of the Holy Spirit with the sacraments will be given priority in
our discussion. We shall focus precise attention on epiclesis in view of sacramental
metamorphosis. Though Eastern theology is silent about any particular moment of
transformation of both the sacramental elements and the faithful, the epiclesis (invocation
of the Holy Spirit upon the faithful as well as the sacramental elements) can be considered
a decisive moment in the process of sacramental metamorphosis. Secondly, we shall pay
appropriate attention to the eschatological dimension as well. In this section we shall also
deal with the nature of sacramental metamorphosis as essentially an event of ‘already and
not yet.’ Since sacraments are the linking points of the past-present-future, we shall go
into the question of sacramental metamorphosis as the event which is beyond our concept
of time, leading towards the experience of koinonia. First of all, we shall explain the
transforming mission of the Holy Spirit.

1 The Transforming Mission of the Holy Spirit

Let us begin by discussing how sacraments lead the human person to divine communion
through the Holy Spirit. As we have already seen the ultimate aim of Incarnation is to
unite the human person in the triune communion. The trinitarian act of the creation of
cosmic order is to be completed and perfected through the work of the Spirit. Irenaeus
says that the Spirit is nourishing and increasing what is made. 1 The Holy Spirit has his
own uniqueness and personal existence in the trinitarian communion of God and in its
economy of salvation. Gregory Nazianzen rightly states that the perfecting mission of the
Holy Spirit works in the sacraments. While speaking about receiving the sacrament of

1
Irenaeus, Against Heresies IV: 38.3 (ANF I).
 An Event of Pneumatization 216

baptism in the name of the Holy Spirit, Nazianzen says, “… this is perfect.” 2 In the same
way Basil also says that the source of all being is one, creating through the Son and
perfecting in the Holy Spirit. 3

The Holy Spirit partakes of “the fullness of divinity,” and furthermore, He is the “essence
of life.” The Spirit is the source of sanctifying power co-eternal with the triune
communion, moreover the personal and divine source of deification. 4 The uniqueness of

2
Gregory Nazianzen, Introduction to the “Theological” Orations (NPNF VII) 282. Gregory of Nyssa clearly
affirms the Divine Essence of the Holy Spirit. See Gregory of Nyssa, On the Holy Spirit (NPNF V) 317. The
salvific work of the Son is carried out through the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is operative together with the Son in
sacraments in order to make the human persons temples of God and the partakers of the divine nature. See
Norman Russell, The Doctrine of Deification, 200.
3
Basil, On the Holy Spirit, 16.38.
4
Basil, On the Holy Spirit, 18.46; Saint Basil the Great On the Holy Spirit David Anderson trans., (St.
Vladimir’s Seminary Press, Crestwood, NY: 1980) 73. It is worthnoting that sacraments are the sources of
deification. See Pavel Aleksandrovich Florensky, Asheleigh E. Moorhouse trans., “On the Holy Spirit,” 137-
172, 156. Meyendorff observes that the equal hypostases of the Trinity is affirmed in the Nicene and
Constantinople Creeds. However, they avoid the name “God” in reference to the Holy Spirit; the Spirit “is
worshipped and glorified together with the Father and the Son.” As he rightly observes in De Spiritu Sancto,
Saint Basil avoided the name “God” to the Holy Spirit. John Meyendorff, Catholicity and the Church, 17.
However, Gregory of Nyssa called the Holy Spirit God. See Friedrich Normann, “Cappadocian Fathers,” Karl
Rahner, Cornelius Ernst & Kevin Smyth (eds.), Sacramentum Mundi: An Encyclopedia of Theology Vol. I
(New York, NY: Herder & Herder, 1968) 257-9, 258. Though Basil gives a substantial picture of the Holy
Spirit, at first he avoids calling the Spirit God or homoousios as the Father, but however he responded to his
disciple Amphilochius of Iconium within the terms of full divinity of the Spirit and equal substance with the
Father and the Son. See Denis Edwards, Breath of Life: A Theology of the Creator Spirit (Maryknoll, NY:
Orbis Books, 2004) 22. Finally, Basil completely agrees with the full divinity of the Spirit who is co-substantial
with the divine nature. See Basil, On the Spirit, 23:54 (NPNF VIII). As Comblin affirms, Basil argues firstly on
the basis of baptismal formula: Christ exhorts his disciples to confer baptism in the name of the Father, and of
the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Mt. 28:19). Then the Holy Spirit has the same value as the other divine persons
in the Trinity. Secondly his argument is drawn from the “economy” of salvation (the way God works in the
history). Cf. José Comblin, The Holy Spirit and Liberation, 165. The divinity of the Holy Spirit is vigorously
defended by Ambrose of Milan following Basil, who also speaks in terms of the baptismal formula. We receive
baptism in the name of the Holy Spirit, which is the perfection of sanctification. He also speaks about the
unforgivable sin against the Holy Spirit: “the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit shall not be forgiven unto
men” (Mt 12:31). See Ambrose, On the Holy Spirit 1.3.41 (CD-ROM). Gregory Nazianzen goes beyond all
ambiguities with regard to the divinity of the Holy Spirit and states that the Spirit is fully divine and
homoousion. Gregory Nazianzen, Theological Oration on the Holy Spirit 31. 10 CD-ROM. Bradford E. Hinze
(ed.), The Spirit in the Church and the World, College Theology Society, Annual volume 49 (2003) 18-27, 20.
However, compared to Basil, Gregory Nazianzen speaks more emphatically on the unity of God. See Norman
R. Gulley, “A One-sided Trinity in Theology: Its Continuing Impact,” 64. Athanasius vividly affirms the
divinity of the Holy Spirit saying that the Spirit is one substance with God. See Athanasius, Letter to Serapion
1.27. Athanasius argues that if the Holy Spirit is not God, He cannot divinise the human person according to
the image of the Son so as to the Father. Cf. Athanasius, Letter to Serapion 15.iii. However, the Church faced a
controversial adaptation to the Nicene Creed known as filioque. The Western adaptation of the Latin term
filioque means the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father ‘and the Son.’ Later, this became one of the chief
causes of division in the Church as the East and the West. The Ecumenical Council of Nicaea had proclaimed
that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father. But later, without the consent of an ecumenical council the West
added the filioque to the Nicene Creed, which was the doctrinal formulation of the Ecumenical Council of
Nicaea (325 C.E.). It was drawn up at Constantinople in 381C.E., using the doctrinal statements of Nicaea (325
C.E.) and it was re-affirmed at the Council of Chalcedon in 451 C.E. It contains the Nicene teaching that the
 An Event of Pneumatization 217

the Holy Spirit has been expressed in nonhuman language such as fire, wind, a dove etc.
which vividly manifests the personal otherness of the Spirit. This Spirit language
specifically evokes the divine presence and the close relationship with the ecological
integrity together with the human person with regard to the act of the Holy Spirit. 5 In this
sense, we shall focus on pneumatology in relation to the ecological metamorphosis too.
We could see the overwhelming emphasis of the transforming activity of the Spirit in the
sacraments; however, sacramental metamorphosis is not completed without the
transformation of the whole cosmic order together with the deification of human beings.

Son is of the same substance as the Father, and is ‘begotten’ by him. When this Council speaks of the Spirit, it
teaches that the Spirit ‘proceeds’ from the Father. Thus, the Nicene Creed gives clarity regarding the
relationship between the Father and the Son, and the Father and the Spirit. The West teaches by filioque that the
Spirit as well as the Son proceeds from the Father. This gives certain logical priority over the Spirit to the Son.
In this addition of filioque to the Nicene Creed, the West wanted to affirm that the procession of the Holy Spirit
is from the Father and the Son. Saint Augustine gives reasons for holding this view in his writings especially in
De Trinitate. The major reasons given by him are: the Spirit according to Scripture is the Spirit of the Son;
Jesus proclaims in his Farewell Discourse that He will be sent by the Father, after the resurrection, He was
‘breathed’ on the disciples through the Son and He is the union of love between the Father and the Son and so
He must proceed from both. Cf. Alvernia Guilelmus De & Bruno Switalski, De Trinitate1, 1-18. It is a matter
of real communication of divine life Cf. Herwig Aldenhoven, “The Question of the Procession of the Holy
Spirit and its Connection with the Life of the Church,” 121-132, 126. Eastern theologians argue that by the
addition of filioque the West destroys the proper balance between unity and diversity in the Godhead. Ware
affirms: “The oneness of the deity is emphasised at the expense of His threeness; God is regarded too much in
terms of abstract essence and too little in terms of concrete personality.” Cf. Timothy Ware, The Orthodox
Church, 222. See also Dumitru Staniloae, “The Procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father and His Relation
to the Son, as the basis of our Deification and Adoption,” Lukas Vischer (ed.), Spirit of God, Spirit of Christ:
Ecumenical Reflections on the Filioque Controversy, Faith and Order Paper 103 (London: SPCK, World
Council of Churches, Geneva, 1981)174-186, 178. Eastern theology strongly advocates that the Holy Spirit is
the perfect deification of all creation. See Eugene F. Rogers, Jr. “The Mystery of the Spirit in Three Traditions:
Calvin, Rahner, Florensky or, You Keep Wondering where the Spirit Went,” Modern Theology 19:2 (2003)
243-260, 251. However, the recent teaching on the Holy Spirit in the Western Church clearly says that these
are two complementary ways of speaking of the one and the same mystery. By confessing that the ‘Spirit
proceeds from the Father,’ the Eastern tradition affirms that the Spirit comes from the Father through the Son.
On the other hand by confessing the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son (filioque) the Western
tradition expresses the consubstantial communion between Father and Son. See Agostino Bono trans., The
Holy Spirit, Lord and Giver of Life, Prepared by the Theological – Historical Commission for the Great Jubilee
of the Year 2000 (New York: A Crossroad Herder Book, The Crossroad Publishing Company, 1998) 19. The
Western addition of filioque is unacceptable for the East for two reasons; (i) it was unilaterally made without
consent of an ecumenical council, (ii) it reflects the particular Western conception of the Holy Trinity. See
Sergius Bulgakov, The Comforter, xii. See also Boris Bobrinskoy, “The Filioque Yesterday and Today,” 133-
148. See also Benedict Englezakis, “Should the Orthodox Speak of a ‘Temporal Procession’ of the Holy
Spirit,” Eastern Churches Review 9 (1977) 91-94.
5
Denis Edwards, Breath of Life, 3. The names of the Father and the Son are drawn from anthropology and at the
same time the name of the Spirit is from cosmology. Louis-Marie Chauvet, The Sacraments: the Word of God,
165. The Holy Spirit is always depicted in certain non-personal phrases and words such as the Hebrew ruah
(wind) and Greek pneuma (breath). It is always translated or interpreted as “wind,” “water,” “fire,” “light,”
“dove,” etc. The Spirit is also a flow of living water (Jn 7:39); and breath of the risen Christ (Jn 20:21-3). ‘Fire’
is the sign of acceptance of a sacrifice, and it consecrates. See Sebastian Brock, The Holy Spirit in the Syrian
Baptismal Tradition, Jacob Vellian (ed.), The Syrian Churches Series Vol. IX (21998) 28. Ruah conveys a
remarkable impact of God on the human person and the world. See Alasdair I.C. Heron, The Holy Spirit
(Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1983) 4.
 An Event of Pneumatization 218

The Holy Spirit is the author of the sanctification of every creature in the cosmos, Basil
says; “… for the Spirit, holiness fills His very nature. He is not sanctified, but sanctifies.” 6
The Holy Spirit is not only a “gift” of divine grace but also “the divine and personal Giver
of life and sanctification.” 7 The presence of the Holy Spirit is the life-giving and
sanctifying presence not only to the human person, but also to the whole cosmic order. In
this sense, we could specifically articulate that the presence of the Holy Spirit in us is the
condition of our deification. 8 Furthermore, the Holy Spirit accomplishes the work of
salvation through rebirth and sanctification especially through the sacraments. All the gifts

6
Basil, On the Holy Spirit 19. 48, David Anderson trans., 76. Basil tries to hold the position that without the
Holy Spirit there is no Trinity and in the same way the Spirit is present among the Father and the Son in the
trinitarian work of creation and sanctification. See Claudio Moreschini & Enrico Norelli, Early Christian Greek
and Latin Literature: A Literary History Vol. II, Matthew J. O’Connell trans., (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson
Publishers, 2005) 105.
7
John Meyendorff, Catholicity and the Church, 16. Though Saint Augustine did not ignore the personhood of
the Holy Spirit, he speaks of the Holy Spirit as the mutual love between the Father and the Son. He considers
the Spirit as a gift, the Father and the Son as givers. Cf. Augustine, De Trinitate, V, 15, 16 (NPNF III) 95. The
Holy Spirit has equal dignity and divinity and he is the third hypostasis who is consubstantial with the Father
and the Son. See Sergius Bulgakov, The Comforter, 6. Eastern theology speaks of the personal mission of the
Holy Spirit whereas Western theology of the mission of the Spirit by “appropriation.” No personal mission is
attributed to the Spirit. Cf. Edward J. Kilmartin, “The Active Role of Christ and the Holy Spirit…,” 233, 234.
The procession of the Spirit is drawn out by Coffey in what he calls “the bestowal model.” In this model the
Son proceeds from the Father by generation, the Spirit also proceeds from the Father. The procession of the
Spirit is bestowed on the Son as the object of the love of the Father, the Son bestows the Spirit on the Father as
the object of the Son’s love. In such a way the perichoresis is established by the mutual interpenetrating of the
divine persons. Cf. Ibid., 247. According to Coffey appropriation puts all three divine persons in the Trinity on
the same real level. Cf. David M. Coffey, “A Proper Mission of the Holy Spirit,” 228. Coffey points out that
his bestowal model is just like the procession model of the East in its original setting of the distinction of
persons in the Trinity. There is no incompatibility; on the one hand the Spirit proceeds according to divine love
(procession model in its psychological specification), and on the other, the Holy Spirit is the mutual love of the
Father and the Son (bestowal model). Ibid., 235. We cannot agree with Coffey from an Eastern theological
perspective, because the personhood and the particular mission of the Holy Spirit are ignored. As Ted Peters
observes Coffey treats the Holy Spirit as if it were an instrument or thing that can be possessed and distributed
around. He sarcastically points out that Coffey assumes the Spirit is a kind of divine football that can be carried
or passed around. Peters emphasises, moreover, the need to speak about God in terms of personhood, not as an
isolated individual but in relationship. He observes that the West thinks of the person as a mode of fundamental
nature or essence; whereas the East thinks of the nature or essence as the content of the first person. Cf. Ted
Peters, God as Trinity: Relationality and Temporality in Divine Life (Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox
press, 1993) 69-72. See also David Coffey, “The “Incarnation” of the Holy Spirit in Christ,” Theological
Studies 45 (1984) 466-480, 471. Pneumatology in the Western tradition is more Christ centred or Church
centred rather than Spirit centred, while on the other hand, Eastern tradition particularly emphasised the
distinctiveness of the Spirit. See Thaddeus D. Horgan, “Biblical Basis and Guidelines,” William R. Barr &
Rena M. Yocom (eds.), The Church in the Movement of the Spirit (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1994) 13, 11-
28. For more on gift giving, R. Kevin Seasoltz, God’s Gift Giving, 117 ff.
8
Vladimir Lossky, The Mystical Theology, 180. The Holy Spirit is the agent of this divine conformity. Cf. Bruce
D. Marshall, “Ex Occidente Lux? Aquinas and Eastern Orthodox Theology,” Modern Theology 20:1 (2004) 23-
50, 26. Ernst speaks about the authentic pneumatological act of the transformation of the human person. See
Harold E. Ernst, “A Clearer Manifestation of the Spirit: Gregory Nazianzen on the Divinity of the Holy Spirit,”
Bradford E. Hinze (ed.), The Spirit in the Church and the World College Theology Society Annual volume 49
(2003) 18-27, 22. See also Leandro Bosch, “The Assembly Theme,” 298-305, 300. See George A. Maloney,
“The Doctrine of St. Symeon the New Theologian on the Baptism of the Holy Spirit,” 274.
 An Event of Pneumatization 219

of the Holy Spirit and the divine grace come into the Church through the sacraments. 9 The
fulfilling mission of the Holy Spirit is also seen as a transforming event that clearly goes
towards the perfect accomplishment of metamorphosis of the cosmos.

Transforming the human person, the Spirit unites the human with the divine. It is
remarkable that the Holy Spirit unites the divinity and humanity of Christ in the
Incarnation event. 10 In relation to the transforming mission of the Spirit in the sacraments,
it is significant that the Holy Spirit is the agent of “enfleshment of the word.” 11 The
transforming mission of the Holy Spirit is the embodiment of the word of God.
Accordingly, it is important to comprehend that the two-fold task of the Holy Spirit in
epiclesis is to consecrate the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ and to
transform the faithful to be capable of participating in the Communion of the Trinity.
Likewise, in every sacrament the Spirit transforms the sacramental (macrocosmic)
elements as well as the faithful (microcosm). We shall discuss this two-fold task later.
Now let us turn our discussion to the essential transforming work of the Holy Spirit in the
sacraments as the author of sacramental metamorphosis.

1.1 The Holy Spirit: the Author of Sacramental Metamorphosis

The Holy Spirit exercises sanctifying and deifying power upon the human person. The
Spirit completes the process of theosis, which is objectively accomplished by Christ in and
through the sacraments in the Church. The perfecting mission of the Holy Spirit is
ultimately the act of transformation. The intrinsic relationship of sacramental
transformation to the act of the Holy Spirit is remarkable. Gregory of Nyssa emphasizes
this transformation by the sanctification through Baptism, when he states;
Is it [Baptism] not a participation in a life no longer subject to death?… Is that life-giving
power in the water itself which is employed to convey the grace of Baptism? Or is it not

9
Stefan Zankov, The Eastern Orthodox Church, Donald A. Lowrie trans., (London: Student Christian
Movement Press, 1929) 46. A similar view is seen in Kilmartin, for whom every sacrament is perfected
through the work of the Holy Spirit. The personal missions of Christ and the Holy Spirit in the sanctification of
the Eucharistic elements refer to the “creative word of Christ” and “the power of the Holy Spirit” as the basis
for the realisation of the sacraments. See Edward J. Kilmartin, “The Active Role of Christ and the Holy Spirit,”
231. The Holy Spirit regenerates the human soul in the sacrament of baptism. See Stanley M. Burgess, The
Holy Spirit: Ancient Christian Traditions (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1984)115.
10
George Hunsinger, “The Mediation of Communion: Karl Barth’s Doctrine of the Holy Spirit,” John Webster
(ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Karl Barth, Cambridge (2000) 177-194, 187. See also Steven M.
Studebaker, “Integrating Pneumatology and Christology: A Trinitarian Modification of Clark H. Pinnock’s
Spirit Christology,” Pneuma: The Journal of the Society for Pentecostal Studies 28.1 (2006) 5-20, 6. The
procession of the Holy Spirit is related to the image of God. See William R. Jenkinson, “The Image and the
likeness of God in Man in the Eighteen Lectures on the Credo of Cyril of Jerusalem (C. 315-387),”
Ephemerides Theologicae Louvanieses 40 (1964) 48-71, 58-9.
11
L. M Chauvet, Symbol and Sacrament, 526. Spirit has the specific mission of raising up for the Risen Christ a
body of humanity and the world.
 An Event of Pneumatization 220

rather clear to every one that this element is only employed as a means in the external
ministry, and of itself contributes nothing towards the sanctification, unless it be first
transformed itself by the sanctification; and that what gives life to the baptized is the
Spirit; as our Lord Himself says in respect to Him with His own lips, “It is the Spirit that
giveth life.” 12

Every trinitarian work extends from God to Creation and everything has its origin from
the Father, proceeds through the Son and is perfected in the Holy Spirit. 13 In Baptism, the
faithful partake in the life of Christ together with the life of the whole Trinity. By the
reception of divine grace in Baptism, s/he ultimately receives the task, which would be
fulfilled through daily lives of charity, that is orientated towards a new life in the Holy
Spirit. While enunciating the transformation of the human person through Baptism in the
Holy Spirit, Basil states that we are all baptized into one body in the Holy Spirit who
redeems us from destruction and gives us the power of renewal. The confession of faith
and Baptism are intertwined in view of salvation. 14 In baptism, we receive this task of life
in the works of charity oriented toward a new life in the Spirit, which is made possible
through the power of the Holy Spirit. 15 Origen also emphasizes that the person of the Holy
Spirit has the ‘authority and dignity’ to complete the saving action of the Trinity in the
sacrament of Baptism. 16 Christ reveals the Holy Spirit and the Spirit makes Christ’s
indwelling possible in the believer. 17 The Holy Spirit is a power perfecting everything,
“the Sanctifier of all rational being” 18 and “a sanctifying principle of all things made by
God through Christ.” 19 The Didache clearly says that baptism and the Eucharist are the
events of transformation; furthermore the newly baptized partake in the Holy Eucharist.20
It is only with the Holy Spirit we become sharers of divine life. God deifies everything
through the Holy Spirit. 21 This shows how the work of the Holy Spirit is intrinsically
related to the life of the faithful in his/her personal transformation. It is the act of

12
Gregory of Nyssa, On the Holy Spirit (NPNF V), Philip Schaff & Henry Wace (eds.) (Edinburgh: T&T Clark,
Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1994) 322.
13
Gregory of Nyssa, On Not three Gods, 5.334.
14
Basil, On the Spirit, xii, 28, 18.
15
Gregory of Nyssa, On the Baptism of Christ (NPNF V), 2nd Series, P. 520.
16
Origen, De Principiis I.3.2 (ANF IV), 252.
17
Norman Russell, The Doctrine of Deification, 201. The Sacraments and liturgical celebrations are outward
expression of divine transforming action which takes place through the work of the Holy Spirit. See David
Mellling, “The Heavenly Liturgy: Our Participation with the Angels,” Sourozh 102 (2005) 4-18, 9. For the
emphasis of the pneumatic presence and operations in sacraments; see H.B. Swete, The Holy Spirit in the
Ancient Church: A Study of the Christian Teaching in the Age of the Fathers (Eugene Pasadena: Wipf & Stock
Publishers, 1996) 288.
18
Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechesis XVII, On the Holy Spirit (2), Leo P. McCauley & Anthony A. Stephenson
trans., The Works of Saint Cyril of Jerusalem vol. 2, 97.
19
Cyril of Jerusalem, Procatechesis, Lecture 16:3 CD-ROM.
20
Aaron Milavec, The Didache: Faith, Hope & Life of the Earliest Christian Communities, 50-70 C.E. (New
York/Mahwah, NJ: The Newman Press, 2003) 354.
 An Event of Pneumatization 221

transformation from his/her biological birth to spiritual birth. The sacraments of baptism
and confirmation make him/her son/daughter of Christ in partaking the triune life of God
through the rebirth of water and spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who leads the human person,
through the Son of God, to reconcile with the Father; and in return it is through the Spirit
that the human person can receive whatever good the Father dispenses in the Spirit by the
natural mediation of the Son. 22 The Holy Spirit gives the full property of deification to “all
Created Being.” 23 From this perspective, the Holy Spirit perfects the sacramental
metamorphosis, for He has the authority and dignity for the same; furthermore, the Holy
Spirit is the author of sacramental metamorphosis. Thus sacramental metamorphosis and
the work of the Holy Spirit are inherently interrelated.

1.1.1 Sacramental Metamorphosis towards a New Creature

As the author of the sacramental metamorphosis, the Holy Spirit recreates human nature
and unites us with the body of Christ. In such a way, the faithful become partakers of the
divine communion through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has the power to recreate and
renew him/her as a perfect human person. Irenaeus makes clear that a person has become
spiritual and perfect through the work of the Spirit when he says;
Now the soul and the spirit are certainly a part of the man, but certainly not the man; for
the perfect man consists in the commingling and the union of the soul receiving the spirit
of the Father, and the admixture of that fleshly nature which was molded after the image
of God….they being spiritual because they partake of the Spirit, and not because their
flesh has been stripped off and taken away, and because they have become purely
spiritual….. But when the spirit here blended with the soul is united to [God’s] handiwork,
the man is rendered spiritual and perfect because of the outpouring of the spirit, and this is
who was made in the image and likeness of God. But if the Spirit be wanting to the soul,
he who is such is indeed of an animal nature, and being left carnal, shall be an imperfect
being, possessing indeed the image [of God] in his formation (in plasmate), but not
receiving the similitude through the spirit; and thus is this being imperfect. 24

In fact, the Spirit perfects the human person as well as the whole cosmos in union with
God and that has always been described as a new creation. The Holy Spirit penetrates into

21
Dumitru Staniloae, “The Role of the Holy Spirit in the Theology and Life of the Orthodox Church,” 347.
22
Jean-Claude Larchet, Saint Maxime Le Confesseur Series : Initiations aux Pères de l’Eglise (Paris : Cerf,
2003) 190. The Spirit is the link between the divine and human, thereby objective reality becomes subjective to
us. God’s own self is communicated to us through the Word and the Spirit. See William M. Thompson, “Word
& Spirit, Hermeneutics & Transcendental Method: Exploring their Connections in Karl Rahner,” Philosophy &
Theology 7 (1992) 185-212, 187.
23
Pavel Aleksandrovich Florensky, Asheleigh E. Moorhouse trans., “On the Holy Spirit,” Alexander
Schmemann (ed.), Ultimate Questions: An Anthology of Modern Russian Religious Thought (New York,
Chicago, San Francisco: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1965) 137-172, 140. The Holy Spirit is the Life-Giver,
Creator and the Transformer of all creation into the Image of God. Cf. Alasdair I.C. Heron, The Holy Spirit, 84.
24
Irenaeus, Against Heresies V.6.1 (Digital Library).
 An Event of Pneumatization 222

the inmost part of the soul and transforms the person. 25 With regard to the pneumatic
operation of the renewal and regeneration of the whole cosmos, Basil states;
If “creation” means bringing the dead back to life, how great the work of the Spirit is! He
gives us risen life, refashioning our souls in the spiritual life. On the other hand, if
“creation” means the conversion of sinners to a better way of life (the Scripture often
understands it this way; for example, the words of Paul: “If any one is in Christ, he is a
new creation” [2 Cor. 5:17], and the renewal of this earthly life, and changing our earthly,
passionate life into heavenly citizenship, then we should know that our souls attain such a
high degree of exaltation through the Spirit. 26

In this perspective, the Holy Spirit is operative in the sacraments as they confer the energy
of the triune God for the regeneration of the whole cosmos. Lossky affirms: “He [the Holy
Spirit] recreates our nature by purifying it and uniting it to the body of Christ. He also
bestows deity – the common energy of the Holy Trinity which is divine grace – upon the
human person.” 27 This transformation is a new life in Christ. 28 It is also the real presence,
which “is manifested by and through it as new life in Christ, by the sharing of His
presence in a material way for our spiritual transformation.” 29 The real presence of Christ
transforms everything. The real presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist cannot be limited
to certain concepts. Christ’s presence is interiorized in the Eucharist. This interiorization

25
Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechesis XVII, On the Holy Spirit (2), Leo P. McCauley & Anthony A. Stephenson
trans., The Works of Saint Cyril of Jerusalem vol. 2, 105.
26
Basil, On the Holy Spirit 19.49, David Anderson trans., 77-8.
27
Vladimir Lossky, The Mystical Theology, 170.
28
N.A. Nissiotis, “Worship, Eucharist,” 211. Nissiotis speaks about the transformation as something that goes
beyond the concepts of transubstantiation or consubstantiation (homoousian – of the same substance).
Kallinikose argues that the term transubstantiation is a genuine orthodox term. See Patriarch Kallinikos II,
“Transubstantiation and the Eucharist,” The Greek Orthodox Theological Review 18 (1973) 19-32, 19. However
we could see that the Eastern Orthodox Church doesn’t accept the theory of transubstantiation. See H.T. F.
Duckworth, Greek Manuals of Church Doctrine (London: Rivingtons, 1901) 50. Transubstantiation finds its
fullest meaning only in the context of taking the whole sacramental celebration into consideration. See Edward
Schillebeeckx, The Eucharist, N.D. Smith trans., (London & Sydney: Sheed and Ward, 1968) 19, to see more on
real presence. Ibid., 43. The doctrine of transubstantiation upholds the absolute unity of the sacrifice. See
Matthew Levering, Sacrifice and Community: Jewish Offering and Christian Eucharist (Malden, MA:
Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2005) 117. There is the “real presence” of Christ in the Eucharist under the signs of
bread and wine. See Walter Kasper, Sacrament of Unity: The Eucharist and the Church Brian McNeil trans.,
(New York: The Herder & Herder Book, the Crossroad Publishing Company, 2004) 52. Our specific interest is
to see the sacramental transformation in the light of deification. Grumett points out that Teilhard de Chardin
states transubstantiation is encircled by the halo of divinization that extends to the whole cosmos. See also David
Grumett, “The Eucharistic Cosmology of Teilhard de Chardin,” 27. For more on the origin of the term see
Kenan B. Osborne, The Christian Sacraments of Initiations: Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist (New
York/Mahwah: Paulist Press, 1987) 191-5. Clement sees no role for the scholastic distinction of substance and
accidents in the transformation of the Body and Blood of Christ. See Olivier Clement, “The Eucharist in the
Thought of Paul Evdokimov,” The Eastern Churches Review 7.2 (1975) 113-124, 116. Moreover, Christ’s body
becomes metacosmic by being deified in relationship to the communion with God rather than being
transubstantiated. See Matthew Levering, Sacrifice and Community, 120-3.
29
N.A. Nissiotis, “Worship, Eucharist,” 213.
 An Event of Pneumatization 223

and divinisation are precisely the task of the Holy Spirit in the Eucharist. 30 Nissiotis
powerfully affirms that the Holy Spirit transforms all members of the Body of Christ into
‘new creatures.’ 31 However, this metamorphosizing event is the consistent dynamism of
the Spirit inclusive of the whole macrocosm. Edwards says, “the hidden dynamism that
brings the whole universe to life, continually sustains its existence, and enables it to
evolve into an open future.” 32 Through the coming of the Holy Spirit the trinitarian
communion dwells among us and divinises us. The trinitarian God confers the uncreated
energies upon the human person: it is the eternal glory and light in which the human
person must participate. 33 The sacramental transformation implies a new life in Christ
which is essentially relational in character. It is relational means being in relationship with
God, the other and the cosmos.

Consequently, this sacramental metamorphosis is not to be construed in a certain

individualistic term. Moreover, it is vividly stipulated as a liturgical and ecclesial act. 34
The Holy Spirit is operative in view of sanctifying the human person as well as the cosmic
order in the OT, during the life of Christ and presently in the sacraments of the Church. 35
On account of this ecclesial dimension of the process in the Pneumatic operation of
transformation, the celebrant symbolically represents Christ. While the celebrant invokes
the Holy Spirit over the elements of the sacraments, he also invokes the Spirit upon the
faithful. As Nissiotis remarks, he is “not ‘separated’ nor ‘set apart’ from the whole of the
congregation and the whole of the Church gathered around him.” 36 Accordingly, the Holy

30
John H. McKenna, “Eucharistic epiclesis: Myopia or Microcosm?,” Theological Studies 36.2 (1975) 278.
Schmemann speaks about the entire liturgy as a transformation. Cf. Alexander Schmemann, The Eucharist,
223.
31
N.A. Nissiotis, “Worship, Eucharist,” 212. The transformation of the bread into the Body of Christ’s sacrifice
is not a symbolic one, but something real. Nicholas Cabasilas, A Commentary on the Divine Liturgy, J.M.
Hussey & P.A. McNulty trans., (London: SPCK, 1960) 81. The symbol re-presents the real; it is only a
representation. The real presence is real not a representation. Schmemann vigorously fought against the
language of symbol in the Eucharistic real presence. Cf. Alexander Schmemann, “The Symbol of the
Kingdom,” Joseph J. Allen (ed.), The Orthodox Synthesis: The Unity of Theological Thought (Crestwood, NY:
St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1981) 35-47, 36.
32
Denis Edwards, Breath of Life, 119.
33
Vladimir Lossky, Mystical Theology, 171. This transforming (deifying) event of both human person and the
whole cosmos is essentially related to the sacraments. See Edward J. Kilmartin, “The Active Role of Christ,”
241.
34
N.A. Nissiotis, “Worship, Eucharist,” 208.
35
John Moorhead, “The Spirit and the World,” The Greek Orthodox Theological Review 26 (1981)113-117,
117. Eastern theology speaks of the cosmic transformation through the Holy Spirit. In this way the Pentecost is
considered a celebration of new creation, and the blessing of water for the Epiphany celebrates the Spirit’s work
of the restoration of the whole universe. See José Comblin, The Holy Spirit and Liberation, Paul Burns trans.,
(New York: Orbis Books, Burns & Oats, 1989) 46.
36
N.A. Nissiotis, “Worship, Eucharist,” 209. In Western theology the liturgy is performed in persona Christi,
whereas in Eastern theology liturgy it is performed in persona ecclesiae. Cf. Raymond A. Adams, “The Holy
Spirit and the Real Presence,” Theological Studies 29.1 (1968) 37-51, 47.
 An Event of Pneumatization 224

Spirit, the pre-eminent power, penetrates and perfects the whole divine mystery in the
ecclesial communion. 37 The faithful should experience the works of the Spirit through all
of the mysteries in the Church and through the Word of God. Therefore, the Holy Spirit
primarily transforms and elevates the human person through the sacraments towards being
a fully alive new creature.

1.1.2 Sacramental Metamorphosis Towards Being Fully Alive

As we have already seen sacraments are the language of divine-human-cosmic
relationship. Hence, it is significant to discuss their vital role with regard to the
relationship with the dignity of human nature. Since sacraments are the language of
divine-human-cosmic union God’s transforming activity necessarily happens through the
sacraments. In this sense, sacraments are the perfect communication of divine-human-
cosmic union. Sacraments are the matrix of communication of the polar opposites
transcendence-immanence, material-immaterial and transient-eternal. There is the visible
giving and invisible reception of divine grace in this communication. The visible giving
can be understood as various offerings at the sacramental celebrations. For example, we
offer material bread and wine in the Holy Eucharist and then we receive the precious body
and blood of Christ in the Eucharist. Whatever physical and material objects we offer in
the sacraments, from them we receive invisible divine grace in and through the
sacraments. In this fundamental sacramental transformation of the cosmic elements, God
comes to be in union with our nature and our labour. Our bread and wine: fruit of our
labour become Christ’s own Body and Blood in the Eucharist. Whatever material we offer
the Spirit causes them to be in union with the spiritual.

Sacramental metamorphosis has an irreducible trinitarian structure. It is through the

sacraments in the Church that the Holy Spirit creates a living communion with the divine;
it is the act of deifying a human. 38 It is through the Spirit that Christ communicates his
transforming creative power in the Church by means of sacramental celebrations. 39 Since
the human body is the living temple of the Holy Spirit (1Cor 6:19), it is right to make
clear the notion of the transformation of the person in his/her dignity through the
sacraments. It presupposes the adoptive sonship in the trinitarian God through the grace of
the Holy Spirit, that which guides us towards the participation in the divine likeness. This
participation in divine likeness in the Trinity is the glory of God and the destiny of human

37
Baby Varghese, West Syrian Liturgical Theology, Liturgy, Worship and Society Series (Aldershot: Ashgate
Publishing Ltd. 2004) 77, as cited from Ma’de’dono, 351-353. The Holy Spirit dwells in the baptised
permanently. See Sebastian P. Brock, Holy Spirit in the Syrian Baptismal Tradition, The Syrian Churches Series
9, Jacob Vellian (ed.) (Pune: Antia Printers, 1998) 78.
38
Sergius Bulgakov, Boris Jakim trans., The Comforter (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2004) xiv.
39
Dumitru Staniloae, “The Role of the Holy Spirit in the Theology and Life of the Orthodox Church,” 352.
 An Event of Pneumatization 225

a person being fully alive. Irenaeus says, “For the glory of God is a living man; and the
life of man consists in beholding God.” 40 Becoming fully human and being alive are the
transforming operations of the Holy Spirit, in such a sense Meyendorff clearly states that
the Spirit makes the human fully alive. 41 However, the notion of ‘being alive’ is more than
a biological ‘living’; it is being fully alive in God. 42 The Holy Spirit makes the cosmos
fully alive. 43 The sacraments are to be construed in view of our being fully alive and fully
human in order to realize and live in the glory of God. In this regard, it is worth noting the
irrevocable and unique relationship of sacraments and the human being. Cooke states that
the “Sacraments exist for people” (sacramenta pro populo). 44 They are essentially
orientated towards the re-cognition of the human person for his/her personal uniqueness
together with living in communion with God and one another. This is what we mean by
the transformation of the human person towards being fully human by the Holy Spirit.
Being fully alive is emphatically a corporeal experience through the works of charity.
Sacraments are the grace of God, which enable us to be born in Christian faith and
overcome sinfulness and strengthen us to lead a courageous life. 45 Sacramental activity
accompanies the entire course of a person’s growth. The sacraments have the intrinsic
power to transform the individual person and society as a whole to be more human. 46
However, the ontological transformation of the heart is effected by the Holy Spirit in the
ethical manifestation in love, justice, charity etc. 47

With regard to sacramental transformation there are two different undeniable human tasks;
to protect the dignity of the other and to preserve the cosmic integrity. The former is
essentially related to the latter; when we preserve human dignity in one way or other we
keep cosmic integrity too. We have to respect our fellow humans and creation for the
mutual well being of one and the other. The cosmos is the altar where we celebrate the
sacraments which are the perfect communication of divine-human-cosmic encounter. In
this sense, sacramental celebration is integrally relational and interrelated with the
transformation of the other and the cosmos. No sacramental celebration finds its

40
Irenaeus, Against Heresies (ANF I) 4, 20, 7, 490.
41
John Meyendorff, The Byzantine Legacy, 159.
42
Joseph J. Allen, “The Synthesis of Praxis and Theory: The “Being in Act” of Theology,” Joseph J. Allen (ed.),
Orthodox Synthesis, 95-113, 104.
43
Matthew Fox ed., Hildegard of Bingen’s Book of Divine Works with Letters and Songs (Sancta Fe: Bear,
1985) 373. The Holy Spirit is the source of the movement and life of the whole cosmos. See Walter Kasper, The
God of Jesus Christ (London: SCM, 1983) 227.
44
Bernard Cooke, Sacraments & Sacramentality (Mystic, CT: Twenty-Third Publications, 1983) 5.
45
Bernard Cooke, 5.
46
Bernard Cooke, 7.
47
Adonis Vidu, “Habits of the Spirit: Reflections on a Pragmatic Pneumatology,” Journal of the Evangelical
Theological Society 50.1 (2007) 105-19, 118.
 An Event of Pneumatization 226

completion, unless these two human tasks are accomplished. The Holy Spirit transforms
the human to become more alive in accordance with the integrity of the whole creation.
From this integral perspective of sacramental metamorphosis we can see the clear
relationship with pneumatology and ecology.

1.1.3 Sacramental Metamorphosis and Ecological Pneumatology

In this section, we shall mainly focus on the undeniable operation of the Holy Spirit in the
creation and the preservation of the cosmos. Gregory of Nyssa emphasises that the Holy
Spirit is “the power perfecting all,” 48 and Irenaeus also states that the Spirit is “anterior to
all creation.” 49 Basil calls God the Supreme Creator and artist. The immense diversity of
creatures is reflecting the Wisdom of God. The diversity of creatures is brought into
communion and harmony. 50 Though the Spirit is above the creation, Gregory of Nyssa
articulates about the invariable relationship of the Spirit with creation, he says;
But the Church believes, as concerning the Son, so equally concerning the Holy Spirit, that
He is uncreated, and that the whole creation becomes good by participation in the good
which is above it, while the Holy Spirit needs not any to make Him good…..; that the
creation is guided by the Spirit, while the Spirit gives guidance; that the creation is
governed, while the Spirit governs; that the creation is comforted, while the Spirit
comforts; that the creation is in bondage, while the Spirit gives freedom; that the creation
is made wise, while the Spirit gives the grace of wisdom; that the creation partakes of the
gifts, while the Spirit bestows them at His pleasure: “For all these worketh that one and the
self-same Spirit, dividing to every man severally as He will.” 51

The Holy Spirit gives life to the whole creation with the Father and the Son. Ambrose says
that when the Spirit was moving upon the water (Gen 1:2) the creation was without grace;
but only after the operation of the Spirit the whole creation gained its beauty and grace. 52
He makes it clear by saying;
And who can deny that the creation of the earth is the work of the Holy Spirit, Whose
work it is that it is renewed? For if they desire to deny that it was created by the Spirit,
since they cannot deny that it must be renewed by the Spirit, they who desire to sever the
Persons must maintain that the operation of the Holy Spirit is superior to that of the Father
and the Son, which is far from the truth; for there is no doubt that the restored earth is
better than it was created. Or if at first, without the operation of the Holy Spirit, the Father
and the Son made the earth, but the operation of the Holy Spirit was joined on afterwards,
it will seem that that which was made required His aid, which was then added. 53

48
Gregory of Nyssa, On the Baptism of Christ, 520. The Holy Spirit is sanctifier and deifier. See Cyril of
Jerusalem, Procatechesis 4:16 (Digital Library)
49
Irenaeus, Against Heresies IV. 20:3.
50
Basil, The Hexaemeron 7.6; 8. 1-3 (NPNF VIII).
51
Gregory Nyssa, On the Faith, 663-4 (Digital Library).
52
Ambrose, On the Holy Spirit 2.5.32-33 (Digital Library).
53
Ambrose, On the Holy Spirit 2.5.34 (Digital Library).
 An Event of Pneumatization 227

As we have noted above, the Holy Spirit has a particular mission in the whole cosmos, and
in the same way the Spirit creates the right relationship with the whole created cosmos; for
example, relationship with the plants, forests, birds, water, rivers, the sea and the whole
atmosphere that sustains our lives. 54

Every sacramental celebration is integrally linked with the human relationship with the
created cosmos towards communion with the uncreated Creator of the cosmos. First of all,
we shall discuss the integral relationship of the Spirit with the creation of the cosmos. The
Spirit works in the very beginning of the creation of the cosmos which culminates in the
incarnational event of the Son of God and continues in the Church especially through
sacramental celebrations. The Spirit unites all the cosmic elements with the human person
and with the Creator. This integral union towards divine communion is materialised
mainly through the sacraments in the Church. Edwards rightly affirms that the Spirit is the
author of both creation and Incarnation; furthermore the work of the Spirit is both ongoing
creation and renewal of the cosmos. 55 Let us see the specific role of the Holy Spirit as the
breath of God in the cosmos.

1.1.4 The Holy Spirit as the Breath of God in the Cosmos

Gregory of Nyssa articulates that the human person as well as the whole cosmos came into
being by God’s own breath, in order that the cosmic elements might be united with Divine
life by grace. 56 The Spirit is the breath of life and the breath of the whole creation which
renews the face of the earth. 57 Ambrose says; “Not only, then, did he teach that no creature
can stand without the Holy Spirit, but also that the Spirit is the Creator of the whole
creation.” 58 The participation of the whole cosmos in divine nature is made possible
through the life-giving Spirit. 59 For every created being whether celestial or terrestrial,
God is the principle of life and breath which is the divine ousia. 60 The Spirit of God is

54
Denis Edwards, Breath of Life, 1.
55
Denis Edwards, Breath of Life, 43. Papanikolaou made a remarkable observation on Zizioulas about the
relationship between the Christ-event and the work of the Spirit in creation saying that before the Christ event
the Spirit was not active in creation but after the Christ event the Spirit is active in a new way in close
relationship with Christ’s resurrection. The Spirit makes the Church the Body of Christ and creates the
eschatological presence of triune life. See Aristotle Papanikolaou, Being with God, 38. See also Hans Hübner,
“The Holy Spirit in the Holy Scripture,” The Ecumenical Review 41.3 (1989) 324-338, 328.
56
J.H. Srawley trans., The Catechetical Oration of St. Gregory of Nyssa VI. 39, also see in Chapter II.30.
57
Basil, On the Spirit 19. 48-49 (NPNF VIII).
58
Ambrose, On the Holy Spirit II. 5.33 (NPNF X).
59
Khaled Anatolios, Athanasius, The Early Church Fathers (London & New York: Routledge, 2004) 222-3.
60
George Karahalios, “Michael Psellos on Man and His Beginnings: A Philosophical Interpretation of Man’s
Creation and Fall by a Byzantine Thinker of the Eleventh Century,” The Greek Orthodox Theological Review 18
(1973) 79-96, 86. Christ breaths divine life into the disciples that transforms them as children of God and making
them a new creation. See Marianne Meye Thompson, “The Breath of Life: John 20:22-23 Once More,” Graham
 An Event of Pneumatization 228

essentially related to the life of the cosmic order. The Spirit is the immanent divine
principle of life of the universe, which is described as the “Breath of God.” Staniloae
speaks about the interpenetrating fluidity (Chrism) of the Holy Spirit extending into the
whole cosmic structures. 61 It is the Breath of God which leads the whole creation into
communion and makes everything new. 62 The Spirit is the “life-giving breath” in the
cosmos who continually works for the transformation and renewal of both the human and
nonhuman. 63 The Holy Spirit is the life-giving principle of any supernatural activity. 64 The
Hebrew term ruah means, “wind,” “breath,” “spirit” etc. In the creation narrative it is
clearly seen as the Spirit of God is moving about the creation. In Gen 2:7 the Creator God
is breathing the Breath of life into the nostrils of the human person and thereby s/he
receives life from God. The Spirit and the Word act together not only with the living
creatures at creation, but also with the whole cosmos. 65 Paul speaks about the Holy Spirit
as the life-giving Spirit (Rom 8:11) to the mortal bodies. It is the life-giving creative
presence of God in the cosmos. The Holy Spirit is the creative Spirit of the universe. 66
Everything in the universe is made new by the work of the Spirit in the cosmos. As being
the Breath of the cosmos, the Holy Spirit is the author of the sacramental metamorphosis
of integral cosmic transformation.

1.1.5 The Sacramental Metamorphosis as Integral Transformation

As we have already seen personal transformation is integrally interrelated with the
transformation of the whole cosmic order. In this sense, it would be illogical to speak
about the pneumatic operation on personal transformation, without giving much attention
to cosmic transformation from the perspective of sacramental metamorphosis. The
sacramental activities accompany the entire course of a person’s growth. The human being

N. Stanton, Bruce W. Longenecker & Stephen C. Barton (eds.), The Holy Spirit and Christian Origins: Essays
in Honor of James D.G. Dunn (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2004) 69-78, 71. The Spirit is the life-principle of
whole creation. Cf. Gary D. Badcock, Light of Truth & Fire of Love: A Theology of the Holy Spirit (Grand
Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1997) 126.
61
Dumitru Staniloae, Theology and the Church, 69.
62
Denis Edwards, Breath of Life, 33-4. See more elaborately in Ibid. 35-43. H.B. Swete, The Holy Spirit in the
Ancient Church, 377-80.
63
Mark I. Wallace, Fragments of the Spirit, 1. The Holy Spirit is the principle of life and refreshing it with the
power of grace. See Stanley S. Harakas, “The Earth Is the Lord’s,” 155.
64
Petro B.T. Bilaniuk, Theology, and Economy of the Holy Spirit, 184.
65
Denis Edwards, Breath of Life, 36. Breath of God makes the human a living being. We see this dimension as
the act of the Spirit and the Word acting together in the Book of Judith, “Let all creatures serve you, because you
spoke, and they were made. You sent forth your spirit and it formed them.” (Jdt. 16:4). See Ezakiel 37:3-10.
Concerning this relationship Congar says that there is “… no Christology without pneumatology and no
pneumatology without Christology.” See Yves Congar, The Word and the Spirit (New York: Harper and Row,
1984) 1.
66
David Taloon, At Home in the Cosmos, 203.
 An Event of Pneumatization 229

is naturally subject to passions, but s/he has to go beyond the law of the human race.
Irenaeus says;
For after His great kindness He graciously conferred good [upon us], and made men like
to Himself, [that is] in their own power; while at the same time by His prescience He knew
the infirmity of the human beings, and the consequences which would flow from it; but
through [His] love and [His] power, He shall overcome the substance of the created
nature. For it was necessary, at first, that nature should be exhibited; then, after that, that
what was mortal should be conquered and swallowed up by immortality, and the
corruptible by incorruptibility, and that man should be made after the image and likeness
of God, having received the knowledge of good and evil. 67

The specific role of the Holy Spirit in the transformation of the cosmos according to Basil
is that He is the transcendent creative power at work in and through everything that exists
in the cosmos. 68 The sacramental transformation implies relationship and it is
ontologically rich; it connects the universal and particular beings. 69 The sacraments have
the intrinsic power to transform both the individual person and human society as a whole
to be more human. 70 Staniloae speaks about the Holy Spirit creating sensitivity to God in
the human person. This sensitivity creates the ability to perceive God beyond everything.
He says; “he who becomes sensitive to God also becomes sensitive to his fellows: he sees
God in them and them in God. This sensitiveness to God therefore makes man fully
human.” 71 Bartos presents the Staniloea’s view that the Holy Spirit is depicted as the
“bridge between God and creation to deify and to eternalize creation.” 72 The Holy Spirit is
the life-giving power in the cosmos who transforms both human and nonhuman. 73 To be
alive means being in relationship with the other and the cosmos. Moltmann says, “[l]ife is
communication in communion.” 74 Being human basically means our ability to be
conscious; to be aware of what is going on within and around us. At the same time, it is
self-awareness and the ability to understand the other as one who is an essential part of
me. “Because of this capacity for affective existing, we humans are able to be for one
another, to exist together, to share consciousness with and learn from one another.” 75 We
shall speak of sacraments from the perspective of the divine-human dynamism of being in

67
Irenaeus, Against Heresies IV, 38:4 (ANF I).
68
Basil, On the Spirit, 19.48-49 (NPNF VIII).
69
Emil Bartos, Deification in Eastern, 182.
70
Bernard Cooke, Sacraments & Sacramentality, 7. Moran speaks of the transformation of the human person in
view of Incarnation of the Son of God. Cf. Gabriel Moran, Theology of Revelation, 129.
71
Dumitru Staniloae, “The Holy Spirit in the Theology and Life of the Orthodox Church,” Sobornost 7.1 (1975)
4-21, 7. This sensitivity is the ability to see God everywhere, and it is also a deep love and sense of
responsibility to God. Ibid., 8.
72
Emil Bartos, Deification in Eastern, 259.
73
D. Lyle Dabney, “Pneumatologia Crucis: Reclaiming Theologia Crucis for a Theology of the Spirit Today,”
Scottish Journal of Theology 53.4 (2000) 511-524, 512.
74
Jürgen Moltmann, God in Creation: An Ecological Doctrine of Creation (Munich: SCM Press, 1985) 3.
75
Bernard Cooke, Sacraments & Sacramentality, 10.
 An Event of Pneumatization 230

relationship with God, the other and the whole cosmic reality in view of sacramental
metamorphosis.

God’s name is God of mystery whose radical proximity is in His absolute self-
communication. 76 The self-communication of God to the creature is through the hypostatic
union of the Logos with human nature. 77 Sacraments are the language of God’s self
communication to the whole cosmos in response to the human cooperation in this
transformation. This self-communication of God is realised and experienced through the
community in its relational character. In his sacramental theology, Rahner understands the
transcendental nature of the human person as expressed in scholastic terminology potentia
obedientialis 78 (obediential or supernatural potency); due to divine grace, it is the
“capacity for obedience” for the unmerited self-communication of God. 79 By this technical
term it means that the human person by nature is open towards God and also
supernaturally elevated by God. 80 McFadyen sees this notion of relationship with regard to
the transformation of both microcosm and macrocosm:
It does so, however, not only as the situation in which individual transformation may occur –
where we are found and empowered in a new spirit by God – but as a world which may itself
be reconstituted by God’s redemptive activity. If redemption is thought of in relational and
social, rather than simply individualistic, terms, then it must be the case that it effects new
forms of relation, community and society. Individual who responds aright to God’s

76
Karl Rahner, “The Concept of Mystery in Catholic Theology,” Theological Investigation IV, Kevin Smyth
trans., (Baltimore, Helicon Press, 1966) 36-73, 61. Self-communication is self-revelation. Cf. LaCugna, God For
Us, 209. The incomprehensible God is bestowing on and self-revealing to the creature. LaCugna understands
this Self-communication of the triune God by Rahner as the immanent Trinity in self-communication; the Father,
the Son and the Holy Spirit. The economy of the Trinity is the historical manifestation of Self-communication
through the mission of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Ibid., 212. Coffey speaks of a special relationship of the
creature with the persons in the Trinity i.e. the assimilation of the creature into the Trinity using Rahner’s
expression, “the self-communication of God.” Cf. David M. Coffey, A Proper Mission of the Holy Spirit, 230.
77
Karl Rahner, “The Concept of Mystery in Catholic Theology,” Theological Investigation IV, 68-9.
78
Karl Rahner, “On the Theology of the Incarnation,” Theological Investigations IV, 105-120, 110. Rahner’s
christology is basically rooted in philosophical and theological anthropology. It is philosophical anthropology
because he understands human nature in terms of transcendence; it is theological anthropology, because he sees
this transcendence perfectly realized only in hypostastic union with the divine Son. This transcendence is
actualised only by the grace of God. Therefore, it has supernatural potency. Thus, Karl Rahner writes: “What
does the potentia oboedientialis mean for the hypostatic union? What does it mean when we say that human
nature has the possibility of being assumed by the person of the Word of God? Correctly understood, it means
that this potentia is not one potentiality along with other possibilities in the constituent elements of human
nature: it is objectively identical with the essence of man.” Ibid., 110. It also means the openness of the human
person to his/her origin from God and the movement towards God. See Karl Rahner, “Incarnation,” Karl
Rahner, Cornelius Ernst & Kevin Smyth (eds.), Sacramentum Mundi Vol. III, 110-118, 116.
79
Alexandre Ganoczy, “Theology of Creation,” Handbook of Catholic Theology, Wolfgang Beinert & Francis
Schüssler Fiorenza (eds.) (New York, NY: Crossroad Publishing Company, 2000) 144-146, 145.
80
Veli-Matti Karkkainen, Christology A Global Introduction: An Ecumenical, International, and Contextual
Perspective (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2003) 141.
 An Event of Pneumatization 231

redemptive address becomes ex-centrically structured: that is, directed towards the real nature
of God and others. 81
The sacraments help the human person to experience redemption through the relational
character of the community. There are two essential dimensions implied in every
sacramental celebration; first of all, every sacramental celebration implies remission of
sins and secondly, the union with divine life. Both these dimensions are divine-human co-
activity; the human’s conversion of heart in response to divine forgiveness and the
gratuitous gift of grace, which is the most intimate divine-human relationship. These two
dimensions can be considered as the specific outlines of sacramental transformation of the
human person. While speaking more concretely, Cabasilas clearly points out this closer
contact as sharing the flesh. He affirms:
He who seeks to be united with Him must therefore share with Him in His flesh, partake of
deification, and share in His death and resurrection. So we are baptized in order that we may
die that death and rise again in that resurrection. We are chrismated in order that we may
become partakers of the royal anointing of His deification. By feeding on the most sacred
bread and drinking the most divine cup we share in the very Flesh and Blood which the
Saviour assumed. 82
Bernard Cooke also speaks about the closer relationship of the sacraments and the
transformation in relationship to Christ’s salvation economy. 83 This transformation-in-
Christ event is closer to the human person and the cosmos in sacraments which give way
towards the new way of being. In this sense, the Spirit is indwelling in the cosmos who
enables the creatures to become a new existence. Elizabeth Johnson says:
The Spirit is the great, creative Matrix who grounds and sustains the cosmos and attracts it
toward the future. Throughout the vast sweep of cosmic and biological evolutions she
embraces the material root of existence and its endless new potential, empowering the
cosmic process from within. The universe, in turn, is self-organizing and self-
transcending, corresponding from the spiralling galaxies to the double helix of the DNA
molecule to the dance of her quickening power. 84

81
Alistair I. McFadyen, The Call to Personhood: A Christian Theory of the Individual in Social Relationships
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990) 197. The Holy Spirit transforms the entire universe and
especially that of the community, towards the liberation of the oppressed. See José Comblin, The Holy Spirit
and Liberation, 76. The Holy Spirit is God who acts in a transforming manner. See F. A. Cockin, God in
Action: A Study in the Holy Spirit (Edinburgh: Penguin Books, 1961) 178-9.
82
Nicholas Cabasilas, The Life in Christ (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1974) 65-66. This
sacramental transformation is closely connected with the totality of the life of the faithful in charity. See Louis
Bouyer, The Church of God: Body of Christ and Temple of the Spirit Charles Underhill Quinn trans., (Chicago:
Franciscan Herald Press, 1982)13.
83
Bernard Cooke, Sacraments & Sacramentality, 8. The transformation happens through the sanctification of
God’s grace and human synergism. When he speaks of the Eucharistic elements, Kilmartin affirms that the
bread and wine are ontologically changed, “given a new meaning and so a new being.” Cf. Edward J.
Kilmartin, “The Active Role of Christ and the Holy Spirit,” 248.
84
Elizabeth A. Johnson, Women, Earth, and Creator Spirit (New York: Paulist Press, 1993) 57-8.
 An Event of Pneumatization 232

We are capable of receiving the revelation of the Trinity only when we are transformed
and amplified by faith. 85 It is the personal transforming presence of the Divine Persons in
the sacraments that makes the transformation of the human person possible. 86 This interior
transformation of the person is mentioned in Sacred Scripture; “dwelling together,” “make
our home with him” and “I have called you friends” (Jn 13:17, 14:23, 15:15). Therefore,
in sacramental metamorphosis the Holy Spirit empowers the human person to become
more human. It leads the human person towards a relationship with the other and the
cosmos and thereby into the participation of divine communion. This integral
transformation takes place through epiclesis which is an invariable transforming event by
the invocation of the Holy Spirit.

1.2 Epiclesis: A Transforming Event

The Holy Spirit transforms the human person to a new creation in the sacraments mainly
through epiclesis. 87 Since our discussion is mainly concerned with the sacramental
metamorphosis of both macrocosm and the microcosm as the primary religious ideal of
the Eastern sacramentology, the epiclesis has a significant role in sacramental
transformation. In this research, however, we do not see our basic notion of sacramental
transformation happening only through epiclesis, but it is one of the most significant
notions in our discussion on sacramental metamorphosis. Gregory of Nyssa clearly states
that the sacramental action consecrates the sacramental elements as well as the human
person. The unseen power and grace of God transform the human person towards a higher
state; he speaks of a “transformation for the better.” 88 Epiclesis is the event which
permeates the integral life of the person and transforms it in union with the Body of
Christ. It is through the invocation of the Holy Spirit in the sacraments that provides
sanctification, renewal and regeneration which are orientated toward transformation. Such

85
Bernard J. Cooke, Christian Sacraments and Christian Personality (New York: Image Books, 1965) 40. The
divine adoption is trinitarian and thereby it is relational in nature with God and the other.
86
Bernard J. Cooke, Christian Sacraments, 41. The work of the Holy Spirit is forming and transforming the
whole creation towards the fulfilment of God’s aim. See William R. Barr & Rena M. Yocom (ed.), The Church
in the Movement of the Spirit (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1994) 1.
87
The term ‘epiclesis’ originates from the Greek substantive evpi,klhsij “invocation,” from the verb evpikale,w
“call upon” or “to invoke.” See G.W.H. Lampe (ed.), A Patristic Greek Lexicon (New York, NY: Oxford
University Press, 1961, 192005) 526. Though the term epiclesis is specifically used to denote the invocation of
the Holy Spirit during the Holy Eucharist, it is used here to articulate the transforming act of the Holy Spirit, not
only in the Holy Eucharist but also in every sacrament. Epiclesis permeates all of human life. See Calinic (Kevin
M.) Berger, “Does the Eucharist Make the Church?” 53. There was no clear practice of the invocation of the
Holy Spirit in the Eucharist in the first three centuries. See H.B. Swete, The Holy Spirit in the Ancient Church,
291. The invocation of the Spirit is applied for the whole of anaphora. See Yves Congar, “The Eucharistic
Epiclesis,” David Smith trans., I believe in the Holy Spirit Vol. III (New York, NY: The Crossroad Publishing
Company, 1999) 228-249, 229.
 An Event of Pneumatization 233

transformation is ultimately rooted in the sacramental action through which s/he becomes
united with the Body of Christ. 89 In this respect, Origen also points out that the Holy Spirit
has “bestowed upon all things the gift of natural life” in view of sanctification which
renders possible the reception of grace. 90 The Holy Spirit transforms us by sanctification
into a participation in the life of immortality through the sacraments. 91 This transformation
is articulated by Irenaeus as the visible fruit of the invisible Spirit making the flesh
capable of incorruptibility. 92 Basil says clearly that the invocation of the Spirit in Baptism
gives us the power of redemption and renewal. He says;
For the tradition that has been given us by the quickening grace must remain for ever
inviolate. He who redeemed our life from destruction gave us power of renewal, whereof
the cause is ineffable and hidden in mystery, but bringing great salvation to our souls, so
that to add or to take away anything involves manifestly a falling way from the life
everlasting. 93

As we have already seen the Holy Spirit is the author of sacramental transformation. By
receiving the Holy Spirit in sacraments s/he is transformed through the saving power of
God in the event of transforming epiclesis. Staniloae affirms;
Every sacrament requires the invocation (epiclesis) of the Spirit, and it is in this
sacramental setting that the energy of the Spirit is received. But this epiclesis is spoken in
the name of the whole Church, and the Spirit’s grace descends on him who receives a
sacrament because he thereby unites himself to the Church, or grows within the Church
which is animated by the uncreated energies of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit makes the
sacraments the transforming and saving power of God. 94
The epiclesis is a transforming event in the sacraments which unites the faithful to the
Church the Body of Christ. In this way, sacramental metamorphosis and being united in
the Church are interrelated realities. Theosis can be realized only through the life of

88
Gregory of Nyssa, On the Baptism of Christ (NPNF V) 519, 523. See also James J. Collins, “The Holy Spirit’s
Transforming Activity in Gregory of Nyssa’s Sacramental Theology,” Diakonia 12 (1977) 234-243, 236.
89
Gregory of Nyssa, On the Baptism of Christ (NPNF V) 519. While affirming the meanings both “invocation”
and “calling down upon,” Corbon observes a deep meaning in the term epiclesis; “the vehicle of the mightiest
synergy of God and human beings, both in the celebration and in the living out of the liturgy.” See Jean Corbon,
The Wellspring of Worship Matthew J.O’Connell trans., (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1980, 22005) 17.
Gregory of Nyssa constantly emphasizes the Spirit’s role in the transformation of the human person into the
image of God. See James J. Collins, “The Holy Spirit’s Transforming Activity,” 234. The epiclesis is the sign of
an intimate relationship of “mutual dependence and mutual service” between the salvific activities of the Son
and the Holy Spirit. See Olivier Clement, “The Eucharist in the Thought of Paul Evdokimov,” The Eastern
Churches Review 7.2 (1975) 113-124, 120.
90
Origen, De Principiis I.3.7 (ANF IV) 255.
91
Gregory of Nyssa, On the Holy Spirit (NPNF V) 323.
92
Irenaeus, Against Heresies 5.12.4
93
Basil, On the Spirit 12.28 (NPNF VIII).
94
Dumitru Staniloae, The Holy Spirit in the Theology and Life, 14. There is the inevitable closeness of the
transformation of both the microcosm and the macrocosm in early epiclesis in the church. See Richard
Albertine, “Theosis According to the Eastern Fathers,” 393-417, 410.
 An Event of Pneumatization 234

communion in the Church. Furthermore, the Church becomes “the place of divinisation.”95
It derives from the trinitarian and pneumatological aspects of the Church that it is the Holy
Spirit who centres people around Christ and forms the Church. The Church in Orthodox
theology is “the Church of the Holy Spirit.” 96 It holds that the Church is the place where
the Holy Spirit lives and reigns with the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit sanctifies
and divinizes wo/man through its sacramental and liturgical life.

For Eastern theology, epiclesis is that which creates the sacramental experience of the
transformation of the human person towards divine communion. The sanctifying role of
the Holy Spirit is realised through the epiclesis. Consequently, it gets equal importance
and place in the Eucharist together with the words of institution. Schmemann observes
that the Orthodox Church always insists that the transformation of the Eucharistic
elements is performed by the epiclesis and not by the words of institution. 97 However,
though we fully agree with the sacramental transformation in the epiclesis we do not make
any absolute conclusion with regard to the particular moment of sacramental
transformation because of neither the epiclesis nor the Words of institution; rather we shall
discuss it as a process which includes each and every act of both the sacramental
celebrations and thereafter, the ethical praxis of the faithful. Nevertheless, there is an
inevitable place for epiclesis in the Eastern sacramental theology. The epiclesis is the work
of the Spirit which is ultimately a transforming activity of the triune God. In every
sacrament the human person is transformed into the triune communion of God by
epiclesis. It is the Holy Spirit who realises the sanctification of the human person and who
carries the work of Christ in its fulfilment. 98 First of all, let us try to see the importance of
epiclesis in Eastern theology in the light of Western understanding.

95
Marta Ryk, “The Holy Spirit’s Role in the Deification of Man According to Contemporary Orthodox
Theology (1925-1972),” Diakonia 10 (1975) 109-130, 114. Sacraments are the means of deification. This is an
idea fundamentally linked to the notion of the Church primarily as a sacramental community. Fairbairn clearly
shows that the purpose of humanity is to be transformed through the work of Holy Spirit in Sacraments. He
affirms: “Humanity’s purpose is to be transformed, and the Church is the Holy Spirit’s life in the world, which
exists primarily for the purpose of celebrating the sacraments. The Church, through the sacraments, is thus the
means by which the Holy Spirit transforms people.” Cf. Donald Fairbairn, Eastern Orthodoxy through Western
Eyes (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2002) 89. The sacramental transformation in epiclesis is
integrally related with the transformation of the whole cosmos in its eschatological communion. See Patrick
Regan, “Quenching the Spirit,” 390.
96
Marta Ryk, “The Holy Spirit’s Role in the Deification of Man…,” 114. Every sacramental seal implies
epiclesis the perfecting act of the Holy Spirit which fulfils and transforms the human person in God. See
Kristiaan Depoortere, “From Sacramentality to Sacraments and Vice-Versa,” 55.
97
Alexander Schmemann, The World As Sacrament (London: Darton, 1965) 52. McKenna states that it is a
symbolic expression of the “how” of the eucharisitic “consecration.” This consecration is the work of the Holy
Spirit, not of human persons. See John H. McKenna, Eucharist and Holy Spirit, 165. See Louis-Marie
Chauvet, The Sacraments: The Word of God, 168-9.
98
John H. McKenna, “Eucharistic Epiclesis: Myopia or Microcosm?,” 276.
 An Event of Pneumatization 235

1.2.1 Epiclesis: Western and Eastern Traditions

In the beginning of his remarkable study on epiclesis, Lamberts tries to make a good start
with the question of whether the West is trying to adapt the prominence of the Holy Spirit
from the Eastern tradition by giving due importance to it in the new eucharistic prayer. 99 In
the history of the Western Church the place and role of epiclesis is eclipsed by
overemphasising the place and role of the “Words of Institution” in the Eucharistic
prayers. Hence, in the early Christian traditions epiclesis is often used in a general sense.
For example, in the first century Didache, we see the following epiclesis without
mentioning the Holy Spirit:
As this broken bread was scattered over the mountains, and when brought together became
one, so let your Church be brought together from the ends of the earth into your kingdom; for
yours are the glory and the power through Jesus Christ for evermore (9.4). Remember, Lord,
your Church, to deliver it from all evil and to perfect it in your love; bring it together from the
four winds, now sanctified, into your kingdom which you have prepared for it; for yours are
the power and the glory for evermore. 100
This is “Word epiclesis” or “Logos epiclesis” without mentioning the Holy Spirit. It is
interesting to note that the Anaphora of St. Serapion has an epiclesis, asking for the
descent of the Logos or Word instead of that of the Holy Spirit. 101 As Mckenna observes,
in Justin the Martyr, in his I Apology (around 150-55C.E.) we find the Word epiclesis. 102

Lamberts states that there is no explicit mention of the Holy Spirit in the first published
Eucharistic prayer in the Roman canon. 103 The Western tradition did not give due
importance to the Holy Spirit in their liturgical tradition and theology. Scholastic theology
paid less attention to the role of the Holy Spirit. It considered the sanctifying work as the
work of the Trinity, which is common to all three persons. 104 Comblin clearly affirms:
“Western theology lost interest in the Holy Spirit, and the traditional liturgy of the West,

99
Jozef Lamberts, ‘“May Your Holy Spirit, Lord, Come…” Some Reflections on the Epiclesis,” Ephrem
Theological Journal 2 (1998) 99-115, 114. See the comparative study of both Syriac and Greek versions of
epiclesis. See Emmanuel Kaniyamparampil, The Spirit of Life: A Study of the Holy Spirit in the Early Syriac
Tradition (Kottayam: OIRSI, Paurestya Vidyapeetham, 2003) 93.
100
R. C. D. Jasper & G. J. Cuming (eds.), Prayer of the Eucharist: Early and Reformed (New York: Pueblo,
1987) 23-24. However whether it is in the East or the West, the Holy Spirit is the real agent. For a discussion on
the history of the practice of epiclesis; see H.B. Swete, The Holy Spirit in the Ancient Church, 293-4.
101
W. Jardine Grisbrooke, “Anaphora,” J. G. Davies (ed.), A Dictionary of Liturgy & Worship (London: SCM,
1974) 16.
102
John H. McKenna, Eucharist and Holy Spirit: The Eucharistic Epiclesis in Twentieth Century Theology
(1900-1966) Alcuin Club Collections 57 (Great Wakering: Alcuin Club, 1975) 49.
103
Jozef Lamberts, “May Your Holy Spirit, Lord, Come,” 99.
104
Edward J. Kilmartin, Christian Liturgy: Theology and Practice (Kansas City, MO: Sheed & Ward, 1988) 8.
 An Event of Pneumatization 236

particularly that of the Roman Missal, also left the Spirit out of account.” 105 Comparing
the use of epiclesis in the Eastern and Western traditions, we can note that, while the
Western tradition preferred to understand “epiclesis in general sense,” the Eastern tradition
used epiclesis in the strict sense. What may be the reason for these two different
approaches of both traditions? A basic answer could be found if we look at the way both
theological traditions perceive God. Concerning the scholastic emphasis, Western tradition
as a whole favoured the explanation of God in philosophical categories by calling Him the
“Ultimate Substance,” “First Cause,” “the Unmoved Mover,” etc. Emphasis on the
rational comprehension of God through philosophical categories became the theological
style of the Western tradition. Although the Eastern tradition formulated its theological
notions on the Greek philosophical basis it always approaches God as three living Persons,
who cannot be reasoned out. The Eastern tradition yearns to “experience” communion
with the Persons in the Trinity. For this “God experience,” Paraclete, the Helper, is
inevitable. It is the Holy Spirit who guides, enables and helps human beings. Therefore,
pneumatology occupied a prominent place from the very beginning of the Eastern
theological tradition. In the Western tradition it is Vatican II, which gave due emphasis to
pneumatology in the Church teachings. In the final document of the Council the Holy
Spirit is mentioned 258 times. 106 From these observations, it is beyond dispute that the
Western tradition can learn much from the Eastern pneumatological tradition, “which has
kept a very deep understanding of the role of the Spirit, in their liturgy and their theology,
and in the faith of their people.”107 Now we turn our discussion towards the epiclesis in the
strict sense.

1.2.2 The Communion and Consecratory Epicleses

There are two predominant forms of eucharistic epiclesis in the strict sense: the
consecratory epiclesis and the communion epiclesis. These two epicleses are expressed in
two different invocations; the first is said before the Institution Narrative which is called
‘consecratory epiclesis,’ and the second is after the anamnesis and is called the
‘communion epiclesis.’ 108 First of all, we shall take up the communion epiclesis in which

105
José Comblin, The Holy Spirit and Liberation, xi. See also Richard Albertine, “The Epiclesis Problem – The
Roman Canon (Canon 1) in the Post-Vatican Liturgical Reform,” Ephemerides Liturgicae 99 (1985) 337-348,
342
106
José Comblin, The Holy Spirit and Liberation, 16. Before the Second Vatican Council there was no
developed pneumatology in the Catholic Church, but now it is developing rapidly. The Pentecostal movements
in the protestant Churches have great zeal and dynamism in their missionary field. That has stimulated and
provoked the Western Churches. Cf. Ibid., xii, xiii.
107
José Comblin, The Holy Spirit and Liberation, xiii.
108
Jozef Lamberts, “May Your Holy Spirit,” 99. In the Eucharistic epiclesis the Holy Spirit actualises and carries
out the Son’s words. He perfects the work of the Father and Son. Cf. Edward J. Kilmartin, “The Active Role of
Christ,” 227.
 An Event of Pneumatization 237

the Holy Spirit is invoked as the performer of God’s grace. By receiving the Body and
Blood of Christ in the Eucharist the faithful become one in Christ, Cyril of Jerusalem says,
For in the figure of bread His Body is given to you, and in the figure of wine His Blood,
that by partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ you may become of one body and blood
with Him. For when His Body and Blood become the tissue of our members, we become
Christ-bearers and as the blessed Peter said, “partakers of the divine nature. 109

Lamberts gives an example of ‘communion epiclesis’ in Hippolytus, Addai and Mari. The
oldest Eucharistic prayer of the Apostolic Tradition is generally attributed to Hyppolitus of
Rome. We could find an explicit epiclesis in this Eucharistic prayer placed after the
institution narrative which is a good example of ‘communion epiclesis.’ 110 In the early
tradition of Hippolytus, we find the prayer as follows:
And we pray thee that thou wouldest send thy Holy Spirit upon the offerings of thy holy
church; that thou, gathering them into one, wouldest grant to all thy saints who partake to be
filled with (the) Holy Spirit, that their faith may be confirmed in truth, that we may praise and
glorify thee. Through thy Servant Jesus Christ, through whom be to thee glory and honour,
with (the) Holy Spirit in the holy church, both now and always and world without end. 111
In the communion epiclesis, we pray that the faithful may be filled with the Holy Spirit
and be strengthened in their faith, so that they might praise God. In the second Eucharistic
prayer of Hippolytus we read: “May all of us who share in the body and blood of Christ be
brought together in unity by the Holy Spirit.” The Holy Spirit not only transforms the
bread and wine, but also transforms the faithful to become a sacrament of salvation for
this world. In this sense, epiclesis is fundamentally a transforming act which transforms
both the material sacramental elements as well as the faithful. The transforming power of
the Holy Spirit is invoked by the celebrant upon the sacramental elements and the faithful
“into one body.” 112 In such a way, the communion epiclesis is one of the most significant
events in the sacramental celebrations of both traditions in the Church. In the Eucharistic

109
Cyril of Jerusalem, Mystagogical Lecture IV, The Eucharist, Leo P. McCauley & Anthony A. Stephenson
trans., The Works of Saint Cyril of Jerusalem Vol. II (Washington D.C: The Catholic University of America
Press, 1970) 181-2.
110
Jozef Lamberts, “May Your Holy Spirit,” 101. Hippolytus is a schismatic bishop of Rome who is honoured
by the Roman Church as a saint and martyr. Many of his works were preserved and studied and were translated
into Syriac, Coptic, Arabic, Armenian and Old Slavic. Among the Western writers his Episcopal rank is
commonly ignored and he appears simply as “a presbyter.” The present Roman Catholic Sacramentary does
not call him “bishop.” Cf. Burton Scott Easton trans., The Apostolic Tradition of Hippolytus (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1934) 16.
111
Burton Scott Easton trans., The Apostolic Tradition, 36. See also the English translation by Ronald C. Jasper
– Geoffrey J. Cuming, Prayers of the Eucharist, 35. Christ grants us the Spirit through our communion with his
body and blood. Through the gift of his body and blood he increases the gift of the Spirit within us. See John
Paul II, Ecclesia de Eucharistia no. 17, http://www.vatican (accessed on 23. 04. 2003).
112
Benedict XVI, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation: Sacramentum Caritatis 13, Given in Rome, at Saint
Peter’s, on 22nd February, the Feast of the Chair of Peter, in the year 2007,
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_ben-
xvi_exh_20070222_sacramentum-caritatis_en.html (accessed 16th March 2007).
 An Event of Pneumatization 238

celebration the Holy Spirit transforms bread and wine as well as the faithful as the
instruments of building the kingdom of God on earth.113

The invocation of the Holy Spirit in the sacraments unites the faithful with the body of
Christ and the ecclesial body. The Antiochene type of epiclesis invokes the activity of the
Holy Spirit not only upon the Eucharistic gifts, but also upon the faithful who are
assembled. 114 However, the communion epiclesis has a pivotal role in the sacramental
metamorphosis. Having introduced the communion epiclesis, we shall now attempt to
explain very briefly the consecratory epiclesis.

The Holy Spirit humanizes God and divinizes the human person. Through the
consecratory epiclesis in the sacraments the Holy Spirit joins the human person to the
paschal mystery of Christ and especially to the divine communion. The mission of the
Holy Spirit is to consecrate or sanctify the sacramental elements as well as the human
person. The Spirit makes the earthly into heavenly through the consecratory epiclesis.
Furthermore, we find more clearly the specific prayer of consecratory epiclesis in Cyril of
Jerusalem, who says, “… whatsoever the Holy Ghost has touched, is surely sanctified and
changed.” 115 Cyril of Alexandria maintains that the Holy Spirit remakes the human person
in the image of God, not through any instrumental grace, but in giving Himself, as a
participant in the divine nature to those who are worthy. 116 The essential aim of the
consecratory/transforming work of the Holy Spirit is the sanctification of the faithful
through the remission of sin and to inherit the Kingdom of God. 117 In this way, the

113
Ernest Falardeau, A Holy and Living Sacrifice: The Eucharist in Christian Perspective (Collegeville, MN:
The Liturgical Press, 1996) 61 as cited in Jozef Lamberts, “May Your Holy Spirit,” 113. Lamberts emphasises
the transforming work of the Holy Spirit in the community. See Jozef Lamberts, “Eucharist and the Holy
Spirit,” Theology Digest 34.1 (1987) 51-55, 54.
114
John H. McKenna, “Eucharistic epiclesis: Myopia or Microcosm?” 279. A similar vision is seen in the recent
study of Groppe on Congar; where the Holy Spirit transforms human persons in the image of God into the
members of the body of Christ. It is not in a juridical manner but as truly sons in the true Son. Cf. Elizabeth
Teresa Groppe, Yves Congar’s Theology, 9. It is clearly seen in the epiclesis of the anaphora of St. James, the
Holy Spirit is invoked not only upon the gifts, but also upon the congregation, “that they be at all who receive
them the hallowing of souls and bodies, fruitfulness in good works, for the confirmation of your holy Church,
which you have founded upon the rock of faith…” Cf. Raymond A. Adams, The Holy Spirit and, 46.
Interestingly, we do not find the communion epiclesis in the eucharistic prayer of Cyril of Jerusalem. But, at
the same time there is neither an Institution Narrative nor an anamnesis in his anaphora. See Jozef Lamberts,
“May Your Holy Spirit,” 105.
115
Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures, On the Mysteries, Lecture 23 (NPNF VII), 2nd series, 1978, 154.
Cyril of Jerusalem, Mystagogical Lecture V, The Eucharist (II): The Liturgy, Leo P. McCauley & Anthony A.
Stephenson trans., The Works of Saint Cyril of Jerusalem Vol. II, 196. By the transforming action of the Holy
Spirit, earthly bread and wine become heavenly manna; likewise the human person is transformed into the
communion of the triune God. In epiclesis the Spirit perfects the work of the Father and the Son. See Edward J.
Kilmartin, “The Active Role of Christ,” 227. Lamberts points out that Cyril of Jerusalem is a witness of the
‘consecratory’ epiclesis. Jozef Lamberts, “May Your Holy Spirit,” 104.
116
Cyril of Alexandria, De sancto Spiritu (PG 75) 677 B, 1086.
117
Hugh Wybrew, The Orthodox Liturgy, 159.
 An Event of Pneumatization 239

consecratory epiclesis is evoked to regenerate the human person into the divine
communion. Athanasius speaks about this renewal effected in baptism when he states;
If, by the participation in the Spirit, we become participants in the divine nature, a person
would have to be stupid to say that the Spirit belongs to created nature and not to God’s
nature. Because of this, the persons in whom it resides are divinised. If it is able to divinise,
there is no doubt that its nature is that of God. 118
The sacraments of initiation are the means of divinization which incorporate us into the
divine life by uniting us in Christ. 119 Accordingly, we shall discuss the consecratory
epiclesis from the perspective of the pneumatic act of divinizing the human person into the
trinitarian communion. There are two basic characteristics of the sending of the Holy
Spirit by Christ. The first is a theandric act and this is the bestowal of the Spirit by the
Risen Lord. The second is the sending of the Spirit by Christ which is “sacramental.” 120
Both the East and the West agree on the sacramental understanding of the theandric act of
the sending of the Holy Spirit by Christ. 121 It is noteworthy that Rahner understood God’s
“indwelling” more as a free personal act than as a communication with the divine
nature. 122 The Holy Spirit does not change human nature into divine nature; rather the
Spirit brings about an ontological union of God and the creature. 123 This ontological union
is the ultimate end of the epiclesis. With regard to the epiclesis, Eastern theology is
specifically characterised by its ‘double epiclesis.’ We shall now discuss the ‘double
epiclesis’ in the Eastern tradition.

1.2.3 The ‘Double Epiclesis’

The entire Eucharistic prayer can be seen as epicletic. In all the Eastern liturgies, the
Words of Institution are followed by the epiclesis. The mystery of the Holy Sacrifice is
considered to be completed and perfected by the action of the Holy Spirit. Every good and
perfect gift comes to us from the Father through the Son by the Holy Spirit. The
distinctive oriental manner is to view all supernatural graces in a trinitarian framework and

118
Athanasius of Alexandria, Letters à Sérapion I, 24, 126. as cited in L. M. Chauvet, Symbol and Sacrament,
524.
119
Catherine M. LaCugna, God For Us, 296-297. The Eastern theologians never considered the epiclesis as a
consecratory formula by itself. Adams affirms: “The priest pronounces the prayer in persona ecclesiae and asks
the Father to send the Spirit and sanctify the gifts.” Cf. Raymond A. Adams, The Holy Spirit, 47.
120
Edward J. Kilmartin, “The Active Role of Christ,” 242.
121
Edward J. Kilmartin, “The Active Role of Christ,” 243. However, they differ on the description of the purely
divine act. The East thinks that the Spirit is sent by the Father alone through the Son because the Father is
Arche. While the West thinks that the Spirit is sent by the Father and Son acting as one principle. The West
refers to the sanctifying mission of the Spirit as the action of the Trinity as such. Ibid., 243.
122
Karl Rahner, The Trinity, 35.
123
Catherine M. LaCugna, God For Us, 297.
 An Event of Pneumatization 240

trace their efficacy to the action of the Holy Spirit. 124 All the prayers of the Eastern Church
can be viewed as epicletic, because the invocation of the Holy Spirit has a decisive role in
the sacraments and sacramentals of the Eastern Church. 125 In the early primitive Church
the double consecration was placed at the end of the fraternal meal. 126 Albertine says that
the whole anaphora is precisely an invocation to the Holy Spirit to descend upon the
participant as well as the sacramental elements and transforms both. 127 As McKenna points
out, in the Greek Anaphora of St. Mark we find the following epiclesis:
And we pray and call upon you, good lover of mankind to send from your holy heaven, from
your prepared dwelling place, from your unlimited presence, the Paraclete himself, the Spirit
of truth, the Holy One, the Lord, the life-giver….Look upon us and send your Holy Spirit
upon these loaves and these chalices so that he may sanctify and perfect them, as the almighty
God, and make this bread the body (and) this cup the blood of the new covenant of our Lord,
God, Saviour and sovereign King, Jesus Christ… so that they may become, for all those who
partake of them, (a source of) faith, self-restraint, healing, good judgement, holiness, renewal
of soul, body and spirit, communion in the blessedness of eternal life and immortality,
glorification of your most holy name and the forgiveness of sins so that in this, as in all things,
your most holy, precious and glorious name be glorified and praised and sanctified together
with Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. 128
The Holy Spirit is invoked to sanctify the bread and wine into the body and blood of
Christ, and at the same time for the remission of sins and communion in eternal life. Thus,
the epiclesis is directed towards human participation in the divine life. The same notion
we find in almost all the Eastern epicleses. The epiclesis is the remarkable moment in
which the Holy Spirit shows us clearly the salvific paschal mysteries of Christ and invites
us to participate in divine life. Nissiotis observes:
And this Epiclesis of the Spirit is addressed to the Father and concerns the action of the
Paraclete first upon the gathered community and then upon the offered gifts. It is not the
sacrifice of the cross that we offer again, but mysteriously we offer its ‘remembrance’ in this
real sense in the Body of Christ, the One Ecclesia, through which and in which the real

124
C.A. Abraham ed. & trans., The Divine Liturgy of the Syro-Malankara Church (Trivandrum: Malankara
Academy, 1986) 76. Vischer points out that in the Eastern liturgies the epiclesis follows the Words of
Institution. Lukas Vischer, “The Epiclesis: Sign of Unity and Renewal,” Studia Liturgica 6.1 (1969) 30-39, 30.
125
Jozef Lamberts, “May Your Holy Spirit,” 108.
126
Edward J. Kilmartin, The Eucharist in the Primitive Church (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1965)
146-7.
127
Richard Albertine, “Theosis According to the Eastern Fathers,” 393-417, 396.
128
John H. McKenna, Eucharist and Holy Spirit, 25. The invocation of the Holy Spirit is not only an act of
transformation of the bread and wine, but also that of the faithful. The celebrant prays after the invocation of
the Holy Spirit: “And unite all of us to one another who become partakers of the one Bread and Cup in the
communion of the Holy Spirit” (St. Basil the Great). “That they may be to those who partake for the
purification of soul, for the remission of sins, for the communion of the Holy Spirit, for the fulfilment of the
Kingdom of Heaven.” Cf. Alexander Schmemann, The Eucharist, 225, 226.
 An Event of Pneumatization 241

presence of the sacrificial body of Jesus is mysteriously realised again and again, inviting us
to deep mystical participation by virtue of the uncreated energy of God in His Paraclete. 129
By epiclesis in sacraments the Holy Spirit creates not only a remembrance of the past
events of the paschal mysteries of Christ, but also leads towards the participation of the
faithful in the trinitarian communion. In the Eastern tradition, the Holy Spirit is invoked in
the epiclesis to change the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ, as well as to
transform the participants into Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. There is one
epiclesis with a double meaning; therefore, it is a ‘double epiclesis.’ 130 In epiclesis we are
to be incorporated into the Church in order to share the fruit of divine grace and sonship of
Christ. 131 In the Syrian liturgy of Antioch we find the following epiclesis, which comes
after the institution narrative and the anamnesis:
And we beseech you to look graciously upon these gifts set before you, O God who need
nothing, and accept them in honour of your Christ; and to send down your Holy Spirit
upon this sacrifice, the witness of the sufferings of the Lord Jesus, that he may make
(avpoqh,nh) this bread body of your Christ, and this cup blood of your Christ; that those who
partake of it may be strengthened to piety, obtain forgiveness of sins, be delivered from
the devil and his deceit, be filled with Holy Spirit, become worthy of your Christ, and
obtain eternal life, after reconciliation with you, almighty Master. 132
In the anaphora of Saint James also epiclesis comes after the institution narrative and
anamnesis. In this epiclesis the priest waves his hands over the holy mysteries and bowing
his head and prays silently:
Have mercy upon us, O God the Father and send forth upon these gifts before you, your
Holy Spirit, the Lord and the life-giver, who shares your Throne and your Kingdom with
you and with your Son that reigns with you, of one Substance and co-eternal; Who spoke
in the Law and in the Prophets and your New Testament; Who came down in the likeness
of a dove upon our Lord Jesus Christ in the river Jordan; Who came down upon your holy
Apostles in the likeness of fiery tongues. 133
After this silent prayer the priest prays three times loud: “Give answer to me, O Lord, and
have mercy upon me.” This is the prayer of Prophet Elijah, asking for fire to come down
from heaven in order to prove that Yahweh is the true God before the prophets of Baal. 134

129
N.A. Nissiotis, “Worship, Eucharist and ‘Intercommunion:’ An Orthodox Reflection,” Studia Liturgica 2.3
(1963) 193-222, 209. Kilmartin speaks about the twofold mission of Christ and the Spirit. Cf. Edward J.
Kilmartin, “The Active Role of Christ and the Holy Spirit,” 229.
130
Jozef Lamberts, “May Your Holy Spirit,” 106.
131
Richard Albertine, “Theosis According to the Eastern Fathers,” 393-417, 403.
132
English translation from Jasper-Cuming, 111, as cited in Jozef Lamberts, “May Your Holy Spirit,” 105. The
invocation of the Spirit in the West implies both the consecration of the bread and wine into the Body and
Blood of Christ, the source of salvation to all those who partake in it. See Patrick Regan, “Quenching the
Spirit: The Epiclesis in Recent Roman Documents,” Worship 79 (2005) 386-404, 387.
133
C.A. Abraham trans., The Anaphora of Saint James, 30-31.
134
C.A. Abraham trans., The Anaphora of Saint James, 30-31. The Prophet Elija wanted to make the Israelites
faithful to Yahweh. At Mount Carmel Elija with the Israelites in the presence of the priests of Baal, prepared a
sacrifice and invited them to call on their god to answer with fire and consume the offering and accept the
 An Event of Pneumatization 242

This fire symbolises the indwelling of the Holy Spirit upon the bread and wine in the Holy
Eucharist. In the anaphora of the Twelve Apostles, the epiclesis is explicitly meant for the
consecration of the faithful. The priest prays: “Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy
upon us and send down your life-giving Spirit from your holy abode. May he descend
over this Offering and make this life-giving Body; and may he pardon and sanctify us
(54).” 135 It is double epiclesis because it is one epiclesis with double meaning, but the
sanctification of the ecclesial body is the main intention.

We have already noted that in the Eastern tradition more prominence is given to the work
of the Holy Spirit because of its trinitarian accent. Looking from a Western perspective,
the Eastern tradition will not and cannot agree with anaphora not having an epiclesis in the
strict sense. The Eastern tradition will not and cannot teach that the bread and wine
become the body and blood of Christ without having an epiclesis in the strict sense.
Eastern theology clearly understands that the transformation of the human person and the
sacramental elements take place not in any particular moment, but as an integral process.
Consequently, we turn our discussion to the more disputed theological notion of the
moment of consecration.

1.2.4 The Epiclesis and the Moment of Consecration

As we have seen in the Eastern tradition the entire Eucharistic prayer is epicletic and there
is a proper epiclesis in the Eucharistic anaphora and it is considered to have a consecratory
effect. The consecratory status of epiclesis leads to the question of the “moment of
consecration,” that is, the moment of the change of bread and wine into the body and
blood of Christ. 136 Eastern theology lays stress on the whole ritual mystery which implies
the Incarnation, death and resurrection of Christ with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. 137
When does the bread and wine change into the body and blood of Christ, after the Words
of Institution or after the epiclesis? The Western tradition stressed that it happens at the
moment of pronouncing the words of institution. This is considered the ‘moment of

sacrifice. So they prayed but nothing happened. But when Elija prayed, Yahweh accepted the sacrifice and
consumed the offering by fire, and showed that He was the One God. Then fire fell down and consumed the
offering. This prayer of Elija is taken and used as the prayer before the convocation of the Holy Spirit. (1Kings
18. 36-38).
135
C.A. Abraham trans., The Anaphora of the Twelve Apostles, 54.
136
Jozef Lamberts, “May Your Holy Spirit,” 109. See also Hugh Wybrew, The Orthodox Liturgy, 157. Dumitru
Staniloae, “The Role of the Holy Spirit,” 357, see also Ernst Benz, The Eastern Orthodox Church, 37. See
Alexander Schmemann, For the Life of the World, 43-4.
137
Ernst Benz, The Eastern Orthodox Church, 36-7.
 An Event of Pneumatization 243

consecration.’ However, the words of institution are not consecratory in themselves. 138
Eastern theology is hardly interested in the particular ‘moment’ of consecration or
transformation of the gifts. 139 Western theology is so particular with the moment of
consecration and maintains that at that moment transubstantiation takes place; it is a
change realised in the Eucharistic celebration by which the substance of bread and wine
change into the substance of the body and blood of Christ. 140 For the East, the
transformation of the sacramental elements takes place with the personal presence of
Christ. It is more than a change of the substance, rather a unique personal relationship
(communion) with the divine.

Lamberts observes that certain Western missionaries heard that the Eastern tradition gives
more emphasis to the consecratory value of the epiclesis and they blindly branded the
Eastern emphasis on epiclesis as heretical. 141 In the meantime, the astonishment and the
scandal caused in the Eastern tradition by the exclusive Western emphasis on the words of
institution, at the cost of undermining the role of epiclesis, is echoed in the following
words of Lamberts:
Eastern Christians were scandalised by the idea that one could arbitrarily have the disposal
of the Eucharist and by pronouncing the words of institution realize the change of bread
and wine into the body and blood of Christ. They called this a lack of true religiosity, a
neglect of the context of prayer in the Eucharist, whereby the Church invokes God to
complete our gifts through his power, his Spirit, so that they become for us body and
blood of Christ. 142
Consequently, overemphasis on the words of institution in the Western tradition can be
underestimating the “perfecting” role of the Holy Spirit in the Eucharist. The Holy Spirit

138
John Meyendorff, Byzantine Theology, 96. See Yves Congar, “The Eucharistic Epiclesis,” David Smith
trans., I believe in the Holy Spirit Vol. III (New York, NY: The Crossroad Publishing Company, 1999) 228-249,
228.
139
Alexander Schmemann, The Eucharist, 214.
140
Jozef Lamberts, “May Your Holy Spirit,” 110. The word transubstantiation is used for epiclesis. See Ernst
Benz, The Eastern Orthodox Church, 38. However, this notion of the moment of consecration was further
emphasised at the end of the 12thc. by elevating the host in the Western tradition. This particular moment is
marked in the Roman Missal by printing the words of institution in a bigger font. See Jozef Lamberts, “May
Your Holy Spirit,” 110. d’Eypernon points out that Cyril of Jerusalem explicitly affirms that the sacrament of
the Eucharist is accomplished by the power of the Blessed Trinity. However, according to him before the
invocation there is only bread and wine but after the invocation there is the Body and Blood of Christ. The
change is effected through the request to the Father to send the Spirit and it is the Holy Spirit who causes the
change of substances. Cf. Taymans d’Eypernon, The Blessed Trinity and the Sacraments (Dublin: Newman
Press, 1961) 134. Cf. J. H. McKenna, Eucharist and Holy Spirit, 149. Gunton observes that the Western
theology usually omits the epiclesis, and the liturgy is less trinitarian also. Cf. Colin E. Gunton, Father, Son
and Holy Spirit, 6.
141
Jozef Lamberts, “May Your Holy Spirit,” 111. The Eastern position of the consecratory value of the epiclesis
is defended by Nicholas Cabasilas (1320-1390) and later by Simon of Thessalonica (+1429).
142
Jozef Lamberts, “May Your Holy Spirit,” 111. For the meaning of the epiclesis in the East and the West Cf.
Lukas Vischer, “The Epiclesis: Sign of Unity and Renewal,” 30-39.
 An Event of Pneumatization 244

transforms and perfects the partakers into the ecclesial body of Christ. The transformation
of the gifts and the congregation is to be considered the primary goal of epiclesis in the
holy Eucharist. Sacramental transformation is essentially an experience which is effected
within the ecclesial body. 143 It is remarkable to note that Kilmartin has a complimentary
view on both traditions of the West and the East on the words of institution and epiclesis.
He affirms:
The epiclesis is the confession of the transcendental act by which the Father sends the
Spirit to transform the gifts. When the epiclesis is placed before the words of institution,
the theandric act of Christ is clearly seen as sacrament of the sending of the Spirit by the
Father. When the epiclesis is placed after the account of institution, the role of the Spirit in
the perfecting of the theandric act of Christ is brought to the foreground. But in both cases
the same theology is reflected: the theandric act of Christ is sacrament of the Father’s act
of sending the Spirit, i.e., it draws this act into history without destroying its
transcendentality. 144
Western and Eastern traditions, instead of seeing differences in terms of contradictions,
must learn to conceive the differences as complementary. Both can be mutually enriched
by the venerable elements in both traditions. For this, those in the Western tradition should
make an effort to understand the Eastern mind in its own perspective and those in the East,
should try more theological ventures by clearly explaining the Eastern theological
positions to their counterparts in the Western tradition. With regard to sacramental
metamorphosis we hold the position that both the words of institution and epiclesis play
an equally undeniable role. In this way, both are equally significant moments in
sacramental transformation. Accordingly, we shall turn our discussion on the deification of
the human person as the ultimate goal of epiclesis.

1.2.5 The Qe,wsij as the Fundamental Objective of Epiclesis

Since our discussion is mainly concerned with the integral sacramental metamorphosis as
the primary religious ideal of Eastern sacramentology, epiclesis has a significant role in
sacramental metamorphosis. Gregory of Nyssa clearly maintains that the sacramental
action consecrates the sacramental elements as well as the human person. The unseen
power and grace of God transformed the human person towards a higher condition. 145 This

143
Norman Russell, The Doctrine of Deification, 205. See also John McKenna, “The Epiclesis Revisited: A
Look at Modern Eucharistic Prayers,” Ephemerides Liturgicae 99 (1985) 314-336, 325.
144
Edward J. Kilmartin, “The Active Role of Christ,” 253. The Holy Spirit transforms the Eucharistic gifts and
the Eucharistic assembly into the Body of Christ. See Robert J. Daly, “Eucharistic Origins: From the New
Testament to the Liturgies of the Golden Age,” Theological Studies 66 (2005) 3-22, 17. Lee has an ecumenical
perspective with regard to the moment of consecration because of the transubstantiation in the words of
institution in the west and the emphasis of epiclesis in the East. See Rchard D. Lee, “Epiclesis and Ecumenical
Dialogue,” 56.
145
Gregory of Nyssa, On the Baptism of Christ, 519, 523. See Alexander Schmemann, For the Life of the World,
39.
 An Event of Pneumatization 245

unseen power is the Holy Spirit through whom we attain restoration to trinitarian eternal
glory and find our deification. Basil says,
Through the Holy Spirit comes our restoration to paradise, our ascension into the kingdom
of heaven, our return to the adoption of sons, our liberty to call God our Father, our being
made partakers of the grace of Christ, our being called children of light, our sharing in
eternal glory, and, in a word, our being brought into a state of all “fullness of blessing,”
both in this world and in the world to come. 146

Receiving the power of the Spirit makes the faithful sharers in the life of Christ. What we
have shared in the sacrament of Baptism is confirmed by the anointing of the Holy Oil in
the sacrament of Confirmation. While speaking on Chrism, Cyril of Jerusalem says; “Now
you have been made Christs, by receiving the antitype of the Holy Ghost; and all things
have been wrought in you by imitation, because you are images of Christ.” 147 He
emphasised the ecclesial nature of transformation. 148 The anointing of the Holy Oil is also
the “Mark of ownership” by which the newly baptised are being “branded as sheep.” 149 In
this respect, qe,wsij can be realised only through the Church, moreover; the Church is an
“uninterrupted epiclesis” 150 through her consistent prayers and supplications. However, the
sacramental act of transformation is pre-eminently a trinitarian act;
Celebrated worthily in faith, the sacraments confer the grace that they signify. They are
efficacious because in the, Christ himself is at work: it is he who baptizes, he who acts in
his sacraments in order to communicate the grace that each sacrament signifies. The
Father always hears the prayer of His Son’s Church which, in the epiclesis of each
sacrament, expresses her faith in the power of the Spirit. As fire transforms into itself
everything it touches, so the Holy Spirit transforms into the divine life whatever is
subjected to his power. 151

This transforming event of epiclesis is a continuing event in the Church. 152 It derives from
the trinitarian and pneumatological aspect of the Church. It is the Holy Spirit who centres
people around Christ and forms the Church. In every sacrament the Spirit is invoked and
the Spirit unites him/her into the Mystical Body of Christ by strengthening this Body. 153

146
Basil, On the Spirit, 15. 36 (NPNF VIII), 22.
147
Cyril of Jerusalem, Lecture On Chrism 21.1 (NPNF VII) CD-ROM.
148
Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures, On the Mysteries, Lecture 23 (NPNF VII), 2nd series, 1978, 154.
149
Sebastian P. Brock, Holy Spirit in the Syrian Baptismal Tradition, 147
150
Calinic (Kevin M.) Berger, “Does the Eucharist Make the Church? An Ecclesiological Comparison of
Staniloae and Zizioulas,” St. Vladimir’s Theological Quarterly 51.1 (2007) 23-70, 51. The uninterrupted
continuous epiclesis implies the continuous transformation in sacraments too. Through the epiclesis the Spirit
transforms the faithful into the living body of Christ. See Emmanuel Clapsis, “The Holy Spirit in the Church,”
345.
151
Catechism of the Catholic Church (New Delhi: Theological Publications in India, 1994) 1127.
152
Calinic (Kevin) Berger, “Does the Eucharist Make the Church?” 62.
153
Dumitru Staniloae, “The Role of the Holy Spirit in the Theology and Life of the Orthodox Church,” 357.
 An Event of Pneumatization 246

At the epiclesis in most of the anaphoras of the Eastern Churches, the Holy Spirit is
invoked not only on the “gifts” but also “upon us and upon the gifts.” The Holy Spirit
transforms the community of sinners into the “Church of God,”154 which is the new way of
being in communion with the triune God. Through the coming of the Holy Spirit the
trinitarian communion dwells among us and divinizes. The trinitarian God confers
uncreated energies upon the human person: it is the eternal glory and light in which we
must participate. 155 As Brock emphatically articulates, the true goal of deification is that
when the baptised are made sons/daughters of God by the work of the Holy Spirit, they
become “potential divine beings.” 156 Groppe is convinced that the indwelling of the Holy
Spirit is the principle of deification. 157
The faithful become partakers of the divine communion through the Holy Spirit. The Holy
Spirit has the power to recreate and renew the human person. The consecration in the
sacraments transforms him/her into a new creature. 158 The Holy Spirit recreates human
nature by uniting it with the body of Christ through the sacraments, which intrinsically
paves the way towards an event of micro-macrocosmic metamorphosis.

1.2.6 Epiclesis: An Event of Micro-macrocosmic Metamorphosis

The Didache speaks of the sacramental transformation at the same time as both
symbolic/metaphorical and real/ontological transformation in the experiential realm of
participants. 159 In the event of metamorphosis the reception of the grace of God through
the Holy Spirit is sacramentally oriented. The Church is the place where the Holy Spirit
lives and reigns with the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit and sanctifies and divinizes
wo/man through sacramental and liturgical life. The Holy Spirit completes every act of the
sacraments and the liturgy of the Church. Sacramental life empowers the person to renew

154
John Meyendorff, Byzantine Theology, 175. See C.A. Abraham ed. & trans., “The Anaphora of the Twelve
Apostles,” The Order of the Holy Qurbono of the Syro-Malankara Church (Trivandrum: The Malankara
Academy, 1986) 54. The Holy Spirit is the principle of communion and transformation in the Church. See
Jaroslav Z. Skira, “The synthesis Between Christology and Pneumatology in Modern Orthodox Theology,”
Orientalia Christiana Periodica 68 (2002) 435-465, 441-2.
155
Vladimir Lossky, Mystical Theology, 171. The Holy Spirit brings divine life into whole creation through the
epiclesis. See Dumitru Staniloae, Orthodox Spirituality, 55.
156
Sebastian P. Brock, Holy Spirit in the Syrian Baptismal Tradition, 84.
157
Elizabeth T. Groppe, Yves Congar’s Theology of the Holy Spirit (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004)
9.
158
Louis Bouyer, The Christian Mystery, 166. See also Mary Ann Fatula, The Holy Spirit: Unbounded Gift, 90.
159
Aaron Milavec, The Didache, 359. The word metaphor comes from two Greek words me,ta: across and fe,rein
to carry. It means to carry across, in a sense of transference. See Stephen W. Need, Human Language and
Knowledge, 89. In order to make clear, it is metaphoric because the sacrament of Baptism makes the participant
brother/sister to the faithful and capable of receiving the power of the Holy Spirit and a partaker of the Body and
Blood of Christ in the sacrament of the Eucharist. It can be considered as the symbolic manifestation of the real
sacramental transformation. With regard to the symbolic transformative dimension in the sacrament of anointing
there is healing in both the interior and exterior sense. See Bruce T. Morrill, “Christ the Healer: A Critical
Investigation of Liturgical, Pastoral, and Biblical Sources,” Worship 79.6 (2005) 482-504, 483.
 An Event of Pneumatization 247

and transform. This transformation implies the sacramental integration of the whole
human person towards the trinitarian God. 160 This twofold task of sacramental
transformation is well established in the Eucharistic epiclesis. Brock says,
At the epiclesis the Holy Spirit brings about the proper relationship of the created world to
the Creator: the bread and wine, ‘fruit of the earth and work of human hands,’ is
transformed into the Saving Body and Blood of Christ. What we have here is a paradigm
of the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, hinting how, on the one hand, the material
world can become a sacrament, and on the other, the Christian too can become
transformed by his cooperation with the Holy Spirit. 161
The transfiguration and glorification of the body is the work of the Holy Spirit in and
through the sacred mysteries. However, this transformation implies the glorification of the
whole material cosmos according to the Archetype, the resurrected Lord. 162 There is the
capacity of transformation in the human person with the grace of the Holy Spirit which
recapitulates the whole cosmos in Christ. Mantzarides holds that the sacraments make it
possible for human beings to enter freely and personally into communion with the
divinising grace. 163 The epiclesis is the incorporation of the created realm into the glorified
Body of Christ towards an eschatological fulfilment. At this point, this personal
transformation in theosis extends to the whole cosmos into the Christ-event which is a
progressive becoming movement in the eschatological dimension. 164 The sacraments of
baptism and Eucharist initiate us into this eschatological triune communion. The person
enters into the triune communion of God through the divinising grace of the Holy Spirit
mainly through the sacraments. As a result, the Holy Spirit bridges the gap between the
divine and human and the uncreated and the created through the epiclesis. Having dealt
sufficiently on deification through epiclesis, now let us turn to the transforming
eschatological event.

160
Lars Thunberg, Man and the Cosmos, 126. The same is taught by John Paul II in his encyclical, “The joint
and inseparable activity of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, which is at the origin of the Church, of her
consolidation and her continued life, is at work in the Eucharist. This was clearly evident to the author of the
Liturgy of Saint James. In the epiclesis of the Anaphora, God the Father is asked to send the Holy Spirit upon the
faithful and upon the offerings, so that the body and blood of Christ “may be a help to all those who partake of it
... for the sanctification of their souls and bodies”. The Church is fortified by the divine Paraclete through the
sanctification of the faithful in the Eucharist.” John Paul II, Ecclesia de Eucharistia no. 23, http://www.vatican
(accessed. 28. 04. 03).
161
Sebastian P. Brock, Holy Spirit in the Syrian Baptismal Tradition, 176. The Spirit transforms everything and
builds the Church. See Richard Albertine, “Theosis According to the Eastern Fathers, Mirrored in the
Development of the Epiclesis,” Ephemerides Liturgicae 105 (1991) 393-417, 395. The transformation of the
material cosmos is emphasised in the sacramental and liturgical celebration through the epiclesis. See Elizabeth
T. Groppe, Yves Congar’s Theology, 103-4.
162
Petro B.T. Bilaniuk, Theology, and Economy, 211-2. As Groppe affirms we live not only in relationship with
human persons, but also in communion with God and the whole creation. See Elizabeth T. Groppe, Yves
Congar’s, 9.
163
Georgios I. Mantzarides, The Deification of Man, 42. The life of the Church is epicletic. See Elizabeth T.
Groppe, Yves Congar’s Theology, 9.
164
Richard Albertine, “Theosis According to the Eastern Fathers,” 393. See also Hendrikus Berkhof, The
Doctrine of the Holy Spirit (Richmond, VA: John Knox Press, 1964) 108.
 An Event of Pneumatization 248

2 The Sacramental Metamorphosis: An Eschatological Event

We shall discuss sacramental transformation in relation to the eschatological perspective.
It has to be understood as the divine-human intervention that goes beyond the concept of
time. God has extended his particular purpose of the divine economy of micro-
macrocosmic transformation into divine likeness in the sacraments of the ecclesial
communion. This divine purpose of salvation is realised in the event of Incarnation by
God becoming human and the human becoming divine. Maximus clearly speaks of “ages”
which intended to bring about the mystery of Christ’s embodiment. 165 The eschatological
(eschaton, “the end of time”) dimension implies the experience of heavenly things in and
through the earthly liturgical celebrations. Sacramental celebrations are the iconic
representation of the heavenly bliss. 166 The Spirit brings the eschaton in history with its
transformation and transfiguration; memory of the future. 167 The Holy Spirit perfects and
directs the whole salvific economy towards its ultimate end. 168 On speaking about the end
of the created, Gregory of Nyssa borrowed the Platonic view and spoke of; “the
reconstitution of our nature in its original form.” 169 From an eschatological perspective,
sacramental metamorphosis is ultimately the final goal of the human person, which can be
phrased differently; the human strives for mystical union in God. It is the interpenetration
of the divine and human natures fundamentally rooted in the sacramental life of the
faithful. In this regard, the sacraments are primarily the signs of the Kingdom of God and
they are signs of the eschatological meal. 170 Eschatology manifests the complete revelation
of the Spirit as glory and deifying energy; moreover, the Spirit unites the materiality of

165
Maximus the Confessor, Ad Thalassium 22, Paul M. Blowers trans., 115. Creation is characterised by the
presence of spatial element (diastema) which is absolutely absent in the Creator. See Robert S. Brightman,
“Apophatic Theology,” 97-114, 102, 3.
166
Giles Dimock, 101 Questions and Answers on the Eucharist (New York, Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2006)
134.
167
John D. Zizioulas “Apostolic Continuity and Orthodox Theology: Towards a Synthesis of Two Perspectives,”
St. Vladimir’s Theological Quarterly 19.2 (1975) 75-108, 83. It shows that the Spirit transcends the history and
anamnesis of the past.
168
Dumitru Staniloae, “The Role of the Holy Spirit,” 343-366, 347.
169
Gregory of Nyssa, On the Soul and the Resurrection, 464 (NPNF V) (italics are not mine). Theosis is not a
state of Adam before the fall, rather it is the final and divinely established goal of spiritual life, which is the task
of “creative and pedagogical transformation of the body.” See Gregory Telepneff, The Concept of the Person in
the Christian Hellenism, 299.
170
Martin E. Brinkman, “Towards a Common Understanding of the Sacraments,” 50. While he thinks of the
ecclesial communion in sacraments, Zizioulas deems: “Full communion means in the first place eucharistic
communion, since the Eucharist is the recapitulation of the entire economy of salvation, in which past, present
and future are united, and in which communion with the Holy Trinity and with the rest of the Churches as well
as with creation takes place. Baptism, Chrismation or Confirmation, and the rest of the sacraments, are all
given in view of the Eucharist. Communion in these sacraments may be described as “partial” or anticipatory
communion, calling for its fulfilment in the Eucharist.” John Zizioulas, “The Church as Communion,” St.
Vladimir’s Theological Quarterly 38.1 (1994) 3-15, 14-15.
 An Event of Pneumatization 249

creation into the perfect realization of this communion. 171 Leijssen succinctly points out
that every sacramental event has an eschatological dimension. 172 Furthermore, as he states,
“Sacraments are portents of the completion of salvation.” 173 Bobrinskoy prefers to
translate ecclesial eschaton in liturgical reality as plêrôma, “fullness,” this fullness is
characterised with the coming of the Saviour. 174 In this way, the sacraments are the
celebration of divine-human encounter which manifests the fullness of the presence of
divine transforming power in the ecclesial communion. Since the sacraments bring
humanity into divine communion, they are the signs of the eschatological presence of the
Kingdom of God.

2.1 Eschaton towards the Kingdom of God

From the aforementioned event of the Church we could say clearly that the sacraments are
the external manifestation of the Kingdom of God in the world. The eschatological
Kingdom of God is manifested in its fullness in Christ by having the fullness of the power
of the Spirit in Christ. Receiving a human body and born in space and time, Christ brings
the Kingdom to earth by the power of the Holy Spirit. In this way, Christ reigns in our
material body. 175 Christ extends his salvific act of deification through the sacraments
through the transforming act of the Holy Spirit which goes beyond the notions of time and
space. In sacramental celebrations we are journeying towards the Kingdom of God and
therefore, they are intrinsically eschatological in character. The mission of the Holy Spirit
is already present in the sacraments and at the same time it is eschatological as well, in
revealing the realisation of the Kingdom of God. The Holy Spirit with full authority
directs the whole creation towards the Kingdom of God. 176 This journey of the human
person with his surrounding cosmos moves towards its final goal; that is, the complete

171
Dumitru Staniloae, “The Role of the Holy Spirit in the Theology and Life of the Orthodox Church,” 358.
172
Lambert J. Leijssen, “Rahner’s Contribution,” 204. Though the Western sacramental theology was less
interested in pneumatological and eschatological dimensions, Lambert Leijssen observes a significant
contribution of Rahner in the renewal of sacramentology in the West. He clearly shows that Rahnerian
sacramentology has a special connection with eschatology. His study succinctly proves that Rahner found this
eschatological dimension of sacramentology is already present in Thomas. Furthermore, he argues that the
contemporary sacramentology must “rediscover and develop” this eschatological dimension. The “already”
aspect of salvation is well emphasised by Rahner in sacramental celebrations. Cf. Ibid., 205.
173
Lambert J. Leijssen, “Rahner’s Contribution,” 205.
174
Boris Bobrinskoy, The Mystery of the Trinity,” 168. The pleroma “is the whole corpus of true being, i.e. God
with the other “intelligible” beings around him.” God is the pleroma (fullness) of all good. See Paulos Gregorios,
Cosmic Man, 185-6. Pleroma is the fullness or accomplishment of time. See Louis Bouyer, The Church of God,
236-7.
175
Louis Bouyer, The Church of God, 250-1.
176
Dumitru Staniloae, “The Role of the Holy Spirit,” 359. As Florovsky says for the Greek, time is a “lower or
reduced mode of existence.” Georges Florovsky, Creation and Redemption, 126. The cosmos is a periodical
being. See ibid 127. See also Gary D. Badcock, Light of Truth & Fire of Love, 195.
 An Event of Pneumatization 250

union with the divine. The eschatological Kingdom is the place where everything finds its
true being and its union without confusion. 177 Schmemann vividly states that liturgy is
primarily eschatological in nature. Time becomes a progressive movement within the
Church towards the fullness of the Kingdom of God. 178 Furthermore, he speaks of the
liturgy as the sacrament of the Kingdom of God. 179 He also speaks of the Kingdom of God
as union and life with God;
Thus, the Kingdom of God is the content of the Christian faith – the goal, the meaning and
the content of the Christian life. It is the knowledge of God, love for Him, unity with Him,
and life in Him. The Kingdom of God is the unity with God as the source of all life, indeed
as life itself. It is life eternal. 180

As we have already seen the reality of the Kingdom of God is extended in the sacramental
celebrations of the Church. 181 In this sense, every sacramental celebration is the
celebration of the perfect union of the divine-human-cosmic realities that proclaims the
eternity of life in the Kingdom of God. From the abovementioned discussion, it is true to
state that the essence of the Church is the presence of the Kingdom of God and its mode of
presence is precisely liturgical. 182 Hence, the sacraments are to be considered significant
events that reveal the Kingdom of God on earth, as Albertine says, “In its fullest sense,
worship is directed toward the coming of the Reign of God. Worship is always
eschatological in scope, directed toward the definitive transformation.” 183

Because of the ecclesiological perspective the sacraments are transforming events in the
Church towards the newness of life. The sacramental acts bring the people together in one
place and form a “new community with a new life.” 184 However, this coming together is

177
Melchisedec Törönen, Union and Distinction, 127.
178
Alexander Schmemann, Introduction to Liturgical Theology, 180-81. He also speaks about the transformation
of historical time towards the eschatological time. He speaks about Easter as the “sacrament of time” because
the joy given in that night becomes the light which transformed the night into light. See Alexander
Schmemann, Sacraments and Orthodoxy (New York, NY: Herder & Herder, 1965) 69, 71.
179
Alexander Schmemann, “Liturgy and Eschatology,” 10.
180
Alexander Schmemann, “The Symbol of the Kingdom,” 39. See also Melchisedec Törönen, Union and
Distinction, 151.
181
Hugh Wybrew, The Orthodox Liturgy, 176. The appearance of the Kingdom of God is sacramental. See Ernst
Benz, The Eastern Orthodox Church, 21.
182
Mathai Kadavil, ‘Sacramental-Liturgical Theology: A Critical Appraisal of Alexander Schmemann’s
Sacramentology of “Eschatological Symbolism”’Questions Liturgiques 82 (2001) 112-127, 117.
183
Richard Albertine, “Theosis according to the Eastern Fathers,” 393-417, 397. At this point, we could
precisely state that the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist is bringing a foretaste of the Kingdom of God in its
transforming way. See John Zizioulas, “Communion and Otherness,” 355.
184
Alexander Schmemann, For the Life of the World, 27. Through the transformative power of the Holy Spirit
and the proclamation of the Word of God the Church is made known to all cultures, to all particular situations
and relationships, and thereby the values of the Kingdom of God truly mediate God’s love to the world.
Anthony J. Godzieba, Lieven Boeve & Michele Saracino, “Resurrection – Interruption – Transformation..,”
Theological Studies 67 (2006) 777-815, 795.
 An Event of Pneumatization 251

not simply a natural community, but it is the fulfilment of the Church. 185 This new
community of life brings the presence of the Kingdom of God in such a way that the
ultimate aim of the sacramental celebration is eschatological. The Orthodox liturgy begins
with the solemn doxology: “Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father, the Son and the Holy
Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages.” 186 This is the beginning of the journey
towards the Kingdom of God. This doxology proclaims the ultimate end of the ecclesia,
which is the presence of the Kingdom of God. The sacramental metamorphosis is
essentially related to this eschatological view of the Kingdom of God. Harakas links
human restoration with this eschatological communion in relation to the establishment of
the Kingdom of God. He affirms;
What God did in Jesus Christ for the entire world, past, present and future, he made
available to each of us personally and corporately through the Holy Spirit in the Church.
The Church continues the saving work of Christ. Its works is to make possible our
restoration to communion with the Father and to begin the process of growth toward the
fulfilment of the image and the likeness of God in us and among us. Christ taught us to
pray that his kingdom come, where he is Lord and we and all creation with us are in full
communion with God. 187

However, this eschatology has also significance in the present life in society. Maloney
affirms that Eastern theology necessarily corresponds with the notion of an eschatological
view in her sacramental celebrations. He integrates this eschatological vision of
sacramentology into the more practical life of a society. It is closely connected with the
concrete human life experience in the perspective of building up of a new community of
peace and prosperity. He writes;
Whenever peoples are oppressed by political leaders or by calamitous natural forces, there
is developed a hope in a better, future society, in a forthcoming saviour who will bring an
end to suffering and initiate a messianic age of peace and prosperity. The Eastern Christian
liturgies and their liturgical prayers capture the eschatological longing found in Scripture
and the teaching of the Church for a better world to come in the return of the glorious Lord
Jesus Christ. Moreover, the personal piety of individuals who suffered greatly from
political harassment as well as sufferings from natural forces accentuated the end of the
world and the judgement of God on the just and the sinners. 188
In this sense of the eschatological hope, the sacramental celebration brings the foretaste of
the Kingdom of God to this concrete human experience. It gives us the right meaning of
suffering and the burdens of daily life. However, this eschatological hope is not only a
hope in the future, but it is an already present experience. Let us turn our discussion to the
important notion of the integration of time in the sacraments.

185
Alexander Schmemann, For the Life of the World, 27. Comblin opines that Eastern liturgy is the anticipation
of the presence of Kingdom of God. See José Comblin, The Holy Spirit and Liberation, 81.
186
Alexander Schmemann, For the Life of the World, 29. The end has already come in Jesus Christ because in
him God’s covenant purpose to reconcile all people in him was realised. Cf. Colin E. Gunton, Father, Son and
Holy Spirit, 217.
187
Stanley S. Harakas, “‘The Earth Is the Lord’s:” The Orthodox Theology and The Environment,” 153.
 An Event of Pneumatization 252

2.2 Eschaton: An Integration of Time in Sacraments

From the eschatological perspective of the building up of the Kingdom of God, it is
significant to note that the sacramental celebrations intrinsically imply assimilation of
time. The sacramental metamorphosis is a continuous process towards eternity; but it has
both ‘already’ and ‘not yet’ dimensions. God is the Maker of time and not subject to
time. 189 There is a time beginning in the event of Incarnation; however the Son of God is
“the source and ordainer of time.” Though we began to exist once, we believe in our own
“timeless existence.” 190 The integration of time in the sacramental celebrations necessarily
presupposes the divine promise of eternity and infinity. The Holy Spirit is the uniting
principle of the different dimensions of time towards the salvific event of the
eschatological divine communion. The temporal sense of sacramental transformation is
basically related to the natural movement of created beings in the cosmos. Thunberg
observes that Maximus speaks about the beginning, middle phase and end of time (avrch,,
meso,thj, te,loj). According to him it is a motion; Maximus speaks about the meaning of
becoming as; “not only existence but also movement under the category of time, a
situation expressed by the term dia,sthma-dia,stasij [separation and distance], and this
movement is intended to lead to its te,loj, which is God.” 191 The eschatological notion is
basically rooted in the hope of Christian faith. Christian faith would be meaningless unless
hope is integral to life. In such a sense, becoming divine is also the realization of one’s
faith in hope and the divine promise. Chrysostom phrased this eschatological vision as
“something as already given, and some as existing in hope.” 192 This eschatological hope is

188
George A. Maloney, The Pilgrimage to the Heart, 58.
189
Gregory Nazianzen (NPNF VII) 39.12.
190
Ambrose, On the Christian Faith 1. 5. 36 (NPNF X).
191
Lars Thunberg, Microcosm and Mediator, 58, 59. This term first of all indicates the positive starting point of
the movement of created beings. In his/her hypostatic union with Christ the human person goes beyond any
difference and/or distance. This can be accomplished not by the power of the created, but only through God the
Creator. Ibid. 58, 59. Time shapes humanity in its fullness; the true pleroma of humanity begins only with the
“re-constitution of the universe beyond time.” See Paulos Gregorios, Cosmic Man, 188. God’s eternity surpasses
our notion of time, for God time is eternity. Everything created is moving towards this eternity. The human
person needs time and space; Staniloae articulates in Christian understanding that time is the duration between
God’s appeal to repent and human’s response to God’s call. Dumitru Staniloae, The Experience of God, 159-62.
See also for time-space dimensions of the sacraments, Yves Congar, “The Holy Spirit and the Sacraments,”
David Smith trans., I believe in the Holy Spirit vol. III, 220-21. As Ware observes time is seen as “the interspace
which enables us to move towards God unconstrained and by our voluntary choice,” in other words it is the
interval between God’s appeal and the response of the human person. See Kallistos Ware, The Inner Kingdom,
188.
192
John Chrysostom, The Epistle to the Romans, Homily 12 (NPNF XI) 1st series (Grand Rapids, MI, Eerdmans,
1979) 417. Ratzinger speaks of the interconnectedness of time in the liturgy; “Now if past and present penetrate
one another in this way, if the essence of the past is not simply a thing of the past but the far-reaching power of
what follows in the present, then the future, too, is present in what happens in the liturgy: it ought to be called,
in its essence, an anticipation of what is to come.” See Joseph Ratzinger, The Spirit of the Liturgy, 57.
 An Event of Pneumatization 253

integrally interrelated with our participation in sacraments and its celebration in a

meaningful way. Time is essentially the medium of the great promise of God’s fidelity and
love towards the world. 193 In this sense the epicletic transformation and the liturgical
celebration are closely related. There is the integration of time in liturgical celebrations in
which being is coming into becoming. The liturgy represents the process of the gathering
of the whole nation of the eschaton. Albertine says;
The coming of the Spirit, epiclesis, is then the fulfilment of the ancient dream. It is then
understandable that the epiclesis should develop from the anamnesis; it is a logical
development from the ancient idea of memorial. The epiclesis then becomes the prayer of
the “great gathering”. The forming and gathering of the community of the elect necessarily
supposes transformation and of said community, a partaking in the redemptive process.
Thus organically, that which bespeaks transformation (divinization) is related to liturgy. 194

As Christ was the centre of time and history and not yet returned to its telos, so also is the
transformation both already and not yet. 195 Bouyer also rightly says that there is the
fullness of time with regard to the consummation of human history and the history of
salvation economy. 196 In this way, we argue that the eschatology in sacramental
metamorphosis is not only a future reality but it is more than the present or future; it is the
assimilation of time. Sacramental celebration is the moment of amalgamation of past,
present and future. From this perspective, let us state that there are three inevitable
dimensions in every sacramental celebration; anamnetic, epicletic and eschatological. It is
anamnetic (commemoration) of the past; celebration of recalling the historical salvific
activity of Christ in the world. It is epicletic; the celebration of the faith of the community
and the reception of the transforming gift of the Spirit at the present. It implies
thanksgiving, praising, moreover partaking and receiving the divine grace in the present
Christian life. It is eschatological; the celebration of hope and divine promise, celebration
of faith in which life is not an end at present but it is a journeying towards our ultimate
end; union with trinitarian communion. Cyril of Jerusalem states that this anamnesis is the
memorial of integral creation. In this regard we commemorate the earth and the sea, the
whole rational and irrational creation, both visible and invisible.197 The Spirit makes the

193
David Toolan, At Home in the Cosmos, 136-7.
194
Richard Albertine, “Theosis According to the Eastern Fathers,” 393-417, 398.
195
Jaroslav Pelikan, Christianity and Classical Culture, 321.
196
Louis Bouyer, The Church of God, 250.
197
Cyril of Jerusalem, Mystagogical Lecture IV, The Eucharist, 195. See also John Zizioulas, Being as
Communion, 95-6. While speaking about the Church as the primordial sacrament of salvation, Congar says, “It
[Church] acts in the present on the basis of past events and in the prospect of a future which is nothing less than
the kingdom of God, the eschatological City and eternal life in communion with God himself. This is
undoubtedly a sacramental structure, containing a memory of the event of foundation, a prophetic sign of the
absolute future, and present grace coming from the first and preparing the way for the latter.” The Holy Spirit
unites all these aspects together. See Yves Congar, I Believe in the Holy Spirit, Vol. III, 271. The category of
time is taken into the account of uniting the economic and immanent Trinity. See Gary D. Badcock, Light of
 An Event of Pneumatization 254

historic act of transformation in the event of Incarnation a meta-historic event. Time

implies eternity. Staniloae shows the relationship between time and eternity. Time has its
source and goal in eternity which is the interpersonal union of love in the Trinity offered
to created persons. Time moves to eternity as we grow closer to God. 198 Eschatology has
been “transposed into personal hope,... it is leaving, abandoning, denying the world and
yet at the same time always returning to it; living in time by that which is beyond time;
living by that which is not yet come, but which we already know and possess.” 199
However, liturgy and the sacramental celebrations go beyond the notion of the limitation
of time, furthermore, it is the process of transformation of the human person as well as the
whole cosmos, which is primarily the act of the Holy Spirit in and through the sacraments
in the Church. Albertine affirms;
We conclude by saying that the Spirit, Epiclesis, and the process of divinization are
intimately connected. What the Spirit touches must necessarily be transformed. This
process is by no means complete – for that reason, liturgy is the SYMBOL of what is
happening and pledge of what will happen to the whole of humankind and the cosmos. 200

In this way, it is worth noting that though the sacramental celebrations are the assimilation
of time. Sacramental metamorphosis transcends the limitations of space and time. It is the
foretaste of eternity. The eschatological view of sacramental metamorphosis in Christ is
seen as a consistent active process, which never ceases; furthermore, it transcends time
and nature. Maximus the Confessor convincingly states this never-ending process;
Meanwhile, the modes of the virtues and principles of those things that can be known by
nature have been established as types and foreshadowings of those future benefits. It is
through these modes and principles that God, who is ever willing to become human, does
so in those who are worthy. And therefore whoever, by the exercise of wisdom, enables
God to become incarnate within him or her and, in fulfillment of this mystery, undergoes
deification by grace, is truly blessed, because that deification has no end. For he who
bestows his grace on those who are worthy of it is himself infinite in essence, and has the
infinite and utterly limitless power to deify humanity. Indeed, this divine power is not yet

Truth & Fire of Love: A Theology of the Holy Spirit (Grand Rapids, MI: Cambridge, UK: Eerdmans, 1997) 193.
See also Melchisedec Törönen, Union and Distinction, 156-7.
198
Dumitru Staniloae, The Experience of God vol.1 153-78. He speaks about the time implying the greatest
freedom of creatures and it presupposes the communion of the supreme persons. Ibid.164. Incarnation is the
centre of the past and present history of the salvation economy. The divine plan of salvation integrates time and
leads it towards the eschaton. See Nicholas Arseniev, Revelation of Life Eternal, 104-5. The realized
eschatology and all other eschatological orientations are profoundly Christo-centric; See also Petro B.T.
Bilaniuk, Theology, and Economy of the Holy Spirit, 199. The eschaton makes present the future, and fulfils
history. See Papanikolaou, Being with God, 39. See also R. Kevin Seasoltz, God’s Gift Giving: In Christ and
Through the Spirit (New York, NY: The Continuum International Publishing Group, 2007) 181-2.
199
Alexander Schmemann, “Liturgy and Eschatology: The first Nicolas Zernov Memorial Lecture 25 May
1982,” Sobornost 7.1 (1985) 6-14, 10. See also Maximos Aghiorgoussis, “East Meets West,” 3-22, 21.
200
Richard Albertine, “Theosis According to the Eastern Fathers,” 393-417, 416.
 An Event of Pneumatization 255

finished with those being created by it; rather, it is forever sustaining those – like us
human beings – who have received their existence from it. 201

In this perspective, we could say that the divine act of becoming human in Incarnation
results in humans becoming divine, which is a continuous process. 202 It is a continuing
journey or process, the foretaste of which has to be achieved in present sacramental
celebrations and the achievement of its fullness implies eschatological time. Kallistos
observes that this paradoxical nature is expressed through certain phrases which had been
used by Symeon, such as; “incomplete completeness,” “imperfect perfection” (avtelh,j
teleio,thj) and “endless end” (avte,leston te,loj). 203 Schmemann goes further and speaks
about the transformation of time of remembrance and hope towards the telos in new life,
And thus through that one day all days, all time were transformed into times of
remembrance and expectation, remembrance of this ascension, …and expectation of its
coming. All days, all hours were now referred to this end of all “natural” life, to the
beginning of the new life. 204

The eschatological sacramental transformation is the unifying event of beginning and end,
memory and hope. In this way, the eschatological transformation in the sacraments, is
integrally united with communion with the trinitarian God in full restoration of humanity
and transcends the notions of time and space. This restoration is always linked with the
restoration of the whole cosmos. This eschatological view implies both present and future.
Eschatological experience is not merely an experience in the future, but there is the mutual
integration of both present and future. Here we turn our discussion to the relationship of
the eschaton towards telos.

2.3 Eschaton towards Te,loj

Eschatology is not seen as a part of sacramental theology but it is the most essential.
Considering this eschatological sacramentology, it not only considers the destiny of the
human person but also the ultimate end (te,loj) of the whole cosmos as such. Gregory of
Nyssa speaks about the end of time;
But whenever the time comes that God shall have brought our nature back to the primal
state of man, it will be useless to talk of such things then, and to imagine that objections
based upon such things can prove God’s power to be impeded in arriving at His end. His
end is one, and one only; it is this: when the complete whole of our race shall have been

201
Maximus the Confessor, Ad Thalassium 22, John Behr (ed.), 118. God’s sovereignty is over both the cosmos
and time. See Jaroslav Pelikan, Christianity and Classical Culture, 118-9.
202
Lars Thunberg, Microcosm and Mediator, 59.
203
Kallistos of Diokleia, “Deification in St. Symeon the New Theologian,” 24.
204
Alexander Schmemann, For the Life of the World, 52.
 An Event of Pneumatization 256

perfected from the first man to the last,……. to offer to everyone of us participation in the
blessings which are in Him. 205

Faith in Christ implies a particular interpretation of history and reality and the
Resurrection confirms the theological epistemological link between Incarnation and truth
and opens up a future beyond the power of death which is the life of transformation. 206
Time is ever-moving and filled with eternity, which moves towards te,loj. 207 The Holy
Spirit transforms life according to the flesh towards the life of the Spirit in accordance
with eternity. 208 Thereby, the Church essentially moves towards the future and brings the
hope of life in this world. Farrell points out, what Maximus speaks about two aspects of
the doctrine of eschaton; the creaturely and the uncreated that imply “ever-moving rest.”
The created is ever-moving towards the divine logoi in which they become logoi by both
the creature’s movement and the rest in logoi. 209 This movement towards logoi and finding
rest in the uncreated are the realization of the transformation of both the human person as
well as the cosmos. This movement is fundamentally directed towards the fullness of
being, which is the union in God fulfilled in eschatological time. 210

Time is divided in view of the fulfilment of the mystery of the Incarnation and the grace of
ineffable human deification. As Maximus says the divine plan is to unite wo/man into the
true hypostatic union so that s/he might become human and s/he might deify humanity to
become divine. In accordance with this divine plan, “God wisely divided “the ages”
(aivwn/ ej) between those intended for God to become human and those intended for

205
Gregory of Nyssa, On the Soul and the Resurrection, 465 (NPNF V).
206
Anthony J. Godzieba, Lieven Boeve & Michele Saracino, “Resurrection – Interruption – Transformation..,”
Theological Studies 67 (2006) 777-815, 782. Meyendorff speaks about the realized eschatology; Christ
incarnates in history and underwent death in order to subdue the power of death over humankind. As he says
Holy Saturday is the proclamation of the realized eschatology where we find the end of creation. There is no
more death and the human person receives the power of freedom. See John Meyendorff, “The Time of Holy
Saturday,” Joseph J. Allen (ed.), Orthodox Synthesis: The Unity of Theological Thought, 51-63, 63.
207
Georges Florovsky, Creation and Redemption, Vol. III (Belmont, MA: Nordland Publishing Company, 1976)
247. The history is understood as meaningful if it is directed by God towards an end, which is also the universal
meaning of the Incarnation. See Hendrikus Berkhof, The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit, 101. See more on
eschatological notions, ibid., 104-8. In this connection of telos, Meyendorff speaks about the three essential
meanings of the parousia; cosmic transfiguration, resurrection and judgement. See John Meyendorff, Byzantine
Theology, 220. The Christian eschaton is not only the end of time, but its focus is on hope in the reign of God.
See David Toolan, At Home in the Cosmos, 24. The resurrection is the true renewal and transformation of the
whole cosmos. See Georges Florovsky, Creation and Redemption, 120.
208
Matta El-Meskeen, “The Eschatology of the Church,” Sourozh 92 (2003) 50-53, 51. See also Jaroslav
Pelikan, Christianity and Classical Culture, 113-4.
209
Joseph P. Farrell, Free Choice in St. Maximus the Confessor, 152-3.
210
George A. Maloney, The Undreamed has Happened, 86. John E. Thiel, “For What May We Hope?..” 517-
541, 527. Eschatological freedom and cosmic salvation are closely related. See Margot Kässmann, “Covenant,
Praise and Justice in Creation: Five Bible Studies,” 28-51, 48.
 An Event of Pneumatization 257

humanity to become divine.” 211 In such a manner, the eschatological nature of the
sacramental transformation is an ultimate end in union with the triune God.
Predominantly, this union is experienced as the union with the body of Christ in the
sacraments.

The irrevocable end of the sacraments is the union with Christ; however, sacraments are
not only a remembrance of the paschal event or a personal encounter with Christ, but they
are the signs of salvation. Leijssen explains this transition of the traditional understanding
of sacraments not only as the “remembrance of Christ (signa rememorativa)” and
“intersubjective encounters with Christ (signa demonstrativa),” but they are “signs of
completed salvation (signa prognostica).” 212 The sacraments are the eschatological signs
of salvation. Leijssen presents the Rahnerian view of the eschatological nature of
sacraments as the “signa prognostica, foreknowledge and fore-celebration of the
fulfillment at the end of time. They are expressions of the power of the Spirit who is active
in the dynamic which moves toward the final destination of all things (Entelecheia).” 213
Teleologically speaking it is the mystery of embodiment (evnswma,twsij), in which bodies
are called into participation in the trinitarian communion. In the event of the resurrection
we will be changed from human weakness to divine glory. As Russell points out the
eschatological dimension of deification by Hilary is one of being transformed into the
glorified body of Christ and it is necessarily a sacramental union with Christ.214 The te,loj
of the human person is essentially the experience of his/her transfiguration by the Holy
Spirit in Christ to bring about the union with God and communion with others. 215 In this
perspective of eschatological embodiment with Christ and communion in the triune life,
the participation in the divine communion necessarily implies divine forgiveness in
sacraments.

2.4 The Eschatological Transformation in Forgiveness

The divine economy of salvation is realized through the pneumatic redemptive work, by
which the Holy Spirit unites the human person with God and deifies him/her through the
forgiveness of sins. This forgiving transformative work of the Holy Spirit is operative not

211
Maximus the Confessor, Ad Thalassium 22, John Behr (ed.), 115. The end of the ages has come upon us in
1Cor 10:11 indicates bringing about of the mystery of his embodiment according to God’s purpose. See Ibid.,
116. The life within history is extended to eternity. See also Hierotheos (Vlahos) of Nafpaktos and St. Vlasios,
“Orthodox Theology and Science,” 142.
212
Lambert J. Leijssen, With the Silent Glimmer of God’s Spirit, 13.
213
Lambert Leijssen, “Rahner’s Contribution,” 219.
214
Norman Russell, The Doctrine of Deification in Greek Patristic Tradition, 328.
215
Catherine M. LaCugna, God For Us, 284. See also Vladimir Lossky, Orthodox Theology, 111. The
eschatological reign of God is manifested in the transfiguration of everything and it consists of the
transformation of the “flesh” into “life-giving Spirit.” See Louis Bouyer, The Church of God, 247-8.
 An Event of Pneumatization 258

only within the limit of the sacraments but also within the integral framework of the life of
the Church. 216 Forgiveness restores his/her relationship with God and opens the way to
reach the ultimate human goal of becoming divine. The sacramental transformation of the
human person necessarily implies the forgiveness of sins, which is the restitution of the
broken relationship with the inner self of the person, with the other, the whole cosmic
order and God. The micro-macrocosmic transformation is essentially interrelated with
sacramental forgiveness and healing. The sacraments grant us the power of the Holy Spirit
so that we might overcome the power of sin and its brokenness. 217 It is the restoration of
what is broken and renewing life. 218 Sacramental forgiveness is not merely restitution but
it is “ultimately inexplicable,” because the faithful live according to the proclamation of
faith in Baptism which is the divine act of forgiveness of sins. 219 Since sin is breaking the
relationship with oneself, other fellow human beings and God, this sacramental
forgiveness is an event of reconciliation with the whole gamut of above-mentioned
relationships. Sacramental forgiveness unites him/her towards participation in
eschatological communion with the Trinity. Zizioulas shows that the eschatological
dimension of the presence and activity of the Holy Spirit affects deeply the identity of the
other. He states;
… it is not on the basis of one’s past or present that we should identify and accept him or
her, but on the basis of one’s future. And since the future lies only in the hands of God,
our approach to the other must be free from passing judgement on him. Every “other” is in
the Spirit a potential saint, even if he appears to have been or continues to be a sinner. 220

216
Stanley S. Harakas, “A Theology of the Sacrament of Holy Confession,” 188-9. The Western understanding
of the sacrament of penance is taken into a juridical language of relationship with God and the human person.
Thomas Aquinas put it into the realm of spiritual healing. In this way the nature of forgiveness consists in the
sinner’s union with Christ. See Eric Luijten, Sacramental Forgiveness as a Gift of God, 48-52, 55.
217
Stanley S. Harakas, “The Earth Is the Lord’s,” 153. Forgiveness implies freedom. See Ibid., 195. Forgiving
sins and healing the sick are two signs of the reign of God. See Louis Bouyer, The Church of God, 245. As Eric
Luijten observes, the Thomistic understanding of sacramental forgiveness is in the context of an interpersonal
relationship with God and the human person. He says, “Guilt is the absence of that relationship, and forgiveness
of guilt is the restoration of the relationship of grace with God.” See Eric Luijten, Sacramental Forgiveness as a
Gift of God: Thomas Aquinas on the Sacrament of Penance (Peeters: Leuven, 2003) 43. Forgiveness extends
towards the restoration of human nature into the divine Image, H.B. Swete, The Holy Spirit in the Ancient
Church, 396-7. In this way forgiveness never implies any kind of juridical punishment, but rather restoration
towards the living communion. See Emilianos Timiadis, The Sacramental of Confession and the Confessor
(Joensuu: Joensuun Yliopisto University of Joensuu, 2001) 16-17.
218
Timothy Ware, The Inner Kingdom, 50.
219
Iain R. Torrance, ‘“God the Physician:” Ecclesiology, Sin and Forgiveness in the Preaching of St. John
Chrysostom,” The Greek Orthodox Theological Review 44.1-4 (1999) 163-176, 163.
220
John Zizioulas, “Communion and Otherness,” St. Vladimir’s Theological Quarterly 38.4 (1994) 347-61, 354.
It is also worth noting the view on Parousia by Gabriel Moran who writes: “The Parousia will be that moment
at which flesh will be entirely transformed by the Spirit and man’s bodily nature will be transfused with the
freedom of the sons of God. The joys and pleasures of man’s bodily life will be swept up into the social
existence of heaven.” See Gabriel Moran, Theology of Revelation (New York: Herder & Herder, 1966) 187.
 An Event of Pneumatization 259

In every sacramental celebration there is the aspect of forgiveness of sins and there is the
clear presence of the past, present and future. It is the forgiveness of now and forever. In
this sense, divine grace is operative in the event of sacramental forgiveness which makes a
real and concrete realization of one’s journey towards perfection. However, this
forgiveness is granted through the sacraments. 221 One can enter into the Kingdom of God
through this divine forgiveness of sins. The sacrament of baptism is associated with
forgiveness, so everybody who is baptised is forgiven and becomes a citizen of the
Kingdom of God. The sacrament of reconciliation necessarily brings the forgiveness of
past sins and unites him/her into the Body of Christ. The sacramental celebration brings
divine forgiveness on account of his/her metanoia that creates the clear integration of the
past, present and future.

Forgiveness is restoration/reconciliation with the other, cosmos and God. Forgiveness is

bridging the gap between those who are near and far. In every Eucharistic celebration
there is forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with each other at the altar to become one
with Christ. In every sacrament, there is the restoration of the fallen state of the human
person achieved only at the eschatological time; however there is also the anticipated
eschatological experience in the sacraments. Therefore, there is a realised experience and
at the same time an eschatological hope in every sacramental celebration in the Church.
This eschatological hope is one of the essentials of sacramental celebrations. Since the
sacraments are the celebration of the integration of time and bring hope toward the future,
this eschatological view of sacramental metamorphosis is necessarily interrelated with the
notion of communion.

2.5 From Eschaton to Koinwni,a

The Incarnation and eschatology are closely connected to the sacramental transformation
of the human person as well as the cosmos. The Spirit is the completion of the te,loj. The
Spirit completes the te,loj by uniting the human person and the cosmic realities into union
with the divine which is sacramental transformation. Sacramental metamorphosis is
fundamentally embedded in the transformation of the human person and the cosmos and
this transformation is an eschatological reality which is the ultimate goal of creation. By
the presence of the Holy Spirit in fullness in his earthly life, Christ recapitulates the
reconciliation of the whole universe in his body. 222 Maximus the Confessor speaks about
the realized eschatology of the sacramental deification in Christ;

221
Stanley S. Harakas, “A Theology of the Sacrament of Holy Confession,” The Greek Orthodox Theological
Review 19 (1974) 177-201, 186-7.
222
Louis Bouyer, The Church of God, 250.
 An Event of Pneumatization 260

since our Lord Jesus Christ is the beginning (avrch,), middle (meso,thj), and end (te,loj) of
all the ages, past and future, [it would be fair to say that] the end of the ages – specifically
that end which will actually come about by grace for the deification of those who are
worthy – has come upon us in potency through faith. 223

The human mutability is progressing towards perfection in the infinity of God which is not
limited to this present life, but connected by grace throughout eternity. 224 The expression
becoming god implies realized and internalized eschatology. 225 The realized eschatology
has already begun in theosis and its effects can be perceived from the quality of holiness
in life. 226 Maximus the Confessor speaks about the mystery of the immobility of God and
mobility of the creature which has the movement towards the final end. This mystery is
the preconceived goal in Christ. He says;
Because of Christ – or rather, the whole mystery of Christ – all the ages of time and the
beings within those ages have received their beginning and end in Christ. For the union
between a limit of the ages and limitlessness, between measure and immeasurability,
between finitude and infinity, between Creator and creation, between rest and motion, was
conceived before the ages. This union has been manifested in Christ at the end of time,
and in itself brings God’s foreknowledge to fulfilment, in order that naturally mobile
creatures might secure themselves around God’s total and essential immobility, desisting
altogether from their movement toward themselves and toward each other. 227

The Spirit brings about both biological and eschatological life. In this sense, according to
Edwards, the whole universe emerges from the divine communion and at the same time
the sole eschatological destiny of the whole cosmos is divine communion. 228 Salvation is
always understood in terms of re-establishment of the image of God in the human person
and restoration of the right relationship with the whole cosmic order.229 Sacraments are the

223
Maximus the Confessor, Ad Thalassium 22, John Behr (ed.), On the Cosmic Mystery of Christ, Paul M.
Blowers & Robert Louis Wilken trans., 117.
224
Everett Ferguson, “God’s Infinity and Man’s Mutability: Perpetual Progress According to Gregory of
Nyssa,” The Greek Orthodox Theological Review 18 (1973) 59-78, 67.
225
Norman Russell, The Doctrine of Deification, 113. The Spirit regenerates the faithful through the sacraments
in the Church and unites them in an authentic communion with Christ the Word. See John Breck, “The Spirit-
Paraclete in Johannine Tradition,” Sacra Scripta IV 1-2 (2006) 27-42, 30-1.
226
Paul Valliere, “Introduction to the Modern Orthodox Tradition,” John Witte & Frank S. Alexander (eds.), The
Teachings of Modern Orthodox Christianity on Law, Politics, & Human Nature (New York: Columbia
University Press, 2007) 7.
227
Maximus the Confessor, Ad Thalassium 60, John Behr (ed.), 125.
228
Denis Edwards, Breath of Life, 26. The whole cosmos is created out of nothing and is transforming towards
its end in a different mode of existence. See Jaroslav Pelikan, Christianity and Classical Culture: The
Metamorphosis of Natural Theology in the Christian Encounter with Hellenism (New Haven & London: Yale
University Press, 1993) 319-20. Koinonia is the gift of God’s own life which is offered not only for humanity
but also for the whole cosmos. See Mary Tanner, “God unites – in Christ a New Creation,” One in Christ: A
Catholic Ecumenical Review 28.4 (1992) 300-306, 301.
229
C.M. LaCugna, God For Us, 284. The restoration of the right relationship is fundamentally the relationship at
every level including spiritual, political and socio-economical spheres. Ibid., 285. See also Emilianos Timiadis,
“Restoration and Liberation in and by the Community,” The Greek Orthodox Theological Review 19 (1974)
131-158, 152.
 An Event of Pneumatization 261

events of the restoration of the relationship with God, the other and the cosmos in the
ecclesial communion. This event of restoration is also eschatological. In the same way,
theosis is also eschatological because it points to the proper end of the human person in
achieving perfection in the divine likeness. 230 The perfection of divine likeness implies the
perfect communion of the Trinity.

Sacramental metamorphosis re-establishes the communion between God and the human
person. Every sacramental celebration includes the prayers for the departed, which means
both the living and the dead are being united in sacramental celebrations. Accordingly,
sacramental celebration is not only the communion of the living but also the communion
of both the living and the dead. It is also the restoration of the right relationship with the
human person, God and the cosmos. Moreover, it is the realization of the fullness of the
human personhood in union with the Trinity. Therefore, sacramental metamorphosis is to
be understood as a dynamic movement towards union with the divine, which is also an
experience of both, realized as well as eschatological. The ultimate realization of the
destiny of humankind with the whole cosmos is fulfilled at the time of the last judgement.
It is towards the doctrine of apocatastasis: the restoration of the whole micro-
macrocosmic realities to their original state. 231 This eschatological communion is achieved
through the work of the Holy Spirit. Here, we present the Holy Spirit as the bond of
communion.

2.5.1 The Holy Spirit as Bond of Communion

The NT shows that the Holy Spirit as the bond of union and creator of communion (1Cor
12:4,13; Phil 2:1-2; Eph 4:3; 1Pt 3:8). After the death of Jesus Christ, the Spirit comes and
unites the dispersed disciples in one communion who partake of the body and blood of
Christ from the same table (Jn 19:30; 20:22 in relation to Act 1:8; 2:4, 45; 4:31-32).
Gregory of Nyssa asks, “… how can any man cleave unto the Lord unless the Spirit
operates within us that union of ourselves with Him?” 232 The Spirit unites the human
person and the whole creature into one body. 233 This communion is essentially
sacramental. It creates a relationship of love and life. In such a manner, the Spirit unites
the faithful through the sacraments. However, it is not only the communion of persons, but

230
C.M. LaCugna, God For Us, 284. Eternal life grows out of the present moment and enters into the full
divinity; see John E. Thiel, “For What May We Hope?,” 521. See also Calinic (Kevin M.) Berger, “Does the
Eucharist Make the Church?” 55.
231
John Meyendorff, Byzantine Theology, 222.
232
Gregory of Nyssa, On the Holy Spirit, 324 (NPNF V).
233
Dumitru Staniloae, Theology and the Church, 54-5. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Communion. See Ibid.,
56-7. The Spirit makes Church the sacrament of salvation. In this way, pneumatology and Christology are
complementing each other. See Emmanuel Clapsis, “The Holy Spirit in the Church,” 340-1.
 An Event of Pneumatization 262

also the integral event of the micro-macrocosmic communion. Consequently, we say that
the Spirit unites created and uncreated realities, which always move towards sacramental
metamorphosis. The Spirit creates the bond of communion which empowers its being and
becoming. 234 The Spirit is the principle of union and is very closely related with personal
transformation. 235 Edwards articulates;
The Spirit is the one who empowers and creates precisely as the one who relates to each
creature, bringing each into communion with the Trinity. This empowering personal
presence unites each creature in a world of relations with all other creatures in a
profoundly relational universe. This communion between each creature and the divine
Persons-in-Communion is the relation of ongoing creation. Things exist only because God
loves them and because the Spirit of God dwells in them (Wis. 11:24-12:1). The
indwelling Spirit is the expression of divine love enabling creatures to exist and to
evolve. 236

Since sacrament is the meeting point of the created and the uncreated the work of the
Spirit creates union between the divine and what is non divine. Edwards further says that
in the act of creation, “the Spirit goes “out” to what is not divine and enables it to exist by
participation in divine being. The Spirit brings what is not divine into relationship with
divine persons.” 237 The Spirit creates the communion in the Trinity and this communion is
extended towards the created realities. Duquoc affirms; “He [the Spirit] makes the divine
communion open to what is not divine. He is the indwelling of God where God is, in a
sense, ‘outside himself’. He is therefore called ‘love’. He is God’s ‘ecstasy’ directed
towards his ‘other’, the creature.” 238

Since the Spirit is the bond of union, He is the principle of communion and
transformation. Every sacramental celebration is the celebration of divine-human
indwelling together with the cosmos in a special way. Theosis is a becoming process of
recapitulation of the whole cosmos towards its ultimate end in eschaton. Now, let us move
to the basic notion of the event of micro-macrocosmic communion in sacraments.

234
Denis Edwards, Breath of Life, 120. The Spirit is the bond of union not only in God, but also in God’s
relationship with the human person and the whole creation. See Yves Congar, I Believe in the Holy Spirit, Vol.
III, 149. See also László Lukács, “Communication – Symbol – Sacraments,” Questions Liturgiques/Studies in
Liturgy 81 (2000) 198-214, 202. Maximos Aghiorgoussis, “East Meets West,” 3-22, 6. The indwelling of the
Spirit transforms us as the sons/daughters of God. See Thomas G. Weinandy, The Father’s Spirit, 85. The Holy
Spirit constitutes bond of communion in freedom. See also Shebi Kozhiadyil, Faith Informed by Reason: A
Theologico-Hermeneutical Confrontation between Eastern Orthodox Ethics and Liberation Ethics (Unpublished
PhD Thesis of KU Leuven, 2004) 165.
235
Richard Albertine, “Theosis According to the Eastern Fathers,” 393-417, 411.
236
Denis Edwards, Breath of Life, 120.
237
Denis Edwards, Breath of Life, 120.
238
Christian Duquoc, Dieu différent: Essai sur la Symbolique Trinitaire (Paris: Cerf, 1978) as cited by Yves
Congar, I Believe in the Holy Spirit, Vol. III, 148.
 An Event of Pneumatization 263

2.5.2 The Communion: An Event of Micro-macrocosmic Metamorphosis

The transforming activity of the Holy Spirit is considered as the participation in the divine
communion by the human person and the entire cosmos. As we have already seen the
Holy Spirit is the bond of sacramental communion in the Church. In sacramental
celebration the Spirit creates this communion in view of participating in divine
communion. The community is formed by the communion of the Holy Spirit who realizes
the presence of Christ. The Holy Spirit elevates the faithful into communion through the
restoration of the image, which is also to be understood in terms of becoming like God.
Basil says,
Only when a man has been cleansed from the shame of his evil, and has returned to his
natural beauty, and the original form of the Royal Image has been restored in him, is it
possible for him to approach the Paraclete…. Through Him hearts are lifted up, the infirm
are held by the hand, and those who progress are brought to perfection. He shines upon
those who are cleansed from every spot, and makes then spiritual men through fellowship
with Himself…. So too Spirit-bearing souls, illumined by Him, finally become spiritual
themselves, and their grace is sent forth to others. From this comes knowledge of the
future, understanding of mysteries, apprehension of hidden things, distribution of
wonderful gifts, heavenly citizenship, a place in the choir of angels, endless joy in the
presence of God, becoming like God, and, the highest of all desires, becoming God. 239

Basil maintains that the restoration of the human person from his/her stains and
participation in the divine communion are integrally interrelated. Edwards argues that,
according to Basil’s view, human life can be transformed only if the Spirit creates divine
communion with human beings. 240 In the salvific economy of the Son of God, the Holy
Spirit creates unity as well as the distinction of the persons of the Trinity. Clapsis
observes; “In Trinitarian theology the Holy Spirit, although inseparably united to Jesus
Christ, is not subsumed under him. On the contrary, there is a conscious effort to
emphasize its distinctive role as it relates to Jesus Christ within God’s salvific
economy.” 241 Trinitarian communion is the fundamental basis of the communion with a
microcosmic human person as well as the macrocosm.

239
Basil, On the Holy Spirit 9:23, David Anderson trans., 44.
240
Denis Edwards, Breath of Life, 28. The Communion within the Trinity is also made possible through God’s
communication with the human person. See Lorelei Fuchs, “Louis-Marie Chauvet’s Theology of Sacrament and
Ecumenical Theology: Connections in terms of an Ecumenical Hermeneutics of Unity based on a Koinonia
Ecclesiology,” Questions Liturgiques/Studies in Liturgies 82 (2001) 58-68, 66. The Holy Spirit completes the
sacraments in union with the trinitarian God. John the Baptist offers the baptism of water which has been taken
from the Jewish tradition for the remission of sins. However, he proclaims clearly and directs the people to
Christ who is coming and will offer the perfect sacrament that is the baptism of the Spirit. See Charles Gore, The
Reconstruction of Belief: Belief in God, Belief in Christ the Holy Spirit and the Church (London: John Murray,
1945) 712-3. Thereby, a new age has dawned; the age of the Holy Spirit. Cf. Alasdair I.C. Heron, The Holy
Spirit, 39.
241
Emmanuel Clapsis, “The Holy Spirit in the Church,” The Ecumenical Review 41.3 (1989) 339-347, 339.
 An Event of Pneumatization 264

It is through the sacraments that we are united to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit
and enter into a new communion of the Trinity. Every sacramental celebration is the venue
of celebration of the trinitarian communion. This is clearly manifested at the time of the
Baptism of Christ in the river Jordan where the three persons of the Trinity were
manifested to the whole cosmos. This sacramental manifestation of the incomprehensible
triune God is a symbolic manifestation of the trinitarian union with the corruptible and
material nature of both microcosm and macrocosm. Receiving the baptism of water from
John the Baptist for the remission of sins (though Christ who had never been a sinner, by
receiving the baptism of the remission of sins that makes him be in complete union with
the cosmic nature in view of cosmic transformation in divinity) clearly shows the
uniqueness of the divine plan of sacramental metamorphosis for both the human person as
well as the cosmos. Christ introduced a new baptism for the human being; a baptism of
water and the Spirit. Here we could see that there is the clear union of water, the Spirit and
the human person which unite both the human as well as the cosmos towards the
trinitarian union. This sacramental introduction of Christ brings a new way of being in
communion with the Trinity by way of repentance and participation in the divine life. In
this respect, the Holy Spirit unites the person with the divine through the sacraments.
Staniloae speaks about this communion;
Through the Spirit, the faithful are linked with Christ not in isolation, but together among
themselves. Whoever attains to faith in Christ attains it through the faith or sensitivity of
someone else. The interpersonal sensitivity of faith in which the Holy Spirit is manifested
links those who believe within the community of faith, that is, in the Church. The joyful
sensitivity of communion with the absolute person of Christ spreads in the joy of
communion and of works done in communion with others, and in the participation of
others in the Personal reality of a God come down, in Christ, to the level of communion
with human beings. 242

In the same way, the Holy Spirit bridges the gap between individuality and communion.
Furthermore, the Spirit creates communion among the human person and the whole
cosmic order in the sacraments. Zizioulas vividly observes that the Holy Spirit de-
individualizes and personalizes the human person into communion, especially through the
sacraments. He affirms: “God communicates Himself to us, we enter into communion
with Him, the participants of the Sacrament enter into communion with one another and
creation as a whole enters through man into communion with God.” 243 Accordingly, he
speaks that the Holy Spirit creates not any individual Christians but communion; this is

242
D. Staniloae, The Experience of God, vol I, 39-40.
243
John Zizioulas, “Communion and Otherness,” 355. Bartos also keeps a similar view. See Emil Bartos,
Deification in Eastern Orthodox Theology, 308. With regard to the relationship between sacraments and grace,
grace connotes a real change. It is the change in a right relationship between God and a human person. It is a
“sanctification and renovation of the interior man, by voluntary reception of God’s grace and gifts.” See
Bernard Leeming, Principles, 3.
 An Event of Pneumatization 265

the transformation towards the “relational being.” The Spirit de-individualizes and
personalizes wherever he works. 244 While evaluating Basil, Edwards observes that Basil
never speaks of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in individualistic terms, but rather in
social terms. The Spirit makes the faithful into one Body of Christ and makes us be
empathetic (feeling with others) towards others which is the heart of the idea behind
communion. 245 The Holy Spirit is the One who binds all faithful into a single Body and
creates consciousness that the divine gifts are for the whole. 246 The koinonia brought by
the Holy Spirit is not an abstract one, but rather the concrete union of the oneness of mind
and heart of the faithful even towards the material needs of the other. 247 In this way,
communion is integrally related to the transformation of the microcosmic and
macrocosmic realities. However, this communion is achieved through the sacramental
praxis. Staniloae says;
This communion is achieved in a multiplicity of forms: by the common faith in Christ, by
the prayers we offer for one another, above all in common worship, by a life cleansed of
egotism and offered in love to God and to our fellow human beings, by various practical
forms of mutual assistance, and pre-eminently by the sacraments or mysteries. 248

The Spirit is the creative presence of God in the cosmos; that which unites the whole
cosmic order into the divine communion. Communion is not to be understood in terms of
an exclusive sense but rather the communion of the whole universe. It is also the
manifestation of divine love towards the cosmos. Edwards says;
This is a dynamic union of mutual love, of mutual giving and receiving, of being with one
another in ecstatic shared life. In such love, the distinctiveness and otherness of persons
are not lost but flourish in all their exuberance and vitality. This is the kind of divine love
that embraces the universe. It is this kind of communion that makes things be. Creation
springs forth freely from the exuberance of trinitarian life. 249

In this way, it is clear that the sacramental metamorphosis implies communion of both
microcosm and macrocosm. The transforming work of the Spirit is never unilateral, but an
integrally all-encompassing event.

244
John D. Zizioulas, Communion and Otherness, 6.
245
Denis Edwards, Breath of Life: A Theology of the Creator Spirit, 29.
246
Calinic (Kevin M.) Berger, “Does the Eucharist Make the Church? An Ecclesiological Comparison of
Staniloae and Zizioulas,” 39.
247
Calinic (Kevin M.) Berger, “Does the Eucharist Make the Church?” 52.
248
Stanilaoe, “The Mystery of the Church,” Gennadios Limouris, 56.
249
Denis Edwards, Breath of Life: A Theology of the Creator Spirit, 30.
 An Event of Pneumatization 266

Conclusion
In this chapter we explored the pneumatological experience in sacramental
metamorphosis. Since the Holy Spirit is the breath of the cosmos, Eastern theology gives a
specific importance to the transforming mission of the Holy Spirit, which makes the
human persons more human and the whole cosmos fully alive. Accordingly, we have seen
that the continuous epiclesis of the Spirit transforms both the human person as well as the
cosmos. This sacramental metamorphosis is not only the experience of the present
moment, but also an eschatological event. In such a sense, the sacraments unite the past,
present and future. There is the clear integration of time in sacraments. However,
sacramental transformation is beyond the concept of time. Eschatologically speaking,
sacramental metamorphosis implies a movement towards his/her ultimate te,loj who is
God. In this realm, the Holy Spirit creates communion and as we have seen the Spirit is
the bond of communion. As a result, the pneumatization in sacramental metamorphosis is
a manifestation of micro-macrocosmic transformation.