«It is better to keep silent and tο be, rather than to speak but not to be. One who truly possesses Christ’s words can also hear his silence in order tο be perfect … Nothing is hidden from the Lord but our very secrets are close to him. Let us do everything in him who dwells in us so that we may become his temples.» Ignatius of Antioch, Epistle to the Ephesians, 15,1-3 (SC 10, p. 84)
The person becomes the unlimited place where God is. God is the hidden God who transcends the perceptible nο less than the intelligible. And amongst us his place is the saint. Or rather, his place is the human being, the image of God, incapable of being limited to this world, who cannot be defined except as indefinable. Holiness proves that. Thus God is the abode of the human race. And the human being can deliberately become the abode of God.
«The Spirit is the place of the saints, and the saint is the place of the Spirit.» Βasil οf Caesarea Treatise οn the Holy Spirit, 26 (PG 32,184)
Union with God may also be expressed in terms of inward birth. The soul corresponds to the Blessed Virgin. It recalls the mystery of the incarnation. And the incarnation is spiritually extended to holy souls who are thereby preparing for Christ’s return. All the mysteries of the Gospel are not only performed in the liturgy but take possession of us in the spiritual life. The Word is continually being born in the stable of our heart.
«Ιn order that the dispositions of the Gospel and the things of the Holy Spirit may develop in us, their author has to be born in us.» Gregory οf Nyssa Against Eunomius (PG 45,585)
«God always wishes to become incarnate in those who are worthy of it.» Μaximus the Cοnfessor Questions to Thalassius, 22 (PG 90,321)