St. John Cassian
(360-435).
Abba Moses replied: 'To look upon God at all times and to be
inseparable from Him, in the manner which you envisage, is impossible for a man
still in the flesh and enslaved to weakness. In another way, however, it is
possible to look upon God, for the manner of contemplating God may be conceived
and understood in many ways. God is not only to be known in His blessed and
incomprehensible being, (...). He is also to be known from the grandeur and
beauty of His creatures, from His providence which governs the world day by
day, from His righteousness and from the wonders which He shows to His saints
in each generation. (...) There are many similar ways of seeing and
apprehending God, which grow in us according to our labour
and to the degree of our purification.' St. John Cassian (360-435), quoted in:
The Philokalia, Vol. I., P.96-7.
Last updated: 2020/04/20