Our Life
The Holy Spirit is truly the life of our life—without Him, we are, in a profound sense, “half-dead” (Luke 10:30). He is the Life that animates our body, soul, and spirit. Our soul simply cannot function properly apart from Him. As the Book of Genesis declares, “God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life” (Genesis 2:7). To be separated from God—that is, to fall into a “fallen” state through original sin—means to become bloodless, lifeless, crawling in suffering. We are like “dry wood,” as Christ says, lacking the sap that sustains life.
The Holy Spirit is not merely an external force but a vital part of our very being (it says how much we need the Holy Spirit). “God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life” (Genesis 2:7) If we are to be whole, alive, and united with God, we must be filled with Him: in our spirit, in our soul and in our body. Without the Holy Spirit, we are like an engine without fuel or electricity—we simply do not work. It is nothing short of a mystery that we can even produce something “decent” apart from His life. The Spirit is not just an occasional help, a momentary inspiration or prompting, or a few wise words we may say; He is the very power that sustains the entire functioning of our being at every moment, 24/7. What great suffering it is to be incomplete—dry, deprived of Divine Life! “I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10). The Holy Spirit is this Life Jesus came to give us. The Gospel of St. John’s goal is to allow us, through a sixfold purification (the six signs) of our faith to believe (seeing Jesus’ Side Open on the Cross) and receive Life (John 20:30-31), water and blood coming from his side, the Holy Spirit.
We become truly alive—what St. Irenaeus called “man fully alive”—only when the Holy Spirit animates us. To be fully animated by the Holy Spirit is the fruit of a long journey of inner transformation. This happens when He has purified and transformed us, making us supple and docile, attuned to His action. We then can follow His promptings, breathe His life, and move our faculties—not as automatons, but as beings transformed from within.
The Holy Spirit lifts us up, raises us, and propels us forward. He “pushes” us gently, never violating our freedom or forcing us, yet always urging us onward. He is our life, our light, our energy, our strength, our momentum, and our forward motion.
As Christ said, “Whoever remains in me… bears much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). The Holy Spirit is the sap that flows from Christ Himself. Without this sap, there is no life in us—we become like dry branches, cut off and discarded: “If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers; they gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned” (John 15:6).
St. Symeon the New Theologian
Symeon the New Theologian says that life is impossible without the Holy Spirit. “Just as the body without the soul is dead, so the soul without the Holy Spirit is dead to God.” (Catechesis 33, SC 113) “The one who has not known the Spirit has not yet begun to live as a Christian.” (Hymn 1, trans. J.-L. Palierne, Hymns of the Mystical Life, Cerf, p. 51) Hymn 1: “Without the Holy Spirit, God is distant, Christ is a stranger, the Gospel is a dead letter, the Church a mere organization, authority a form of power, mission a propaganda effort, worship an empty ritual, and Christian action a slave morality.”
For Symeon the New Theologian, the experience of the Holy Spirit is not only necessary—it is also concrete, vivid, and almost tangible. He speaks of this experience in strong sensory language—often luminous, emotional, and transformative. For him, it is not merely intellectual knowledge or abstract belief: it is a direct encounter with the divine light that inflames both soul and body.
A Sensory and Luminous Experience: Symeon describes this encounter as an inner, perceptible light: “I see the Light that has neither form, nor shape, nor quality, nor colour, nor size, nor boundaries. I see it in my soul, in my spirit, everywhere within me. It is ineffably present.” (Hymn 1, SC 156, p. 75) “The one who has received the Spirit sees the light, knows it, and through it comes to know himself. He sees God and sees Him within himself.” (Hymn 11, SC 156, p. 157)
A Transforming Experience: This experience is not merely sensory; it radically transforms the person, making him a participant in divine life: “He [the Spirit] comes, and like a devouring fire, He drives out the darkness and illuminates the soul. He makes it all light, transforms it completely into fire.” (Catechesis 22, SC 104, p. 307)
An Absolute Necessity: This is not optional. Symeon asserts that one cannot be a Christian without this experience: “To believe without having tasted the Spirit is to believe without foundation. […] Do not say that God cannot be seen. He has promised it; He has shown Himself.”
(Hymn 6, SC 156)
A Rejection of “Purely Intellectual” Faith: Symeon opposes a faith limited to rites or dogmas without inner transformation: “They speak of the Spirit, but have not known Him. They sing of His wonders, but have experienced none of them.” (Catechesis 33, SC 113)
For Symeon, the experience of the Holy Spirit is truly palpable—lived in the body, the soul, and the enlightened mind. He calls all Christians—not just monks or mystics—to this direct and transformative encounter, because for him, this is what authentic Christian life is.
The Life-Giving Action of the Holy Spirit
“I heard your voice in the garden, I was afraid because I was naked, and I hid myself.” (Gn 3) For us, however, it is different: having eaten the fruit (Jesus) that the Woman (Mary) gave us, having experienced how the Holy Spirit transforms and clothes us (an infusion of divine life that moves us), we now have confidence to draw near to God. Covered with God the Holy Spirit, we go towards God.
The wedding garment, or what Saint Paul refers to when he says, “put on Christ” or “the new man”, and so on, refers to a real spiritual garment to be received and allowed to grow. The Holy Spirit is a true garment because He transforms us, purifies us, elevates us to a higher mode of operation, and adds His life to ours — the half-life we were lacking. For through Adam and Eve, we were half-dead! Christ and the Holy Spirit are, so to speak, that half-life we were missing.
God willed to restore this half-life to us through Mary and her unceasing care. She sees to it that her children are “clothed” in the double garment of the Son and the Spirit. A true mother clothes her children, nourishes them, raises them, holds them in her heart, defends them, and protects them.
Question: How can we describe this “half-life” that the Holy Spirit brings us?
Answer: First, we must recognise that it is not a “half” in the sense of being equal or simply added on, like one half of an apple added to another, nor is it merely an external functionality, like petrol (the Spirit) added to an engine, or even like blood in the body — though in the case of blood, the comparison comes somewhat closer. Saint Augustine assigned to the Holy Spirit a role that many modern commentators have interpreted as copied from certain Greek philosophers, in whose systems the divine spirit was not innate but was given externally, like a new intelligence added to our own.
But instead of suspecting non-Christian influence, we should rather have studied more attentively what he meant. Indeed, the coming of the Spirit within us does have the effect of a higher intelligence being given to us — one we did not previously possess, and which suddenly takes up residence within us, enabling us to function in an entirely new way! But is the Spirit not both intelligence and love, light and warmth — like fire? That is His nature, for He is God. And since He is given to us, it is like a pair of spectacles (a new intelligence) being given to us that allows us to see. This is not merely a theory of the Church Fathers — it is a reality. They called it spiritual senses, but this reality must be connected not to the physical senses, but to the rational soul!
Others might prefer to speak of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. And are there not four gifts specifically given to human intelligence and its four modes of operation? (three are given to the will) It truly is an added light — a fourfold light (or sevenfold, if one prefers). It enables us to see from above (wisdom), to see in depth (understanding), to see in detail and in practical application (knowledge), and it gives direction to the will (counsel). In a certain way, it is one and the same light, one and the same Spirit, but He guides the human intellect in its four operations. He leaves no part of human intelligence without aid. He is a help given to human intelligence — a guide to its functions. Is this not, in a sense, an added intelligence? Thus, Saint Augustine did not simply borrow a doctrine from philosophers whereby a divine spirit is given in the absence of our own spirit (nous).
What must never be forgotten is that the Holy Spirit does not act as an added, external force. He intends to transform human intelligence — by purifying it, enlightening it, elevating it, and making it operate in a new, more divine way. He comes to take possession of human intelligence, but when He does so, it must be freely surrendered to Him — along with the will and the whole person. He transforms it, purifies it, broadens it, softens it, makes it docile, nourishes it, instructs it, and causes a wholly new mode of functioning to emerge. That is what it means to regain divine life, to rise again with Christ, to live the new life.
This is why we must constantly ask for the Holy Spirit. This is why every prayer is a request for the Holy Spirit — as the Lord Himself teaches when He comments on the Our Father in Luke, chapter 11. The Our Father is a series of seven petitions. But what are we asking for? The Holy Spirit:
“So I say to you: Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” (Luke 11:9–13)
The Holy Spirit enables us to see the Risen Christ present with us. He enables us to listen to Christ who wishes to speak to us. He enables us to receive His Word and put it into practice (through strength and action: Fortitude), renewing and liberating our will, helping us first to gather all our faculties/energies around the will of God (piety). He keeps us in God through filial faithfulness to the Word lived out (filial fear of God). He is the Forgiveness we offer to our brothers and sisters who have offended us. He is the gift we give and the One who enables us to give it: Giver and Gift. In this way, we communicate divine Life — His Life, the Spirit’s — to our brothers and sisters. In so doing, we give life, we vivify our brethren. “Forgive us as we forgive…”
We can only forgive when we receive the capacity to give (to par-don) and the Gift to be given.
In Byzantine spiritual theology, the ultimate goal of the Christian life is understood as acquiring the Holy Spirit—and it’s easy to see why. (See links to text at the end of the article)
Note: “Giver-of-Life”
In latin, in the Creed we say that the Holy Spirit is “vivificantem”. We translate this in English in “Giver-of-Life”. “vivificantem” — it’s a rich Latin word that offers more depth than the more functional English rendering “giver of life.” The Latin vivificare means “to make alive,” “to give life,” “to vivify.” Vivificantem is the accusative participial form meaning “the one who vivifies”, “the one who makes alive.” While “giver of life” is the standard liturgical translation, it slightly flattens the richness of vivificantem. “vivifier” or “the one who vivifies” might be richer: “Giver of life” can imply a one-time act or a general source, like someone who hands over a gift. “Vivifier” implies an active, ongoing process — one who infuses or animates with divine life. It expresses communication of God’s own life, transformation, and spiritual animation, not just donation of life, but divinisation. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) also uses this word in a more dynamic sense: “By the power of the Spirit, God’s children can bear much fruit. He who has grafted us onto the true vine will make us live in him.” (CCC §736) “Giver of life” is faithful but a bit thin. “Vivifier” or “He who vivifies” is closer to the full theological weight of vivificantem — conveying that the Holy Spirit not only gives life but actively communicates God’s own divine life, transforming the soul from within.
Let’s go to the original Greek of the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed to see how “vivificantem” was first expressed. Greek Original (381 A.D., Council of Constantinople): τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ Ἅγιον, τὸ Κύριον καὶ Ζωοποιόν “the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life” The key word here is: Ζωοποιόν (zōopoiòn) ζῴον (zōon) life, a living being, ποιέω (poieō) to make, to do. So ζωοποιός (zōopoios) literally means: “life-maker,” “one who makes alive,” “one who vivifies.” It is a present participle: “the one who is giving life,” “the life-giver in action.”
Latin vs Greek vs English:
| Language | Word | Literal Meaning | Emphasis |
| Greek | ζωοποιόν (zōopoiòn) | “one who makes alive” | Ongoing, active vivifying |
| Latin | vivificantem | “one who vivifies / gives life” | Dynamic, similar to Greek |
| English | “giver of life” | “donor/source of life” | More static, less vivid |
The Greek and Latin both communicate a dynamic action — God the Holy Spirit actively vivifies, infuses divine life, spiritually animates the soul. This is not merely giving biological life or creating, but communicating divine, supernatural life. As we can see, the Greek term ζωοποιόν corresponds closely to the Latin vivificantem. Both emphasise active, ongoing vivification, not just a static “gift.” The standard English “giver of life” is theologically correct, but linguistically less rich. It can miss the dynamic action of the Holy Spirit as the One who continuously breathes life into the Church and souls.
Read also:
Saint Seraphim of Sarov: On The Acquisition of the Holy Spirit
St. Anthony the Great, Letter 8
The Aim in Spiritual Life: the Act of Charity (on the Acquisition of the Holy Spirit)