Pure Heart

“The way to a pure heart and the way to see God are actually the same thing. We have to have the eyes to see purity and beauty…We are to look for that which is pure, beautiful, lovely, godly, holy and readily visible in the world. Then we’ll begin to see purity, beauty, love, holiness, and even God Himself.” (Fr. Ted Bobosh)

“In the Biblical and Patristic understanding, the “heart” (Hebrew: leb; Greek: kardia) is the deep center of the human personality, where the spirit, the soul and the body, the mind, the will and the feelings, conscience and duty interact. It is an organ of hearing (conscience), seeing (contemplating) God and of duty (service, love) of Him. It is in the heart that the choice between good and evil is made, our thoughts and desires are formed, and our decisions are made. It is here that God and man meet; it is through the heart that the healing and sanctifying grace of God is given to believers. Depending on what the heart is filled with, it can be impure or pure, sinful or holy. The Lord gives us the opportunity, through the fulfillment of His commandments and the acquisition of grace, to purify our hearts defiled by evil, to make them pure organs of faith, hope and love.” (Priest Tarasiy Borozenets)

“This faculty of the heart that sees beauty is also the faculty that sees the small things and the things that “do not signify.” It is not a practical place nor given to usefulness. The Fathers describe it as the nous, and often simply call it the heart. It is that place through which we have communion with God. It is, interestingly, also the place that recognizes Him in the “least of these my brethren.” It is that place which sees personhood in its proper form, in its utter uniqueness and never as “one of many.” (Father Stephen Freeman)

“So many unfortunately keep the doors of their hearts closed to Christ, but wide open to all kinds of filth: anger, greed, hatred, malice, enmity, murder, slander, envy, jealousy, theft, fornication. What is this, if not conscious rebellion against God? Our sinful passions, untreated by repentance, worsened by complete disregard for our inevitable accountability for them, amount to open hostility toward the Creator, a blasphemy against Him. Can anyone say that such a life leads to happiness? A life of reckless abandon never leads to good, and blasphemers have ended poorly. Faith throws open the doors to an infinite, joyous world—a world named Jesus Christ. It is a world of endless Love, divine Beauty, inexpressible Joy, Blessedness, and Happiness. And this is not just an approximate description of paradise in the afterlife. This is the very essence of our faith!” (Artemy Slezkin)

“Our hearts will become contrite and humble when we confront how we have marred the beauty of our souls and refused to fulfill our calling to become like God in holiness…We will experience pain in our hearts when, instead of shutting our eyes to the truth, we honestly and persistently open even our deepest struggles and the darkest crevices of our souls to the healing of Christ. We will then experience in our own hearts the infinite distance between the brilliant holiness to which we are called and the dark corruption we allow to remain in us. Doing so requires embracing the arduous task of daily dying to self and reorienting the desires of our hearts for fulfillment in God. We must pray, fast, serve our neighbors sacrificially, and do all that we have the strength to do in taking up our crosses and following our Lord.” (Fr. Philip LeMasters)

“What Is purity of heart? What is it? A pure heart is, first of all, one and whole. It overcomes all the contradictions between the soul, the spirit and the body, between the mind, the will and the emotions. Full agreement between the will of God and the will of man reigns in it. All its thoughts, desires and feelings are harmoniously directed towards a single goal—the fulfillment of Christ’s commandments. In such a heart there is no place for hostility, hypocrisy, double-mindedness (James. 4:8) and distraction. A pure heart is characterized by sincerity and simplicity. There is nothing hidden in it: no guile, no ulterior motives, no judging or self-justification. The inner state of a Christian with a pure heart always corresponds to the outer expression. Everything that is inside him is also outside: on his face, in his words and deeds.” (Priest Tarasiy Borozenets) 

“Understanding these things, enter within yourself by keeping watch over your thoughts, and scrutinize closely your intellect, captive and slave to sin as it is. Then discover, still more deeply within you than this, the serpent that nestles in the inner chambers of your soul and destroys you by attacking the most sensitive aspects of your soul. For truly the heart is an immeasurable abyss. If you have destroyed that serpent, have cleansed yourself of all inner lawlessness, and have expelled sin, you may boast in God of your purity; but if not, you should humble yourself because you are still a sinner and in need, and ask Christ to come to you on account of your secret sins. The whole Old and New Testament speaks of purity, and everyone, whether Jew or Greek, should long for purity even though not all can attain it. Purity of heart can be brought about only by Jesus; for He is authentic and absolute Truth, and without this Truth it is impossible to know the truth or to achieve salvation.” (St. Symeon Metaphrastis) 

“Jesus Christ calls ‘pure’ either those who have attained unto all virtue, and are not conscious to themselves of any evil, or those who live in temperance…But purity of heart cannot be found through one virtue alone, or through two, or ten; it can only be found through all of them together, as if they formed but a single virtue brought to perfection.” (St. John Chrysostom, St. Simeon the New Theologian) 

“Purity of the heart is the state in which God can see His image clearly reflected in us; and we in turn, by our transparency of heart, can see Him too. God takes the initiative in the process: ‘Create in me a clean heart, O God’ (Ps. 51:10). And St. Paul relates his experience on this point: ‘We all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory’ (2 Cor. 3:18). Thus, purity of heart is exercised by directing one’s face toward Christ, until the heart within us is transfigured, and until Christ too is transfigured in our heart.” (Matthew the Poor) 

“To shine eternally with the light of Christ requires that we undertake the daily struggle to purify and reorient the desires of our hearts toward fulfillment in God and away from slavery to our passions…It is contradictory to unite ourselves to Christ and then to refuse to conform our character to His. In order to gain spiritual health, we must mindfully reject all that keeps us from becoming living epiphanies of our Lord’s salvation.” (Fr. Philip LeMasters) 

“…he who loves God from a pure heart is given knowledge from Him (1 Cor. 8:3); he often knows God just like, or even more than a learned theologian. After all, the knowledge of God is implanted as an instinct in human nature. Look at an animal or an insect, which manifests great infallible knowledge and wisdom from the first days of its life by nature and not by learning, like a bee building a honeycomb or extracting honey. In the same way, a pure heart carries the knowledge of God within itself. It is only by listening to the voice of the conscience, to the natural impulses of one’s own soul that are unperverted by passions that knowledge of God is revealed to man. This is why the Lord said: I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes (Mt. 11:25).” (Hieromartyr Thaddeus Uspensky)

“God’s invisible attributes encompass the whole of creation as well as human beings around us. We are not observers in a world of objects – separate – isolated – left only with thoughts and sensations. We are participants in creation, and we are created for participatory knowledge of God. That participatory knowledge is known as “communion.” The organ by which we perceive this communion is the nous. That knowledge is described as “noetic.”… Noetic perception is not passive (whereas our experience of rational, objective knowledge champions passivity). Instead, it is an active and intentional participation in which we extend ourselves, grounded in love. Those practices which we generally describe with the term “asceticism” (fasting, confession, prostrations, etc.) are all geared towards the purification of the heart – that is – towards removing or healing the obstacles to love. A “pure heart” cannot be described as a heart merely devoid of sin. Rather, it is also understood as a heart that is transformed in and by love….Love is the key to noetic perception – of God and of the whole creation. Only love knows anything. Anger, fear, greed, envy, lust – the passions that enslave us – distort the world. Indeed, they make even rational objective knowledge problematic.” (Father Stephen Freeman)

“It’s precisely due to the lack of formation of the heart and spirit that modern society is so depraved and corrupt. Isn’t it time for Christians to understand what the Lord wants from us? Above all—a pure heart. Listen to His sweetest voice in the Gospel! And why? Because the true life of the heart is Christ, and therefore our main task is to instill Christ in the heart through faith. Thus, whatever can direct us to this goal, that is, purity of heart, we must follow with all our strength; whatever distracts from it, we must avoid as destructive and harmful.” (St. Seraphim Chichagov)

“Sincere works of compassion cleanse the human heart from all sinful uncleanness, and those who have pure hearts are blessed because they will see God with their heart, as with a spiritual eye. Those who see God strive to emulate Him, to be like a son to Him Who united man with God, who brought peace to the human soul. They hate strife, and so become peacemakers, desiring to bring peace wherever they are.” (Archbishop Averky Taushev)

“Purity of heart is contrasted with double-mindedness. The pure heart is united to God, and not to mammon or anything else. The pure heart is love. We are to seek first the kingdom, such single-minded devotion allows us to see God. The pure heart also acts in love, not for the approval, praise or applause of others, but working for God and for God’s rewards rather than for human plaudits.” (Fr. Ted Bobosh)

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. The brain has come up in the world, while the heart has been demoted. The heart used to be widely recognized as the locus of God’s activity within us, the hub of human identity and conscience, linked with our capacity to love, the core not only of physical but also of spiritual life—the ground zero of the human soul. In our brain-centered society, we ought to be surprised that Christ didn’t say, “Blessed are the brilliant in mind.” Instead, He blessed purity of heart.” (Fr. John Oliver)

“Just as physically seeing Jesus of Nazareth, even seeing His miracles, did not automatically mean one perceived Who He truly is and that He most truly reveals God, so simply reading the Bible does not automatically lead to perceiving “the face of God” in it, or perceiving it truly. It is primarily through the third Person of the Holy Trinity, the Holy Spirit, that we are enabled to perceive and understand these truths most accurately.” (Mary S. Ford)

“Within the Tradition, and the Scriptures, the knowledge of God (and thus of the self), comes as revelation. It is hidden and must be made known. That which hides God is within us, not outside of us. It is the “pure in heart” who see God. This does not necessarily imply a sinlessness or perfection. Rather, it is a stillness that can see what truly is without turning away.” (Father Stephen Freeman)

“We cannot simply take life on earth and interpolate it into eternity when imagining heaven. We must be ready for something completely new. We may have brief glimpses and experiences of heaven in this world, but they will always only be a foretaste of what is coming. No matter how wonderful these experiences are, they still cannot measure up to what is coming. Keep in mind that in this world we rely on our physical senses to experience the spiritual world and we interpret these experiences through our understanding of the senses (touch, taste, smell, feeling, hearing, sight). In that new creation we will be seeing with the eyes of our heart, experiencing salvation in ways we cannot now imagine. The pure in heart will “see God” – obviously it is not the eyes with which we will be seeing God but with our hearts. We won’t know what that means until we get there.” (Fr. Ted Bobosh)

“… [The Apotsle] John’s thought is that those who hope for the fulfillment of the promise of “seeing God” will anticipate it and act according to it. To a greater or lesser degree, they will act as if the hope that they have “in Him,” (Christ) is a present reality. In the expectation of becoming “like God,” they will purify themselves of “sin and lawlessness” “just as God is pure” (1 John 3:3). The Greek word for “pure” means free from fault, uncontaminated, and unadulterated…Thus, by God’s grace believers strive to rid their hearts with what is ungodly, unholy, and unrighteous. As their souls become less and less mixed with worldly desires and earthly concerns, their hope grows stronger–so strong that, if God wills, they get a foretaste of its fulfillment. They experience in a limited way the blessedness that Jesus spoke about when He said, “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8).” (Fr. Basil)

“To spend time with someone who has learned well the battle of the heart is to sit at the gate of paradise. On some few occasions I have had opportunity to meet such warriors. The peace that is theirs, the complete lack of self-consciousness are signals that you have come to a new country. Such living witnesses are the loudest proclamation of the gospel known on earth. For in their heart, God’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven. These are the dwelling places of the New Jerusalem and the living promises of God. Their hearts point us to the place where we should be engaging the struggle and remind us that with God all things are possible.” (Father Stephen Freeman)

“We acquire purity of heart by more quiet prayer. Purity of heart requires a certain kind of effort. The effort is delicate, not like a New Year’s resolution. Purity of heart has more to do with yielding than striving. Purity is something the Lord does through us as we freely want to pray, to be prayed through. In a sense, we pray and the Lord prays through us.” (Albert S. Rossi, PhD)

“Christ reveals that our efforts to do good depend upon our submitting to Him from the heart. He alone can give us the power to do what is just and pleasing to God… The impure heart craves the good things of this life and becomes attached to material comfort, disregarding the condition of the soul…The impure heart is the greatest barrier between ourselves and God, for it separates us from Him who alone is able to restore in us the power to do good…our words and deeds – what comes out of us – reveal what truly lies within our hearts.” (Dynamis 7/24/2014, 7/3/2019)

“Jesus criticized the Pharisees and the experts in religious law harshly...They went wrong by focusing on outward appearances and ignoring the inner condition of their hearts. People do the same when their service comes from a desire to be seen rather than from a pure heart that is full of love for others.”...for someone to receive the Holy Spirit an open heart is necessary, and it is made open by faith. Just as the reception of radio waves necessarily requires an antenna, similarly for the reception of divine grace a pure heart full of faith is needed." (Life Application Study Bible, Luke 42-52, St. Luke the Surgeon of Simferopol)

“…the “skirmish line” of spiritual warfare is within our mind. Evil thoughts must be stopped there if we hope to attain the pure heart that knows Christ….Our greatest problems have spiritual roots: we disdain to lift our hands to God, worshipping and opening our hearts to His grace, which alone makes our works wholesome and worthy. Human methods alone will never solve our problems apart from a meek spirit and a pure heart (Mt 5: 5, 8). Men must repent, confess, and put “on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph 4:24).” ((OCPM 11/23/2015, Dynamis 11/16/2019)

“The soul’s vision is in the heart. From the heart and through the heart a spiritual person views and controls his whole soul. A pure heart means sound spiritual vision. By means of a pure heart a person sees not only his soul, but even God Himself. In the words of Christ: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God…Saint Paul calls us to labor for “a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith” (1 Timothy 1:5), for these alone secure us in the renewing and refreshing love of Christ. A pure heart commands and directs the soul, dispelling any evil thoughts that enter it, so that we do not receive “[our] soul in vain” (Psalms 23:4). Such a heart will draw close to God, and the Lord will dwell within us to help our heart continue in purity (James 4:8).” (St. Nikolai Velimerovic, OCPM 11/23/2015)

“How mistaken are those people who seek happiness outside of themselves…Happiness is found within ourselves, and blessed is the man who has understood this. Happiness is a pure heart, for such a heart becomes the throne of God.” (St. Nektarios of Aegina)

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