Veils
- 3 hours ago
- 3 min read
“The sacred space of God’s presence, once restricted to the Holy of Holies by a thick veil in the temple, can now become a reality for the entire world. At Pentecost, the Shekinah glory previously limited to the sacred space of the temple, and enjoyed by only one nation, descended on the disciples, empowering them to take God’s presence to all peoples. Pentecost is the promise that the entire world will come to have the Edenic quality of the temple.” (Robin Phillips)
“The value of the myth is that it takes all the things we know and restores to them the rich significance which had been hidden by ‘the veil of familiarity’…There are times in our lives when it is as if the veils between this world and the next open.” (C. S. Lewis, Jackie Morfesis)
“Fr. Alexander Schmemann famously said that sacraments do not make something to be what it is not, but reveals it to be what it truly is. That thought is also found in St. Basil’s liturgy, where, instead of saying, “Make this bread to be the Body of our Lord, and God, and Savior, Jesus Christ,” he says, “And show (manifest) this bread to be…etc.” In the sacraments, God is “pulling back the veil,” so to speak, and making known to us the purpose of His creation and our purpose within it.” (Father Stephen Freeman, Fr. Alexander Schmemann, St. Basil the Great)
“The journey towards salvation is marked by a successive elimination of all that we “have,” in order to reach what we “are.” The safest path and surest refuge is not to be deluded and fail to recognize ourselves – who we truly are. We should not believe that we are seeing our Selves when we are only seeing something that surrounds us – our body, our senses, the idea that others have of us. For anything unstable [that which changes] is not us. The soul is purified in this way, as she lays aside garment after garment. So, the ideal [salvation] will appear as that supreme instant wherein the soul, having laid aside all of her “corporeal” veils, presents herself naked and pure in spirit to the vision of God in a divine vigil.” (St. Gregory of Nyssa, Hans Urs Von Balthasar)
“There are very few epochs in human history that have endured greater assaults on fundamental human realities than our own. It is little wonder that “identity” has become a watchword and a battleground. St. Gregory’s [of Nyssa’s] imagery of “laying aside” the veils is a patient work and a gift of grace. It is important to remember that we are not creating the true self – it is being discovered and revealed. More important still is the fact that this true heart exists in the image and likeness of God. But 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, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. Our attention is rightly directed towards the prototype, the image and glory of God revealed in the face of Jesus Christ, rather than towards ourselves. Love God. Love your neighbor. Move beyond the veils.” (Father Stephen Freeman)
“I begin to see through the veil by accepting my real vulnerability, and thereby I am able to access my deeper desire. However deep I go, I will find desire. Desire is what enables me to step outside my individual existence into a relational personhood. Desire is at the heart of life, so I fear its loss. But I also fear its power. This is why I am tempted by these middling desires, the shadowy protective desires of my masks—desires that are strong enough to let me know I am still alive but that are relatively safe and superficial, not making me more vulnerable than I can handle.” (Andrew Williams)
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