In our last post in the Beatitude series, we talked about the importance of being merciful to our brothers and sisters. This week, we continue through the beatitudes with perhaps one of the most noteworthy (and most difficult). “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matt. 5:8). What does it mean to be pure in heart? How can any of us possibly achieve such a thing in such a fallen world?
Be sure to check back next week for our post on the seventh beatitude!
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To many of us, attaining purity of heart and seeing God seems utterly impossible. After all, how could we have pure hearts when we constantly entertain evil thoughts and actions? And how can we see God Whom no man has ever seen or can see (1 Tim. 6:16; John 1:18; 1 John 4:12)? Only the spirit that has acquired the previous virtues – humility, mourning, meekness, righteousness, and mercy – can ascend further up the ladder and achieve the radiant holiness that allows us to see God.
What does it mean to be pure in heart?
Those who are pure in heart do not sin openly or intentionally. Nor do they conceal any unclean thoughts, desires, or feelings in their hearts. Should those thoughts come to them, they dismiss them with fervor, calling on the name of the Lord. St. Ephraim teaches that the pure in heart hate luxury, laziness, bodily beauty, fine garments, rich food, and drunkenness. In other words, the pure in heart are not attached to or obsessed with earthly things, and in this they are indeed blessed. Because they are free from anything that captivates and darkens the soul.
In short, the pure in heart unceasingly think about and pray to God. If all this sounds like a tall order, it definitely is. Especially in the fallen world we inhabit. But attaining purity of heart is not impossible.
How can we attain purity in heart?
Being pure of heart is far more than simply being sincere. Sincerity requires only that a person be candid and single-hearted in relation to his neighbor. But purity of heart requires complete suppression of depraved thoughts and constant remembrance of God and His holy commandments. Here are some ways you can help suppress the passions in your day-to-day life:
- Observe the fasts
- Refrain from gluttony, drunkenness, improper teachings, and indecent media/books
- Contemplate the Lord in prayer
- Read the Holy Scriptures, works of the Fathers, and lives of the Saints
- Attend Divine Services
- Partake of the Holy Mysteries (especially Confession and the Eucharist)
- Perform acts of charity
- Struggle actively against impure and wicked thoughts
- Repent of your sins and receive absolution through Holy Confession
As we go through our lives, we will face numerous tribulations and privations. We will struggle with impure thoughts and wicked fantasies that defile our heart and conscience, and the passions will war against us. Through these trials, if we remain in constant prayerfulness before God, we create a deep awareness of Him in our soul. The awareness of Christ our Savior and His cross. This awareness conquers all wicked machinations and evil desires. And it is this awareness that enables us to “see God”.
For they shall see God
What does it mean to see God? In the spiritual tradition of the Orthodox Church, purity of heart is an essential condition for union with God. When man’s heart is purified from all evil, it naturally shines with the light of God, since God dwells in the soul. Saint Gregory of Nyssa expresses this ancient teaching of the Church quite well:
. . . the man who purifies the eye of his soul will enjoy an immediate vision of God . . . it is the same lesson taught by the Word [i.e. Christ] when He said, “The Kingdom of God is within you” (Lk 17:21).
This teaches us that the man who purifies his heart of every passionate impulse will see the image of the divine nature in his own beauty.
You must then wash away, by a life of virtue, the dirt which has clung to your heart like plaster, and then your divine beauty will once again shine forth (On the Beatitudes, Sermon 6).
The Apostle Paul has said the same thing in his pastoral letters.
To the pure all things are pure, but to the corrupt and faithless nothing is pure; their minds and consciences are corrupted. They profess to know God, but they deny Him by their deeds; they are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good deed (Titus 1:15–16).
If anyone purifies himself from what is ignoble, then he will be a vessel of noble use, consecrated and useful to the master . . . ready for any good work. So shun youthful passions and aim at righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call upon the Lord from a pure heart (2 Tim 2:21–22).
Seeing God now is but seeing through a glass darkly, but in the next life we shall see Him face to face (1 Cor. 13:12).
Read On: Eastern Orthodox Spirituality