There’s a dichotomy

Words of Life - 15 August 2017
 Elder Iosif Vatopaidinos

Grace, which comes from repentance, snatches the soul up towards God, Whose light attracts it. In the beginning it’s not so obvious, but its warmth, which is love, begins to soften the heart. Then strangely, a dichotomy appears: on the one hand the person is overcome by fear, or rather horror, when they feel their dreadful guilt; on the other, they’re filled with the hitherto unknown grace of the presence of God. The fear part of the dichotomy is the greater, because, through the presence of grace, their eyes are opened and they clearly see their uncleanness.