Page 243 - Orthodoxy Zizioulas

H O L I N E S S A S A N E C C L E S I A L E X P E R I E N C E
holy, holy, the Lord Sabaoth.” In the Christian faith, holiness
is thus not man-centered but God-centered. It does not de-
pend on the moral achievements of man, great though they
may be, but on the glory and grace of God and on the degree
of our personal relationship with the personal God.
For this reason the Most Holy Theotokos is called Panagia
and Hyperagia not simply on account of her virtues, but be-
cause more than any other person in history she became per-
sonally united with the most holy God by providing flesh and
blood to the Son of God. Holiness, therefore, is not the per-
sonal property of anyone, no matter how saintly one may ap-
pear in this life. It has to do with one’s personal relationship
with God. God sanctifies whom He wills, and as Saint Maxi-
mus the Confessor stresses, we contribute nothing except our
willingness, without which God does not act. Our labors and
ascetic struggles do not produce holiness as their result.
In the Christian faith, holiness is linked also to the glory of
God. Holiness now means the glorification of God by the
entire world. It is no accident that the first request in the Lord’s
Prayer is: “Hallowed be Thy Name.” This prayer is eschato-
logical. What we ask for is the moment when all the world will
glorify God and cry out with the Cherubim: “Holy, holy, holy
is the Lord Sabaoth; heaven and earth are full of Thy glory.”
The saints do not seek personal glory but the glory of God.
God glorifies the saints not with their own glory but with His
glory. They are sanctified and glorified not with a holiness
springing from within them, but with the sanctity and glory
of God Himself. This is why Orthodox theology, especially
through Saint Gregory Palamas and the Hesychast tradition,
speaks not of created grace, but of the uncreated energies of
God. The light seen by the saints and the glory that envelops
them are the light and glory of God Himself. A true saint does
243