Saint Porphyrios on spiritual health and Christ's light

Saint Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia contrasts two states of the soul: one marked by gentleness, humility, peace, and love, the other by nervousness, hatred, and constant quarreling. He states plainly that love is the higher state. Those who deny this truth, he says, are spiritually ill. Sin causes a person to become spiritually disturbed, and this imbalance cannot be corrected by any human means.

Resolution comes only through the light of Christ. The saint describes the process: Christ makes the first move. Then human beings accept this light by their own free will. This acceptance is expressed through love for Christ, through prayer, through participation in the life of the Church, and through participation in the Holy Mysteries.

The teaching presents spiritual health as a cooperation between divine initiative and human response, with the sacramental life of the Church as the concrete setting where this cooperation unfolds.