Remember Thy First Love: The three stages of the spiritual life in the theology of Saint Sophrony the Athonite

God targets man and visits him from morning until evening and from evening until morning. Continually and from all eternity, God waits patiently at the door of man’s heart, and when He finds a tiny opening, namely, a little humility and gratitude, He enters in, and of course, when He does, He makes a feast with man. The book of Revelation calls this first visit of God ‘our first love’. This is the beginning of our walk with God, and we must always be mindful of walking worthily…