No sooner are we baptized than the soul shines brighter than the sun, being purified by the Holy Spirit. And not only to we see the glory of God but we also receive from it a certain splendor just as a piece of silver in the rays of the sun reflects those very rays which it receives. But what a pity! It is only right to sigh here bitterly! For this glory which is ineffable and awesome remains within us only one or two days.1 For we extinguish it, being led astray by the winter of worldly cares, the dense clouds of which block out its rays. For the care pertaining to living are indeed a heavy winter and even more sullen than winter.
+St. Nicodemus the Hagiorite, from A Handbook of Spiritual Counsel, Chapter 1, The Attributes of the Mind and the Body
1At the time this was written, most people were still being baptized as adults.
1At the time this was written, most people were still being baptized as adults.
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