What concept of freedom does the Holy Spirit grants us?

St. Macarius the Great outlines the role of the Holy Spirit in our enjoyment of true freedom:

For St. Macarius, freedom is the liberation of the heart, thought, and behavior of the believer to fly up towards the heavens.

The devil does not remain silent over this liberation; he actively resists it. And aided by the Holy Spirit who lives within him, the believer actively strives against this resistance.

The sign of our freedom is our liberation from the spirit of anxiety and disturbance under any circumstances.

We taste the true sweetness of freedom when we are liberated to move towards the depths, rather than just being content with the literalistic outward appearance of worship.

Worldly people cannot enjoy this freedom, because they are preoccupied with shows of outward religiosity, and choose to be restricted to loving only those things that are passing.

The Holy Spirit grants us the joy of the righteousness of Christ, who covers us so that we are not found naked.

The Day of the Lord will reveal those souls whom the Holy Spirit has made rich as they strove in the spirit of faith.

St. Macarius the Great says, “The Christian mind and way of thinking is always in the heavenly frame; they behold as in a mirror the good things of eternity, by reason of their partaking and having the Holy Spirit, by being born of God from above, and being privileged to be children of God in truth and efficacy, and by having arrived, through many conflicts and labours spread over a long time, at a fixed and settled condition of freedom from disturbance and of rest, no longer sifted and wave-tossed by unquiet and vain thoughts … Not in form or in outward appearance lies the distinguishing mark of Christians. Most men think that the difference which distinguishes themselves from the world consists in a form and in figures; and lo! in mind and frame they are like the world, undergoing the same shaking, and inconstancy of thoughts, and unbelief, and confusion, and helter-skelter as all other men. In outward form and appearance they differ from the world, and in a few points of religious ordinance; but in heart and mind they are bound with earthly bonds, never having acquired rest from God and the peace of the heavenly Spirit in their heart, because they never sought it from God, nor believed that He would vouchsafe these things to them.”⁸⁸⁷

He also says, “ If , it says, being clothed, we shall not be found naked (2 Cor. 5:3), naked, that is, of the communion and in blending of the Holy Spirit, in which alone the faithful soul can find rest … Let us then strive by faith and virtuous living to gain here that clothing, that

887 St. Macarius the Great, Fifty Spiritual Homilies of St. Macarius the Egyptian , trans., A. J. Mason (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1921) Homily 5.4: pp. 40–41, amended.

when we put off the body we may not be found naked, and there be nothing in that day to glorify our flesh. For in proportion as any one has been permitted to become through faith and diligence a partaker of the Holy Spirit, his body also shall be glorified in that day. What the soul has now stored up within, shall then be revealed and displayed outwardly in the body.”⁸⁸⁸