Father Maximus - Saint Nektarios Greek Orthodox Church

Sometimes it inspires in him love of doing things for the pleasure of his
brethren.
Sometimes it will bestow stillness on him to quell the impulses of the
passions.
Sometimes it will arouse in his heart pity for the oppressed and ministering
for the sick.
By these things the grace of the Spirit purifies and polishes the soul of the
novice and of anyone who turns back from his heedlessness and vile actions, and
drawing near to it places himself under the yoke of its obedience.”
When a person has been cleansed of the passions, the grace of the Holy
Spirit descends upon him and illumines his soul. This stage is called illumination
by the Fathers; and it is so called because the person perceives all reality in a
radically different way. Not only is he freed from the passions, which distort our
perception of things, but he also sees everything through and in God: he sees
things as they are related to God and not as they are related to our own desires. In
other words, he sees things as they really are. This perception is so different from
the perception of a person who is under the influence the passions that it is like the
difference between light and darkness. Such a person enters another world, a
world full of light and grace; nevertheless, this is not the vision of the uncreated