The Gospels frequently mention that Jesus performed numerous healings at sunset (for instance, see Matthew 8.16–17, Mark 1.32–34, and Luke 4.40–41). These healings weren’t just about curing physical ailments; they also served as profound teachings on the path leading to the Kingdom of God, liberating individuals from the shackles of ignorance and evil.
As medical science has progressed, many illnesses that the ancients attributed to demons have found relative cures under the care of “apostles” of health services, such as physicians, nurses, and well-equipped hospitals. However, to be liberated from the demonic possession of ignorance and evil demands the most arduous, time-consuming, and laborious work. It takes multiple generations to progress, and it requires an environment rich in culture and goodness capable of nurturing not only human virtues and civility but also becoming the vessel necessary for carrying God and His Grace, just as our body carries its life-giving soul.
It’s not enough to cleanse and adorn our minds and souls with human knowledge and wisdom, chasing out the demons of ignorance. We must fill ourselves with the Holy Spirit of God, our true nature, because the demons of ignorance return swiftly, particularly under the guise of science and progress. When they perceive our faculties adorned with relative human goodness and talent, they swarm around, collecting sevenfold more evil and wicked demons than themselves and inviting them to invade our very essence. (Matthew 12.43–45)
Human history definitely proves this undeniable truth: interminable wars waged in the name of “progress,” barbaric customs and mores, and unspeakable and heinous crimes committed by those who believed themselves to be the most advanced civilizations. Who could have imagined, for instance, that a society renowned for its scientific, philosophical, theological, cultural, and musical achievements, like Germany, could have achieved such heights of barbarous crimes not even a hundred years ago, devaluing human life as much as vermin and bugs?
To overcome these flaws, we must turn to the Holy Spirit of God. This requires seeking solace in prayer. At dawn, we must retreat to a secluded place with our Lord Jesus (Luke 4.42). Saint Gregory of Narek suggests that this place is the inner sanctum of our hearts, where our thoughts take shape (Prayer 1.1). There, we must fill ourselves with the pure light of the Holy Spirit (Prayer 3.3), allowing the divine gifts of His grace to intertwine with our natural physiological processes. We must contemplate the Heavenly Father’s care in the breathtaking splendor of that sunrise, the Divine Providence enveloping even the pair of sparrows sold for a few cents.
By incorporating this daily practice, we can restore our materialized spirit to its original radiance, the gift of life breathed into us by God (Genesis 2.7). We can elevate our reason to the awe-inspiring majesty of His Word. We can welcome the Spirit of God into our physical bodies, merging His graces with the natural breath of our nature (Narek, Prayer 5.3).
This is the true essence of keeping our lamps trimmed with the wise virgins. We should not seek the source of our oil in fleeting and transient human glory, but from the eternal Table of the new Garden of the heavenly Kingdom.
