06/02/2026
💯Father Rafail, how can a person acquire the grace of the Holy Spirit?
“The first step is this: you who have asked this question, pray constantly to God. Tell Him about it, ask Him, and inquire of Him, and let this become part of your prayer rule. Whether you are on a tram, walking, or working, whenever your mind is not occupied with other things, ask God to show you how you may acquire the Holy Spirit.
The whole life of the Church, every ascetic struggle, all reading, all culture—and by culture I mean especially our liturgical life, culminating in the Divine Liturgy—is a way of life intended to help us acquire the Holy Spirit, to acquire love and the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, do not mistake the whole life of the Church for merely living a correct life or for something else. The entire life of the Church is an ascetic striving to acquire the Holy Spirit; and if this is not our aim, then we have missed the mark to a certain extent. May God set us back on the right path.”
Fr. Raphail Noica, from the conference “What Is Man?” (Alba Iulia, 2006)