Man lives in matter. In continuous worldly care and daily struggle, in this vast ocean of material occupations, there are inserted moments of a “foreign world,” moments that are spiritual . This description portrays with precision the condition of modern humanity: it has not denied the Spirit — but it has confined it to moments.
What is latent despiritualization?
Despiritualization is not always obvious.
It does not necessarily appear as atheism or explicit denial of God.
It is deeper and more subtle.
It is the condition in which:
- The Spirit is not rejected, but set aside.
- Prayer is not abolished, but made occasional.
- The inner life is not denied, but reduced to a parenthesis.
Man lives, works, struggles, plans, manages — and within all this, the Spirit functions as a visitor, not as the foundation.
That is the latent element:
the spiritual life has not died — it has simply lost its primacy.
The dominance of matter and the dispersion of consciousness
The “vast ocean of material occupations”.
This ocean is not evil in itself. Matter is not the enemy.
It becomes problematic when:
- It absorbs the whole consciousness.
- It fragments the inner man.
- It turns life into constant outward motion.
Latent despiritualization is not only the result of sin;
it is the result of dispersion.
The mind becomes scattered.
The heart grows burdened.
The soul becomes fatigued by excessive externalization.
And then the Spirit — which seeks stillness and unity — is reduced to passing illuminations.
The “moments of a foreign world”
These are:
- An inner stirring before beauty.
- A sudden sense of sacredness.
- A thought that pierces beneath the surface of things.
- An unexpected interior silence.
Those who think reflectively often live such moments.
Yet the issue is not the lack of moments.
The issue is that these moments do not become a state.
The Spirit passes — but does not dwell.
It illumines — but is not established.
The deeper cause: the inversion of hierarchy
In the proper spiritual order:
Spirit → Soul → Body
In latent despiritualization:
Body → Soul → Spirit (as a residual element)
Man does not cease believing. But:
- Work precedes prayer.
- Success precedes inner purification.
- Social image precedes divine relationship.
Spiritual life becomes an accessory, not the core.
And this creates a subtle interior dryness.
Signs of latent despiritualization
- Mechanical prayer.
- Absence of inner joy, even when everything seems externally arranged.
- Impatience and inner nervousness.
- Lack of orientation, as though an inner axis is missing.
The soul functions — but does not breathe.
The Spirit exists — but does not govern.
The remedy: transforming moments into a state
Here we are not describing a pathology; we are implying the path of restoration.
The remedy is not flight from matter. It is its ensoulment.
Let work become liturgy.
Let thought become prayer.
Let daily life become an exercise in consciousness.
The spiritual moment must expand.
How?
- Through systematic inner remembrance of the Divine.
- Through constant self-observation.
- Through conscious redirection of awareness from the superficial to the essential.
From latent to manifest spirituality
Spiritual life does not demand extremism.
It demands stability.
When the remembrance of God becomes continuous,
when the heart maintains inner vigilance,
when matter no longer absorbs but serves,
then latent despiritualization is transformed into manifest vivification.
And man ceases to live in “moments of a foreign world”
and begins to live within the Spiritual World
even while remaining in matter.
Final Mystagogical Exhortation
Do not fear if you recognize within yourself this latent dryness.
Recognition is already awakening.
Do not seek to abolish matter;
seek to illumine it.
Do not be satisfied with spiritual flashes;
cultivate the steady inner flame.
For man was not called to live by moments of Spirit, but to become himself a bearer and dwelling place of the Spirit.
And then despiritualization no longer lies hidden — for the Spirit reigns.
