St Peter of Damascus | ‘Blessed are the pure in heart’ (Matt. 5:8)

It is through detachment that one is enabled to fulfill the sixth commandment:
‘Blessed are the pure in heart’ (Matt. 5:8).

The pure in heart are those who have accomplished every virtue reflectively and reverently and have come to see the true nature of things.

In this way they find peace in their thoughts. For, as the seventh commandment puts it, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers’ (Matt. 5:9), that is, those who have set soul and body at peace by subjecting the flesh to the spirit, so that the flesh no longer rises against the spirit (cf. Gal. 5:17). Instead, the grace of the Holy Spirit reigns in their soul and leads it where it will, bestowing the divine knowledge whereby man can endure persecution, vilification and maltreatment ‘for righteousness’ sake’ (Matt. 5:10), rejoicing because his ‘reward is great in heaven’ (Matt. 5:12).


St Peter of Damascus