St. Symeon the New Theologian | The person inwardly illumined by the light of the Holy Spirit...

The person inwardly illumined by the light of the Holy Spirit cannot endure the vision of it, but falls face down on the earth and cries out in great fear and amazement, since he has seen and experienced something that is beyond nature, thought or conception.

He becomes like someone suddenly inflamed with a violent fever: as though on fire and unable to endure the flames, he is beside himself, utterly incapable of controlling himself. And though he pours forth incessant tears that bring him some relief, the flame of his desire kindles all the more.

Then his tears flow yet more copiously and, washed by their flow, he becomes even more radiant When, totally incandescent, he has become like light, then the saying is fulfilled, 'God is united with gods and known by them', in the sense perhaps that He is now united to those who have joined themselves to Him, and revealed to those who have come to know Him.

St. Symeon the New Theologian