What is prayer?

Posted on September 7, 2014 by Administrator

Psalm 72:22-26 LXX
And I was despised, and did not know; I became like a beast before You. And I am continually with You; You hold fast my right hand; With Your counsel You guide me, And with glory You take hold of me. For what is there in heaven for me but You, And what do I desire on earth besides You? My heart and my flesh fail, O God of my heart; and God is my portion forever.

25. Rise from love of the world and love of pleasure, lay aside cares, strip your mind, renounce your body; because prayer is nothing other than estrangement from the world, visible and invisible. For what have I in heaven? Nothing. And what have I desired on earth beside Thee? Nothing, but to cling continually to Thee in prayer without distraction. To some, wealth is pleasant, to others, glory, to others, possessions, but my wish is to cling to God, and to put the hope 5of my dispassion in Him.

(The Ladder of Divine Ascent, John Climacus, Step 28)

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Types of Spiritual Poverty

Posted on August 31, 2014 by Administrator

50. There are, then, four types of spiritual poverty, and each gives birth to a corresponding kind of grief, as well as to a corresponding form of spiritual solace. In the first place, freely-embraced physical poverty and humility – and that means hunger, thirst, vigils and in general hardship and tribulation of body, as well as a reasonable restraint of the senses – begets not only grief, but also tears. For just as insensibility, callousness and hardness of heart develop as the result of ease, soft living and self-indulgence, so from a way of life marked by self-control and renunciation come contrition of heart and compunction, expelling all bitterness and generating a gentle gladness. It is said that without contrition of heart it is impossible to be free from vice; and the heart is rendered contrite by a triple form of self-control, in sleep, food and bodily ease. When through such contrition the soul is freed from vice and bitterness, it will certainly receive spiritual delight in their place. This is the solace on account of which the Lord calls those who grieve blessed. St John Klimakos, who has constructed for us the ladder of spiritual ascent, says: ‘Thirst and vigil afflict the heart, and when the heart is afflicted, tears spring up. … He who has found this by experience will laugh’ – he will laugh with that blessed joyousness which springs from the solace that the Lord promised. Thus from bodily poverty embraced out of love for God is born the grief that brings solace to those who experience it and fills them with blessing.

Philokalia V4. 314 St Gregory Palamas To the Most Reverend Nun Xenia

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Another Path to Salvation

Posted on August 22, 2014 by Administrator

32. Shall I show you another path to salvation – or, rather, to dispassion? Through your entreaties constrain the Creator not to let you fail in your purpose. Constantly bring before Him as intercessors all the angelic powers, all the saints, and especially the most pure Mother of God. Do not ask for dispassion, for you are unworthy of such a gift; but ask persistently for salvation and with it you will receive dispassion as well. The one is like silver, the other like pure gold. In particular, let inward meditation on God be your handmaid, and turn your whole attention to the secret mysteries concerning Him: for the principles of these mysteries will deify you, and God delights in them and is won over by them.

– St Theognostos On the Practice of the Virtues, Contemplation and the Priesthood, Philokalia Volume II, P. 366

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Many causes of tears

Posted on August 18, 2014 by Administrator

32. Many of the Fathers say that the question of tears, especially in the case of beginners, is an obscure matter and hard to ascertain, as tears are born in many different ways. For instance, there are tears from nature, from God, from adverse suffering, from praise worthy suffering, from vainglory, from licentiousness, from love, from the remembrance of death, and from many other causes.
33. Let us, stripped by the fear of God, train ourselves in all these ways, and acquire for ourselves pure and guileless tears over our dissolution. For there is no dissimulation or self-esteem in them, but on the contrary there is purification, progress in love for God, washing away of sin and the sublimation of the passions to dispassion.

(St. John Climacus, The Ladder of Divine Ascent, Step 7 On mourning which causes joy)

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What are fasting and prayer?

Posted on August 10, 2014 by Administrator

BROTHER: What are fasting and prayer?

OLD MAN: Fasting is the subjugation of the body, prayer is converse with God, vigil is a war against Satan, abstinence is being weaned from meats, humility is the state of the first man, kneeling is the inclining of the body before the Judge, tears are the remembrance of sins, nakedness is our captivity which is caused by the transgression of the command, and service is constant supplication to and praise of God.

From E. A. Wallis Budge, “The Paradise of the Holy Fathers,” , pp. 263-264

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The monk who hid the money

Posted on August 3, 2014 by Administrator

219. A certain brother in Nitria died and left behind him a hundred solidi which he had got together and hidden wrapped up in some linen. He had been miserly rather than greedy, and forgetful of the thirty pieces of silver which betrayed the Lord Jesus. The monks began to discuss what should be done about the money (there were in that place about five thousand monks living in scattered cells). Some thought it should be given to the poor, some to the church, others to their families. But Macarius, Pambo and Isodore, inspired by the Holy Spirit, said that it should be buried with its owner, saying, ‘Your money perish with you’ (Acts 8.20). But don’t let anyone think that this was a heartless thing to do, for there was as much horror and consternation among the monks if even one solidus only had been misused.

De Vitis Patrum Book III, Text #219

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Anthony meets Didymus the blind

Posted on July 27, 2014 by Administrator

218.  At the time when blessed Antony was persuaded by Saint Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, to go into the city to combat heresy, a certain learned man called Didymus visited him who was blind. They talked about many things from the Holy Scriptures and other passages which they had gleaned from holy books. Antony was impressed by his intelligence and quick thinking, and asked him, “Are you not sad that you lack eyes?” He shamefacedly made no answer, until Antony had asked him three times, whereupon he did admit quite simply to being bitter. “I’m surprised,” Antony said, “that such a wise person could lament the loss of something which ants and flies and midges have, rather than rejoicing in something which he shares with saints and apostles. It is much better to see with the spirit than with ordinary eyes, and better to have eyes into which the dust of sin cannot enter, than those which simply by what they see can lead people through concupiscence into the lowest hell.”

De Vitis Patrum Book III, Text # 218

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How to Pray

Posted on July 13, 2014 by Administrator

207.  (Also in V.xii.10) Some of the brothers asked the blessed Macarius how they should pray. “You don’t need a lot of words,” he said. “We should just lift up our hands to heaven and say, ‘Lord, as you will, and how you will, let your will be done.’ And if beset by temptation or battle, just say ‘Lord help us’. He knows what is best for us.”

De Vitis Patrum Book III, Text #207

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Philosophers Vs. Monks

Posted on July 6, 2014 by Administrator

V.xvi. 16.  It was said that some philosophers once wanted to put the monks to the test. They saw a monk passing by who was very well dressed and they called to him, “Hey, you, come here.”  the monk took exception, replied rudely, and went on his way. Another monk came along who was obviously a peasant and they said to him, “Hey, you miserable old monk, come here.” And he came. And they began to give him a few blows, and he turned the other cheek, until at last the philosophers changed their tune and gave him due respect, saying, “This is indeed a true monk.”  They sat him down in the midst of them, and began to question him. “What do you do in your solitude that we don’t do? You fast, so do we. You keep your body in subjection, so do we. Whatever you do we do exactly the same. So how does sitting in the desert make you more diligent than us?”  The old man said, “We trust in the grace of God, and keep guard over our thoughts.”  “Now that is something we don’t know how to do,” they said. And they left him, greatly edified.

De Vitis Patrum Book V, Libellus 16 on Patience.

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What is harmony between practice and prayer?

Posted on July 1, 2014 by Administrator

4. If a man’s deed are not in harmony with his prayer, he labours in vain. The brother said, ‘What is this harmony between practice and prayer?’ The old man said, ‘We should no longer do those things against which we pray. For when a man gives up his own will, then God is reconciled with him and accepts his prayers.’ The brother asked, ‘In all the affliction which the monk gives himself, what helps him?’ The old man said, ‘It is written, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”‘ (Ps.46.1)

(Abba Moses, Sayings of the Desert Fathers, B. Ward, P. 141)

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